Becoming Italian Word by Word

Angry Young Artists in Florence

 

Angry Young Men

Giovani e Arrabbiati

Visitors don’t usually come to Florence, jewel of the Renaissance, in search of modern art. But an exhibit called “Giovani e Arrabbiati: La Nascita della Modernità” (Angry Young Men: The Birth of Modernity), at the Palazzo Strozzi until July 17, offers a fascinating perspective on three of the twentieth-century’s great masters: Picasso, Miró and Dalí.

All three of these artists grew up (cresciuti) in Catalonia, Spain, but came to fame in France. Picasso and Miró lived and built their careers there, while Salvador Dalí remained largely in Spain. The Florentine exhibit brings together more than sixty works (più di sessanta opere) produced by the artists at the beginning of their careers in the first decades (nei primi decenni) of the last century.

Structured like a film in a series of “flashbacks,” the exhibition (la mostra) takes visitors back in time (indietro nel tempo) to the very birth of modernity. Beginning with Dalí’s meeting with Picasso in 1926, it traces the origins (le origini) of modern art through Dalí’s responses to Miró and Miró’s relationship with Picasso and ends just before the young Picasso’s arrival in Paris in 1900. 

The exhibition explores the common roots (le radici comuni) of a style that was to bring renown to these three great artists, underscoring the eagerness they shared to rebel against the conventions of the time (ribellarsi alle convenzioni dell’epoca). Each was an “emerging talent” (talento emergente) in his day. Each sought to develop an artistic vocabulary of his own (un proprio linguaggio artistico). And each looked back to the past in order to invent the future.

In addition to masterpieces such as Picasso’s “The Weeping Woman” (Donna Che Piange), Miró’s geometric “Composition” (La Composizione), and Dalí’s “Harlequin” (L’Arlecchino), the exhibit presents for the first time outside of Spain eighty Picasso sketches (ottanta schizzi di Picasso), including the very first for his revolutionary painting (il rivoluzionario dipinto), "Les Demoiselles d’Avignon."  

As much as I enjoyed the exhibit, I also delighted in the contrast between the relatively recent masterpieces and their setting in a splendid Renaissance palazzo. To my initial surprise, they looked right at home. Then I realized that they should. After all, Florentines invented the Renaissance—which, as author Mary McCarthy observed in The Stones of Florence, “is the same as saying that they invented the modern world.”

Despite the passage of five hundred years, I could see, particularly in Picasso’s powerful sketches of his “demoiselles,” echoes of another artist whose rebellious approach (approccio ribelle) blazed the trail from all that had been in the past to all that could be in the future: the prototypical angry young artist, Michelangelo.

The Medici pope Leo X, who had known the fierce-tempered genius since boyhood, called him “troppo terribile” (too terrible) to deal with. In the artistic language of the Renaissance, terribilità took on new meaning as a term that captured the awesomeness, virtuosity, force and vehemence of Michelangelo's works. Could we say anything less about those of Picasso and the rebels he inspired?

Words and Expressions

belle arti -- fine arts

capolavoro -- masterpiece

stile artistico -- artistic style

arte moderna -- modern art

pittore -- painter

For more information on upcoming exhibits and events at Palazzo Strozzi, click here.

Dianne Hales is the author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Little Easter in the Italian Language

 
Pasquetta

    After the grand religious rituals and elaborate feasts of Easter Sunday, Italians celebrate il lunedi dell’Angelo (Angel’s Monday) with a picnic in the countryside beyond the walls of their cities.  This national holiday is called Pasquetta, or little Easter.

    Like so many words with diminutive suffixes, it implies something more personal and appealing.  “Pasqua di rinascita, Pasquetta di festa,” Italians say.  “Easter for rebirth; Pasquetta for party.” The simple picnic dishes feature endless variations on eggs, including frittatine (small omelettes) and tortini (small torte or pies).

