Posts in October 2008

Articles, articles, articles!

Posted by Serena
Oct
30
2008

In English there are only three forms for the definite and indefinite articles: “the, a, an”. But, being Italians, as usual we like to complicate our language and to have as many variations as possible on one little word.

Lets start with the articolo indeterminativo (indefinite article: a/an). This is not too bad; we have four different forms where in English there are two.

Masculine: un/uno. Un is used when preceding a masculine word E.g.: un tavolo (a table), un treno (a train), un orologio (a watch). However if a masculine word begins with z, ps, or s+consonant, we use uno E.g.: uno zaino (a backpack), uno psicologo (a psychologist), uno studente (a male student).

Feminine: una/un’. Una is used before a feminine word starting with a consonant or group of consonants. E.g.: una sedia (a chair), una zanzara (a mosquito), una studentessa (a female student). Un’ is used before a feminine word starting with a vowel. E.g.: un’arancia (an orange), un’estate (a summer).

OK. That was easy enough. Lets move to the articolo determinativo (definite article: the). In English there is only one form i.e. the. In Italian … well, we have eight variations!

Masculine singular: il/l’/lo. Il is used in the same way as “un” (E.g.: il tavolo, il treno) with the exception of words starting with a vowel in which case l’ is used E.g.: l’orologio, l’ago (the needle). Lo is used in the same way as “uno”, i.e. before masculine words starting with z, ps, or s+consonant. E.g.: lo zaino, lo psicologo, lo studente.

Masculine plural: gli/i. Both lo and l’ become gli (without an apostrophe this time). E.g.: gli zaini, gli psicologi, gli studenti, gli orologi, gli aghi. The plural of il is i. E.g.: i tavoli, i treni.

Feminine singular: la/l’. They follow they same rule as una and un’. E.g.: la sedia, la zanzara, la studentessa, l’arancia, l’estate.

Feminine plural. Both la and l’ become le (without an apostrophe, ever!). E.g.: le sedie, le zanzare, le studentesse, le arance, le estati.

Semplice, no? Simple, isn’t it? Now a little homework for you to do. You’ll have to write the correct articolo indeterminativo and determinativo in front of the following words. Then you’ll change the words into plurals (see blog on plurals) and write the correct articolo determinativo plurale. Buon lavoro!

Programma (masc. program); sciarpa (scarf); spillo (pin); capacità (capacity); ombrello (umbrella); cane (masc. dog); zoccolo (clog); orchestra; stazione (fem. station); animale (masc. animal); caffè (masc.); zuppa (soup).

P.S. For those of you who know Italian perfectly, you might have noticed that I’ve left out two groups of consonant from the lo rule: pn and gn. I did it on purpose, because about 70% of Italians do not follow that rule, but they say “il pneumatico (the tire)” and “i gnocchi”.

 

Posted under Grammar 4 Comments | Post a Comment

La Cascata delle Marmore

Posted by Serena
Oct
28
2008

Hidden away in Umbria, the green heart of Italy, a wonderful discovery awaits you: La Cascata delle Marmore (The Marmore Falls).

 

The Legend of the falls

Once, a beautiful nymph called Nera fell in love with Velino, a handsome shepherd. But the goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter, was jealous of the lovers and transformed Nera into a river.

Poor Velino the shepherd, in order not to loose his love, threw himself from the towering cliffs of Marmore into the Fiume Nera (River Nera).

Velino’s leap from the cliffs was destined to repeat itself for eternity in the form of the waterfall, which can still be seen to this day.

 

The true Story

In fact the true origin of the waterfall is far more prosaic.

Over two thousand years ago the river Velino formed a vast area of stagnant marshland around the city of Rieti. This area of wetland was a breeding ground for diseases, including malaria.

In 271 B.C. the Roman consul Curius Dentatus ordered that a canal be built that would divert the stagnant waters towards the cliffs at Marmore, thereby creating the world’s highest man made waterfall.

Over the centuries, lack of maintenance to the original Roman Canal meant that further work had to be done in order to prevent the palude malsana (unhealthy marshland) from reforming.

Nowadays the water in the canals is diverted to power a hydroelectric generator, and the waterfall has become a part-time tourist attraction.

 

An entrance fee is charged to the area around the falls so that you can watch The Cascata delle Marmore, or Velino the shepherd if you prefer, leaping down the cliffs, and I can assure you that it is worth every cent! It is a truly magical experience, especially on a baking hot day in August when the cloud of water vapor in the valley refreshes and revitalizes you before you trek up the steep sentiero (footpath) that takes you the 165m (yes that’s 541 feet!) to the top of the falls.

If you decide to visit the Cascata delle Marmore try and get there just before the canal is opened. An alarm is sounded and the gentle trickle of water is transformed within a few minutes into a thundering torrent.

