ti Italian · revision 37496

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1300–1313, Dante|origins=la tibi, la tē}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ti/^(DiPI)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ti''' (second person singular, unstressed, ''te'' before ''lo'', ''la'', ''li'', ''le'' and ''ne'')^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The pronoun is [[inh|la|tibi|t=to you]], the dative of [[la|tū|t=you]], according to DELI and Nocentini.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In Tuscany the dative form took over the work of the accusative [[m|la|tē]] in unstressed position, while in the northern dialects it replaced that form altogether.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Other sources give both Latin cases as the source,^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) and GRADIT, DEI and Gabrielli derive it from the accusative alone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3783)^(Gabrielli 2020) Nocentini compares this with French and Spanish, where the accusative took over the dative instead, and gives the same outcome in [[sc|ti]] and [[ro|ți]].^(Nocentini 2010) The form ⟨te⟩ before ⟨lo⟩ and ⟨ne⟩ is explained by Nocentini as an assimilation to the vowel of the following pronoun.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The Latin dative goes back to Old Latin [[m|la|tibei]] and [[itc-pro|*tefei]], from [[ine-pro|*tébʰi]];^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) Umbrian [[m|xum|tefe|t=to you]] shows the same Italic form.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first records of both uses, as a direct object (“you”) and as an indirect object (“to you”), are in Dante, 1300–1313.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT dates the word to before 1313,^(GRADIT 2003) DEI to the 13th century,^(DEI|3783) and Nocentini and Devoto–Oli to the 14th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian could attach the pronoun to a finite verb, as in Dante's “vegnonti a pregar” (''Purgatorio'' 5), where the modern language puts it before the verb.^(Zingarelli 2010) The full form ''te'' could still replace it in poetry in the 18th century: DELI quotes Migliorini's remark that Giuseppe Parini, correcting the printed text of his poem, changed ''saettarti'' into ''saettarte''.^(DELI 1999)

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+ In the northern dialects ''ti'' became the stressed pronoun of the second person, the equivalent of standard ''tu'' and ''te''.^(Nocentini 2010) In the spoken language it doubles a following or preceding ''a te'', and it serves as an ethical dative expressing the speaker's or listener's involvement.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''ti'' as a direct and an indirect object.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – Nocentini's and Devoto–Oli's date for the pronoun.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ * 1525 – Pietro Bembo uses ''T'' as the name of the letter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 18th century – Parini changes ''saettarti'' into the poetic ''saettarte''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|you]], as a direct object, before a finite verb or attached to an infinitive, gerund or imperative: ''ti aspetto alla stazione'', ''vengo a svegliarti''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To you, for you, as an indirect object: ''ti mando le foto stasera''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # In [[m|en|reflexive]] and pronominal verbs of the second person singular: ''ti alzi presto?'', ''non ti preoccupare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' As an ethical dative, showing involvement: ''ti sei finito tutta la torta!''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Repeating ''a te'' or used for emphasis: ''a te non ti va mai bene niente'', ''cosa ti credi?''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[te]]

+ * [[tu]]

+ * [[tuo]]

+ * [[mi]]

+ * [[la|tibi]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Before ''lo'', ''la'', ''li'', ''le'' and ''ne'' the pronoun takes the form ''te'' and comes first (''te lo regalo''), and it comes before ''ci'' and ''si'' but after ''mi''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) After a one-syllable imperative the ''t'' is doubled: ''fatti'', ''statti''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) It is elided only before a vowel: ''t'ammiro''.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ''Ti'' is also the name of the letter ''t'', feminine or masculine and invariable.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DELI dates it to 1879 in Tommaseo–Bellini, with earlier uses of ''T'' as a name in Bembo (1525) and Vasari (1550), and derives it from the Latin name of the letter, pronounced ''te''.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini explains the vowel ''-i'' as an analogy with the preposition ''di'' and the pronoun.^(Nocentini 2010) In music ''ti'' is also a name of the note B.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}