0521641772 cambridge university press using french a guide to contemporary usage may 2000

1.3 Dialect and language in contemporary Italy 21.4 Dialect and Italian in contact 4 1.5 Registers of language 5 1.6 Examples of regional variation: pronunciation 5 1.7 Examples of regio

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Using Italian

This is a guide to Italian usage for students who have already acquiredthe basics of the language and wish to extend their knowledge Unlikeconventional grammars, it gives special attention to those areas ofvocabulary and grammar which cause most difficulty to Englishspeakers Careful consideration is given throughout to questions ofstyle, register, and politeness which are essential to achieving anappropriate level of formality or informality in writing and speech.The book surveys the contemporary linguistic scene and gives amplespace to the new varieties of Italian that are emerging in modern Italy.The influence of the dialects in shaping the development of Italian isalso acknowledged Clear, readable and easy to consult via its twoindexes, this is an essential reference for learners seeking access to thefiner nuances of the Italian language

j j k i n d e r is Associate Professor of Italian at the Department ofEuropean Languages and Studies, University of Western Australia Hehas published widely on the Italian language spoken by migrants andtheir children

v m sav i n i is tutor in Italian at the Department of EuropeanLanguages and Studies, University of Western Australia He works asboth a tutor and a translator

Companion titles to Using Italian

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Using Italian

A guide to contemporary usage

J J K I N D E R and V M S AV I N I

  

