te Italian · revision 37494

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1305–1306|origins=ine-pro *twé}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /te/, /ˈte/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''te'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Central and southern Italian has the form ''tene''.^(Nocentini 2010) In Tuscany and in colloquial speech ''te'' is also used as a subject: ''te resta qui''.^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|tē|t=you]], the accusative and ablative of [[la|tū|t=you]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011) It is panromance: [[fr|toi]], [[rm|tai]], [[oc|te]], [[ca|te]], [[sc|te]] and [[ro|tine]] continue it.^(Nocentini 2010) Old Latin had the form [[m|la|tēd]], which Nocentini explains as strengthened by an enclitic particle, as also in central and southern Italian ⟨tene⟩ and in the Romanian word.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The Latin pronoun goes back to the accusative [[itc-pro|*tē]] and ablative [[m|itc-pro|*ted]], from [[ine-pro|*twé]] and [[m|ine-pro|*t(w)éd]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) Related forms are [[grc|σέ|tr=sé]], and with the particle [[cu|тѧ|tr=tę]], [[hit|tuk]] and [[de|dich]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT and Nocentini date the first record to 1305–1306.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) Among GDLI's early quotations are the ''Novellino'' (“tu lo sconfiggerai, com'elli ha fatto te”, you will defeat him as he has defeated you) and Dante's ''Convivio'', addressing a song: “radi sono … quelli che intendano te bene” (few are those who understand you well).^(GDLI|20, 780)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside unstressed ''ti'', ''te'' served for every oblique case after a preposition and, in Dante's “Felice te, che sì parli a tua posta!” (''Inferno'' 16), in exclamations.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The combination ''teco'' “with you”, from Latin ''tēcum'', is recorded from the 12th century.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Tommaso Costo called ''il tu e il te'' “rustic and plebeian” compared with the polite ''voi'',^(GDLI|20, 780) and Treccani describes ''te'' as subject as very common in Tuscany.^(Treccani 2011) The set phrase ''fai da te'' (“do it yourself”) names [[m|en|DIY]].^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – ''Teco'' “with you” is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1305–1306 – First record of ''te''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|you]], the stressed form, as a direct object when it is emphasized or contrasted: ''ho invitato te, non lui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # After a preposition: ''verrò con te'', ''questo regalo è per te''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # In exclamations, in comparisons, and after ''essere'' or ''sembrare'' when the subject is not ''tu'': ''beato te!'', ''nessuno corre come te''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The unstressed form of ''ti'' before ''lo'', ''la'', ''li'', ''le'' and ''ne'': ''te lo spiego dopo'', ''vattene''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial, regional)'' As a subject, in place of ''tu'', especially after the verb or coordinated with ''io'': ''io e te ci capiamo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[teco]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ti]]

+ * [[tu]]

+ * [[tuo]]

+ * [[me]]

+ * [[la|tū]]

+ * [[fr|toi]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''da te'' (by yourself), ''per te'' and ''secondo te'' (in your opinion), ''se fossi in te'' (if I were you) and ''tra te e te'' (to yourself).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The stressed form has a closed /e/ and causes doubling of the following consonant in Tuscan; the unstressed one does not.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(DiPI)

+

+ A separate ''te'' (masculine, invariable) is a piece of wrought iron shaped like a T, named after the old name of the letter and recorded in 1895;^(GRADIT 2003) in shipbuilding a ''baglio a te'' is a beam ending in a crosspiece.^(GDLI|20, 781)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}