vussìa

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• vossìa (italianized)

Etymology

Possibly from the same source of Portuguese você; which is from the syncope of vosmecê, elision of vossemecê, contraction of Old Galician-Portuguese vossa mercee (literally “your mercy”) (today's mercê) from Latin vostra + mercēs. Compare with Spanish usted (from vuestra merced (literally “your mercy”)), Catalan vostè, and Italian vossignoria.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /(v)ʊsˈsi.a/
• Hyphenation: vus‧sì‧a

Pronoun

vussìa f sg (singular only)

2. (formal, honorific, courtly, now dated) indefinite pronoun; Your Lordship, Your Ladyship, Your Excellency

   Synonym: vuscenza

   Vussìa vulissi n'anticchia di acqua?

   Would you like to drink some water?

3. (polite, slightly ironic) you

Usage notes

• In place of the indicative present tense, this noun is typically used with the subjunctive past tense, third-person singular, to express a kind and indirect utterance.

Derived terms

• vussìa a-binidica
• vussìa abbinidica

 

Related terms

• iḍḍa
• iḍḍi
• iḍḍu
• jù
• nui
• nuiautri
• tu
• vui
• vuiautri
• vuscenza