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@italiano-inglese
Italian resources masterpost
I’m not talking about books and grammar (there are already too many masterposts for that) but how to get into Italian culture with music, movies, recipes, news, social media pages and more. Enjoy!
Continua a leggere
What is the difference between "e lei" and "e tu"? Is one used more often?
Ciao,
I'm gonna first add a link to a video I made not long ago about formal and informal speech. It's in English, so hopefully it can be of help.
To answer you without going into detail (the video can do that imo):
"Lei"= she/her/you. Unless you are talking about a third (feminine) person not involved in the direct speech (like you're talking with a friend about this other woman/girl that can be either in your same room or anywhere else -English pronouns are her/she), this is formal speech: basically the 3rd singular person conjugation we use when we need to address to someone we don't know well or need to bring respect to (eg. boss, elders, professional figures...). It works both for men and women (you address to men and women you don't know well by using "Lei"). It's translated as "you" in English. + look at this links X | X | X (you can find more in the grammar masterpost's final section).
"Tu" = you. Used for informal speech, second singular person. You're talking directly with someone you know well or... can be around your age or younger (especially kids). Again, refer to the video for further infos aout the differences please. And have a look at the direct prounouns too if you haven't (links in the grammar masterpost linked above, pronomi section).
The ones you're specifically enquiring about, with the "e" in the beginning, are specific questions generally used when you ask for opinions, for example: You say "Oggi sono felice, e lei?" = Today I'm happy, and you? You should say this to your boss or a lady/older man you met on a train for example, or again to anyone you don't know well or need to bring respect to. Not parents, we don't do that with them nowadays. You could also be talking with anyone but refer to a third person, but tbh, this is not the best example* (BTW I know it's a stupid example but please bear with me and my limited choices of adjectives or example sentences atm). But, if you were talking to your bestie, brother, mother... you could say "Oggi sono felice, e tu?" = Today I'm happy, and you? *One better example of this last type (3rd person not directly involved in the speech) could be "Io vengo alla festa, e lei?" =I'm coming to the party, is she coming too?
Which one to use depends on the specific context and who you're dealing with.
Hope this helps!
Giorni della merla
The (female) Blackbird’s days.
January’s 29th, 30th and 31st are usually considered the coldest days of the year. These are called “Giorni della merla”, and there are different explanations and legends for that:
1- In the past, to move a cannon named Merla across the Po river, they waited these days as it was frozen; 2- A noblewoman named De’ Merli, had to cross the Po to go marry her husband, but she waited these days when the river was frozen; 3- A female blackbird, to escape the cold, went with her chicks in a chimney and they all went out on february 1st with grey plumage (this also is used to explain the different plumage color between the female, chicks and male of the species); 4- January used to wait for a female blackbird to come out of her nest in search of food, to throw frost and cold over the earth and “punish” her. Tired of this, the blackbird decided to take in supplies for the whole month (back then it only made of 28 days). When she went out, thinking she made it, she started singing to make fun of January, but the month asked 3 days to February and started throwing frost, snow storms, wind and rain all over. The blackbird went to hide in a chimney for 3 days, and when she went out, she was safe, but her plumage was all grey.
According to the legend, if the giorni della merla are very cold, spring will be good; if they are warm, spring will come late.
source + how these days are seen in different areas in Italy x (in italian)
[slang] If I told you "bella!" how would you answer me?
Oh, grazie!
In realtà il mio nome è... = Actually my name is...
Bella!
F*** off
Quello è il nome del mio cane = That's my dog's name
Used especially by young people but not just them tbh (explanations will arrive tomorrow, don't worry!)
So finally I can reblog this, yay! Anyway the correct answer would be "bella!", as this is a way to say "hi" and not to compliment you. The way we say it is also slightly different from the way we would use the same word to compliment someone (a compliment is generally said in a more slow paced way, while the slang is a little more fast paced and has a light accent on the end vowel -- will try to post an audio somewhere, maybe on instagram).
It's a slang used by young people especially, as mentioned, but you may hear also some artist or famous people (especially musicians though) that aren't too young and still use it. It's probably born from the rappers' culture but I'm not that sure (I know it's mostly them using it). It's generally accompanied by people exchanging an handshake that could be normal but also "special" (between close friends).
