çà

Significat (English)

Adv

hither

Intj

1. so, well, then (with exhortative or intensive effect)
2. la! (expressing strong emotion of anger, surprise etc.)

Synonyms

ici

celui-là

par ici

Pronunciat com a (IPA)

/sa/

Etymology (English)

Inherited from francès mitjà: -

Inherited from francès antic: ça

Cognate with portuguès: cá

Cognate with espanyol: acá

In summary

From Middle French and Old French ça, from Vulgar Latin *ecce hāc. Compare Portuguese cá, Spanish acá. The grave accent now serves to distinguish it from ça (“that”). However, çà was already widely spelt thus before ça became common in writing, and in fact the accent was formerly also found for the latter. Thus perhaps by analogy with là. Compare also jà (where the accent has no clear purpose).