Ancestors

Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-30 at 19:16

Italian 'quello', Portuguese 'aquele', and Spanish 'aquel', all demonstrative adjectives meaning "that", have an interesting origin.

The part '(a)qu-' comes from Popular Latin 'eccum', meaning "look".

This word came to be used as an intensifier of demonstratives: 'eccum ille' ('look, that') became 'quello', 'aquele', and 'aquel'.

Italian even preserves 'eccum' as a standalone word: 'Ecco la ragione!' ("That's the reason!").

Click my new graphic to learn all about Romance demonstratives.

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Written by Giovanni Mascellani on 2025-01-31 at 11:35

@yvanspijk Thanks, as usual! Italian also has "codesto" as medial form, though it's not very used today, especially outside of Tuscany. I would guess that -esto still comes from "iste", but where does cod- stems out?

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Toot

Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-31 at 11:38

@giomasce 'Codesto' is related as well, indeed. It comes from Old Italian 'cotesto', from earlier 'cotevesto', from Latin 'eccum tibi istum', literally "here's that for you".

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Descendants