Becoming Italian Word by Word

The Holiest Week 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:

Celebrating the "Treasure of Europe" in the Italian Language

Italia, Tesoro d’Europa

For months Italy has been reeling from bad news and bad press, particularly from other members of the European Union. But this weekend 50 European nations are dedicating their annual European Heritage Days to “L’Italia tesoro d’Europa.”

The title is well-deserved. For centuries “Italy” has been synonymous with art (arte). An estimated 60 percent of the world’s designated art treasures reside within its borders, and Italian paintings and sculptures grace museums and collections around the globe. But Italy did more than inspire masterpieces: it developed the visual language of Western culture and changed forever our concepts of beauty and its creators.

For its part, Italy has announced, “Per due giorni lasciamo le porte aperte.” (For two days we leave the doors open.) On Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25, visitors will have entra gratis (free entrance) to all state luoghi della cultura (cultural places). Those of us lucky enough to be in Italy will have access to 5,105  museums, theatres, concerts, performances, meetings, exhibitions and educational workshops. You can find the complete program here.

The Italian minister for cultural arts and activities has declared that this weekend is “una preziosa occasione” (a precious occasion) to re-affirm with other nations their “radici culturali e storiche comuni” (common cultural and historical roots), even in these momenti di crisi (moments of crisis). This awareness may, he noted, help the European community trovare le risposte necessarie ad affrontare le sfide del presente”  (find the necessary responses to confront the present challenges).

Art has always had a powerful impact on the individual and on society. When they were created, the works of the Renaissance artists inspired reactions such as meraviglia, a sense of marvel or extraordinary delight, and stupore, which David Summers defines in Michelangelo and the Language of Art as “the state resulting from the perception of a thing that exceeded the limits of the senses.” Perhaps these are just what a weary and woeful world needs now.

Words and Expressions

le belle arti -– the fine arts

arti figurative –- figurative arts

artefice -– craftsman or woman

pittore/pittrice –- painter (masculine/feminine)

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

Here is another tesoro, Stanford University's stunning recreation of Michelangelo's David:

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.

 

Dustin Hoffman vs. the Italian Language

 

L'infinito

Infinity  

The Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman and I have never had anything in common—until now. We both took on a daunting challenge: reciting one of the great poems of Italian literature, l’Infinito, written by Giacomo Leopardi in 1819 and revered for the beauty of its language.   

In the verse, Leopardi describes sitting on a hill, his view of the horizon blocked by a hedge, and imagining spaces without limits. A sense of the eternal and the infinite washes over him. Most Italians know at least a few lines by heart; some can recite the poem in its entirety.

Years ago an Italian teacher had me repeat the lines of “L’Infinito” over and over so I could improve la mia pronuncia (my pronunciation) and catch the rhythm of Italian. I stumbled. I stuttered. I tripped over my tongue. Despite my earnest efforts, I couldn’t mimic her melodious phrasing.  My only comfort was that no one else heard my disastrous debut at Italian poetry-reading. Dustin Hoffman may wish he could say the same. 

Leopardi was a native of the Marche, a lush region of craggy mountains and jewel-like cities in central Italy. For reasons that mystify many, its tourist agency hired Hoffman to read Leopardi’s poem for a commercial promoting the Marche. Italian-Americans like Robert di Niro, Al Pacino, or Leonardo di Caprio, as well as Italy’s favorite adopted son, Giorgio Clooney, must not have been available. 

In the two-minute spot (which has just been yanked from YouTube), an impassioned Hoffman agonizes over every word and phrase as he paces across a stage and strolls through the stunning countryside. In frustration with himself, he shakes his head. He pounds his fist. He yells, “No! No! No!” At one point he exclaims “nowhere in English!” 

Anyone who has ever tried to learn to speak Italian as an adult knows exactly how he feels. But the Italians weren't sympathetic to his brutta pronuncia. 

 "The commitment is there," a critic wrote in the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, but Hoffman's pronunciation "cannot fill up the astronomical distance from the Italian ear." YouTube viewers agreed. "Dustin Hoffman and the Marche go together like the Dalai Lama doing a spot for Las Vegas," one said. 

