papà Italian · revision 37737

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1556, Pietro Aretino}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /paˈpa/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''papà''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ DELI, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and the older dictionaries give it as [[bor|fr|papa]], a nursery word recorded in French from 1256.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DEI|2755)^(Prati 1951|737)^(Devoto 1968) Nocentini rejects this widespread view: following the arguments of Tomasin, whom he finds persuasive, he takes the word as a native northern Italian nursery word, made by repeating the elementary syllable ⟨pa⟩.^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary likewise derives it from the dialects of northern Italy.^(Wiktionary)

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+ In the affectionate register, the Italo-Romance forms for “father” are this word in the north, [[babbo]] in Tuscany (except Lucca, which has ⟨pappà⟩), the neighbouring parts of central Italy and Sardinia, and [[tata]] in the centre and south.^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the form ''pappà'' in Pietro Aretino, before 1556 (Nocentini dates it to 1534).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The word then reappears in dialect dictionaries of the first half of the 18th century, in a Sicilian dictionary of 1754 and a Venetian and Paduan one of 1775.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|737)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Pietro Giordani wrote of “tante altre mammine e tanti papà” (so many other mums and dads) in 1820.^(DELI 1999) In the 19th century ''papà'' and ''mammà'' were described as the words of the genteel classes everywhere except Tuscany; later editions of the same dictionary added that even some Florentines had their children say ''papà'' to seem refined.^(Prati 1951|737)^(DEI|2755) The Veronese, Vicentine and Trevisan dialects have ''popà''.^(Prati 1951|737)

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+ Today ''papà'' is the familiar word all over Italy, while ''babbo'' is increasingly limited to Tuscany.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Diminutives such as ''papalino'' and ''paparino'' spread from about 1930, and ''figlio di papà'' is a young man living on his family's money and influence.^(DEI|2755)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1256 – French ''papa'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1556 – Pietro Aretino uses ''pappà''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1754 – A Sicilian dictionary records the word.^(Prati 1951|737)

+ * 1775 – A Venetian and Paduan dictionary records it.^(Prati 1951|737)

+ * 1820 – Pietro Giordani uses ''papà'' in a letter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1930 – The diminutive ''papalino'' becomes common.^(DEI|2755)^(Prati 1951|737)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(familiar)'' [[m|en|dad]], daddy, [[m|en|father]], used especially in addressing him or in speaking within the family: ''Papà, mi porti al parco?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[paparino]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[babbo]]

+ * [[tata]]

+ * [[mammà]]

+ * [[fr|papa]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Unlike ''padre'', ''papà'' takes the article after a possessive: ''il mio papà''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) It is invariable in the plural, and the familiar clipped form is ''pa’''.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DEI also records an obsolete ''papà'' “priest”, from Byzantine Greek, which survives in Calabrian and Sicilian ''papa''.^(DEI|2755) ''Papà Natale'' is a name for Father Christmas.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}