io Italian · revision 37486

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1158, Testimonianze di Travale|origins=ine-pro *h₁eǵ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈi.o/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''io''' (object forms [[me]], [[mi]]; plural [[noi]])^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*eo]], a spoken form of [[la|ego|alt=ĕgō|t=I]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) The shortened form is what all the Romance languages continue: [[fro|jou]] (modern [[fr|je]]), [[oc|jo]], [[ca|jo]], [[es|yo]], [[pt|eu]], [[sc|eo]] and [[ro|eu]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Old Italian also had [[m|roa-oit|eo]], and verse and popular Tuscan use the shortened ⟨i'⟩ and ⟨e'⟩ before a verb.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|ego]] is the nominative of the inherited first-person pronoun, whose other cases were built on a different stem, that of [[m|la|mē|t=me]].^(Nocentini 2010) The pronoun is continued across the family: [[grc|ἐγώ|tr=egṓ]], [[sa|अहम्|tr=ahám]], [[hit|ūk]], [[lt|aš]], [[cu|азъ|tr=azŭ]], [[got|𐌹𐌺|tr=ik]] and [[ang|ic]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan reconstructs [[ine-pro|*h₁eǵ]] with the extended forms ⟨*h₁eǵ-(o)H⟩ and ⟨*h₁eǵ-H-om⟩: Latin and Greek added an element that gave a long final ⟨-ō⟩, while Indo-Iranian, Slavic and Germanic show an ending ⟨*-om⟩, so that several variants of the pronoun probably existed side by side in Proto-Indo-European.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the ''Testimonianze di Travale'' of 1158, a Tuscan record of witnesses' statements.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) GRADIT gives a date before 1249.^(GRADIT 2003) The noun “the self” is recorded before 1347 in Bartolomeo da San Concordio, who wrote ''L'amico è un altro io'' (“The friend is another self”).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Pietro Bembo observed in the 16th century that verse used ''i’'' for ''io'' whenever it stood immediately before the verb.^(DELI 1999) As a pronoun ''io'' is a subject only; the object and the cases with prepositions use ''me'' and ''mi'', and since the verb ending shows the person, ''io'' is normally left out except for emphasis or contrast.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ The noun developed with philosophy and psychology: the ''Io'' of idealist philosophy (''Io trascendentale'', ''Io assoluto''), the ''io narrante'' (narrating “I”) of literary criticism, and in psychoanalysis the ego, which in Freud's division stands between the ''Es'' and the ''Super-Io''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) ''Super-io'' is a calque, recorded in 1926, of German [[m|de|Über-Ich]].^(Nocentini 2010) The plural of the noun is normally the same, but Migliorini recorded ''ii'' in 1950, quoting Devoto's ''dei due Ii proustiani'' (“of the two Proustian selves”).^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1158 – The ''Testimonianze di Travale'' have ''io''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1249 – GRADIT's date for the pronoun.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio uses the noun “the self”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1926 – ''Super-io'' appears, a calque of German ''Über-Ich''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1950 – Migliorini records the plural ''ii''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1957 – ''Io'' is recorded as the name of a genus of molluscs.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|I]], the speaker referring to themselves, used only as a subject and usually left out: ''Io resto qui, voi andate pure.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Placed after the verb for emphasis: ''Stasera pago io.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Strengthened by ''stesso'', ''anche'', ''nemmeno'' or ''proprio'': ''l'ho controllato io stesso''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # As a predicate: ''Chi ha chiamato? Ero io.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|self]], a person's own being as they are conscious of it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' The thinking subject: ''Io trascendentale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(psychoanalysis)'' The [[m|en|ego]], mediating between the ''Es'', the ''Super-Io'' and reality; usually capitalised.^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(literary criticism)'' ''Io narrante'', the narrator of a story told in the first person.^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[super-io]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[me]]

+ * [[mi]]

+ * [[mio]]

+ * [[egoismo]]

+ * [[la|ego]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ After ''come'' and ''quanto'' in comparisons, Italian uses ''me'' rather than ''io'' unless the verb is repeated.^(Treccani 2011) The phrase ''io sono io e tu sei tu'' marks a difference of rank or situation between the speaker and another.^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010) In bureaucratic forms ''io sottoscritto'' (“I, the undersigned”) opens a declaration.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ GRADIT also lists ''io'' as the name of a genus of freshwater molluscs of the Americas (1957) and, in ''vanessa io'', of the peacock butterfly, both from the name of Io, the nymph loved by Jupiter.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|8, 482)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}