Another version could be "(ma) bella zio, bella bro, bella fra'" = they all mean "yo bro" (fra' = bro, fra' is the abbreviation of "fratello" which can be used as a whole noun but also abbreviated, exactly as the English "brother"; zio = uncle: it's probably more used by the "older generation" but some guys call their friend "zio" or "zia" -according on the gender- and at times we may call also random people like this e.g. when we react to them while watching something. We don't use it directly to interact with people we don't know much ofc as it's NOT polite. It's a slang.) The "ma" in the beginning works as a stressor word and it is not mandatory to use it.
More commonly used in the Northern area but "zio/a" is also quite used in Roma and other parts of Italy (I guess)
beccare (slang)
Beccare generally means to peck (especially birds/chickens ofc), and occasionally to bite (esp. mosquitos*)
But this verb has other acceptions, that are probably used in a more slang-like way (still, these are part of our common speech tbh, at least for a very good part).
Beccare can also mean to catch, to surprise. For example: ha-ha, beccato! = Ha-Ha, I caught you! you can say this for example when you hit the mosquito* that was actually biting you. But it can be used when you see someone doing something they're not supposed to do, for example if you see your friend eating your fries, you can tell them "Beccat*!" = Caught! You can also say: "Mi hanno beccat*" = they caught me, when you tell your friends that your parents caught you doing something. Similar to this, "farsi beccare" = to get caught (usually means that you didn't pay enough attention so others caught you easily).
Another acception of beccare is to guess, to be right (as "to get lucky"). "Ho beccato la risposta esatta!!"= I guessed the correct answer!
There's also the reflexive version: beccarsi. It has two main meanings that are to biker and to meet up (but honestly, you can use it even when you just meet someone by chance). The latter I feel is very much more used (especially at the first plural person, if you mean "meet up"): "Ci becchiamo dopo?" = Should we meet up later? "Ci becchiamo al bar!" = Meet up/see you at the bar! "Ho beccato Franco in centro!" = I ran into Franco in the city center! As for the first meaning: Luisa e Maria si beccano di continuo = Luisa and Maria are always bikering
Languages Masterpost
Sharing my bookmarks with the Tumblr community. Have fun!
Linguistics
WALS
Linguasphere - Kind of like WALS, if I remember correctly, but not quite. (Note: The website is in French.)
GOLD - a unique listing of linguistic terms and definitions. Right now it appears to be having technical issues, but when it works it’s really great. Just click “View GOLD” at the top.
Many Languages (or General Resources)
This is a directory of apparently scanned PDFs of many, many, many books regarding various languages. There are grammars, dictionaries, and more for more than 25 languages.
Conjuguemos: An awesome website, Conjuguemos has verb and vocabulary activities in several (mostly Romance) languages.
A directory of online dictionaries for around 200 languages. Truly an amazing resource.
Duolingo - don’t tell me you don’t know what this is.
Memrise - let me guess, you don’t know what this is either?
Quizlet - flash cards and accompanying games. There are also many apps that connect to Quizlet and provide Spaced Repetition or other activities with the cards.
Lang-8 - write in the language you’re learning, let others correct you. In turn, you correct posts in your native language.
Lingocracy - for reading in your target language.
LingQ links you (get it? LingQ, link you? HAHA) to native speakers around the world. You can join live conversations, get writing corrected, and so on and do the same for them.)
FluentU - a compilation of real world videos in your target language with interactive captions.
Babbel - another language learning resource with many languages available.
Ba Ba Dum - 1500 words, 11 languages, 5 games. Unique site.
Radiolingua - quick and easy sets of beginner’s lessons in many languages.
Busuu is yet another website for learning the basics of many languages. It also features video-chats with native speakers and many many units of grammar/vocab.
The US government’s Foreign Service Institute has grammars in many many languages.
Omniglot - writing, writing, and more writing. Goes over the writing system and accompanying pronunciation of every language imaginable, including many conlangs and extinct languages. Truly amazing resource.
LanguageRealm has some good stuff for the languages that it features.
AncientScripts is another website for writing systems, but it is restricted to ancient scripts, many of which are for languages now out of use.
Transparent Language Blog is wonderful. The right side has a list of the languages for which they have any content posted - and for each language there is quite a bit.
SaySomethingIn… is most useful for Welsh but has a few other languages. It involves sessions of listening and repeating along with eventual reading and grammar.