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , UK

First published in print format

- ----

- ----

© J J Kinder and V M Savini 2004

2004

Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521485562

This publication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org

paperback

eBook (EBL) eBook (EBL) paperback

1.3 Dialect and language in contemporary Italy 2

1.4 Dialect and Italian in contact 4

1.5 Registers of language 5

1.6 Examples of regional variation: pronunciation 5

1.7 Examples of regional variation: grammar 7

1.8 Examples of register variation: grammar 8

1.9 Examples of regional variation: vocabulary 10

1.10 Extracts illustrating registers of Italian 12

Example of R1 (Sicilian and Northern varieties) 12

Example of R1 (Roman variety) 15

Example of R1 (Tuscan variety) 16

Example of written R1–2: SMS messages 17

Example of spoken R2: Un’agenzia di viaggi 19

Example of spoken R2: TV game show 20

Example of R2–3: magazine editorial 22

Example of R3: written communication from bank

to its customers 24

Example of R3: police report 25

Contents2.2 Similar form – partly similar meaning: Partialdeceptive cognates 41

2.3 Paronyms with similar meanings 51

2.3.1 Paronyms with similar meanings: a general list 52

2.3.2 Paronyms with similar meanings: misleading “alterati” 66

2.4 Paronyms with different meanings 67

2.5 Verbs with similar stems 70

2.6 Gender paronyms 75

2.6.1 Gender paronyms with similar meanings 75

2.6.2 Gender paronyms with different meanings 79

2.7 Deceptive minimal pairs 83

2.8 Other types of misleading similarities 87

3 Fields of meaning – “Synonyms” 89

4 Complex verbal expressions 1584.1 Single English verbs corresponding to complex Italianexpressions 158

4.2 Single Italian verbs corresponding to complex Englishexpressions 160

4.3 Complex Italian expressions corresponding to complex Englishexpressions 161

4.4 Italian “impersonal” verbs 162

4.5 Verbal expressions with la, ne, ci 164

4.5.1 Idiomatic verbal expressions with la 164

4.5.2 Idiomatic verbal expressions with ne 166

4.5.3 Idiomatic verbal expressions with ci 166

5 Affective suffixes 1685.1 Diminutive suffixes 169

5.2 Augmentative suffixes 172

5.3 Suffixes for verbs 173

6 Idioms, similes, and proverbs 1746.1 Idioms 174

6.2 Similes based on adjectives 184

6.3 Similes based on verbs 185

6.4 Other proverbial comparisons 185

6.5 Proverbs 186

Contents7.3 The Middle Ages to the twentieth century 190

7.3.1 Non-Italian names 190

7.3.2 Italian names with a Latinized or Anglicized

form in English 191

8 Geographical and astronomical names 192

8.1 Italy: administrative regions 193

8.2 Italy: cities 193

8.3 Continents 196

8.4 Europe: countries and regions 196

8.5 The Americas: countries and regions 199

8.6 Asia: countries and regions 199

8.7 Africa: countries and regions 200

8.8 Oceania: countries and regions 201

8.9 Historical or mythical places 202

8.10 Cities of the world 203

8.11 Rivers of the world 205

8.12 Mountains and volcanoes of the world 205

8.13 Planets, stars, and constellations 206

9 Abbreviations and acronyms 207

9.1 Titles and other frequently used abbreviations 208

9.2 International organizations 212

9.3 Italian non-political organizations 213

9.4 Italian official political organizations,

13 Measurement 22913.1 Length 230

14.2.3 Related nouns: patterns of m-f correspondence 242

14.3 Gender associated with types of noun 243

14.4 Gender associated with noun ending 245

14.5 Gender of compound nouns 248

14.5.1 Verb+ noun 248

14.5.2 Noun+ noun 249

14.5.3 Noun+ adjective/adjective + noun 250

14.5.4 Other compounds 250

14.6 Homonyms distinguished by gender 252

14.7 Nouns with both masculine and feminine plurals 253

15 Number 25615.1 Formation of plurals 256

15.2 Plural of compound nouns 258

15.3 Italian plurals which correspond to English singulars 259

15.4 Italian singulars which correspond to English plurals 260

15.5 Number concord 261

16 Pronouns 262

17 Comparison 270

17.1 Comparison of inequality 270

17.1.1 Nouns and pronouns 270

17.1.2 Other parts of speech 271

18.1 Subject and verb 276

18.2 Subject, verb, and object 277

18.3 Verbs, objects, and adverbs 279

18.4 Noun and adjective 280

18.5 Numerals and altro 283

19.5 Negation of single words 288

19.6 Other negative expressions 289

Contents23.3 Passive with rimanere and restare 309

23.4 Expression of the agent 309

23.5 Indirect objects 310

23.6 Other ways of expressing the passive 310

24 Reflexives and impersonals 31124.1 Direct reflexives 311

24.2 Indirect reflexives 311

24.3 Reciprocal reflexives 312

24.4 Inherent reflexives 312

24.5 The reflexive as marker of the intransitive 313

24.6 The passive reflexive 314

24.7 The impersonal reflexive with transitive verbs 314

24.8 The impersonal reflexive with intransitive verbs 315

24.9 Other impersonal subjects 316

24.10 Impersonal objects 316

THE SENTENCE – combining clauses

25 Italian prepositions 32125.1 a 321

Contents25.5.5 da used with parte 330

25.5.6 With a verb in the infinitive 330

25.5.7 Adverbial expressions with da 331

25.6 davanti a , prima di, avanti, di fronte a 331

25.8.3 dopo , dietro, and indietro used as adverbs 335

25.9 fino a , sino a, verso 336

25.11.5 Expressing manner, means, or material 338

25.11.6 Common idioms and expressions involving in 339

25.11.7 In complex prepositional expressions 339

Contents25.15 tra , fra 345

25.15.1 Basic meanings 345

25.15.2 Expressing time or distance 346

25.15.3 Common idioms and expressions involving

tra , fra 346

26 English prepositions 347

26.1.1 In the sense of “concerning” 347

26.1.2 In the sense of “approximately” 347

Contents26.19 from 355

27.1 Verbs with no preposition before an infinitive 365

27.1.1 Infinitive as subject of the verb 365

Contents27.2.7 Verb+ indirect object + di + infinitive 372

27.3.3 Verbs that express a mental attitude or disposition

(e.g state, tendency, or will) 375

27.3.4 Verbs that express being or staying 375

27.3.5 Verb+ direct object + a + infinitive 376

27.3.6 Verb+ indirect object + a + infinitive 376

27.7.1 No preposition in Italian: preposition in English 387

27.7.2 Preposition in Italian: no preposition in English 388

27.7.3 Some prepositions which do not correspond

in Italian and English 388

28 Use of tenses 38928.1 Present tense (faccio, vado) 389

28.2 Future tense (far ` o , andr `o) 391

28.3 Future Perfect tense (avr ` o fatto , sar `o andato) 392

28.4 Present Conditional tense (farei, andrei) 392

28.5 Conditional Perfect tense (avrei fatto, sarei andato) 393

