appena Italian · revision 37585

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia quae dicuntur (Venetian)|origins=la ad, grc ποινή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /apˈpe.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''appena''' (invariable; rare and literary ''a pena'')^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the phrase [[af|it|a|pena|t2=pain, effort]], “with effort”, written as one word, with the doubling of /p/ that ⟨a⟩ causes in Tuscan pronunciation.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(TLIO)^(Treccani 2011) Wiktionary traces it to [[la-vul|*ad poenam]] and compares [[fr|à peine]] and [[es|apenas]].^(Wiktionary) The noun [[la|poena|t=penalty]] already meant “effort, hardship” in Seneca;^(DEI) it was borrowed from [[grc|ποινή|tr=poinḗ|t=penalty, blood money]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia quae dicuntur'', of the last quarter of the 12th century, in the sense “with difficulty”.^(TLIO) Dante has it in ''Inferno'' 26: ''che a pena poscia li avrei ritenuti'' (“that afterwards I could hardly have held them back”).^(GDLI|1, 559)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From “with difficulty, barely” the word came to mean “only, no more than” (end of the 13th century, ''Novellino'') and, in the TLIO's period, “a little” and “a very short time ago”.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) As a conjunction “as soon as” it is recorded in Matteo Villani before 1363.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The spelling as two words survives as a rare literary variant;^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Tommaseo advised keeping ''a pena'' when the sense of effort is meant.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In the conjunction an expletive ''non'' is common: ''non appena'' “no sooner than”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The Venetian ''Proverbia quae dicuntur'' have ''apena''.^(TLIO)

+ * End of the 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses it for “only”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante writes ''a pena'' “hardly”.^(GDLI|1, 559)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it as a conjunction “as soon as”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|barely]], [[m|en|hardly]], with difficulty: ''nella nebbia si distingueva appena la strada''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Only, no more than: ''sono appena le otto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # [[m|en|just]], a moment ago: ''il treno è appena partito''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''appena appena'': a tiny bit, very slightly.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Just, immediately, of place: ''la farmacia è appena dopo il ponte''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|as soon as]], also ''non appena'': ''appena arrivo a casa ti telefono''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pena]]

+ * [[la|poena]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}