Digital Dialects - games for learning basic vocabulary in lots and lots of languages.
LanguageReef - Indian languages. So many Indian languages.
200 Word Project - learn the basic vocabulary of six African languages by clicking and listening to native pronunciations.
Let’s not forget Wikipedia. Not only does the English version have something on just about any language imaginable, but the website has articles available in lots of languages. I like clicking the “Random article” button and reading whatever comes up.
Spanish
Spanish grammar, vocab, and culture at About.com.
Study Spanish has lots of good stuff for all levels and is one of the websites I used when first taking up Spanish.
Top 25 Telenovelas from 5 Spanish-Speaking Countries
READING: Some plays, the UN website in Spanish, lots of poetry, lots of literature including international stuff translated into Spanish, and news and news (BBC Mundo and Univision).
SpanishSkulduggery is the greatest Spanish Tumblr blog in the universe.
French
Grammar, vocab, and culture can be found at French at about.com.
Grammar. Lots of it.
French equivalent of Simple English Wikipedia.
AwesomeFrench is the greatest French Tumblr blog in the universe. She answers questions about culture and grammar, but don’t be one of those annoying people that asks homework questions or advice about how to turn on your French boyfriend or girlfriend.
Japanese
Online Japanese textbook that comes highly recommended but that I have not personally tried.
Culture, culture, and more culture.
Namasensei’s Japanese lessons on YouTube. Goes kind of slowly, and it’s unique because the guy doing the tutorials is usually fairly drunk when he records. But he is living in Japan and has some interesting advice as well as a good understanding of the language.
Japanese from Zero on YouTube - amazing collection of videos ranging from pure grammar lessons to questions and useful explanations
Tae Kim’s grammar guide is seriously one of the best resources out there. And it’s totally free. You can navigate the website, download a PDF for free, or buy a print version.
Japanese at About.com.
A wonderful blog, Tofugu has grammar, vocab, and lots and lots of culture.
The best Japanese dictionary.
A bit of script, a bit of grammar, and a bit of reading. I link it mostly for the page on the numeral system, which is excellent.
Just lots of good stuff here, including a nice list of important upper-level words.
One of many websites for learning kanji, Kanjidamage is interesting because the author has a good sense of humor and also explains a lot about the history of the Japanese writing system, so that you can understand it better.
Kana Invaders - a fun 8-bit game for learning kana.
Arabic
Tutorial on the Arabic alphabet.
Arabic script lessons.
Lessons on the Arabic script.
Arabic script tutorial.
Project Root List aims to list all of the roots and vowel combinations in the Quran. Since Arabic hasn’t changed much in that regard, it’s useful for modern Arabic, too.
A PDF of the book Arabic Verbs and Essentials of Grammar.
A nice PDF regarding the Arabic pronouns.
You can search the Quran in Classical Arabic here.
Classical Arabic: LearnArabicOnline.com. This is a fantastic resource in that it not only talks about reading and grammar, but also writing styles and eloquence in writing. It is strictly for Classical Arabic, however, not modern spoken or Modern Standard Arabic.
Hindi
Hindi script - really good animations of stroke order and how to write as well as providing instructions on writing.
Quillpad looks like a really great tool for typing in Hindi as well as other Indian languages. Simply type the English letters and the computer converts it. (Note: for beginners still trying to learn the script, learn the script and manually put the characters in. Force yourself to write the script to get yourself to think in that language!)
Beginner’s grammar lessons. Really a good page.
Five Hindi lessons that cover quite a bit.
More grammar because it’s important.
Russian
Russian Alphabet with Sound and Handwriting. Some lessons on writing and spelling from the same website are here.
Just a good graphic on the Cyrillic alphabet in cursive form.
Excellent PDF of Russian grammar. Requires knowledge of Cyrillic to understand examples.
Learn Russian Language - another good website for grammar rules along with the alphabet, pronunciation, and a bit of culture.
100 Top Resources for Learning Russian according to some person. Actually a really good list, includes rough level at which you’ll find each resource useful and the list is broken down by category (textbooks, online, stuff, etc.).
Old English
Grammar rules in detail. AMAZING website.
Here is Beowulf in Old English. There’s also a link to a modern English translation just under the title of the page.
Korean
Set of graphics that are wonderful for explaining the Korean script.