28.6 Perfect tenses – Passato Prossimo and Passato Remoto 393

28.7 Imperfect and Perfect 394

28.7.1 Imperfect tense: other uses 396

29 Sequence of tenses 399

29.1 Sequence of tenses in the indicative 399

29.2 Sequence of tenses in the subjunctive 400

29.2.1 Main verb in the Present or Future 400

29.2.2 Main verb in the Past or Conditional 401

30 The Subjunctive 402

30.1 The Subjunctive in main clauses 403

30.1.1 Wishes 403

30.1.2 Third person imperative 403

30.1.3 Third person exhortations 403

30.1.4 Questions 404

30.2 The Subjunctive in noun clauses 404

30.2.1 With main clauses expressing emotion 404

30.2.2 With main clauses expressing opinion, doubt,

uncertainty, or certainty 405

30.2.3 With main clauses expressing knowing and

understanding 405

30.2.4 Saying 406

30.2.5 Illusion, dream, and pretense 406

30.2.6 With main clauses expressing

wanting 406

30.2.7 Permission and prohibition 407

30.2.8 With impersonal verbs 407

30.2.9 The verb aspettare 409

30.2.10 The position of the noun clause 409

Contents30.5.5 “Modal attraction” 414

30.6 Comparatives 414

30.7 Conditional sentences 415

31 Conditional sentences 41631.1 Hypothetical conditionals 416

31.1.1 Verb mood and tense 416

31.1.2 Other ways of saying “if” 418

31.2 Factual conditionals 419

32 Subordinate clauses 42132.1 Explicit subordinate clauses 421

32.2.5 Ways of translating words in “-ing” 428

TEXTS AND THEIR STRUCTURE

Preface and acknowledgments

This book aims to offer a description of contemporary Italian, suitable foradvanced students as well as teachers and linguists who are interested in theactual usage of the contemporary language The authors hope they haveusefully filled a gap in the available descriptions of the Italian language byproviding an account which at every point combines linguistic descriptionwith an indication of the sociolinguistic weight that various ways of

“saying the same thing” actually have in contemporary Italian society.The book assumes a reasonable knowledge of the basics of Italianvocabulary and grammar and focusses on a selection of areas which causedifficulty to English-speaking students and/or which are difficult inthemselves to explain adequately This selection covers a wide range frommatters of vocabulary to different levels of grammar Thus the book begins

in chapter 1 with an overview of the uniquely complex linguistic situation

in contemporary Italy and gives a selection of examples of the types ofItalian one may encounter in Italy This is followed by a number of

chapters, 2 to 13, on “Words and their meanings.” These cover areas

which pose problems for English speakers and include lists and

descriptions of types of words not always covered by traditional

dictionaries and grammars The next chapters, 14 to 24, deal with “The

clause – combining words” and describe matters of morphology such asgender and number and some matters often not adequately dealt with inmany grammars, such as word order and the choice of auxiliary verbs The

next group of chapters, 25 to 32, is devoted to the next level of grammar,

that of “The sentence – combining clauses,” and addresses some

difficulties in the use of verbs and sentence construction The final three

chapters, 33 to 35, move to the level of “Texts and their structure” and

look at various ways of combining sentences and paragraphs into coherent

Common abbreviations

adj adjectiveadv adverbAus Australian Englishaux auxiliary

d o direct objectesp especially

f feminine

fig figurative(ly)gen general(ly)indic indicativeinf infinitiveintr intransitiveinv invariable

i o indirect objectlit literally

chem chemical term

comm commercial term

comp computer related term

conj conjunction

econ economic term

gram grammatical term

idiom idiomatic

interj interjection

Lat Latin

leg legal term

math mathematical term

mech mechanical term

med medical term

milit military term

mus musical term

p.p past participle

pres present

pres p present participle

refl reflexive

1 Varieties of language

1.1 The Italian language today

Italian is the official language of the Republic of Italy It is spoken by the

58 million inhabitants of Italy and in the Canton Ticino area of

Switzerland, as well as by many millions of Italian migrants and theirdescendants in many parts of the world, especially Europe, North andSouth America, and Australia The Italian language has a fascinating and inmany ways unique history, which reflects the political and cultural history

of Italy The Italian language was based, during the Renaissance, on anidealized version of fourteenth-century Florentine Because of the politicalfragmentation which beset Italy up to the Risorgimento, however, this

“language” was predominantly used in writing, while for everyday speechthe usual form of communication remained the local dialects This wastrue, with exceptions of course, for all parts of Italy and for all socialclasses Since political unification in 1861, the language has becomeuniversally adopted, and in the process has adapted rapidly to the demands

of a modern, diversified society

The Italian standard is therefore a modified version of

fourteenth-century Florentine dialect This standard is found in gooddictionaries and is taught to classical actors and to newsreaders on nationaltelevision However, the Italian spoken and, to a lesser extent, written inmost everyday situations differs from this standard in various ways.Furthermore, all Italians show their regional origin by their accent A

1 Varieties of language

1.2 The dialects

An essential, ever-present feature of the Italian linguistic landscape isdialect The word “dialect” in English describes a regional variety of thestandard language, the way English is spoken in a particular place, e.g the

“Midlands dialect” (UK), the “mid-West dialect” (USA) In Italian theword has a quite different meaning The Italian dialects (or “dialects ofItaly”) are actually separate languages, geographically distributedthroughout the country, which may differ from one another so muchthat they can be mutually unintelligible if they are from non-adjacent areas.Italian is a Romance language, like Portuguese, Spanish, French, andRomanian The Romance languages are so called because they are allderived from Latin, the language of ancient Rome and the RomanEmpire Over time, Latin developed into new forms in many differentparts of the former Empire: these were referred to as the “vernacular” andcorrespond to what we now call “dialects.” At some stage, in eachRomance area, one vernacular eventually emerged as the official

