ç'

See also: Appendix:Variations of "c"

Albanian

Etymology

From çë.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃ/

Pronoun

ç'

1. (interrogative pronoun) Is used in front of a word to make direct or indirect questions for something that is unknown.

   Ç'po bën? ― What are you doing?

   Ç'është kjo? ― What is this?

2. (interrogative pronoun) Is used as an interrogative word in front of nominative case or accusative case to ask about the type or feature of a being, thing, phenomenon replacing cili and çfarë.

   Ç'libër doni? ― What kind of book do you want?

   Ç'kuptim ka? ― What does that mean?

3. (interrogative pronoun) Is used to ask question about relationship between people replacing kush.

   Ç'e ke atë djalë? ― How is that boy related to you?

4. (interrogative pronoun) Is used as vocative replacing çfarë. Is used as vocative that always gives us the negative answer nothing. Is used in vocative that show surprise or denial replacing gjithçka and çmos.

   Ç'gëzim i madh! ― What a big joy!

   E ç'është ai? ― And what is he?

   Ç'kam parë atje! ― What I've seen there!

5. (relative pronoun) Is used to connect a dependant sentence replacing gjithçka.

   Ç’u tha, u bë. ― Everything was said, got done.

6. (relative pronoun) As a relative pronoun replacing sa.

   Me ç'dukej. ― As much as it looked like.

7. Is used in front of a word that shows surprise, happiness, joy, regret etc.

   Ç’u kënaqa! ― What a joy!

8. Is used to show denial or contempt replacing mos.

   Ç’e pyet kot. ― Don't ask him/her.

   Ç’e dëgjon atë. ― Don't listen to him/her.

9. The short form for çfarë, çka.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s‿/

Pronoun

ç’ m or f

1. (dated) Contraction of ce.
   • 1842, Négociations relatives à la succession d'Espagne sous Louis XIV‎^[2], page 530:

     Ayant ensuite rapporté audit commandeur tout ce qui nous avait été articulé par l’empereur et par le prince, le sieur commandeur nous déclara à son tour que si, dans cette circonstance, il avait semblé à qui que ce fût qu’il agît ou parlât en homme qui a du ressentiment, ç’avait été tout à fait contre son intention, [...]

     Having then reported to said commander everything that the emperor and the prince had said to us, the commander told us that if, on that occasion, it had seemed to anybody that he had acted or spoken resentfully, then that had not been his intention at all […]

   • 1847, L'abeille médicale, volume 4, page 79:

     Si j’ai hésité d’abord à employer ce moyen, ç’a été par la crainte de voir les malades rester plus longtemps que cela n’eût été utile sous l’influence de l’éther, [...]

     If I hesitated at first to use this method, it was out of fear of seeing patients stay under the influence of ether for longer than necessary, [...]

2. (colloquial) Contraction of ça.

Usage notes

(contraction of ce): Ç’ is used before the vowel /a/. In other cases, use c’ (e.g. c’est).

Quotations

• 1875, Alphonse Daudet, “La Dernière Classe”, in Contes du lundi:

  Et puis tu vois ce qui arrive... Ah ! ç’a été le grand malheur de notre Alsace de toujours remettre son instruction à demain.

  And then you see what happens... Oh! it’s been the great misfortune of our Alsace to always put off its education until tomorrow.

• 1900, Revue Biblique Internationale‎^[3], L’École pratique d’études bibliques, page 127:

  Ç’a été une de nos occupations aux Hautes Études, en hiver 1896-97, travail fructueux, s’il en est.

  This has been one of our occupations at Hautes Études, in winter 1896–97; fruitful work, if ever there were any.

Further reading

• “ç'”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.