Etymologically
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si

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si1 reflexive pronoun

Pronunciation

Forms

si[1] Before lo, la, li, le and ne it becomes se (se lo, se ne).[2][3][4] In the dialects of Arezzo, Umbria and Rome and in much of the north and south the form is se, reduced to s’ or as in Emilian and Romagnol.[5]

Etymology

The pronoun is inherited from Latin sē (“himself, herself, itself, themselves”), the Latin reflexive pronoun: “si” is the unstressed clitic form beside the stressed sé.[6][7][5][8] GRADIT and Treccani add a probable influence of the dative sibi (“to oneself”).[9][10] The variant “se” arose by assimilation before other clitics with a vowel other than i.[7]

The same pronoun is French se, Occitan se, Catalan se, Spanish se, Portuguese se, Sardinian se and Romanian se.[11][1] In Romanian, Dalmatian, Italian, Rhaeto-Romance and southern French dialects it also serves as the reflexive of the first and second persons.[11]

Latin “sē” goes back to Proto-Indo-European *se (“oneself”); the long vowel comes from the stressed form.[12] Cognates include Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌺 (sik) and Old Church Slavonic сѧ (sę).[12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The unstressed pronoun is first recorded in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, as the third-person reflexive, singular and plural.[6][7] The stressed sé is older, in the Ritmo bellunese of 1193–1196.[6]

Semantic evolution

Besides the reflexive and reciprocal uses, si took on an impersonal value (si dice che “they say that”) and a passive one, the si passivante (qui si vendono biglietti “tickets are sold here”).[7][9][2] In older and bureaucratic Italian it could follow a finite verb, as in Manzoni's placossi “he calmed down” or the notice affittansi camere “rooms to let”.[4]

In north-western Tuscany, around Grosseto, in Umbria, in Rome and in the north, si is also used for the first person plural (si laviamo “we wash”); the use is documented in Siena from 1260.[5] DEI suggests a northern origin, a form like Tuscan ci that became se and merged with the reflexive, with Tuscan si va “we go, let's go” as another starting point.[5] Familiar Tuscan still uses it this way.[14][1]

Timeline

  • 1193–1196 – The stressed sé appears in the Ritmo bellunese.[6]
  • 1260 – Si for the first person plural is documented in Sienese.[5]
  • Late 13th century – The unstressed si appears in the Novellino.[6]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. Unstressed reflexive pronoun of the third person, singular and plural, as direct object: himself, herself, itself, themselves: Marco si guarda allo specchio.[9][2][4]
  2. As indirect object, to or for oneself: Si è tolta le scarpe.[9][4][3]
  3. With pronominal verbs, without a reflexive sense: pentirsi, arrabbiarsi.[9][4][2]
  4. Reciprocal: each other, one another: I due fratelli si somigliano molto.[9][1]
  5. Intensive, stressing the subject's involvement: Si è bevuto tre caffè.[9][2][10]
  6. Impersonal: one, people, you: In questo ristorante si mangia bene.[2][14][1]
  7. Forming the passive (si passivante): Da qui si vedono le montagne.[9][3][1]
  8. (regional, Tuscany and Rome) Used for ci in the first person plural: noi si va al mare.[5][1]

si2 musical note

Pronunciation

Forms

si m (invariable)[1]

Etymology

The note name is from Medieval Latin Sancte Iohannes “O Saint John” reduced to its initials: these are the words that end the first stanza of the hymn to Saint John the Baptist, “Ut queant laxis”, attributed to Paul the Deacon.[6][7][3][9] Guido d'Arezzo (about 997 – about 1050) took the names of the notes from the syllables of this hymn.[3][15] His system had six syllables;[15] “si” was added later as the seventh.[15] Nocentini classes it as a borrowing from Latin.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the music theorist Giovanni Andrea Bontempi in 1695, for the last of the seven notes;[6][15] Bontempi describes how Si was added to Guido's six syllables.[6][15] Nocentini, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti date the word to 1805.[7][9][2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Latin countries si is the seventh note of the scale of C;[15] Germany uses the letter H for it and the English-speaking countries B, from the older notation by letters.[15] The name was borrowed as French si in the 17th century, English si (1728) and German Si (1732).[16]

Timeline

  • 11th century – Guido d'Arezzo names the notes from the hymn Ut queant laxis.[3][15]
  • 1695 – Bontempi uses si for the seventh note.[6][16]
  • 1728 – English si is first recorded.[16]
  • 1732 – German Si is first recorded.[16]
  • 1805 – The date of first record in GRADIT and Nocentini.[9][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (music) The seventh note of the scale of C in the solmization used in Latin countries, the note B: un concerto in si bemolle.[9][2][3]
  2. (music) The string or key of an instrument that gives this note.[9][3]
  3. (music) The key that has this note as its tonic: una sonata in si minore.[9]

Usage notes

In combination with other clitics si follows mi, ti, gli, ci and vi (mi si è rotto) and precedes ne as se (se ne va).[4][3] The adverb of affirmation is written sì, with an accent; it comes from Latin sīc (“so, thus”), as did Old Italian si “so” and the copulative si “and” of early texts.[17][5] GDLI also records an old si as the name of the letter s.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3487
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  12. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  13. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 1041
  16. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  17. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 916