“language” of the nation: in Italy, this vernacular was Florentine Theselection of one vernacular as “language” meant that the othervernaculars then assumed the label and status of “dialects.” Thus thedialects are derived from Latin, as Italian is, and are more or less closelyrelated to Italian; but they are distinct languages, not varieties of Italian.The dialects of Italy fall into three main geographical areas, divided bytwo “lines”: the La Spezia–Rimini line divides North from Center, andthe Rome–Ancona line divides Center from South (see map on p 3) Inthe North, the Gallo-Italic group covers all regions except the Veneto andFriuli–Venezia Giulia In the South, Sicily and the southern tips ofCalabria and Puglia (Apulia) form a separate sub-group Friulian andSardinian are often referred to as “minor (or minority) languages,” inrecognition of their very significant differences from Italian, and theirhistorical status as languages of their respective regions

1.3 Dialect and language in contemporary Italy

At the time of Unification in 1861, almost all inhabitants of Italy spoke adialect as their native language, while Italian was restricted to a smallsection of the population Estimates of how many Italians knew Italian in

1860 vary from 2.5% to 12% of the population, so that approximately nineout of ten Italians were monolingual in their dialect Progress in the spread

of Italian was slow until the second half of the twentieth century Recent

1.3 Dialect and language in contemporary Italy

FriulianVenetianGallo-ItalicCentralCentral-SouthernSardinian

Extreme Southern

Rome −Ancona line

La Spezia−Rimini

line

1 Varieties of language

the Islands than in the Northwest and the Center Older people use themmore than younger people, and men more than women Furthermore,dialects are used more among the lower classes, by people with lowerlevels of education but also, interestingly, by graduates more than bypeople with high school diplomas They are used more in rural areas and

in smaller towns than in large towns Besides everyday communication,they are used in other areas, e.g literature and music

1.4 Dialect and Italian in contact

The large numbers of people who regularly use both their dialect andItalian mean that we should classify Italy as a multilingual nation This alsomeans that the distinguishing line between the dialects and Italian is inmany cases becoming increasingly blurred, and this in two ways First, ineveryday conversation, linguistic forms from dialect and Italian are oftenmixed, for different reasons and to achieve different effects Secondly,both Italian and the dialects are being affected by their constant use bybilingual speakers The dialects are absorbing massive influence fromItalian, in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary But Italian, too, showsthe results of this mixed use, as sounds, grammatical features, words, andexpressions from the local dialect become accepted in the Italian of thatlocality If it is true that the dialects in their traditional form are slowlydying, it is equally true that they are leaving their trace in the stronglymarked regional varieties of Italian which draw so much from the dialecttradition

The following passage, while it is invented, shows how dynamic andexpressive can be the mixture of Italian (in formal and informal registers),dialects, and intermediate forms The first speaker is a Calabrian husband,the other is his Venetian wife

“Le libert`a non vengono date Si prendono k rop ot k i n !”

“Ah, che disgrassia! Tase, te digo! Tu vuoi precipitar questacasa nel baratro dell’ignominia e del disonor! Tu vuoi strascinarquesta famiglia nel fango!”

“Ma quale fango, Nuruzza mia? Lu fangu sta sulle manibianche del proprietario e del banchiere! Lu fangu `e la putridasociet`a! Anarchia non `e fango!! Anarchia `e onore de lu mundu,nome santo, vero suli della nuova storia, rivoluzione immensa,implacabbile!!”

(Elsa Morante, La Storia, Turin: Einaudi, 1974)

disgrassia:disgrazia, pronounced with a Venetian accent The Venetian

1.6 Regional variation: pronunciation

Nuruzza:An affectionate form of Nora, with a typically Calabrian

suffix The Italian equivalent would be Noruccia.

Lu fangu:il fango, Calabrian dialect.

lu mundu:il mondo, Calabrian dialect.

suli:sole, Calabrian dialect.

implacabbile:implacabile, a high register word, pronounced with the double b typical of Southern accents in Italian.

1.5 Registers of language

Italian linguists have distinguished several different registers of language,but for the purposes of this book it is more important to identify themajor registers of Italian as they occur in Italy today

R1 The most casual register of everyday speech It shows the greatest

evidence of regional origin, including features from the local dialect(sounds, words, and grammatical features) It includes many featuresconsidered ungrammatical in contexts which require R3 Many of the

features of italiano popolare occur in R1.

R1∗ words and expressions are those generally considered vulgar or

“taboo.” Non-native speakers should exercise caution in using them Wemake no apology for including these terms – they are among the mostfrequent in colloquial Italian, and must be understood!

R2 This register will show regional origin in pronunciation but less so ingrammar and vocabulary It is a truly intermediate register, which in asense is best understood negatively: it lacks the dialect influences and verycasual style of R1, but also lacks the formality of R3 On the other hand,R2 is more flexible and is acceptable in a very wide range of contexts, inboth speech and writing This corresponds to what has been called

“l’italiano dell’uso medio” or “l’italiano neostandard.”