    I’ve come to think of endings such as –ino, -ello, and –etto as the linguistic equivalent of the heaps of sugar Italians add to a thimbleful of espresso to sweeten its taste.  A bambina (baby girl), like the little angel above, inevitably elicits cries of "Carina!" "Bellina!" "Tesorina!" "Bambolina!"  (Cute! Pretty! Little darling! Baby doll!) Almost everything to do with piccolini (little ones)  merits a diminutive, right down to culetto for a sweet little baby bottom. 

    Many diminutives simply signify size or shape.  In contrast to an albero (tree), an alberino is a shrub; an alberello, a sapling; and an alberetto, a dwarf tree. Trousers are calzoni; calzoncini, shorts.    The Italian physicist Enrico Fermi coined the term neutrino  (little neutral one) for a particle even smaller than a neutron.  In music, prestissimo means a little faster than presto;  andantino, not as slow as andante. 

    Thanks to diminutives, a sign outside a rustic osteria (a tavern serving simple food) can summarize its entire menu in three variations:

    Pranzo (lunch): 15 euro
    Pranzetto (lighter lunch): 10 euro
    Pranzettino (bite to eat): 5 euro.

    Diminutives also can add a clever twist to common words. An especially endearing form of amore is amorino.  Doctors refer to the patient information insert that accompanies a prescription medication as a bugiardino (little liar).  A horse has a coda (tail), but Italian men and women may sport a codina (pony tail). Vento (wind) melts into venticello (a nice little wind), but gentler still is a brezzolina (soft little breeze). 

    But not every little thing is a good one.  My Italian friends warn me to beware of people asking for a little anything, whether it’s a tiny little moment of your time (attimino), a peck of a kiss (bacino), or a bit of help (aiutino).  Usually they’re after much more.

Sayings and Expressions

Figlioli piccini dolore di testa, fanciulli grandini dolore di cuore -- young children, headache; older kids, heartache 

stellina di mogliettina  -- little star of a little wife (literally), a wonderful wife

capellini  (from capelli for hair) -- fine or thin hair (or spaghetti)

casetta (from casa for house) -- little house, cottage

negozietto (from negozio for shop) -- small shop

Dianne Hales is the author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Celebrating "Pasqua" in the Italian Language

Buona Pasqua, Buona Pasqua Ebraica 

Happy Easter, Happy Passover

Wanting to send holiday best wishes, I looked up at the Italian word for Passover. "Pasqua degli Ebrei" or "Pasqua Ebraica" (Easter of the Hebrewsj was the dictionary definition."Really?" I asked my Facebook friends, who explained that "paschal" blood had marked the doors of Hebrew families exiled  in Egypt. According to my Italian etymological dictionary, the word Pasqua, which dates back to 1342, translates as "la festa che commemora la liberazione dalla schiavitù d'Egito" (the feast that commemorates the liberation from Egyptian slavery).  

Somewhere in time  Pasqua became synonymous with the Christian celebration of Easter.  "Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi"   ("Christmas with your family, Easter with whomever you want"), Italians say. An invitation to  Easter dinner with friends in Italy is a special treat indeed. After forty days of fasting during Quaresima (Lent), Italians celebrate with foods that form a mouth-watering vocabulary of their own.

Throughout Italy the traditional main dish is agnellino al forno  (roasted baby lamb) or capretto (baby goat). Rome’s Easter specialty is abbacchio, a suckling lamb no more than a month or so old.  Because it has ingested only its mother’s milk, its meat is especially tender.  The name comes from the Latin baculum, the cudgel used to kill lambs.  Until a few decades ago, shepherds would lead their flocks into Rome every Spring so people could select victims for the annual slaughter. The word abbacchiato became slang for someone beaten down, physically or mentally.

“Pasta matta”  (crazy dough) encases torta Pasqualina (Easter cake), a traditional savory pie from Piedmont and Liguria. Its distinctive feature is that whole eggs are baked inside.  

Italy’s traditional Easter dessert is Colomba cake, a sweet, eggy, yeasted bread topped with sugared and sliced almonds. Commercial bakers shape this confection into a colomba (dove), the symbol of peace and renewal, but home bakers usually do an oval approximation.

