li Italian · revision 37565

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250|origins=la ille}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /li/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''li''' (masculine plural; singular ''lo'')^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|illī|t=those]], the nominative masculine plural of [[la|ille|t=that]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin nominative was extended to the accusative in the pronoun.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DEI also derives the old dative use from the Latin dative plural, [[m|la|illīs]].^(DEI|2219) The same nominative gave the article [[fro|li]] and [[pro|li]].^(Körting 1907)

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+ According to Rohlfs, quoted in the GDLI, the old article ⟨li⟩ stood beside ⟨i⟩ in the way ⟨lo⟩ stands beside [[il]], as in Dante's ⟨li parenti miei⟩ but ⟨i piedi⟩.^(GDLI|8, 1032)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Zingarelli dates the word to before 1250, and GRADIT dates the pronoun to before 1313.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The article is in early poetry: Giacomo da Lentini writes “eo getto / a voi, bella, li miei sospiri e pianti” (I cast to you, fair one, my sighs and tears).^(GDLI|8, 1032)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''li'' was an article, the plural of ''lo'', as in Dante's “Tornate a riveder li vostri liti” (go back to see your shores again, ''Paradiso'' 2).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) Bembo noted that only poets used it, and the best of them rarely.^(DELI 1999) It survives in dates in letters and official documents (''Roma, li 3 marzo''), recorded in Pisan letters of 1457 and 1494;^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Migliorini called the spelling ''lì'' in this use a gross error.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ As an unstressed object pronoun, “them”, it is the plural of ''lo'' and is the only modern use.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Old and Tuscan usage also had ''li'' as an indirect object, “to him, to her, to them”, as in Dante's “E indietro venir li convenia” (and he had to walk backwards, ''Inferno'' 20).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|2219)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1313 – GRADIT's date for the pronoun.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1457 – ''Li'' before a date in a Pisan letter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – Bembo restricts the article to poets.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|them]] (masculine, or mixed), as a direct object, before the verb or attached to it: ''i biglietti li ho già comprati'', ''vado a prenderli''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To him, to her, to them, as an indirect object.^(Treccani 2011)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ===Article===

+ # ''(archaic, literary)'' The, masculine plural: the same as ''i'' and ''gli''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(bureaucratic)'' Before the day of the month in dates, from the second onwards: ''Milano, li 12 aprile''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lo]]

+ * [[gli]]

+ * [[le]]

+ * [[i]]

+ * [[il]]

+ * [[loro]]

+ * [[la|ille]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Li'' is not elided before a vowel (''li ho visti'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) After ''me'', ''te'', ''ce'', ''ve'', ''se'' and ''glie'' it comes second (''te li presto''), and it is attached to ''ecco'': ''eccoli''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) It should not be confused with the adverb ''lì'' “there”.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ''Li'' is also the Chinese unit of length, about half a kilometre, recorded in Italian in the first half of the 17th century.^(GRADIT 2003) Francesco Serdonati describes it as the distance a man's shout can be heard.^(GDLI|8, 1033)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}