R3 The written standard language, as it is taught in schools and used ingood-quality newspapers R3 includes bureaucratic, literary, archaic,and highly ritualized formal uses of language Many sub-registers havebeen identified, corresponding to various domains of professional

and social activity, e.g journalism, business, science, law, academia, etc

1 Varieties of language

NORTH double consonants are

not fully pronounced

-sci- pronounced as -si- lasia lascia

soft c pronounced as ts tsao ciao

la hasa]

la pesca, parlato, lacasa [la pεska parlato

la kasa]

soft g pronounced []between vowels

ragione [raone] ragione [radone]

syntactic doubling inparticular cases

a casa [a kkasa], da

me [da me o r damme]

a casa [a kkasa], da

me [da mme]

CENTER and

SOUTH

soft c pronounced as sci scinquescento cinquecento

ls pronounced as lts il tsole il sole

ns pronounced as nts intsomma insomma

rs pronounced as rts scartso scarso

SOUTH syntactic doubling in

1.7 Regional variation: grammar

vowels at end of wordspronounced as [ə]

stazione [stattsionə] stazione [stattsione]

-b- pronounced

double betweenvowels

impossibbile impossibile

soft -g- pronounced

double betweenvowels

s pronounced as

-s-between vowels

casa, caso [kasa kaso] casa, caso [kasa kazo]

SICILY syntactic doubling in

quacciu, sci-rada[kwattʃuʃtʃada]

quattro, strada

only one

pronunciation of e and o

vene, bene, dove,nove [vεne bεne dɔve

n o t e :

Syntactic doubling refers to the process of doubling the first consonant at the

beginning of a word, when that word follows certain other words.Syntactic doubling does not occur in the North Words which producesyntactic doubling are:

r words ending in an accented vowel (note that the vowel loses its stress in

the process), e.g perch´e no [perke nnɔ], Ges ` u Maria[djesu mmaria]

r certain words, usually monosyllables (exactly which words varies fromregion to region), e.g

a casa [a kkasa], come lui [kome llui], che fai? [ke ffai]

This is a feature of speech and is not shown in writing, though writersmay do so in order to convey local color In certain cases, however, certain

1 Varieties of language

NORTH no definite article

with certainpossessives

mia mamma, miopap`a

la mia mamma, ilmio pap`a

definite article withnames, esp feminine

la Maria, il Paolo Maria, Paoloverbal periphrasis sono dietro a fare sto facendoposition of pronouns devi telefonarmi mi devi telefonare,

devi telefonarmi

che with conjunctions quando che, mentre

che

quando, mentre

cosa in questions cosa vuoi? che vuoi?

use of su and gi`u togliere su, prendere

questa ragazza qui,quel ragazzo l`ı

questa ragazza, quelragazzo

CENTER te used for tu vieni anche te? vieni anche tu?

si used for noi noi si va via noi andiamo viairregular verbs dassi, stassi dessi, stassi

SOUTH a used with human

direct object

ho visto a Giuseppe ho visto Giuseppe

position of pronouns mi devi telefonare mi devi telefonare,

devi telefonarmiverbal periphrasis sto a fare sto facendo

verb at end of clause(Sicily and Sardinia)

siciliano sono sono siciliano

1.8 Examples of register variation: grammar

1.8 Register variation: grammar

comparatives il pi `u migliore il migliore

gli used for le ( = a lei) gli ho risposto

il paese dove ti hovisto

che used for indirect

relative pronoun

l’uomo che gli hotelefonato ieri

l’uomo al quale(a cui, cui) hotelefonato ieri

a used with direct

object pronoun for

ci used with avere c’ho tanto lavoro ho tanto lavoro

c’`e with plural subject c’`e molte case qui ci sono molte case

qui

che used to link

“main” clauses

aspetta che vengo aspetta: vengo o r

aspetta perch´e vengo

che used for in cui

(quando)

il giorno che ti hovisto

il giorno in cui(quando) ti ho

1 Varieties of language

1.9 Examples of regional variation: vocabulary

The variety of vocabulary items among the Italian dialects is legendary

As the dialect-speaking population acquired Italian as a second language,many dialect words entered the regional vocabularies of Italian, usuallyundergoing some “Italianization” in the process A survey carriedout by R ¨uegg in 1951 asked 124 persons from 54 provinces what namethey used for 242 different concepts: only one, “strong black coffee

served in a bar,” was given the same name by all informants: espresso.

