che Italian · revision 37463

+ {{homograph|1|who, which, what}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=960, Placito di Capua|origins=ine-pro *kʷid}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈke/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''che'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The pronoun “who, which, what” is [[inh|la|quid|t=what]], the neuter of [[m|la|quis|t=who]],^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary) first written “que” in the Placito di Capua of 960.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini derives only the interrogative from “quid”, and the relative from the accusative [[m|la|quem|t=whom]] and the feminine [[m|la|quae]], merged once the case distinction was lost;^(Nocentini 2010) GRADIT gives both “quid” and “quem”,^(GRADIT 2003) and Sabatini points to a Late Latin relative ⟨que⟩ written in 4th-century inscriptions of San Paolo fuori le Mura in Rome, in which forms of the relative and interrogative pronouns converged.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The interrogative is the same word as [[fr|quoi]], [[oc|que]], [[ca|que]], [[es|que]], [[pt|que]], [[sc|chi]] and [[ro|ce]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Of the Romance languages only French keeps a nominative [[m|fr|qui]] apart from an accusative [[m|fr|que]] in the relative.^(Nocentini 2010) Before a vowel the word was [[roa-oit|ched]], and with the ending of the adverbs in “-mente” it formed [[roa-oit|chente|t=what kind of]].^(Zingarelli 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ Latin “quid” goes back through [[itc-pro|*kʷid]] to [[ine-pro|*kʷid]], from the root [[ine-pro|*kʷi-]], which in Latin and many other languages also became a relative pronoun.^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Placito di Capua of 960, the first dated text in Italian, uses the relative, spelled ''que''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The interrogative is first found in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250: ''S'altri m'adomanda ched aggio eo'' (“If someone asks me what I have”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|3, 24)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The relative ''che'' serves as subject and object, and in popular and old usage also for other cases, with the sense “in which, when” (''il giorno che…'') most widely accepted.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) After a preposition it is literary, as in Manzoni's ''de' travagli in che mettono un povero galantuomo''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ The interrogative stands for ''che cosa'' “what thing”, and the emphatic ''che è che?'' was patterned on French ''qu'est-ce que?''.^(GDLI|3, 24) With an article it became an indefinite noun: Dante sees ''un non sapea che bianco'' (“a white something, I knew not what”, ''Purgatorio'' 2.23), and ''un certo non so che'' is a vague something.^(GDLI|3, 25)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 960 – The Placito di Capua uses the relative, spelled ''que''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the interrogative ''che''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1308–1321 – Dante uses the indefinite ''un non sapea che''.^(GDLI|3, 25)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # ''(relative)'' [[m|en|who]], whom, [[m|en|which]], that, as subject or object: ''la ragazza che abita al piano di sopra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(relative)'' In which, when, with a sense of time: ''l'anno che ci siamo conosciuti''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(relative)'' With an article or preposition, which thing, referring to a whole clause: ''Non mi ha risposto, il che mi preoccupa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(interrogative)'' [[m|en|what]]: ''Che fai stasera?''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(exclamative)'' What: ''Che mi tocca sentire!''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(indefinite)'' Something, in phrases such as ''un certo che'', ''un non so che''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(interrogative and exclamative)'' What, which; what a: ''Che libro stai leggendo?'' ''Che bella giornata!''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[checché]]

+ * [[alcunché]]

+ * [[chente]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|that}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=la quia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ke/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''che'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The conjunction “that” is [[inh|la|quia|t=because; that]], according to DELI an old neuter plural of [[m|la|quī|t=who, which]].^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Prati 1951)^(REW 1935) The sources weigh the Latin conjunctions differently: Wiktionary derives “che” from [[m|la|quod|t=that, because]],^(Wiktionary) GRADIT from a ⟨quid⟩ used for “quod”, perhaps with the influence of “quem”,^(GRADIT 2003) and Nocentini sees a convergence of “quia”, “quid” and “quod”, which in the oldest Italian had given separate [[roa-oit|ca]], [[roa-oit|ched]] and [[roa-oit|co]].^(Nocentini 2010) Old Italian and southern Italian “ca” continues “quia” directly,^(REW 1935) and the “ko” of the Placito di Capua (“Sao ko kelle terre…”, “I know that those lands…”) continues “quod”.^(GDLI|3, 26) The comparative “che” “than” goes back further to [[la-lat|quam]] [[m|la-lat|et]], used before the second term of a comparison.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The same conjunction is [[fr|que]], [[oc|que]], [[ca|que]], [[es|que]], [[pt|que]], [[sc|ca]] and [[ro|că]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The conjunction is first found in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, introducing subordinate clauses of several kinds.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) One of his poems has ''Così m'è adivenuto, / che, lasso, l'avenente / lo vo cercando'' (“So it has happened to me that, alas, I go seeking the fair one”).^(GDLI|3, 26)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start the conjunction introduced object, subject and explanatory clauses, and with the indicative or the subjunctive it also marks cause, result, purpose and time.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|3, 26) Before a vowel Old Italian wrote ''ched''.^(Zingarelli 2010) It forms many compound conjunctions with a preposition or adverb (''perché'', ''poiché'', ''affinché'', ''nonché'').^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) In correlation with ''sia'' or ''tanto'' it means “both … and”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the conjunction ''che''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1300 – ''Nonché'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|that]], introducing a subject or object clause: ''Credo che abbia ragione.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Since, for, introducing a cause: ''Mettiti il cappotto, che fa freddo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # That, so that, introducing a result, often after ''così'' or ''tanto'': ''Era così stanco che si addormentò subito.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # So that, introducing a purpose, with the subjunctive.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # When, since, with a sense of time: ''Sono anni che non lo vedo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # [[m|en|than]], before the second term of a comparison.^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # With ''sia'' or ''tanto'', both … and: ''sia i grandi che i piccoli''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # With the subjunctive in a main clause, let, may: ''Che entri pure.''^(Wiktionary)

+ # After a negative, except, but: ''Non pensa che al lavoro.''^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[perché]]

+ * [[poiché]]

+ * [[affinché]]

+ * [[nonché]]

+ * [[sicché]]

+ * [[benché]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chi]]

+ * [[cui]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Che'' causes doubling of the following consonant in Tuscan pronunciation.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The written form ''ché'', with an accent, is a separate word, a short form of ''perché''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}