Gian Mario Spacca, the governor of the Marche, sounded as philosophical as the Dalai Lama when he told Corriere della Sera: "The difficulty that Hoffman finds in the recitation could symbolize the more universal one of coming closer to an unknown culture."

Click below to watch Hoffman getting closer to Italy's caffé culture:

You can listen to an impeccable rendition of L'infinito by the great  Italian actor Vittorio Gassman below as you read Leopardi's poem in Italian or English.

L'infinito

 

Sempre caro mi fu quest'ermo colle 
 

E questa siepe che da tanta parte 
 

De l'ultimo orizzonte il guardo esclude 


Ma sedendo e mirando interminati 


Spazi di là da quella, e sovrumani 
 

Silenzi, e profondissima quiete, 
 

Io nel pensier mi fingo, ove per poco 

 Il cor non si spaura. 

 E come il vento 
 

Odo stormir tra queste piante, io quello 


Infinito silenzio a questa voce 
 

Vo comparando; e mi sovvien l'eterno, 
 

E le morte stagioni, e la presente 
 

E viva, e'l suon di lei. 

Così tra questa 
Immensità s'annega il pensier mio: 
 

E'l naufragar m'è dolce in questo mare. 

 Infinity 

I've always loved this solitary hill, 

this hedgerow too, 

that holds so huge a part 

of the world’s flung horizon from my view. 

But as I sit and gaze, 

interminable spaces beyond that hedge, 

a silence more than all humanity’s 

and deepest peace come conjured into mind u

ntil the heart is all but daunted. 

As I hear the wind renew its rustle in the foliage, 

so this infinite silence 

to that whispered voice do I compare: 

I recollect the Eternal, 

the long-dead seasons and the present season alive, t

he sheer sure sound of it. 

And so in this immensity my thought is drowned: 

and shipwreck is a sweet thing on this ocean. 

velina

velina

 tissue paper, showgirl on Italian TV

When the first in a series of sex scandals involving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi broke a few months ago, I puzzled over a word blazoned across the headlines of the Italian papers: velina, which my dictionary defines as “tissue paper.”

“What does tissue paper have to do with Berlusconi and a teenage aspiring model?” I asked a linguist friend in Rome. 

“Tutto,” he said. “Everything.”

Velina is indeed a centuries-old word for very light, soft paper. The word does not derive, as many assume, from vela (veil) but from velin, an antiquated term for vitello, or veal. Velina originally referred to fine calf skin, but somewhere in the 18th century it was transferred to thin paper. Decades ago, in the age of the typewriter, the wispy sheets of onion paper used for carbon copies of letters or documents came to be known in Italian as “veline,” the plural form.   

Under Mussolini's Fascist regime, all-powerful government censors issued directives specifying what newspapers could or could not report. Thin-sheeted copies (veline) went to editors, who had no choice but to follow them; the originals remained in state archives.  After World War II various ministries continued to send light-weight veline, not just to newspapers, but to RAI, the government-sponsored television channel. And editors and producers continued to report the news as the government saw fit.

In the 1980s Berlusconi, an emerging media tycoon, revolutionized Italian television by creating the first private network, Canale (Channel) 5.  One of its most popular programs "Striscia la notizia"—a precursor of sorts of The Daily Show—satirized official news programs by featuring sexy dancers in flimsy outfits who carried veline to the announcers.  They became known as veline, a name now used for all the scantily clad girls (and there are many) who appear regularly on Italian television.

Although many Italians tell me they find the parade of latter-day pin-ups offensive or sexist, the word velina wasn’t viewed as derogatory. Three of the original veline recently appeared on a magazine cover looking like Italy’s answer to  “Charlie’s Angels.” Some families, even entire villages, glowed with pride when a local daughter became a velina on national television.

But now veline—which has become a generic term for sexy models, starlets and showgirls—have been making their way, not just into embarrassing photos with the Prime Minister, but into appointed government posts. Some ask whether the veline (which one friend translates as "Berlusconi’s babes") are giving him a bad name—or is it the other way around?   

Sayings and Expressions

velinesco -- slim and coy
carta velina – tissue paper
 velinismo – “showgirlism,” an Italian social phenomenon popularized by Berlusconi’s TV channels in recent decades

Click below to see veline in motion: