t'

See also: ť, tʼ, and Appendix:Variations of "t"

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t̚], [ʔ], [ː] prolongation of previous sound, or silent (with pause)

Etymology 1

From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun).

Article

t’

1. Northern England form of the (most characteristic of Yorkshire, but also found in areas of Lancashire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire)
   1. (Yorkshire) Short for the (mostly in speech).
      • 1957 May, Neil Caplan, “Railways in English Fiction”, in Railway Magazine, page 350:

        Tunnels often feature in fictional journeys, so I will end with quotations from a fairly recent novel, Howard Spring's "Fame is the Spur", published in 1940, in which there is a journey from Manchester to Bradford via the Calder Valley route: "Ay, we're going through Todmorden. We'll soon be in t' tunnel, and when we get to t' other end we'll be in Yorkshire," and "Ah think this is t' filthiest tunnel in t' world."

Usage notes

• Before a vowel, t’ is usually written and pronounced as if appended to the following word.
  • In He can't make up his mind if he wants one or t’other (= He can't make up his mind if he wants one or the other) t’other is pronounced [ˈtʊðə] as if spelled tother. Sometimes, especially after a consonant, it is pronounced as a glottal stop as below.
• Before a consonant, t’ is pronounced as a glottal stop following the preceding word.
  • In I’m going down t’ road to see me mam ( = I’m going down the road to see my mother), down t’ is pronounced [daʊnʔ] as down followed by a glottal stop.
• t’ is sometimes not pronounced at all, having no glottal stop, resulting in a slight pause or lengthening of the preceding sound.
  • This still remains distinct from the form without a definite article: compare in t’ woods [ɪnː ˈwʊdz] with in woods [ɪn ˈwʊdz].
• Speakers to whom the usage is not native sometimes pronounce it [tʰ] or [tʰə], either deliberately in mockery or unconsciously in ignorance. However, t is said when it is used for to the.

Derived terms

• t'internet

Etymology 2

Contraction.

Preposition

t'

1. Apocopic form of to.
   • 1690, Thomas d'Urfey, “Canto III”, in Collin's Walk Through London and Westminster: A Poem in Burlesque‎^[1], London: […] Rich. Parker […], page 105:

     But more particulary that, / Where Lady was to wear a Hat; / And lay the Enſigns of their pride; / Their Silken Ornaments aſide; / Which would have been a wholſome Act, / T' encourage Woolen Manufact; […]

   • 2016, Jane Redd, chapter 33, in Solstice, [Lehi, Ut.]: Mirror Press, →ISBN, page 257:

     Who wants t’ know?

Catalan

Pronoun

t'

1. contraction of et

Usage notes

• t' is the elided (elida) form of the pronoun. It is used before verbs beginning with a vowel.

  T'estimo. ― I love you.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

¹ Behaves grammatically as plural.   ² Behaves grammatically as third person.
³ Only as object of a preposition.   ⁴ Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Franco-Provençal

Pronoun

t'

1. apocopic form of te
2. apocopic form of tè

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t‿/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Pronoun

t'

1. elided form of te

   Je t’ai vu.

   I saw you.

2. (colloquial) elided form of tu

   T’as vu mon frère ?

   Have you seen my brother?

Related terms

French personal pronouns

number	person	gender	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	locative (at)	genitive (of)	disjunctive (tonic)1	emphatic reflexive	relative	proximal	distal
singular	first	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi	moi-même	—
	second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi	toi-même	—
	third	masculine	il2	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui	lui-même	celui	celui-ci	celui-là
		feminine	elle	la, l’				elle	elle-même	celle	celle-ci	celle-là
		indeterminate	on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça	—	—	—	—	—	—	ce	ceci	cela, ça
		reflexive	—	se, s’5		—	—	soi	soi-même	—
plural	first	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous	nous-mêmes	—
	second6	—	vous	vous		—	—	vous	vous-mêmes, vous-même6	—
	third	masculine	ils7	les	leur	y	en	eux7	eux-mêmes7	ceux	ceux-ci	ceux-là
		feminine	elles					elles	elles-mêmes	celles	celles-ci	celles-là