Such rich geographical variation is still a major feature of spokenItalian

This first list contains words and constructions that are widelyrecognised as “typical” of Italian as spoken in the North, Center, andSouth of Italy In the cinema, elements such as these, together with astrong accent, would be enough to characterize a speaker as coming fromone of the three areas of the country

NORTH CENTER SOUTH

essere (cosa c’`e?) essere (che c’`e?) stare (che ci sta?)avere (ho fame) avere (ho fame) tenere (tengo fame)anche (viene anche lei) anche (viene anche

lei)

pure (viene pure lei)adesso (adesso vengo!) ora (ora vengo!) mo’ (mo’ vengo!)cosa sei dietro a fare? che stai facendo? che stai a fare?questo / quello questo / codesto /

quello

questo / quelloneanche, nemmeno,

neppure

neanche, nemmeno,neppure

manco, nemmanco

il giorno dopo il giorno dopo il giorno appressol’anno prossimo quest’altr’anno l’anno prossimoLuned`ı dell’Angelo Pasquetta Pasquetta

Different terms for the same object or activitySimple everyday objects and activities often have several different names in

different parts of Italy (In Italian they are called geosinonimi.) For example a coat-hanger is called ometto, stampella, attaccapanni, croce, and appendiabiti in

1.9 Regional variation: vocabulary

NORTH CENTER SOUTH

bad luck

sfiga (R1–1∗) scalogna, scarogna jella

wind-up blind on outside of window

tapparella serranda tapparella, persiana

broad beans (Vicia faba)

chair

cheese

cloth for use in housework

daddy

doorkeeper

to “dunk,” dip food in liquid

pucciare zuppare, inzuppare azzuppare, inzuppare

godparents at Baptism or Confirmation

padrino e madrina padrino e madrina compare e comare

melon (Cucumis melo)

1 Varieties of language

Different meanings for the same word

A few words have rather different meanings in different regions Most ofthese are limited to R1

Meaning Region babbo father Tuscany

passata hair band Tuscany

tomato sauce North and South

stampella crutch (for walking) Tuscany

coathanger North and South

comare gossip Center, Puglia,

1.10 Extracts illustrating registers of Italian

Example of R1 (Sicilian and Northern varieties of Italian),

from Mim`ı metallurgico ferito nell’onore (1972), directed

by Lina WertmullerThe 1970s films of director Lina Wertmuller used local and informalregisters of Italian, and dialect, to great effect One has the impression oflistening to dialect but in fact the speech is cleverly constructed, with onlywell-known dialect words and phrases, easily recognizable throughoutItaly, inserted into Italian spoken with a strong regional accent The filmsalso exaggerate cultural stereotypes of various parts of Italy, for satiricaleffect In this extract, Sicilian Mim`ı has moved to Turin to escape theMafia and seek work, and Fiore is a Northerner, a left-wing street trader

1.10 Extracts illustrating registers of Italian

m i m`ı No, c `oppa tua i`e

f i o r e Mia? di me? e perch´e?

m i m`ı Scusami Scusami ancora, per piacere, per cortesia, compagna,

ti dispiace se ti bacio?

f i o r e Mah, se lo chiedi per cortesia

(During the kiss Mim`ı becomes aggressive.)

f i o r e Mah? Aia! Ma no! Vigliacco d’un Mascalzone! Bestia d’un porco!

Che finezza signorile per un ordinario – i terun vegnon gi `o con lapiena a f`a viul´ens: mi tocca anche subire la violenza del terrone, mametti! Non ti permettere mica perch´e ti spacco la testa, ma te la spacco.Prima mi domandi per piacere per cortesia un bacio, e dopo pratichi laviolenza carnale Ma va’ all’inferno!

m i m`ı Ma non fu violenza Passione fu Scusami Fiore, ma io fui travolto, io

non potetti assolutissimamente resistere alla tentazione dei sensi Maquale violenza, ma per carit`a! Ma quando mai! Modestamente, con lefemmine, risultai sempre gradito, io Ma cu tia, cu tia bedda Fiore, `ediverso, `e diverso, perch´e tu mi piaci come non mi piacque mainessuno E ora, ora non mi puoi rifiutare Fiore, guarda che non mipuoi pi `u dire di no

f i o r e E io ti dico proprio di no Ma per chi m’hai preso, oh?

m i m`ı Mi rifiuti?

f i o r e Eh!

m i m`ı E perch´e? Qualcheduno ti ha raccontato qualche cosa nei miei

confronti?

f i o r e A me? Ma chi ti credi di essere? Ma chi `e che ti conosce? [ .] Tanto,

la ragione `e un’altra Io all’amore ci credo Per me, l’`e na roba seria

m i m`ı E io ti sembro allegro? Serissimo sono Io dall’inizio non capiva Credo

che caddi innamorato di te appena ti vidi

f i o r e Te? Io no! Oh bella!