Really great website for grammar, script, and vocab. Also offers many of the beginner’s lessons and some of the more advanced ones in Spanish and/or Russian, for you overachievers out there.
Estonian
Here is a nice PDF on some of the characteristics of the Estonian language.
Grammar. This page links to the intermediate stuff; you can go to the menu at the top, and the really basic stuff will be under Discover Estonia.
An interesting-looking not-Tumblr blog about Estonian.
Simple phrases and some listening can be found here.
Finnish
Some basic grammar here.
Here is a great resource with video, explanations, and thematic lesson organization.
Lots and lots of good stuff here.
Esperanto
Collection of Esperanto journals. A.k.a. digital Esperanto library.
Grammar.
More grammar, this time in book form from Project Gutenberg.
Even more grammar.
German
Kids’ games for German vocab and stuff.
DW - German news website. Available in 30 languages, however.
Welsh
Lots of vocabulary. (Note: In my experience, this website has only been marginally useful because it doesn’t give gender, some of its nouns are plural when they should be singular, and so on.)
A long, detailed, well-explained resource from the BBC on Welsh grammar.
Xhosa
A study sheet for grammar.
A short introduction to grammar. Dense with linguistic jargon, but can generally be followed.
This is a really good video for listening to the clicks involved in Xhosa pronunciation, including the one that begins the language’s name. He has other lessons, as well.
Mandarin
Some themed vocabulary lists. Actually lots of them.
Here is a more or less miscellaneous collection of concepts and vocab about the Chinese language and culture.
MandarinMadeEZ - Some fun and simple YouTube lessons from Fiona Tian. She’s kind of awkward so if you’re looking for something really serious, don’t go here. Also, cats.
Native American Langauges
Here is an excellent resource for many Native American languages in general.
More links - only some of these are really good, but most of them are useful.
Cherokee language lessons. The link goes to the Cherokee syllabary and pronunciation. Also some readings available.
Navajo - lots of fun stuff!
Nahuatl grammar, pronunciation, etc... generally a good PDF.
A dictionary of Nahuatl.
Other
Italian: Good website for grammar rules.
Greek: Some lessons on New Testament Greek grammar.
Romanian: RoLang - audio and video lessons.
Hebrew: The Bible in Hebrew can be searched here.
And finally, I recently started a resources tag (here) that I think I’ll just link to rather than trying to transfer all that stuff over to this post.
I apologize that some of these headings have only one or two resources for them… but remember that the “Many Languages” category can not only provide a lot of further resources and information for the languages listed here, but can also provide stuff for languages not mentioned here!
If you guys have more stuff you’d like me to add for any language, send it to me and I’ll check it out and maybe update this post :)
Have fun and good luck :D
farla lunga
When you discuss on something on and on and on, you are "making it long" (literally). e.g.:
Non stare a farla lunga = Don't keep on about it / don't make things unnecessarily last longer Ma non farla lunga! = Don't keep on about it, come on! Quanto la fai lunga... = You're really making a mountain out of a mole hill... / You're making such a bit thing about this...
Opposite of:
per farla breve = to make it short (literally), long story short, in short
Alternative uses of “ma” in Italian
You’ve been (correctly) taught that ma in Italian roughly means but – an adversative conjunction, expressing contrast or opposition between to statements. However, you’ve also been puzzled by expressions like “Ma tu pensa!” or “Ma che bello!” – what exactly is the “ma” doing there?
Sometimes, when at the beginning of a sentence, ma really serves as a subject-changer, or as an intensifier for exclamations, both affirmative and negative in nature:
Ma che dici? – What are you saying? (subtext: I can’t believe that you would say that! The “ma” intensifies.)
Ma smettila! – Oh, stop it! (subtext: It’s obvious that you have to stop it, do I really have to tell you myself?)
Ma (tu) pensa! / Ma pensa te!* – Imagine that! Go figure! (subtext: who would have thought that? “Pensa te” isn’t entirely grammatical, but it’s super used in colloquial speech.)
Ma (tu) guarda! / Ma guarda te!* – Look at that! (subtext: who would have seen that coming?)
Ma is also often found before the che + adjective (+ noun) construct (as in “che bello!”, meaning “How wonderful!”, or “che bella giornata”, meaning “what a wonderful day!”). Once again, it acts as an intensifier:
Ma che storia strana! – Such an odd story!
