toi French · revision 16254

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=10th century|origins=la tū}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /twa/^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''toi''' ''m or f''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|te]] (10th century), [[m|fro|tei]] (11th–12th century), ''toi'' (about 1170).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|tei]], [[inh|la|tū|alt=tē|t=you]], the accusative of [[m|la|tū]], in stressed position; unstressed, the same Latin form gave [[te]].^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|13/1, 148a)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) Littré explains the difference between “toi” and “te” as that between a stressed and an enclitic form.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Vie de saint Léger'' (second half of the 10th century) the form ''te'', after a preposition, is used where modern French has ''toi''.^(TLFi) ''Devant tei'', ''pur tei'' are found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Toi'' was first used as a complement (11th century), then as a subject (12th century) and an attribute (about 1265), and as a form of address (1677), familiarly in ''bonjour, toi !'' (1757).^(DHLF 1992) Strengthened forms appear from the 16th century: ''toi-même'' (1580), ''toi seul'' (1662), ''toi, tu'' (1668).^(DHLF 1992) As a noun (''un autre toi'', after 1250) it is much less common than ''le moi''.^(DHLF 1992) The slang ''tézigue'' is formed, like ''mézigue'', from the possessive ''tes'' and ''zigue''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – ''Te'' after a preposition.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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

+ * c. 1170 – The form ''toi''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1580 – ''Toi-même'' in Montaigne.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1757 – ''Bonjour, toi !''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|you]]: stressed form of the second person singular, after a preposition or for emphasis: ''avec toi'', ''toi, tu sais''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Yourself: after an imperative: ''dépêche-toi'', ''lève-toi''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''À toi'': yours: ''c'est à toi'', ''à toi de jouer''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[toi-même]]

+ * [[tézigue]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tu]]

+ * [[ton]]

+ * [[la|tū]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ After an imperative ''toi'' becomes ''t’'' before ''en'' and ''y'' (''va-t'en'', ''garde-t'en'').^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}