Etymologically
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tu

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈtuː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtuː][1]

Forms

tū (second person singular, possessive adjective tuus)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *tū, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you”).[2][1] Following Kloekhorst, de Vaan notes that the /i/ of the Anatolian nominative (Hittite zik) is hard to explain as secondary, so the oldest PIE nominative may have been *ti(H), replaced by ⟨*tu(H)⟩ after Anatolian split off.[2] The oblique cases come from stems in /tw-/ and /t-/: accusative and ablative ⟨tē⟩, older ⟨tēd⟩, dative ⟨tibi⟩, and the old genitive ⟨tīs⟩ of Plautus.[2][3]

Cognate with Oscan tiium and Umbrian tiom, Ancient Greek σύ (sú) (Doric τύ (tú)), Sanskrit त्वम् (tvám), Gothic 𐌸𐌿 (þu) and English thou.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded from the oldest Latin on; the old ablative tēd appears in the oldest inscriptions, and the pronoun is used in the Twelve Tables.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

As with ego, the nominative is mostly emphatic, since the verb already shows the person, but colloquial Latin also uses it with little emphasis (ain tu? “you don't say?”).[3] The dative can be “ethic” in lively speech, and tū can address anyone at all, an indefinite “you”.[3] Emphatic forms are tūte, tūtemet and the doubled tētē;[3] cum follows it to make tēcum.[3]

The plural is vōs.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.[5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: o Tite tute Tati tibi tanta tyranne tulisti.[3][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the old genitive tīs and the ablative tēd.[3][5]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. you (singular), thou;[3][4] (oblique cases) you, yourself.[3][4]
  2. (ethic dative) For you, mark you (in lively speech).[3]
  3. (indefinite) You, one (anyone at all).[3]
  4. ad tē, ex tē, to or from your house.[3]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de