¹ The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d’, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
² Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
³ On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
⁴ The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
⁵ The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
⁶ Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
⁷ Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

Further reading

• “t'”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Haitian Creole

Adverb

t'

1. contraction of te

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before a word starting with a, o, u, fha, fho, or fhu) /t̪ˠ/, (before a word starting with e, i, fhe, or fhi) /tʲ/

Determiner

t’

1. (Cois Fharraige) alternative form of d’ (“your (singular)”)

Verb

t'

1. (informal) contraction of tá (“is”)
   • 1894 March, Peadar Mac Fionnlaoigh, “An rí nach robh le fagháil bháis”, in Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge, volume 1:5, Dublin: Gaelic Union, pages 185–88:

     “T’eagla orm,” dubhairt an rí, “go bhfuil mé caillte, óir budh chóir gur mhac damh atá ’san phlúr seo.”

     “I am afraid I am lost,” said the king, “for it ought to be that this flower is a son of mine.”

Italian

Pronoun

t' (apocopated)

1. apocopic form of ti

   T’odio. ― I hate you.

Usage notes

Commonly elides before a vowel, especially i and e.

See also

Italian personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Reflexive	Accusative	Dative	Combined	Disjunctive	Locative	Partitive
Singular	first	—	io	mi, m', -mi			me	me	—
	second	—	tu	ti, t', -ti			te	te
	third	m	lui	si2, s', -si	lo, l', -lo	gli, -gli	glie, se2	lui, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
		f	lei, Lei1		la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1	le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1		lei, Lei1, sé
Plural	first	—	noi	ci, c', -ci			ce	noi	—
	second	—	voi, Voi4	vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4			ve	voi, Voi4
	third	m	loro, Loro1	si, s', -si	li, Li1, -li, -Li1	gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro1	glie, se	loro, Loro1, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
		f			le, Le1, -le, -Le1
1	Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
2	Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
3	Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language.
4	Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).

Louisiana Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t‿/

Etymology 1

Particle

t'

1. prevocalic form of té (past tense marker)

Etymology 2

Pronoun

t'

1. prevocalic form of to (“you, thou”)

   T'olé ça? ― Do you want that?

Maltese

Preposition

t’

1. apocopic form of ta’

   t’art ― of earth

Usage notes

Its use is optional when followed by a vowel sound, and connects to the next word directly without a space, i.e. both t’art as one word and ta’ art as two words are correct.

Manx

Verb

t'

1. apocopic form of ta

Sassarese

Pronoun

t'

1. apocopic form of ti, used before a vowel

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t̪ʰ/ (before a back vowel sound)
• IPA^(key): /tʲʰ/ (before a front vowel sound)

Determiner

t’

1. alternative form of d’ (“your”) (second-person singular possessive pronoun)

Yola

Particle

t'

1. apocopic form of ta
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 10, page 88:

     T' brek up ee bathès h' had na poustee;

     To break up the goal they had not power;

   • 1867, “DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH”, in APPENDIX, page 132:

     Tommeen was eepit t' drive in

     [Tommy was put to drive in]

Preposition

t'

1. apocopic form of ta
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 9, page 88:

     Na, now or neveare! w' cry't t' Tommeen,

     Nay, now or never! we cry'd to Tommy,

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 10, page 88:

     Oore hart cam' t' oore mouth, an zo w' all ee green;

     Our hearts came to our mouth, and so with all in the green;

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 100:

     Craneen t' thee wee aam, thee luggès shell aake.

     Choking to thee with them. Thy ears shall ache.

   • 1867, “DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH”, in APPENDIX, page 131:

     Fad didn'st thou cum t' ouz on zum other dey?

     [Why didn't you come to us on some other day?]

Pronoun

t'

1. apheretic form of it; the ball
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 7, page 86:

     Our eein wode b' mistern t' dearnt up ee skee.

     Our eyes would be dazzled (if it) to look (hided) up to the sky.

2. misspelling of 't

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 86