Northern characteristics of Fiore’s speech

Pronunciation Distinctive vowel sound: pa ¨ura

closed e pronounced open, e.g me, te, perch´e pronounced

m`e, t`e, perch`eAll double consonants are pronounced single

1 Varieties of language

Sicilian characteristics of Mim`ı’s speech

Pronunciation Closed o pronounced open, e.g Fiore, passione, sono

pronounced Fi `ore, passi `one, s `ono

Closed e pronounced open, e.g femmine, allegro

pronounced f `emmene, all`egro

Unstressed i pronounced in indistinct fashion [ə], e.g ti, carit`a , mi pronounced [təcarəta mə]

-sci- for -ci-, e.g bacio, piacere pronounced bascio,

Grammar Use of passato remoto

Verb at end of sentence for emphasis, e.g passione fu, serissimo sono

Vocabulary femminefor donne

Dialect c ` oppa tua i`e= `e colpa tua

cu ttia bedda Fiore= con te bella Fiore

capiva= capivo

General characteristics of informal spoken Italian

Pronunciation ’na for una, ’sti for questi

Grammar c’hai , c’ha for hai, ha, pronounced [tʃai tʃa]

Demonstratives plus adverbs for emphasis, e.g questo qua, quelli l`ı

Normal word order changed to place important idea at the

end of the sentence, e.g io all’amore ci credo

Use of subject pronoun at the end of the clause for

emphasis, e.g risultai sempre gradito, io Loose linking of clauses, e.g c’hai na faccia che sembri uno (R2= tale che)

So-called ‘cleft sentence’, e.g chi `e che ti conosce?

(= chi ti conosce?)

Emphatic use of reflexive, e.g chi ti credi di essere?

Mixture of registers, e.g Fiore switches to dialect at the

height of her anger i terun vegnon gi `o a f`a viul´ens, then

back to R2 Italian, then uses a higher register (legal)

expression of condemnation pratichi la violenza carnale.

Mim`ı resorts to an exaggerated superlative adverb, typical of

R1: assolutissimamente

1.10 Extracts illustrating registers of ItalianExample of R1 (Roman variety of Italian) (from A Sordi,

Ammazza che fusto!, Milan: Rizzoli, 1995)

The actor Alberto Sordi specialized in portraying certain down-and-outRoman characters, including a fake noble “conte Claro.” This text comesfrom a radio show of 1950 While the woman attempts to impress the

“count” with her formal Italian, Sordi’s language slides between standardItalian (often formulaic and literary, with many sentences in rhymingcouplets), a strongly local Italian variety, and dialect

s o r d i Che fai oggi de bono, per il tuo pranzo?

d o n na Oh! Come il solito Ecco: un po’ di formaggio qui, dal salumiere

s o r d i Bono! Formaggio co’ le pere?

d o n na Questo `e tutto Perch´e ormai conte Claro non si pu `o neppur dire

che io mangi Io pilucco

s o r d i A chi lo dici sign ´o? So’ er conte Claro e nun resto de stucco Te lo

confesso, lo voi sap´e? Anch’io pilucco Ma qualche volta, come se fa?Quanno ce vo’, ce vo’ un piatto de sostanza! Comprendi

l’importanza?

d o n na Eh magari conte Claro Ormai ho quasi perso il ricordo di tutto

s o r d i Davero? Pure tu? Nun se famo ved´e insieme dalla gente, che sembra

brutto Entramo va Annamose a istru`ı Rinfrescare i vecchiricordi `e sempre un dovere Entriamo signora, entriamo dal salumiere.Buongiorno pizzicarolo Pizzica, pizzica, che sei solo

sa lu m i e r e Buongiorno, desidera?

d o n na Oh, il solito: due acciughine e un po’ di mozzarella fresca

s o r d i Agguanta pizzicar `o, mettece pure ’sta mezza ventresca Un po’ de

prosciutto, un po’ de pecorino Pizzicar `o, aggiungece pure quelsalamino Tanto le cose mo me vanno bene col Presidente

Pella Aho, sai che te dico? Mettece pure ’sta mortadella

sa lu m i e r e Altro signore?

s o r d i E non lo so! Voi altro sign ´o?

d o n na Io? Conte Claro, ma che cosa dice? Chi le ha detto che io voglio

questa roba? Io non voglio niente!

s o r d i Sta’ zitta signora Er pizzicarolo ha gi`a incartato tutto; mica p `o

disf `a So’ stato io che ho ordinato, che me voi fa sfigur`a? Andiamosignora paga tutto e io agguanto er pacco Buongiorno pizzicarolo,

te saluto e batto er tacco

1 Varieties of language

Pronunciation de, te, se, me for di, ti, si, mi

cefor ci (third person pronoun for inanimate objects and

places), e.g mettece

Open o not diphthongized, e.g b `ono, v `oi, vo’, p `oforbuono, vuoi, vuole, pu `o

nunfor non

quannofor quando

daverofor davvero

Consonant elision: co’, so’ for con, sono Syllable elision: signo’ for signora, pizzicar ` ofor pizzicarolo

Syntactic doubling throughout, e.g ma che cosa dice pronounced ma cche ccosa dice, che fai oggi de bono pronounced che ffai oggi de bbono

Grammar se[= si] for ci (1 pl pronoun), e.g se famo = ci facciamo

Abbreviated infinitives: sfigur`a, sap´e, ved´e for sfigurare,

sapere, vedere

erfor il

entramo , annamo for entriamo, andiamo

te lo sto a d`afor te lo sto dando (= te lo sto a dare)

Note that Sordi addresses the woman as signora but uses the tu form of address.

