Where does “si” come from?

si (Chavacano) comes from Spanish sí, from Old Spanish sy, from Latin sīc, from Latin sice, from Latin sī, from Proto-Italic sei, from Proto-Indo-European só — this; that.

si (Chavacano): yes; if

Definitions

  1. yes; if

Ancestry of “si”, step by step

si traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Spanish sí

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishsíyes, affirmation. Commonly used to respond...
2Old Spanishsyyes in response to a question
3Latinsīcyes, indeed (If answering a question)
4Latinsice—
5Latinsīif, supposing that
6Proto-Italicseiso, thus
7Proto-Indo-Europeansóthis; that

via Hiligaynon si

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Hiligaynonsi—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European só →Every word from Proto-Italic sei →Every word from Latin sī →