quello Italian · revision 37476

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=960, Capuan placito|origins=la eccum, la ille}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkwel.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quello''' (feminine ''quella'', masculine plural ''quelli'', feminine plural ''quelle'')^(Wiktionary)

+ Before a noun it changes like the article: ''quel'' and plural ''quei'' before most consonants, ''quello'' and plural ''quegli'' before a vowel, ''s'' plus consonant, ''z'' and ''gn'', and ''quell''’ before a vowel.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Old and dialect forms include ''qélo'', ''quillo'' and ''quillu''.^(GDLI|15, 109)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*eccum ille|t=behold, that one]], from [[la|eccum|t=here he is!]] and [[m|la|ille|t=that]], in the accusative “eccu illum”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini explains the compound as a renewal: Latin “ille” had become the definite article and shrunk to one syllable, so the demonstrative of the third person was rebuilt with a pointing element, “ecce” in Gallo-Romance, “eccu” in Italo-Romance and “accu” in Ibero-Romance.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The compound is panromance: [[fro|cil]] (modern [[fr|celui]]), [[ca|aquell]], [[es|aquel]], [[pt|aquele]], [[sc|cuddu]], [[fur|chel]] and [[ro|acel]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ Latin “eccum” is [[m|la|ecce|t=behold]] joined to a pronoun, probably the accusative “hunc”.^(OLD 2012) The second element, “ille”, also gave the Italian article and the pronouns [[egli]], [[ella]] and [[lo]].^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the Capuan placito of 960, with the feminine plural ''kelle''; the masculine ''quello'' appears in a Florentine bankers' book of 1211.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It points to a person or thing far from both speaker and listener, or one already mentioned.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The pronoun use “that one; that which” is recorded at the end of the 13th century in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999) From before 1558 (Francesco D'Ambra) ''quello'' is also used, in popular speech, to call a person whose name one does not know or will not say.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ In the modern system ''quello'' marks what is far away and ''questo'' what is near the speaker;^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Tuscan and literary Italian also have ''codesto'' for what is near the listener, while elsewhere ''quello'' covers that too.^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Emphatic and euphemistic uses developed: ''una di quelle'' “a prostitute”, and ''mandare a quel paese'' “to tell someone to go to hell”.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011) The construction ''quello che è…'' has been studied by Ornella Castellani Pollidori (1990).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 960 – The feminine plural ''kelle'' in the Capuan placito.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1211 – ''Quello'' in a Florentine bankers' book.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – The pronoun “that one, that which” in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1558 – Used to call a person whose name is not known, in Francesco D'Ambra.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|that]], those: of a person or thing far from both speaker and listener in space or time: ''vedi quella torre?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Strengthened by ''lì'' or ''là'', or by ''stesso'', ''medesimo'': ''quel quadro lì'', ''in quello stesso anno''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of something already mentioned or known to the listener: ''hai poi risolto quel problema con la banca?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(emphatic)'' In exclamations, with a relative clause understood: ''mi ha fatto una di quelle scenate!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Before an adjective or noun followed by ''di'' and a name: ''quel furbo di tuo cugino''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # That one, those ones: ''non questa giacca, quella''.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''Quello che'': what, the thing that: ''non capisco quello che vuoi''.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[questo]]

+ * [[codesto]]

+ * [[quegli]]

+ * [[ecco]]

+ * [[egli]]

+ * [[la|ille]]

+ * [[la|eccum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Quello'' is set against ''questo'' and, in Tuscan and literary Italian, against ''codesto''.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The old singular masculine subject pronoun ''quegli'' “that man” is now literary.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}