ici French · revision 16229

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la hīc}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i.si/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ici'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Written ''icy'' by the Académie in 1694 and 1718.^(TLFi) The regional pronunciation [isit] is sometimes written ''icite'', ''icitte'', notably in Quebec.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|ici]], a form of [[m|fro|ci|t=here]], from popular [[inh|la-vul|*ecce hīc]], a strengthened form of [[m|la|hīc|t=here]] with [[m|la|ecce|t=behold]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(FEW|4, 423b) The initial “i-” probably comes from Old French [[m|fro|iluec|t=there]], from Latin [[m|la|illōc|t=there]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Bloch and Wartburg allow another explanation, a further compound with “i” from “hīc”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) The same “i-” passed to the demonstratives (“icil”), which later lost it, while “ici” kept it because “ci” had become too weak as an unstressed adverb.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Other dialects strengthened “ci” differently: Champenois “toutci”, Walloon “droitci”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Littré notes that 8th-century texts already used “ecce” alone for “here”.^(Littré 1873) Cognate with [[pro|aici]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Ici'' is first found about 1050, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'', as an adverb of place, “in the place where the speaker is”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''D'ici qu'en'' “from here to” is found in 1080, and ''ici'' as an adverb of time with ''de'' (''d'ici à demain'') about 1130.^(DHLF 1992) By extension it named a precise spot (late 12th century), and ''d'ici'' meant “from this country” about 1265.^(DHLF 1992) Combinations such as ''ici dedans'', ''ici autour'', still classical, have gone out of use, but ''ici-bas'' “here below, on earth” (1678) remains.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) On the telephone and radio, ''ici'' introduces the speaker (''ici Paris'') in the 20th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Ici'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1080 – ''D'ici qu'en'' “from here to”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1130 – Of time, with ''de''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1678 – ''Ici-bas'' in La Fontaine.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 20th century – ''Ici'' on the telephone and radio.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|here]]: in this place, where the speaker is: ''viens ici''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Here, at this point (of a text or discussion).^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''D'ici'' + time: from now until: ''d'ici demain''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Ici-bas'': here below, on earth.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # On the telephone or radio, introduces the speaker: ''ici Paris''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ci]]

+ * [[là]]

+ * [[y]]

+ * [[çà]]

+ * [[la|hīc]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}