ce Italian · revision 37587

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=inherited|attested=before 1306, Jacopone da Todi|origins=la hīc}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /t͡ʃe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ce''' (unstressed; older literary ''cel'' “ce lo” and ''cen'' “ce ne”)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the form [[ci]] takes before the unstressed pronouns ⟨lo⟩, ⟨la⟩, ⟨li⟩, ⟨le⟩ and the particle ⟨ne⟩, both as the pronoun “us, to us” and as the adverb “there”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Tommaseo compared it with [[me]] and [[te]] in the same position.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Its origin is therefore that of ⟨ci⟩: according to DELI it is [[inh|la-vul|*hīcce]], a spoken form of [[la|hīc|t=here]], while Fassò, Nocentini and others prefer the phrase [[m|la-vul|*ecce hīc|t=look here]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The adverb of place took on the value of the first person plural, as [[vi]] did for the second.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first records of the form ''ce'' are in Jacopone da Todi, before 1306, as the adverb “in this place” and in the sense “about this”, and in Dante, before 1321, as the pronoun “to us”.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In ''Paradiso'' 2 Dante writes ''La concreata e perpetua sete / del deiforme regno cen portava'' (“the inborn and endless thirst for the godlike realm carried us on”), with ''cen'' for ''ce ne''.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Older literary Italian joined the particle to a following ''lo'' or ''ne'', as in Boccaccio's ''cel mostra'' “shows it to us” and Annibal Caro's ''cen cale'' “matters to us”.^(Zingarelli 2010) Dante could still use ''ce'' as a direct object, which is now obsolete.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ In modern Italian the combinations are fixed: ''ce lo'', ''ce ne'', and the forms written as one word after an imperative, infinitive or gerund (''portacelo'', ''parlarcene'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) In colloquial speech ''ce'' with ''avere'' is very common (''ce l'hai?'' “have you got it?”).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) In Rome it is also a reinforcing particle with no meaning of its own.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses ''ce'' as an adverb.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it as a pronoun.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # To us, us, before ''lo'', ''la'', ''li'', ''le'' and ''ne'': ''ce l'ha spiegato la maestra'', ''raccontacelo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # In reflexive verbs of the first person plural: ''ce ne siamo accorti tardi''.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|there]], [[m|en|here]], before the same pronouns: ''la chiave? ce l'ho lasciata io''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' With no meaning of place, especially with ''avere'' and ''volerci'': ''ce l'hai una penna?'', ''ce ne vuole di coraggio''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(Rome)'' Reinforcing particle.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ci]]

+ * [[vi]]

+ * [[ne]]

+ * [[la|hic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ce'' is also an old and regional name of the letter ''c'', usually called ''ci''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Ce'' is the chemical symbol of cerium.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}