qui Italian · revision 37477

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkwi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''qui''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include ''ki'' (960), ''quie'', ''quine'' and ''quini''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|15) Old Florentine also had ''quije''.^(DEI|3178)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*eccum hīc|t=look, here]], from [[la|eccum|t=here he is!]] and [[m|la|hīc|t=here]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The first part also survives in [[ecco]].^(Nocentini 2010) Devoto notes that the parts of the compound kept their independence for long enough to stop the /kw/ from becoming /k/, so that the word did not end up as “*chi”.^(Devoto 1968|357) The original double /kk/ of the compound is lost in the standard language but still heard in most regional varieties.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The same compound is [[ca|aquí]], [[es|aquí]] and [[pt|aqui]], while [[fr|ici]] and [[oc|aici]] come from the parallel [[la-vul|*ecce hīc]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ Latin “eccum” is [[m|la|ecce|t=behold]] joined to a pronoun, probably the accusative “hunc”.^(OLD 2012) The adverb “hīc” goes back to an older [[m|la|heic]], a locative form strengthened with the particle [[m|la|-ce]].^(Devoto 1968|357)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the Capuan placito of 960, one of the earliest documents in Italian, in the form ''ki'' and the sense “in this place”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The spelling ''qui'' follows at the end of the 13th century in the ''Novellino'', and the sense “at this moment” before 1292 in Bono Giamboni.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante opens the gate of Hell with ''Qui si convien lasciare ogni sospetto; / ogni viltà convien che qui sia morta'' (“here all suspicion must be left behind; all cowardice must here be dead”).^(GDLI|15) Old Italian built compounds on the word: ''quiritta'' “right here” (Dante, Boccaccio), ''quiviritta'' (18th century), and ''quinci'' “from here”, now pedantic.^(Prati 1951|815)^(DEI|3178) In the Val di Chiana an emphatic ''ummimquì'' is recorded.^(DEI|3178)

+

+ ''Qui'' points more precisely than ''qua'', which it otherwise matches in many uses.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010) It is used to strengthen a demonstrative (''questo qui'') or an order, and with ''là'' or ''lì'' it gives ''qui e là'' “here and there”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 960 – First record, as ''ki'', in the Capuan placito.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Late 13th century – The spelling ''qui'' in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the sense “at this moment”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|here]]: in or to the place where the speaker is, with verbs of rest and of motion: ''resta qui con me'', ''vieni qui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Pointing to a part of one's own body: ''ho un livido qui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # With ''là'' or ''lì'': ''qui e là'' “here and there”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # With prepositions and other adverbs of place: ''qui sotto'', ''qui vicino'', ''da qui'', ''fin qui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Strengthening a demonstrative, ''ecco'' or an order: ''questa penna qui'', ''eccomi qui'', ''guarda qui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # At this point, now: ''qui la faccenda si complica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[qua]]

+ * [[quivi]]

+ * [[quinci]]

+ * [[ecco]]

+ * [[ci]]

+ * [[la|hic]]

+ * [[la|eccum]]

+ * [[fr|ici]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Tuscan pronunciation ''qui'' doubles the consonant that follows (''qui sotto'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) ''Di qui a'' or ''da qui a'' plays down a claim: there is a long way from one thing to another.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}