il French · revision 16197

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Serments de Strasbourg|origins=la ille}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /il/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (informal): /i/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec, informal): /i/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec, informal): /j/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''il''' ''m'' (third-person singular, plural ils, accusative le, dative lui, emphatic lui, possessive determiner son)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French plural subject [[m|fro|il]] (937–952); ''ils'' took an analogical ⟨s⟩ in the 13th–14th centuries.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) Before a consonant the form ''i'' is found from about 1178.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|il]], [[inh|la-lat|illī|t=that one]], an alteration of Classical Latin [[m|la|ille|t=that]] under the influence of the relative [[m|la|quī|t=who]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|4, 550a)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The neuter subject “il” (“il pleut”) comes instead from popular [[m|la-vul|illum]] (Classical “illud”); the Old French neuter form [[m|fro|el]], with variants “al”, “ol”, was ousted by “il” by the middle of the 11th century.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In Classical Latin “ille” was a demonstrative for what is far away, opposed to [[m|la|hic]] and [[m|la|iste]]; as a subject pronoun it was used only for emphasis, since the verb ending showed the person, but in spoken Latin, as in comedy, it often served as the third-person pronoun.^(DHLF 1992) Rey connects it with an Indo-European base with “l” for a distant object, also seen in [[m|la|alius]] and [[m|la|ultrā]].^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[it|egli]], [[es|él]] and [[pro|el]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the Strasbourg Oaths (842) ''il'' is used with emphasis or contrast: ''in o quid il mi altresi fazet'' “provided that he does the same for me”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the first French texts a subject pronoun was used for emphasis: plain ''aime'' corresponded to modern ''il aime'', and ''il aime'' to ''lui, il aime''.^(DHLF 1992) From the second half of the 10th century ''il'' stands for a noun just mentioned or about to follow.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 13th-century prose it lost its emphatic value and became the normal subject marker;^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg date this to the 16th century, after which ''lui'' and ''eux'' took over the stressed uses.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Old French could use ''il'' in apposition to the subject (''il et sa compaignie'', about 1190), later replaced by ''lui''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The impersonal ''il'' before verbs such as ''il faut'', ''il pleut'' developed during the Middle Ages; the southern dialects still do without it.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ In the 17th century ''ils ont'' was said ''ilon'' in ordinary speech and ''izon'' in careful speech; the modern ''ilzon'' was spread by schooling.^(DHLF 1992) Familiar speech now drops the ''l'' again before a consonant (''i dit'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Il'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(TLFi)

+ * 937–952 – The plural subject ''il'' in the Jonas fragment.^(TLFi)

+ * mid-11th century – The neuter ''il'' replaces ''el''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1178 – The reduced form ''i'' before a consonant.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 14th century – The plural ''ils'' with ⟨s⟩.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|he]], it: third person masculine singular subject pronoun, for a person, animal or thing; plural ''ils'' “they”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(impersonal)'' It: subject of impersonal verbs and phrases: ''il pleut'', ''il faut'', ''il y a''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ # ''(plural)'' ''Ils'': “they”, people one does not name but holds responsible (the government, the authorities).^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(familiar)'' Used for the person one is speaking to, affectionately: ''comme il est en retard !''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[le]]

+ * [[lui]]

+ * [[elle]]

+ * [[leur]]

+ * [[la|ille]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}