I’ve tried (without success) to explain the popular American Easter symbols of bunny rabbits and hard-boiled eggs to Italian friends.  In Italy uova di Pasqua (Easter eggs) come only in chocolate (or flowers, as in the photo from a florist in Rome above).  Festive displays decorate coffee bars, pastry shops, supermarkets, and chocolate shops in the weeks before Easter, with some mammoth eggs weighing in at nearly 18 pounds.

Although most commercial eggs contain a child’s toy or trinket, Easter eggs aren’t just for the kids (bimbi) in Italy. In the 15th century nobles encased works of art and other extravagances in enormous chocolate eggs. 

The very best modern eggs are still handmade by a cioccolataio, an  artisan  of chocolate, who will insert a surprise supplied by the purchaser. Inside a customized egg a lucky recipient may find jewelry, a watch, car keys—or an engagement ring. This in itself may explain why  “felice come una Pasqua” also translates into being “happy as can be.”

Words and Expressions

vigilia di Pasqua -- Easter eve

il coniglietto -- bunny rabbit

l'agnello pasquale -- the Easter lamb

colomba di Pasqua -- Easter cake

Dianne Hales is author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

 

 

Holy Week in Italy -- and in the Italian Language

 

 

La Settimana Santa 

 

Holy Week 

In the week before Easter (Pasqua) pilgrims from around the world travel to Italy to commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (la passione, morte e resurrezione di Gesù Cristo). Every region celebrates with rituals that are a rich blend of faith, folklore, tradition and community. 

Palm Sunday (La Domenica delle Palme) 

In the massive piazza of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, tens of thousands gather to re-enact Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Chants of “Osanna!” echo through the vast square as the Pope blesses the palms and sends a special message -- the "Angelus" -- to the youth of the world. Throughout Italy you see worshipers carrying crosses made from palm fronds (foglie di palma intrecciate a forma di croce) and olive branches (ramoscelli di ulivo) as they return from church. 

Holy Monday (Lunedì Santo) 

In Castelsardo in Sardinia, famous for its elaborate Holy Week celebrations, an evocative ritual called Lunissanti begins at dawn and continues into the night. The Confraternita di Santa Croce (brotherhood of the Holy Cross), wearing long white hooded tunics and carrying religious symbols, march in processions and sing medieval songs in a unique style called faburden or fauxbourdon (French for false bass). Similar ceremonies are held in other Sardinian villages throughout la settimana santa. 

Holy Thursday (Giovedì Santo) 

The faithful gather in the late afternoon or early evening for the Mass of the Last Supper (La Messa del’ultima cena), when Christ created the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (il sacramento dell'Eucarestia). In a gesture of humility and Christian brotherhood,  priests (including the Pope himself) recreate Christ’s bathing of the feet (la cerimonia della lavanda dei piedi) of the Apostles by washing the feet of twelve parishioners. 

Church bells, including handheld altar bells. are silenced until the Easter vigil Mass on Holy Saturday. In some places parents tell children, “All the bells are flying to Rome.” (Tutte le campanelle volano a Roma). 

Good Friday (Venerdì Santo) 

Some villages in Italy stage dramatic processions or re-creations of the Stations of the Cross (le Stazioni della Via Crucis). In Enna in Sicily, more than 2,000 friars dressed in ancient costumes march through the streets. In Trapani, another Sicilian town, the solemn procession lasts for 24 hours. The oldest Good Friday procession in Italy, held in Chieti in the Abruzzi, features 100 violinists playing Selecchi's Miserere. 

In Sorrento there are two Good Friday processions:
 the white procession (processione bianca) in the morning, with participants wearing white, symbolic of Mary’s hope as she searches for her son, and the black procession (processione nera) in the evening, where black represents Mary’s sorrow as she beholds his dead body. 

