tuttavia Italian · revision 39235

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=13th century, Ballata di Saladino|origins=la tōtus, la via}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /tut.taˈvi.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tuttavia''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had the shortened [[m|roa-oit|tavia]].^(DEI|3937)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of ⟨tutta⟩, the feminine of [[tutto]] “all”, and [[via]] “way”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary traces it to [[la|tōta via|t=the whole way; always]].^(Wiktionary) The same expression is [[es|todavía]] and [[pt|todavia]], and Old French had [[m|fro|toutes voies]], later replaced by [[fr|toutefois]].^(DEI|3937)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The Latin adjective [[m|la|tōtus]] has no accepted etymology.^(de Vaan 2008) Latin [[m|la|via]] goes back to Proto-Italic ⟨*wijā-⟩ and perhaps to the Proto-Indo-European root [[m|ine-pro|*weyh₁-|t=to strive after]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the ''Ballata di Saladino'', of the 13th century, with the sense “all the same, nevertheless”;^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3937) DEI cites Brunetto Latini.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3937)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''tuttavia'' was above all an adverb of time, “always, continually”: Dante writes ''Non lasciavam d'andar perch'ei dicessi, / ma passavam la selva tuttavia'' “we did not stop walking while he spoke, but kept passing through the wood”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|3937) Boccaccio uses it for “still”, and Lorenzo de' Medici's ''Quant'è bella giovinezza / che si fugge tuttavia'' speaks of youth slipping away all the time.^(DEI|3937)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The temporal senses are now literary, and Manzoni still uses it for “to this day”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ Tommaseo notes that the idea of continuation explains how ''tuttavia'' came to mean “nevertheless”: an action goes on in spite of what stands against it.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The old conjunction ''tuttavia che'' meant “every time that”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|3937)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – The ''Ballata di Saladino'' uses ''tuttavia'' for “nevertheless”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – Old Italian ''tuttavia che'' “every time that” is recorded in the Italian Marco Polo.^(DEI|3937)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|however]], [[m|en|nevertheless]], all the same: ''Il viaggio era lungo, tuttavia nessuno si lamentò.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Answering a concessive clause: ''Benché fosse stanco, tuttavia continuò a lavorare.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Strengthened as ''e tuttavia'' or ''pur tuttavia'': ''una giornata faticosa e tuttavia piacevole''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(literary, archaic)'' Always, continually.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' Still, even now.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tutto]]

+ * [[via]]

+ * [[però]]

+ * [[es|todavía]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ As a conjunction ''tuttavia'' is usually set off by pauses and may stand inside its clause as well as at its head.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) ''Purtuttavia'' is also written as one word.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}