Ma che bel castello! – What a beautiful castle! (the first line to a famous Italian nursery rhyme)
Also useful to remember – ma can have an ironic/disbelieving shade to it. A lot depends on context, so you’ll have to train your ear to that:
Ma tu ci credi? – Do you believe that? (subtext: Please, don’t tell me that you believe that.)
Ma brav*! – Well done! (often implies that no, you’ve actually not done well)
Ma bene! – Oh, good! (often implies that things are, in fact, not good)
Ma figurati! – No worries! / Yeah, sure!
The last example is the trickiest one. ”Figurarsi” literally means “to imagine”. “Figurati!” – ”(You) imagine!” – is a common answer to “Thank you!”, roughly expressing this sentiment: imagine thinking you have to thank me, after I did so little for you! No need for that. Now, add a “ma” to that and it can either 1) intensify that sentiment, or 2) in other contexts, express utter disbelief at what the other person just said. A fitting example:
A: Luca dice che tra poco arriva. B: Ma figurati! Non sarà ancora uscito di casa. – A: Luca says he’ll be here soon. B: Yeah, right! I bet he’s still at home.
Another interesting expression with ma whose meaning can change quite a bit depending on context is “ma va’ ” (“va’ “ is the 2nd person singual imperative form of “andare”, lit. “to go”).
Ma va’? – Really?! / I can’t believe it!
Ma va’? – You don’t say! (the same, but used ironically when someone tells you something obvious.)
Ma va’! – Come on! / Oh, get out of here! (conveys disbelief or annoyance. Possibly a shortened version of “va’ a quel paese” – meaning “get lost”, “piss off”.)
Ma dai is used in similar fashion.
Ma dai? / Ma dai! – Really! (subtext: I’m surprised at what you told me. Whether the surprised is a nice or an unwanted one depends on context. Can also be used ironically, once again roughly meaning “You don’t say!”)
Ma dai! – Come on! (subtext: I’m generally disagreeing with what you told me)
I love it also when we happen to use it while we’re surprised/kinda annoyed by something someone else is doing: we just say “MA…!!!?” which by itself means “What are you doing/talking about!?” (Ma che *cavolo* dici/fai? = no swearing version) It can happen with “Ma che dici/Ma smettila - Ma la smetti” situations, as in the examples above (the real meaning depends on the intonation and situation ofc). (We may also add our typical pinched fingers gesture)
Another example is in “Ma (ti pare) (il caso) (di dire/fare…..)!!??”. All the adds can be left implied. Transl. “Do you really think it’s appropriate to do/say….?”. “Ma” is used as an intensifier here, as mentioned, but the fact that it gains a whole sentence’s worth if used alone is amazing to me :D
Great addition (as always :P)
Also: another almost “fixed” expression we often use (and that I forgot about) is “Ma come!” – it literally sounds like “but how”, but it really translates to “What? How could that be?”. Ma is often found before the famous five “Ws” as well, once again as an intensifier to highlight the speaker’s astonishment: think Ma chi? / Ma cosa? / Ma quando? / Ma dove? / Ma perché?.
Oh right!!
Ciao, I have a question about the right word.
In English it's ~nice~ (the way of sarcasm) but in Italian can I use ~divertente~? Or it will be kinda wrong?
I believe you understand me...
Thanks for your reply ;)
Ciao Sofia!
Yes, we use "divertente" also in a sarcastic way. Like if someone makes a joke that is not funny (but also in other occasions) or tries to makes a joke at a terrible moment: e.g. "Oh, divertente... molto divertente" = "Oh, funny... very funny".
Same thing for other words like "simpatic*" or "carin*", "gentile", "dolce"... they all can be used also in a sarcastic way. e.g. "Ma che carin*/gentile!" ="So nice of you!" if for example your friend is making fun of you but you're both joking - you know, some funny teasing.
Hope it helps! And tell me if you need other examples or whatever ;)
i love it when italians argue about italian. like we don’t even know how our language really works we just roll with it
Italian is 107 different provincial languages stuck together with spit and half a prayer
My bf lives in another region and we are constantly arguing about regional variations of words and we both live in the fucking north of Italy
one time i saw a map of italy but instead of cities and roads etc it was just covered w different ways you can say the word vagina. it was covered
oh I can think of at least seven ways to say the word vagina right off the top of my head rn. I can’t imagine what I could do if I tried harder
Fjgkahfmangksoajufnajejgnanfjakirjvjjs
this is the Italian Vagina Map, reblog to… I’m not sure actually. Can’t hurt though.
reblog to Italian season your pussy
Italian Idioms and Peculiar Expressions: the Wind
It’s there, but you can’t see it: it’s the wind!