In Rome the Pope leads a procession through the Stages of the Cross in and around the torch-lit Colosseum. As thousands of worshipers clutch candles in the dark, professional actors read dramatic interpretations of Christ’s suffering -- one of the most moving religious experiences I’ve ever had. 

Holy Saturday (Sabato Santo) 

Mass is not celebrated during this day of silence and prayer in honor of the dead Christ, and the tabernacle, which usually contains Communion hosts, is left empty and open. After sundown the solemn Easter vigil (Veglia pasquale) begins with the liturgy of fire (la liturgia del fuoco) and the lighting of the Easter candle (il cero pasquale), which represents the “Light of Christ” (la luce di Cristo). 

Readings from the gospels (vangeli) recount the appearance of the angels to the women who came to the tomb in search of Christ. During the liturgy of the baptism (la liturgia battesimale), all the faithful (tutti i fedeli) renew their baptismal vows. 

Words and Expressons 

Via Crucis -- Stations of the Cross,  a difficult time or challenge 

avere la propria Croce -- to have one’s cross or troubles 

mettere qualcuno in croce --  to put someone on the cross, to crucify or torment someone 

Testa o croce? -- heads or tails? 

“Ognuno ha/porta la sua croce" -- everyone has/carries  his own cross  

Dianne Hales is author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Click below for a video of Sorrento's "black" procession:

Greetings in the Italian Language

I Saluti

Greetings

The first word I saw on arriving in Rome was “Benvenuti!” (Welcome!). As I made way through Fiumincino Airport, a gracious voice on the loudspeaker announced “La navetta è in arrivo” (the shuttle is arriving). The train itself flashed a warning, “Le porte stanno per aprirsi” (The gates are about to open).

Everywhere we went, I heard Italians calling out saluti (greetings)—if not in person, then via their telefonini (cell phones). Friends and acquaintances salute each other with the most familiar of Italian words: ciao, which does double duty as “hi” and “bye.”

I learned its history years ago on my first trip to Venice . A waiter at the caffè where I came every day to sip espresso and watch the pigeons swoop across the Piazza di San Marco joked that my “ciao” sounded too Tuscan. Coaching me in the Venetian pronunciation, he explained that the word itself was a local invention.

In the glittering heyday of the city natives proudly refer to as La Serenissima, correspondents signed letters, “Il Suo schiavo” (your slave). Meeting on the street, acquaintances would bow and repeat the same ingratiating words. However, in the Venetian dialect, which softens the hard sound of sch (pronounced sk in other regions) to a chewy sh (as in show), Suo schiavo came out sciao, which melted into ciao as it migrated to other parts of Italy.

Italians use “ciao” informally with those they know by first name. A more polite greeting is “Salve!” According to my etymological dictionary, it dates back to the Latin of ancient Rome as a way of extending a welcome and  encouraging  frieds to make themselves at home. The first words of the Catholic prayer, “Hail Mary,” translate as “Salve Regina” (Hail Queen).

The salutation you’re most likely to hear in shops and restaurants is “Buongiorno” (Good day), generally used until lunch time, which is later in the south than in the north. From then on, the typical greeting is buonasera. But if an Italian injects a buonasera in the middle of a conversation, don’t get up to leave. It’s also an ironic way of signalling the end of a task or discussion—or of the impossibility of ever sorting out a thorny problem. As for la buonanotte, save your “good night” until you’re actually going to bed.

Italians we know sometimes take their leave with “ti saluto” or “vi saluto” (I salute or greet you, singular or plural). “Stammi bene!” (Stay well), our good friends say with a hug, kisses to both cheeks, and one ciao after another. “Ci vediamo!” (We’ll see each other!”)  we call out. And then, because we really do hate saying goodbye, we repeat the entire process all over again.

Words and Expressions

a dopo -- until later

alla prossima volta or alla prossima –- until the next time

a presto -- see you soon

a domani –- until tomorrow

addio –- a final, eloquent good-bye

arrivederci –- until we see each other again, made famous by Mario Lanza in the classic song below:

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Making Bridges in the Italian Language

 il ponte
 the bridge

    “Pioggia sul ponte!” the headline declared.

