si Italian · revision 37442

+ {{homograph|1|reflexive pronoun}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 13th century, Novellino|origins=ine-pro *se}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /si/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''si'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Before ''lo'', ''la'', ''li'', ''le'' and ''ne'' it becomes ''se'' (''se lo'', ''se ne'').^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) 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.^(DEI|3487)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The pronoun is [[inh|la|sē|t=himself, herself, itself, themselves]], the Latin reflexive pronoun: “si” is the unstressed clitic form beside the stressed [[sé]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3487)^(GDLI) GRADIT and Treccani add a probable influence of the dative [[m|la|sibi|t=to oneself]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) The variant “se” arose by assimilation before other clitics with a vowel other than i.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The same pronoun is [[fr|se]], [[oc|se]], [[ca|se]], [[es|se]], [[pt|se]], [[sc|se]] and [[ro|se]].^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) In Romanian, Dalmatian, Italian, Rhaeto-Romance and southern French dialects it also serves as the reflexive of the first and second persons.^(REW 1935)

+

+ Latin “sē” goes back to [[ine-pro|*se|t=oneself]]; the long vowel comes from the stressed form.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognates include [[got|𐍃𐌹𐌺|tr=sik]] and [[cu|сѧ|tr=sę]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The stressed ''sé'' is older, in the ''Ritmo bellunese'' of 1193–1196.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==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”).^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) 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”.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ 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.^(DEI|3487) 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.^(DEI|3487) Familiar Tuscan still uses it this way.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1193–1196 – The stressed ''sé'' appears in the ''Ritmo bellunese''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1260 – ''Si'' for the first person plural is documented in Sienese.^(DEI|3487)

+ * Late 13th century – The unstressed ''si'' appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Unstressed [[m|en|reflexive]] pronoun of the third person, singular and plural, as direct object: himself, herself, itself, themselves: ''Marco si guarda allo specchio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # As indirect object, to or for oneself: ''Si è tolta le scarpe.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # With pronominal verbs, without a reflexive sense: ''pentirsi'', ''arrabbiarsi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # [[m|en|reciprocal|alt=Reciprocal]]: each other, one another: ''I due fratelli si somigliano molto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Intensive, stressing the subject's involvement: ''Si è bevuto tre caffè.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|impersonal|alt=Impersonal]]: one, people, you: ''In questo ristorante si mangia bene.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Forming the passive (''si passivante''): ''Da qui si vedono le montagne.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(regional, Tuscany and Rome)'' Used for ''ci'' in the first person plural: ''noi si va al mare''.^(DEI|3487)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|2|musical note}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, acronym|attested=1695, Giovanni Andrea Bontempi}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''si''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The note name is [[der|la-med|sanctus|alt=Sancte]] [[m|la-med|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.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) Guido d'Arezzo (about 997 – about 1050) took the names of the notes from the syllables of this hymn.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI|18, 1041) His system had six syllables;^(GDLI|18, 1041) “si” was added later as the seventh.^(GDLI|18, 1041) Nocentini classes it as a borrowing from Latin.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in the music theorist Giovanni Andrea Bontempi in 1695, for the last of the seven notes;^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 1041) Bontempi describes how ''Si'' was added to Guido's six syllables.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 1041) Nocentini, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti date the word to 1805.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Latin countries ''si'' is the seventh note of the scale of C;^(GDLI|18, 1041) Germany uses the letter H for it and the English-speaking countries B, from the older notation by letters.^(GDLI|18, 1041) The name was borrowed as French ''si'' in the 17th century, English ''si'' (1728) and German ''Si'' (1732).^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 11th century – Guido d'Arezzo names the notes from the hymn ''Ut queant laxis''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI|18, 1041)

+ * 1695 – Bontempi uses ''si'' for the seventh note.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1728 – English ''si'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1732 – German ''Si'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1805 – The date of first record in GRADIT and Nocentini.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(music)'' The seventh note of the scale of C in the [[m|en|solmization]] used in Latin countries, the note B: ''un concerto in si bemolle''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(music)'' The string or key of an instrument that gives this note.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(music)'' The [[m|en|key]] that has this note as its tonic: ''una sonata in si minore''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sé]]

+ * [[suo]]

+ * [[la|sē]]

+ * [[do]]

+ * [[re]]

+ * [[fa]]

+ * [[sol]]

+ * [[la#2]]

+ * [[mi#2]]

+

+ ==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'').^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The adverb of affirmation is written ''sì'', with an accent; it comes from [[la|sīc|t=so, thus]], as did Old Italian ''si'' “so” and the copulative ''si'' “and” of early texts.^(Prati 1951|916)^(DEI|3487) GDLI also records an old ''si'' as the name of the letter ''s''.^(GDLI|18, 1041)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}