dunque Italian · revision 38364

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Ritmo cassinese|origins=la-lat dunc}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdun.kwe/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*dunquam]], a blend of [[la-lat|dunc|t=then]] with [[la|unquam|t=ever]].^(Wiktionary)^(TLIO) The Late Latin adverb, found in inscriptions of the imperial period, is itself explained as [[m|la|dum|t=while; still]] reshaped after the pair [[m|la|tum]] and [[m|la|tunc|t=then]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI) Nocentini calls the word a Romance formation of Latin origin and sees the ending lined up with the adverbs in “-unque”, as Devoto does.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) Wiktionary adds that the final /-e/ may continue an older form with the adverbial /-s/ seen in [[frm|doncques]].^(Wiktionary)

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+ The same adverb is [[fr|donc]], [[oc|adonc]], [[ca|donques]] and [[sc|duncas]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)^(REW 1935) Körting warns against confusing it with [[la|dōnique]], an older form of [[m|la|dōnec|t=until]], though Latin used that word as an adverb meaning “then” as well.^(Körting 1907)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Ritmo cassinese, from the early 13th century.^(TLIO) DELI's first example of the sense “therefore” is ''dunca'' in Stefano Protonotaro, early in the same century, who concludes that every lover ought to sing well: ''dunca ben di’ cantari onni amaduri''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian wrote the word in many shapes: ''donca'', ''donqua'', ''donque'', ''dunca'', ''dunqua'', ''dunche'' and others.^(TLIO) Guittone d'Arezzo used ''donque'' and Dante ''dunque'', while the longer ''adunque'' of Dante is now literary and ''dunche'' survived in rural Tuscan speech.^(Prati 1951|395)^(DELI 1999) Besides drawing a conclusion, the word introduced an exhortation, in Guittone before 1294 and in Dante, and Boccaccio used it in 1353 to take up a story again.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

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+ Ugo Foscolo turned it into a noun in 1809, “the conclusion, the heart of the matter”, which lives on in ''venire al dunque'', to come to the point.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In the spoken language it also fills a pause at the start of an answer while the speaker thinks.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Sabatini–Coletti cite ''penso, dunque sono'', the Italian form of Descartes' ''cogito, ergo sum''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 13th century – The Ritmo cassinese has the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * Early 13th century – Stefano Protonotaro writes ''dunca'' “therefore”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses ''donque'' to urge his readers.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante writes ''dunque'' in the ''Convivio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses it to resume a narrative.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1809 – Foscolo uses ''dunque'' as a noun, “the crux”.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|therefore]], so: draws a conclusion from what has been said: ''Ha piovuto tutta la notte, dunque il campo è fangoso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # [[m|en|well]], so: resumes, opens or closes a stretch of talk: ''Dunque, dove eravamo rimasti?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # In questions and exclamations, urges someone on or shows impatience: ''Dunque, ti muovi?'' ''e dunque?'' means “so what?”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(invariable)'' The [[m|en|crux]], the decisive point of a matter, mostly in ''venire al dunque'' (to come to the point) and ''essere al dunque'' (to have reached the moment of decision).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[adunque]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dovunque]]

+ * [[fr|donc]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Tuscan texts from Siena and the west of Tuscany between 1280 and the 14th century, ''dunque'' is also a variant of [[dovunque]] “wherever”, a separate word recorded in the Sienese statutes of 1280–1297.^(TLIO)^(DEI|1401)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}