    “Rain on the bridge?” I mused. “Which bridge?”

    The descendants of the builders of the ancient Roman aqueducts, I learned, are adept at constructing a different type of bridge—one that extends a national holiday that occurs during the week through the next weekend. If June 2, Italy’s equivalent of July 4, falls on a Thursday, for instance, il ponte stretches over Friday to create a four-day weekend.  

    Depending on the calendar, Italians may enjoy a ponte di Capodanno (New Year's bridge), a ponte di Pasqua (Easter bridge), or a ponte dei morti (bridge of the dead) for the November 1 holiday of All Saints Day  (Tutti I Santi). For Ferragosto, the quintessential Italian summer holiday, il ponte may stretch even farther to include the weekends before and after August 15.

    Workers, often in the civil service, who are particularly adept at extending a holiday are called, with some admiration, pontisti (bridge makers).  Others have a different talent:  fare i ponti d’oro  (literally making bridges of gold — making things as easy as possible). This strategy works especially well for getting someone you don’t like to leave. “A nemico che fugge, ponti d’oro,” Italians say. “To fleeing foe, bridges of gold!”

    Italy is famous for other ponti, of course. The picturesque Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s oldest bridge, has housed goldsmiths’ and jewelers’ shops for centuries.  The Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) in Venice connects the Doges’ palazzo with the dungeons. It owes its evocative name to the sorrowful sound of prisoners who caught their last glimpse of La Serenissima through its windows as they headed to their cells. 

    Every Spring Venice hosts a non-competitive run, open to everyone without age or nationality restrictions. The name of this traditional race is “Su e zo per i ponti,” which in the Venetian dialect means “up and down the bridges.”

Words and Expressions

ponticello -- a small bridge

tagliare i ponti con qualcuno — to cut (burn) one’s bridges with someone 

“finire a vivere sotto un ponte” -- to end up living under a bridge (to become extremely poor, to end up living like a bum)

“Ne è passata di acqua sotto i ponti!"  --  A lot of water has gone under the bridges   (That was a long time ago, and many things have changed since then.)

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA, My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.

 

On the Farm in the Italian Language

In this guest blog, Carolina Gengo Di Domenico, director of La Piazza di Carolina, a preschool and language center in Westchester, New York, introduces the crops that grow and the animals that live on a farm.

la fattoria

the farm

by Carolina Gengo Di Domenico

“Nella vecchia fattoria ia-ia-o!” 

So goes the nursery school song, “Old MacDonald,”  in Italian.  But in Italian the farmer’s name is Zio Tobia (Uncle Tobias).

A traditional farm, as American and Italian children learn in school, consists of a farmer (contadino), cows (mucche), pigs (maiali), horses (cavalli), and sheep (pecore).  The cows graze in the pascolo (pasture) eating erba (grass) and producing latte (milk).  The horses and sheep eat fieno (hay) which is kept in the fienile (hay-loft or barn), and the pigs roll around in the fango (mud). 

American farming has a long history  of producing crops like peanuts (noccioline), maple sugar (zucchero d’acero), tobacco (tabacco), and cotton (cotone). Today cattle (bestiame) ranching  is a big industry. as is dairy (latticini) farming. Major American crops are corn (granturco), soybean (soia), and wheat (grano).

At one time agriculture (agricoltura) made up over a third of Italy’s economy.  It now represents less than three percent.  Although many Americans think of Italy as an agricultural society (mainly due to the large number of Italian immigrants who were identified as contadini), barely a third of Italy’s land is arable and suitable for farming. But despite its mountainous terrain, Italy still has a large work force (1.4 million) employed in farming.  

In the north, Italy produces grains (cereali), sugar beets (barbabietole), soybeans (soia), meat (carne), and dairy products (latticini).  The warmer climate in southern Italy is suitable for growing fruits (frutta), vegetables (ortaggi), olive oil (olio d’oliva), grapes (uva), and durum wheat (grano duro). The average size of Italian farms is only seven hectares (a hectare is the equivalent of 2.47105 acres), which is rather small for a farm—but perfect if you’re a tourist  staying on a converted farm.  

