lui Italian · revision 37561

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=end of the 12th century, Ritmo laurenziano|origins=la ille}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈluj/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lui''' (plural loro, feminine lei)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms are ''loi'' and ''lue''.^(GDLI|9, 265)

+ Tuscan has the form ''lu’''.^(DEI|2281)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*illui]], a dative of [[la|ille|t=that]] that replaced the classical [[m|la|illī]], used for every gender.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The new masculine took its ending from the relative pronoun [[m|la|cui]], the source of Italian [[cui]],^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) and a feminine [[m|la-vul|*illaei]] (Italian [[lei]]) was made on its model.^(Nocentini 2010) The dative spread to all the oblique cases, the accusative included.^(Nocentini 2010) The same form is [[fro|lui]] and [[m|fro|li]], [[oc|lui]] and [[ro|lui]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI)

+

+ [[m|la|ille]] itself replaced Old Latin [[m|la|olle]] or [[m|la|ollus]]; its ⟨i-⟩ is usually explained by the analogy of [[m|la|iste]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in the Ritmo laurenziano, at the end of the 12th century, as the oblique form of the third person, “him”.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini dates it to the beginning of the 13th century and GRADIT to before 1294.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used ''lui'' after prepositions and as a stressed object, and also as an indirect object without ''a'', as in Dante's “per dar lui esperïenza piena” (to give him full experience, ''Inferno'' 28).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010) It could refer to animals and things as well as to persons.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ Its use as a subject in place of ''egli'' was strongly opposed by grammarians.^(DELI 1999) It began cautiously in the 14th century (Dino Compagni, 1310–1312), spread in the 15th, was taken up by Aretino, and became established when Manzoni put it in place of ''egli'', which he felt to be too solemn.^(DELI 1999) Fanfani noted in 1863 that the people used it almost always and good writers used it in familiar writing.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini describes the same shift for ''lui'' and ''lei'', which by the 19th and 20th centuries had pushed ''egli'' and ''ella'' back into literary use.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ As a noun, ''il mio lui'' is a woman's beloved, recorded by Carlo Arlìa in 1895; in Milan the word meant the husband and in Rome the master.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) Written ''Lui'', it can refer to God.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano uses ''lui'' as an object form.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses ''lui'' as a subject.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 15th century – The subject use spreads.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1863 – Fanfani notes that the people almost always say ''lui'' for “he”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1895 – ''Lui'' “the beloved man” is recorded by Arlìa.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|he]], as a subject, now the usual form in place of ''egli'' and ''esso'', and obligatory after the verb or when contrasted: ''lui è già partito'', ''l'ha deciso lui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|him]], as a stressed object and after prepositions: ''cercavo proprio lui'', ''vado al cinema con lui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # In exclamations and comparisons: ''beato lui!'', ''è testardo quanto lui''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(bureaucratic)'' ''il di lui'', ''la di lui'' in place of the possessive “his”: ''il signor Bianchi e la di lui sorella''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' “To him”, without a preposition.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(with a capital)'' God.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(colloquial)'' ''il lui'', a woman's boyfriend or the man she loves: ''è uscita con il suo lui''.^(Treccani 2011)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[colui]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Lei]]

+ * [[egli]]

+ * [[lei]]

+ * [[Loro]]

+ * [[loro]]

+ * [[cui]]

+ * [[la|ille]]

+ * [[fr|lui]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''lui'' (1957) is an ethnic name, a variant of ''lozi''.^(GRADIT 2003) The warbler called ''luì'' is a different word, an imitation of the bird's call, recorded in Pulci.^(GDLI|9, 266)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}