Vocabulary Typical Roman exclamation: aho!

Persino a qualche pisano io ho aperto l’uscio di casa – che `eper proverbio azzardo pericoloso; a qualche pisano di quelli

che dicono gaod´e rpeoro ditup`a, e ogni tanto vengono su col sorrisino furbo a cercare lavoro “Nciavresti mia nposticino da guadagn`a bbene senza lavor`a tanto? Sai om`e, sule cencinquanta

1.10 Extracts illustrating registers of Italian

un lo sai osa soff`a io? Un mi onosci? Lo poi domand`a a coso, ome

siama, a coso no? Ir figliolo di Amedeo, quello che mor`ı anno.”

The passages in italics are, in Italian:

r Gaod´e al pecoro di tuo padre

r Non c’avresti mica un posticino da guadagnare bene senza lavorare tanto?Sai com’`e, sulle centocinquanta al mese? Gi `u, Madonna al buio!, non sibatte chiodo Non si trova una lira per far cantare un cieco

r Ma fai la burletta davvero? Gaod´e, non lo sai cosa so fare io? Non miconosci? Lo puoi domandare a coso, come si chiama, a coso no? Il figlio diAmedeo, quello che mor`ı l’anno scorso

Pronunciation Hard c dropped altogether between two vowels, e.g ome

siamafor come si chiama; but not with syntactic doubling,

e.g a coso pron acc `oso.

non pronounced un or n

n for un, e.g nposticino; na for una, e.g nalira Syntactic doubling throughout, e.g guadagn`a bbene, peffaccant`a , maffai, soff `a

Abbreviated infinitive: guadagn`a, lavor`a, domand`a

Grammar ir for il, e.g ir figliolo; r for al, e.g rmese,

tufor tuoRepetition of pronoun referring to object of verb: in this

example the object of the verb is an entire clause, e.g un lo

sai osa soff `a io

Use of passato remoto Vocabulary Gaod´eis a distinctive exclamation of Italian as spoken in

Pisa

coso, meaning whatsisname

annofor l’anno scorso

Example of written R1–2: SMS messages

Text or SMS (pronounced essemmesse) messages, which can be sent

from mobile phones or some computers, frequently use a kind of informalItalian which is very like spoken language They tend to be short, to savetime and to stay within the limit of 160 characters (on most phones), and

so, like SMS messages in other languages, use abbreviations of various

1 Varieties of language

A: sono rimasta con Franco ke mi ha r8 le balle con la storia dei genitori

ke nn gli danno la casa al mare per il wkndB: ankio lo visto e lo mandato a fnculoA: oh ma qd t c metti 6 proprio 3mendo lo saiB: lo s o o o o !!! :-)

A: c ved dopo pranzo?

B: nn posso devo andare a casa xke c sono i miei e m dicono se m fannopart sab o dom

A: OK!!!! voglio sapere subito!?!?!? dimmeloggi pomeB: ti kiamo 4 5

A: vabbe c sent+ tardi ciao xxxB: ciao amore ricorda ke TVTBThis may be deciphered as follows:

A: Ciao Gigi!! Dove sei?

B: Ciao amore, sono in segreteria di Facolt`a, devo fare l’iscrizione per ilsecondo semestre E tu che fai?

A: Sono in biblioteca a studiare l’inglese ma che palle:-( L`ı come va?B: Cazzo! sono qui dalle 7 e 30 e c’`e ancora una fila di 100 persone Aiuto!A: Ho tanta fame, uffa!

B: Ieri sera dove sei finita?

A: Sono rimasta con Franco che mi ha rotto le balle con la storia deigenitori che non gli danno la casa al mare per il weekend

B: Anch’io l’ho visto e l’ho mandato affanculo

A: Oh ma quando ti ci metti sei proprio tremendo, lo sai?

B: Lo so:-)A: Ci vediamo dopo pranzo?

B: Non posso Devo andare a casa perch´e ci sono i miei e mi dicono se mifanno partire sabato o domenica

A: OK Voglio sapere subito Dimmelo oggi pomeriggio

B: Ti chiamo alle 4 o alle 5

A: Vabbe’ ci sentiamo pi `u tardi ciao [baci]

B: Ciao amore, ricorda che ti voglio tanto bene

Abbreviations Set phrases (as acronyms): TVTB = ti voglio tanto bene

Common words, esp by deleting vowels: qd = quando,

nn = non, c ved = ci vediamo, c = ci, m = mi

In principle any word can be abbreviated or contracted, ifthe sender believes the recipient will understand it, e.g

wknd ; sab, dom, biblio, pome Words run together: dimmeloggi = dimmelo oggi

Symbols Mathematical symbols with the same sound as words:+ + =

pi ` u , x = per, 6 = sei