IL VENTO [ pl. i venti] is an invisible element that has inspired Italian arts, customs and language in several ways.
It all started from the ancient Greeks, who were the first to classify and name the winds. With time the system of cardinal directions and the one of the winds conflated and that’s basically where the compass rose [see pic] was born. During the Medieval times this system continued to be taught, but Mediterranean’s seafarers came up with an indipendent 8-wind system: the MARINER’S COMPASS ROSE. For the winds they came up with names deriving from the Mediterranean pidgin language, used for commerce and diplomacy between the 11th and the 19th century. The names of the 8 winds are:
- La Tramontana (Northern wind);
- Il Grecale + La Bora (North-Eastern winds);
- Il Levante (Eastern wind);
- Lo Scirocco (South-Eastern wind);
- L’Ostro / Il Mezzogiorno (Southern wind);
- Il Libeccio / Il Garbino (South-Western wind);
- Il Ponente (Western wind);
- Il Maestro / Il Maestrale (North-Western wind).
Idioms and Expressions
From the compass rose and this system of winds derives a series of idiomatic expressions in Italian, which I will list here following.
The main expression is “AI QUATTRO VENTI” which literally means “in (?) the four winds”. Since the compass rose is composed by four main winds corresponding to the four main cardinal directions (N-S-W-E), when we use this expression we mean to say “in all directions / everywhere”. This particular expression is contained in other common idioms, which are:
“GRIDARE AI QUATTRO VENTI”= [lit. “to shout at/in (?) the four winds”] to share something in a broad way. If you want to be super-romantic, you can tell your Italian significant other: “Vorrei gridare ai quattro venti quanto ti amo” (I would like to ‘shout at the four winds’ how much I love you);
“SBANDIERARE AI QUATTRO VENTI”= oversharing. The verb “sbandierare” means “to boast about” and when used in association with our “four winds”, it acquires the meaning of “oversharing in order to boast about something”;
“ESPOSTO AI QUATTRO VENTI”= [lit. “displayed at the 4 winds”] to be put in display for public scrutiny.
Watch my IGTV video here, if you want to hear the pronunciation.
Other famous idioms and expressions concern the winds indicated in the compass rose, which are:
“PERDERE LA TRAMONTANA”= [ lit. “to lose the tramontana”]. Originally it was a nautical idiom that meant “to lose the direction”, given that the tramontana indicated the North, where the polar star is. It was later implemented in the common language, where it is also used with the meaning of “to lose control”. It’s a pretty common idiom;
“SCIROCCATO/A”= this one is an adjective that derives from Scirocco, the South-Eastern wind. It basically means “loony” and I feel like nowadays it is mostly used in the written language. According to the popular belief, the scirocco has a negative effect on the health and the psych, so that’s where “sciroccato” comes from (loony person, “hit by the scirocco”).
More idioms related to the wind, but not specifically to the compass rose:
“BUTTARE AL VENTO” [ lit. “to throw at the wind” ] meaning “ to throw out of the window”;
“SEMINARE AL VENTO” [ lit. “to sow in the wind” ], which basically means “to devote time to something unproductive”, figuratively like trying to sow when the wind blows and it sweeps away the seeds;
“QUAL BUON VENTO!” [lit. “what a good wind!” ]. It is an expression we use when an old acquaitance, or someone you don’t see often, turns up unexpectedly. It can probably be translated as “What brings you here?”;
“FIUTARE IL VENTO” [ lit. “to smell the wind”] to try to sense in advance what it is going to happen before making a decision;
“SECONDO IL VENTO CHE TIRA” [lit. “according to the wind that blows”] to act according to the trend/the popular way of thinking of the moment to obtain a result. It’s an idiom that can be associated with the concept of bandwagoning;
“ESSERE UNA BANDERUOLA” [lit. “to be a wind wane/weathercock”] like in English, the term “banderuola” is used in Italian to also indicate a fickle person, who changes one’s mind easily.
