How the Italian Language Became "the Beautiful Tongue"

 
 

 
la lingua
tongue, language

    The Italian word lingua, like its English counterpart, refers both to what you have in your mouth and to language.  A scholarly definition in 1276 described la lingua as an organo muscolare ricoperto di mucosa (a muscular organ covered in mucus) that participates in the mechanisms of chewing and tasting. By 1294 the definition expanded to include un sistema grammaticale e lessicale (a system of grammar and words) that serves as a means for the members of a community to speak and write among themselves.

    For centuries Italians have complained of being tongue tied (avere la lingua legata) or having a word they can’t recall on the tip of their tongues (sulla punta della lingua).   Those  with no peli sulla lingua (hair on the tongue) were -- and are -- very outspoken.  A person who spreads gossip or slander remains a lingua lunga  (a long tongue); someone who makes sharp or hurtful comments has una lingua biforcuta (a forked tongue, like a snake’s) or una mala lingua (an evil tongue).  Italian even has a word for making faces by sticking out one’s tongue: fare le linguacce. 

   The Italian word for tongue twister is a scioglilingua, such as this classic: “Il Papa  pesa e pesta il pepe a Pisa, e Pisa pesa e pesta il pepe al Papa.”(The pope weighs and crushes pepper for Pisa, and Pisa weighs and crushes pepper for the pope.)

    Linguists (another offshoot of lingua) of the fifteenth century distinguished among:

    *lingua madre -- a mother tongue from which other languages derived 
    *madrelingua -- a mother tongue spoken from birth
    *lingua franca -- the mix of languages spoken in the ports of the Mediterranean
    *lingua morta -- a dead language no longer in use
    *lingua viva -- the living language in current use

    La bella lingua (the beautiful language) was deliberately and painstakingly crafted in the late Renaissance by a group of high-spirited Florentine intellectuals who set out to separate the literary equivalent of flour (good language) from bran (bad language). The fun- and food-loving members of L’Accademia della Crusca  (Academy of the Bran) playfully gave themselves nicknames related to cooking and baking, such as Lievito  (yeast or leaven) and Grattugiato (grated). These witty wordsmiths devoted decades to a serious mission: compiling the first great dictionary of officially recognized words in any European tongue.

    Within the 960 oversized pages of the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca, published in 1612, lies Italian’s genome, constructed of words chosen to please the ear, the eye, and the soul.  No less than painters and sculptors in a Renaissance bottega  (workshop), the language  “bakers” of La Crusca  created a living masterpiece. Because of their efforts, the lyrical language of Dante, the poet Petrarch, and the master storyteller Boccaccio -- le tre corone (the three crowns) of Italian literature -- still echoes in Italy’s classrooms, shops, and streets.

    You will find more of Italian’s story in La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language, which has just been released in paperback by Broadway Books.   

Sayings and Expressions

tenere la lingua a freno -- to hold one’s tongue
lingua brutta, lingua sporca  --  dirty (coated) tongue
avere il dono delle lingue -- to have the gift of languages
mettere lingua in una discussione  -- to put tongue (interject  one’s views) into a discussion. 

This lovely video from the Società Dante Alighieri, another bastion of the Italian language, presents people from around the world reading from Dante's Divine Comedy and asks the question, "Can you imagine a world without Italian?"  Its answer: "Noi no."  (Not us.)  Me neither.

 

Comments

[Melissa Muldoon]

I love that commercial for the Società Dante Alighieri! When I subscribed to RAI International through Comcast (before I learned about RAIClick on the internet) I used to watch Italian programming on the TV and that commercial was played a lot! Very emotive and moving.

[Charmain Giuliani]

There is also the most authentic little village, Lingua,on the Island of Salina, one of the Eolian Islands off the top of Sicilia.....Check it out