What does "v'ha" mean?

Question

In Felice Romani's libretto *Il Pirata*, there is a line that I'm having trouble translating / understanding. V'ha un Nume protettor Della sventura.I showed this to my native-Italian aunt (who admits she is very out of practice) and she thinks it's an archaic spelling of "va". I did a follow-up search on Treccani and Google, and I can't really find anything supporting that.Instead, I found one source that claimed this is a form of "keep you", so the sentence would be *"Un Nume protettore vi ha della sventura."*, or *"A protector god will keep you from misfortune."*This seems more likely, but I'm still a bit doubtful. Could someone please clarify this interesting usage of avere?

Answer 1

In older Italian “v’ha” can mean “c’è” (there is). The complete translation of the libretto’s excerpt:

Non disperate, o figli,

Non son perduti ancor:

V’ha un Nume protettor

Della sventura.

is

Do not despair, folks [even if literally: sons],

They are not dead [literally: lost] yet:

[Because] There’s a God who protects

From misfortune.

Answer 2

Ciao! In older Italian literatures "vi" is used as an archaic version of "ci". Ci + avere together is an idiomatic expression meaning "I have" So, "Vi ha un nume prottetor della sventura" = "He/she has a protector from misfortune". Hope that helps!

Answer 3

It is a contracted form of Vi ha, itself an archaic form for Vi è, there is. The meaning is

There is a god protector

of [those in] misfortune

Compare, a few lines below, with

più rischio non v'ha.

which means

There isn't any more risk.