gli Italian · revision 37489

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1290, Guido delle Colonne|origins=la ille}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʎi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gli''' (article: ''m pl'', singular [[lo]]; pronoun: ''glie-'' before ''lo'', ''la'', ''li'', ''le'' and ''ne'')^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The article and the pronoun are both [[inh|la|ille|t=that]] with the first syllable lost: the article is the nominative plural ⟨illī⟩ “those”, the pronoun the dative singular ⟨illī⟩ “to him, to her”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Nocentini 2010) The palatal sound /ʎ/ arose before a vowel: Devoto–Oli traces the article through ⟨(il)li amici⟩ and ⟨*(il)ljamici⟩ to ⟨gli amici⟩.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Nocentini describes the same development for the pronoun, with ⟨li aveva detto⟩ becoming ⟨gli aveva detto⟩: in Old Italian the article alternated between [[i]] and [[li]], and ⟨gli⟩ was the variant used before vowels.^(Nocentini 2010) Later ⟨i⟩ settled before consonants and ⟨gli⟩ before vowels, ⟨z⟩ and ⟨s⟩ followed by a consonant.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The plural article corresponds to [[fr|les]], [[oc|li]], [[ca|els]], [[es|los]], [[pt|os]] and [[ro|-i]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907) The pronoun is matched by [[scn|ci]],^(Wiktionary) but most Italian dialects express the dative with forms of adverbs of place: central and southern ⟨ci⟩ and ⟨nci⟩, from [[la-vul|*hīcce]] and [[m|la-vul|*hince]], and northern ⟨ghe⟩, from [[la|hīc|t=here]].^(Nocentini 2010) Zingarelli describes [[m|la|ille]] itself as made of an initial particle and an old demonstrative, both of uncertain origin.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The pronoun “to him” is first recorded before 1290 in Guido delle Colonne,^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) in the line ''Certo no gli è troppo disinore'' (“Certainly it is no great dishonour to him”).^(GDLI|6, 922) The article appears before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo,^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) although Nocentini dates it to the first half of the 13th century.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Because Latin ⟨illī⟩ did not distinguish gender, Old Italian ''li'' and ''gli'' meant both “to him” and “to her”; the 16th-century norm made ''le'' the only accepted feminine.^(Nocentini 2010) The plural “to them” is recorded before 1348 in Giovanni Villani,^(DELI 1999) and the dispute over it has lasted for centuries: Varchi condemned it but used it in his own prose, and Galileo, Leopardi, Tommaseo and Manzoni wrote it despite the grammarians.^(DELI 1999) In 1863 Fanfani observed that the Tuscan people used it all the time for ''a loro'', “in defiance of those grammarians”.^(DELI 1999) Nineteenth-century writers accepted it, and it remains the colloquial form in Tuscany.^(Nocentini 2010) The general use of ''gli'' for the old ''li'' became established in the 19th century, while ''li'' survives in outlying Tuscan dialects.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Today the pronoun is ''a lui'' in all registers, ''a loro'' in speech and informal writing, and ''a lei'' only in colloquial and regional use, though in the combined forms ''glielo'', ''gliela'' and ''gliene'' it serves every gender and number.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The article stands before ''dei'', the plural of ''dio'', which Devoto–Oli explains as a wrong division of ''gl'iddei'', the plural of ''l'iddio''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 13th century – Nocentini's date for the article.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1290 – Guido delle Colonne uses the pronoun “to him”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the article.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses ''gli'' for “to them”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Gli'' is used as a shortening of ''egli''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 16th century – Grammarians accept only ''le'' for “to her”.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1863 – Fanfani defends the Tuscan ''gli'' “to them”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 19th century – ''Gli'' replaces ''li'' in general use.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Article===

+ # The, the masculine plural of [[lo]], before words beginning with a vowel, s and a consonant, z, gn, ps, pn or x: ''gli orologi'', ''gli studenti'', ''gli zii''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Before ''dei'', the plural of [[dio]]: ''gli dei dell'Olimpo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|him|alt=To him]], to it, as an indirect object: ''Gli ho prestato la bicicletta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To them: ''Ai vicini gli porto le chiavi domani.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(colloquial, regional)'' To her: ''Ho visto Anna e gli ho detto tutto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(Tuscan, literary)'' He, it, as a shortening of [[egli]], often pleonastic: ''gli è vero''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lo]]

+ * [[il]]

+ * [[i]]

+ * [[li]]

+ * [[le]]

+ * [[glielo]]

+ * [[la|ille]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ With the prepositions the article forms ''agli'', ''dagli'', ''degli'', ''negli'' and ''sugli'';^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) ''cogli'' and ''pegli'' are spoken or old.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The article may be elided only before ''i'' (''gl'individui''), and even then the full form is preferred.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Before ''lo'', ''la'', ''li'', ''le'' and ''ne'' the pronoun becomes ''glie-'', written together with the next pronoun: ''gliene parlo domani''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Old Italian also had an adverb ''gli'' “there”, from Latin ''illīc'', as in Dante's ''Ombra non gli è né segno che si paia'' (''Purgatorio'' 13: “There is no shade there nor any carving to be seen”).^(GDLI|6, 924)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}