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Sara - Unearth Italy. Find me on Wordpress - Twitter - Instagram - Telegram.
Fun fact: in 1634 the first full collection of European fairy tales was published after the death of its author, the Neapolitan poet and courtier Giambattista Basile, with the name Lo Cunto de li Cunti. His collection of tales actually predate Perrault and the Grimm Brothers respectively by 50 and (!) 200 years. The book, which was written in Neapolitan, contains 50 tales and the first ever European variants of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel and other famous tales. Lo Cunto de li Cunti has been highly praised by the Grimm Brothers, who considered it the first national collection of fairy tales.
Extra fun fact: due to the translating difficulty, the collection was first published in Italian only in 1747. In 2015 Matteo Garrone has directed Tales of Tales, a collaborative film rendition of some of the tales. It’s been shot in English, so go check it out.
Question 3, when writing in Italian, I see examples with and without a pronoun in addition to a verb... For example, "I love." It could be just "Amo" or "Io amo" (with the 1st person singular pronoun). Does either matter? Is one more appropriate than the other? Which is more proper/do Italians use (when they speak)?
Technically, they mean the same thing, but we tend to avoid mentioning the pronouns and when we do it’s usually because it requires emphasis with some differences in meaning. Anyway, I once replied to a similar question here where I think I explain it really well, but nonetheless I’ll use give you examples anyway.
I took these from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Italian.
“Sono felice di vedere che il ragazzo ha smesso dimettersi tra i piedi. Dove è, comunque?”
“Non lo so”, disse zia Petunia, indifferente. “Non incasa”.
Zio Vernon grugnì.
Notice how “sono felice”, “non lo so”, “dov’è” have no personal pronouns with them. That’s because the verbs are strong enough to stand alone, so you don’t need to mention them all the time. Other Romance languages may work the same here as well, btw.
Now, notice how useful it is here to mention the personal pronouns:
“Hai passato una bella estate, Luna?” domandò Ginny.
“Sì,” disse Luna trasognata, senza togliere gli occhi daHarry. “Sì, è stata abbastanza divertente, devo dire. Tu seiHarry Potter,” aggiunse.
“So chi sono io,” disse Harry.
Neville rise di soppiatto. Luna invece spostò i suoi occhipallidi su lui.
“E non so chi sei tu.”
“Io non sono nessuno,” disse Neville in fretta e furia.
“Non sei nessuno,” disse Ginny bruscamente. “NevillePaciok - Luna Lovegood. Luna è nel mio anno, ma è delCorvonero.”
As you can see, the personal pronouns here are used in a way that gives emphasis on the position of both the speaker and the recipient. If they weren’t mentioned, the whole chat wouldn’t carry the same meaning as it does when they are.
My advice is to never use it, especially if you’re talking in first person, unless you really need to.
L’autobus sulla strada Amalfitana era così veloce. Sì, proprio come un ottovolante!
Turns out this has nothing to do with the plague, it’s even weirder than that - during the Renaissance, Florence didn’t collect any taxes on wine produced ‘for the family’. So obviously some of the city’s richest men decided they’d start selling their wines directly from their own homes instead of selling it through restaurants, thus making a lot more money (no taxes and no middle man). Wine could be bought by the bottle or by the glass, and the fact the customers didn’t set foot inside the house probably a) prevented theft and b) preserved the illusion that the place was not a place of trade.
Occasionally, alms for also left in there.
These ‘buchette del vino’ (literally ‘little wine holes’) are a typical Florentine phenomenon and had been in use until fairly recently; over the last decade people have started restorating and reopening them. There are about 170 of them around Florence. Here are a few ones:
not weird. in Italy, the reason is ALWAYS tax evasion
The Italian word signore literally translates in English to both “mister” and “lord”. In the Lord of the Rings saga, Sam calls Frodo “Mister Frodo”, while Sauron is known as “the Lord of the Rings”. So, what were the translation strategies used in the Italian translation of LotR? Are Sauron and Frodo addressed by the same title? Short answer: No. Longer answer below.
Let’s see. Signore generally translates to “lord”, or “Lord” as in the Christian God, and “mister” when the following word is a name or a surname.
In spite of this equivalence, Frodo and Sauron are addressed by different titles. “Mister Frodo” appears in the Italian translation as padron Frodo (literally “owner”, “master” or “landlord” Frodo) instead of signor Frodo. But why? I’m supposing because of mainly 2 reasons:
The choice was based on the simple premises that Sam is first and foremost the Baggins’ gardener, that is, a servant to the owners of House Baggins.
