un Italian · revision 37446

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Ritmo laurenziano|origins=ine-pro *h₁óynos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /un/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''un''' ''m'' (apocopated)^(Wiktionary)

+ The feminine is ''una'', elided before a vowel; the masculine ''un'' takes no apostrophe (''un amico'', ''un'amica'').^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the shortened form of [[uno]],^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) which is [[inh|la|ūnus|t=one]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The Latin numeral comes from the older form [[m|la|oinos]], from [[itc-pro|*oinos]], from [[ine-pro|*h₁óynos|t=one, single]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) The same word is [[got|𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=ains]], [[ang|ān]], the source of English [[m|en|one]] and [[m|en|an]], [[sga|óen]] and [[lt|vienas|alt=víenas]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Its Romance descendants are [[fr|un]], [[oc|un]], [[ca|un]], [[es|uno]], [[pt|um]], [[sc|unu]] and [[ro|un]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ In all Romance languages the numeral also became the indefinite article, in contrast with the definite article.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the phrase ''d'in un tempo'' (“at one and the same time”) in the Ritmo laurenziano, at the end of the 12th century.^(DELI 1999) The indefinite article is first recorded in Dante's ''Vita Nuova'' (1293–1294).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Latin ''unus'' meant “one, single” and “the same”; already in Plautus it can refer to a single unspecified person (''unam vidi mulierem'', “I saw a woman”), the first step towards the indefinite article.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) By Dante (1300–1313) ''un'' and ''uno'' are also used as a pronoun, “someone”, and Boccaccio (1348–1353) uses the article before a number in the sense “about, roughly”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The choice between ''un'' and ''uno'' settled gradually: older and literary Italian had ''un'' before ''s'' followed by a consonant and before ''z'' (''un zero''), and before ''pn-'' everyday usage is now moving from ''uno'' to ''un'' (''un pneumatico'').^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI) Tuscan and literary usage also cut the pronoun ''uno'' to ''un'' before a consonant.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Second half of the 12th century – First record of the numeral.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano has ''d'in un tempo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante's ''Vita Nuova'' uses the indefinite article.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses the word as a pronoun, “someone”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it before a number for “about”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Article===

+ # [[m|en|a]], [[m|en|an]]: the masculine singular indefinite article before a vowel or a single consonant: ''un amico'', ''un libro''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Before a number, about, roughly.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|one]], before a masculine noun: ''un chilo di mele''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # ''(literary)'' Short for the pronoun ''uno'', one, someone.^(Wiktionary)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[uno]]

+ * [[una]]

+ * [[nessuno]]

+ * [[la|ūnus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Un'' is used before masculine words that begin with a vowel or with a consonant other than ''s'' followed by a consonant, ''z'', ''x'', ''gn'', ''ps'' and ''pn'', which take ''uno'' (''un orso'', ''un treno'', but ''uno studente'', ''uno zio'').^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Before a semivowel ''i'' (''uno iato'') or ''y'' modern usage generally has ''uno'', but before ''j'' pronounced as a consonant ''un'' (''un jet'').^(Zingarelli 2010) Because ''un'' is a shortened form and not an elided one, it never takes an apostrophe, while the feminine does: ''un altro'', ''un'altra''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}