Agriturismo, a rural Italian version of a Bed and Breakfast, has become  very popular in Italy.  Most properties are restored farms, with beautiful backdrops and charming interiors. The owners normally grow their own food then use the fresh ingredients, often organic, to prepare meals for their guests. Click here for a useful guide to agriturismo accommodations. 

La Piazza di Carolina is offering a special family summer trip to an argiturismo in Tuscany that includes a Kids Camp with language and cooking lessons as well as excursions. You can find more information here. 

Words and Expressions (Animals and their Sounds):

il cane bau –- the dog goes “bow”

il gatto miao –- the cat goes “meow”

la muca muu –- the cow goes “moo”

il maiale gru –- the pig goes “oink”

You can enjoy a delightful animated rendition of Nella vecchia fattoria below: 

The Lost Angels of Rome

Gli angeli di Roma

The Angels of Rome

One of the most famous angels in Rome stands atop the Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle of the Holy Angel). The mammoth structure on the banks of the Tiber  was originally built as a mausoleum by the emperor Hadrian in the year 123.  From its ramparts Romans fought back the assaults of the Visigoths in 410 and the Ostrogoths in 537.

In 590 a virulent plague was ravishing Rome, and Pope Gregory the Great entreated God’s mercy. The archangel Michael, fulfilling the original meaning of angelus as a messenger from God, appeared in a vision sheathing his sword over the fortress, a signal of the plague’s end.   The grateful pontiff christened Castel Sant’Angelo in his name and had an imposing statue of Michael mounted on top.

Over the centuries the bridge leading to the Castel Sant’Angelo became the principal crossing point for pilgrims to St. Peter’s basilica.  In 1668 Pope Clement IX commissioned ten stone angels to line its balustrades, thereby transforming the Ponte Sant’Angelo into the most theatrical monument of Baroque design.

The master artist and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini did the drawings for the angels—all male, with grieving faces and graceful bodies, brilliantly positioned to be observed (and appreciated) from every direction.   Each of the angels carried a symbol of Christ’s passion and death, such as the whip that scourged him and the nails used to crucify him.

The angels on the bridge became icons for millions of pilgrims, but the most exquisite, the only two carved by Bernini himself, never took their designated places.  Copies by lesser artists were installed instead.

Some say that the Pope couldn’t bear the thought of exposing such beautiful statues to the elements.  Others contend he wanted to move the pair of angels—one carrying the crown of thorns (above) and the other the mocking inscription I.N.R.I. (for Jesus, King of the Jews)—to his own palace.

Bernini, perhaps as a way of promoting his not-so-talented offspring, claimed that they were the work of his son Paolo Valentino and kept the  “lost" angels in his studio opposite the church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte (St. Andrew of the Thickets), so called because it was once literally out in the sticks.  

In 1729 Bernini’s nephew donated the angels to the church, which was partly designed by Bernini’s former student and eventual rival Francesco Borromini. The angelic pair remains there still, their beauty undiminished by fire, earth, water or air, to each side of the front altar.  I think of these heavenly messengers when the bells of Sant’Andrea, right across from the apartment we are renting, ring out the Angelus, and I never fail to pause before them whenever I visit the lovely church.

Words and Expressions

angeli custodi -- guardian angels

il sesso degli angeli-- the sex of angels, a phrase for trivial or inconsequential matters  

angelino, angioletto -- little angel, cherub

angelo caduto -- fallen angel like Lucifer

arcangelo -- archangel

angelico -- angelic, saintly, pure, as in voce angelica (heavenly voice), viso angelico (sweet, angelic face), or carattere angelico (angelic character)

Sei un angelo! –- You are an angel (to thank someone who has done a favor or service)

“Uomo solitario, o bestia o angiolo!” -- A loner is either a beast or an angel.

Cav. Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Click below for a modern Italian "Angelo""