Italian barely eclipses Pakistan’s Urdu as the 19th most-spoken language in the world, but according to a new international listing, it ranks fourth among le lingue più studiate al mondo (the most studied languages in the world). L’inglese snags first place, followed by il francese and lo spagnolo.
“E, sorpresa, al quarto c’è l’italiano!” (And, surprise, in fourth, it’s Italian!) reports Corriere della Sera. “Sì, proprio l’idioma di Dante, che supera cinese, giapponese, tedesco.” (Yes, indeed, it’s the idiom of Dante that surpasses Chinese, Japanese, German.)
“Un trionfo, insomma!” (A triumph, in short!) the paper declares, “inaspettato” (unexpected) for the uninitiated, but “una conferma per linguisti e cultori dell’italianistica” (a confirmation for linguists and those erudite in Italian scholarship).
Some of these esperti (experts) gathered in Rome last week for a conference on la lingua italiana come strumento di promozione dell’Italia all’estero (the Italian language as an instrument for the promotion of Italy abroad). Its sponsor was ICoN (Italian Culture on the Net, a consortium of 19 Italian universities dedicated to promuovere e diffondere, per via telematica, la lingua, la cultura e l’immagine dell’Italia nel mondo (promoting and disseminating, via computer, the language, culture and images of Italy in the world).
Why do so many people around the world want to learn Italian? Mirko Tavosania, director of ICoN, offers several reasons:
*La cultura italiana (the Italian culture). “Non solo Dante, anche gli scrittori contemporanei” (not only Dante, but also contemporary writers)—whether of narrativa (narrative), poetica (poetry) or saggistica (essays).
*La musicalità del parlare italiano (the musicality of speaking Italian) is another great influence—as is la lirica italiana (Italian opera).
*Il cibo (the food), which "ha spinto tanti stranieri a studiare i nostri vocaboli" (has pushed so many foreigners to study our words) -- "magari solo per leggere divine ricette” (if only to read divine recipes).
“L’amore per l’italiano deve essere una spinta per un notevole rinnovamento culturale” (The love for Italian must be a push for a significant cultural renovation), says Professor Tavosanis. Italy's leaders agree.
The Ministero degli affari esteri (Minister of Foreign Affairs) has announced a meeting of the Stati Generali (Italian states) in October to develop new ways to enhance Italian nel mercato delle lingue e nella competizione culturale del mondo globalizzato (in the marketplace of languages and in the cultural competition of the globalized world). Its location is ideal: Firenze, la culla della lingua (the cradle of the language).
But l'italiano, as the Società Dante Alighieri notes in this video, "é più di una lingua" (is more than a language)--"é un modo di vivere e di pensare" (it's a way of living of of thinking). "Riuscite a immaginare un mondo senza l'italiano?" (Can you imagine a world without Italian?)
Thanks to the global infatuation with la bella lingua, we don't have to.
Words and Expressions
lingua materna, lingua madre –- mother tongue
avere il dono delle lingue -– to have the gift of languages
lingua di terra –- tongue of the land
lingue straniere –- foreign languages
Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language and MONA LISA: A Life Discovered.
