e Italian · revision 37445

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 12th century, Pisan charter|origins=ine-pro *h₁éti}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /e/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''e'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Before a vowel, especially ''e-'', it has the form [[ed]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|et|t=and; also]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same conjunction is [[fr|et]], [[oc|e]], [[ca|i]], [[es|y]], [[pt|e]] and [[sc|e]].^(Nocentini 2010) The variant [[ed]] keeps the Latin final consonant before a word beginning with a vowel.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The Latin word comes from [[itc-pro|*eti]], from [[ine-pro|*h₁éti|t=still, also]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its relatives are [[grc|ἔτι|tr=éti|t=still, further]], [[sa|अति|tr=áti|t=beyond, over]], [[got|𐌹𐌸|tr=iþ|t=but]] and [[xtg|etic|t=and]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) According to de Vaan, it was first used to add something to what had just been said, or to mark a sequence of actions, and only later replaced the enclitic [[m|la|-que|t=and]] as the ordinary word for “and”.^(de Vaan 2008) Devoto likewise gives the original value as “moreover, still”.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first Italian record is in a Pisan charter of the early 12th century.^(DELI 1999) Sabatini–Coletti dates the Latin-spelt form ''et'' in Italian texts to the 10th century.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the 13th century the conjunction also had an adversative sense, “but, instead” (Brunetto Latini, before 1294), and could open a reply in the sense “well then” (Giacomino Pugliese, before 1250).^(DELI 1999) Repeated before every item it gives the slow, piling effect of Dante's “esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte” (this wild wood, rough and harsh, ''Inferno'' 1),^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) and repeated before the first item too it means “both … and”, as in Boccaccio's “e qui e fuor di qui e in casa mi sembra star male” (both here and away from here and at home I feel unwell).^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Old texts, and bureaucratic writing up to the 19th century, kept the Latin spelling ''et''.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Older and Tuscan usage also contracted it with a following article, as in ''e' '' for ''e i'' and ''e 'l'' for ''e il''.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – Sabatini–Coletti's date for the form ''et''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ * Early 12th century – ''E'' appears in a Pisan charter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomino Pugliese uses it for “well then”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for “but, instead”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|and]]: joins words or clauses with the same function: ''compro il latte e le uova''; with more than two items it usually comes before the last.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Correlating two terms after ''tra'' or ''fra'': ''tra Roma e Napoli''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|but]], yet, with adversative force: ''ha promesso di venire e non è venuto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Opening an emphatic or exhortative sentence: ''e smettila!''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # After ''tutti'' or ''tutte'' and before a numeral: ''tutte e tre''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' [[m|en|plus]], in sums, and in quantities and prices: ''tre e due, cinque'', ''un metro e venti''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(literary)'' ''e … e'', both … and.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[eppure]]

+ * [[ebbene]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ed]]

+ * [[la|et]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The conjunction causes the doubling of a following consonant (raddoppiamento sintattico): ''e poi'' is pronounced /epˈpɔi/.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DiPI) The form ''ed'' is now mostly limited to words beginning with ''e'' (''ed ecco'', ''Adamo ed Eva'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ''E'' is also the name of the fifth letter of the alphabet, from [[la|ē]], feminine or masculine, recorded from before 1292 (Bono Giamboni);^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) ''e'' without an accent is a common misspelling of ''è'', “is”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}