Signor Frodo would’ve sounded too modern to be used as a title in a story set in a legendary past.
Perché in UK parlano di immunità di gregge se non c'è un vaccino? Sono confusa
Anche loro.
L’immunità di gregge - cioè la protezione delle fasce ‘deboli’ (fragili, malate, non immunocompetenti etc) di un gruppo sociale, si ottiene quando una determinata percentuale degli individui che la compongono è immune al patogeno preso in considerazione.
Normalmente si intende che questa immunità la si sviluppi mediante vaccinazione - non ci sono più vettori di sana e robusta costituzione che portino in giro la malattia, senza morirne ma portandola alle ‘fasce deboli’, @pokotopokoto.
Quei geni degli inglesi, invece, hanno stuprato analmente con una cassa di tè questo concetto basilare e intendono usare l’infezione da Covid-19 come darwiniano vaccino:
si ammala tutta la popolazione, quindi tutta la popolazione è vaccinata… escluse le fasce deboli di pazienti in chemioterarpia, anziani, immunodepressi, cardiopatici, broncopatici e diabetici che sono morti.
Buona questa. Tutti ridono. Rullo di tamburi. Sipario.
(in realtà la cosa è più complessa di così e basa la riuscita dell’azzardo su una grande botta di culo, cosa che nessuno si può permettere visto che si parla di persone e non di casse di tè)
SEMPRE CHE L’INFEZIONE DIA IMMUNITÀ. Altrimenti saranno morti i pazienti in chemioterapia, anziani, immunodepressi, cardiopatici, broncopatici e diabetici per nulla.
Ad oggi non vi è certezza che una volta contratto il virus si diventi immune, quindi perché rischiare?
io ci vedo un calcolo cinico sulle frange deboli. via i pensionati, piú leggero il ssn senza tutti i terminali ecc. sarà che johnson è una merda umana e penso male, ma secondo me ci spera. poi farà dietrofront non appena la gente si incazzerà, se si incazzerà
Qualche aggiornamento:
1. Gli inglesi non sono rimbambiti, sono semplicemente un popolo che ha fiducia dell'autorità e governo in carica, qualunque sia il colore. Se BJ dice che non servono chiusure, si fidano. Se la loro fiducia viene tradita, si arrabbieranno eccome. Quando gli inglesi si incazzano, per strada serve l'esercito. E non è una battuta. L'ultima volta che a Londra c'è stato il coprifuoco era tipo il 2004, non il 1943.
2. Le ultime notizie sono che il governo voglia isolare gli over 70. Siccome sono la fascia più a rischio, il piano attuale è di impedirne il contagio, isolandoli, mentre il resto della popolazione si becca il virus. Vedi alla voce “definizione stramba di immunità di gregge”
3. Le prime marce indietro sono già iniziate. Alcuni sport e imprese stanno annullando eventi, forzando il governo a sospendere quel tipo di assembramenti. Di fatto, alcuni privati si stanno muovendo più velocemente del governo centrale
4. La mossa cinica citata da @masoassai la vedo anche io, ma noi italiani siamo sempre sospettosi. In questo caso abbiamo probabilmente ragione, ma dobbiamo ricordarci di non leggere altri popoli con il nostro metro. Non perché siano meglio o peggio, ma perché sono diversi
5. Ieri ho fatto attività solitarie qui a Londra. Corsa alle 7 del mattino, passeggiata di 4 ore nel pomeriggio lungo il canale, .. nonostante fossi piuttosto isolato, ho potuto constatare (da lontano) come la città sia normalissima e piena di gente
6. Il panic buying è iniziato anche qui
7. Viva la sacher di @astridwanderlust. Che non c'entra niente, ma è importante che il mondo sappia. Credo ne preparerò una anche io, non appena sarò bloccato in casa.
Oh… magari i 70enni faranno i bravi e se ne staranno in isolamento lontani dalla pinta pomeridiana al pub, solo che - ecco - non lo vedo un contenimento così infallibile e univoco.
Tutto questo, poi, partendo dal presupposto che l’infezione dia immunità di lungo termine… e questo lo scopriremo solo tra qualche mese.