 

For more info. on how to get there, opening times, and admission charges follow this link to the official site.

http://www.marmorefalls.it/

 
Posted under Geography, Travel 0 Comments | Post a Comment

Autoironia

Posted by Serena
Oct
27
2008

When God created the world and all it’s individual countries, he looked down at Italy and realised that he had been unfair in making it the most beautiful…………so, in compensation, he created the Italians!

So goes the old joke, and it illustrates really well our passion for laughing at our national characteristics and ourselves.

For example: my father, a good patriot who fought for Mussolini in the North African Campaign during WW2, proudly explained to my English husband “Noi Italiani siamo stati i primi ad organizzare la disorganizzazione” (us Italians were the first to organise disorganisation).

Our predisposition for autoironia (lit. self-irony) has been illustrated really well by the well-known filmmaker Bruno Bozzetto in his cortometraggio (short film) Europa & Italia made in 1999.

Born in Milano in 1938 Bozzetto made his first cortometraggio at the age of 20. His films have received many awards including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1990 and an Oscar nomination in 1991 for “Grasshoppers”. His most famous creation is Signor Rossi, the middle aged protagonist of numerous cortmetraggi and three lungometraggi (feature films). Bozzetto has produced numerous educational animations dealing with science and environmental issues. Since 2000 he has concentrated on developing his Flash animations for the Internet.

For a full biography and lots of fun downloads take a look at the official site here: http://www.bozzetto.com/

So if you really want to understand Italian autoironia a bit better I suggest you sit back and enjoy Europa & Italia. Of course if you have lived or travelled in Italy and Europe your enjoyment will be enhanced because nothing is funnier than the truth!

Click on this link: Europa & Italia to watch it now. 

 
Posted under Culture 2 Comments | Post a Comment

Man Rides Pig Underwater!!

Posted by Serena
Oct
23
2008

For many people Italian history begins with the Roman Empire and ends with the Renaissance. But we Italians have always been a creative bunch and Leonardo da Vinci was by no means the last to come up with ingenious devices to be employed in both peace and war.

At the beginning of World War 2, the Italian Navy (Regia Marina Italiana), although quiet substantial, lacked two important components: aircraft carriers, and Radar. By way of compensation the inventive Italians came up with the Human Torpedo.

Officially named the Siluro a Lenta Corsa (lit. slow running torpedo) or SLC it was quickly baptized the Maiale (pig) by its crews due to its poor handling qualities, especially in its early incarnation.

 

 

The SLC was in fact an electrically propelled torpedo ridden by a crew of two, the whole front end of which was a detachable warhead packed with up to 300kg of high explosive.

Transported as close as possible to the area of action by a conventional submarine in watertight cylinders attached to the deck, the SLC was mounted by its two brave crew members and guided towards its intended target, an enemy warship or cargo ship moored in a heavily defended harbor.

One can hardly begin to imagine the type of bravery needed to sit astride a torpedo on a dark moonless night, encased in a rubber suit and primitive breathing apparatus, whilst attempting to penetrate the enemy defenses, which usually included a steel anti-torpedo net enclosing the harbor mouth.

 

 

If the crew were able to overcome the various technical difficulties which could plague the “Maiale” and to creep past the enemy unobserved, they then had to detach the warhead from the front of their SLC and attach it to the keel of the unsuspecting vessel, thereafter making their getaway on what was left of their craft before the time delay fuse detonated the charge.

The first successful action took place on the night of 18th December 1941 when three SLC’s succeeded in entering the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt, and in sinking the battleships HMS Valliant and Queen Elizabeth.

The British Royal Navy, whilst not amused by their loss, were nevertheless sufficiently impressed by the means employed by the crafty Italians to initiate the development of their own human torpedoes.

According to legend the British crews that manned the counterpart of the “Maiale”, the “Chariot”, revered their Italian progenitors as heroes! In fact after Italy’s armistice with the Allies in September 1943 the two former adversaries worked together to perfect their methods and to destroy Nazi shipping.

 

But this is only part of the story, stay tuned for part two of this blog and find out just how ingenious we Italians can be!

 

 
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Ciao! Salve!

Posted by Serena
Oct
22
2008

 Ciao is probably the best known Italian greeting in the world. It’s an informal form used at any time of the day, both when you meet and when you leave somebody (it means “hello” as well as “goodbye”). However, as it’s informal you shouldn’t use ciao in a formal situation, i.e. when you use Lei.

But this wasn’t always the case, the word ciao has a Venetian origin, and it comes from s-ciao, which in turns comes from s-ciavo, short for [sono vostro] schiavo (lit. I am your slave!).

 On the other hand salve is probably the least known Italian greeting (we never teach it to our students of Italian!) but a very useful one indeed. Salve comes from the Latin verb salvere (lit. to be well, to be in good health). It can be very friendly, e.g. Salve! Come va? (lit. Hi! How’s it going?), but on its own it’s also a polite form of greeting without being too formal. It’s very commonly used as a form of salutation, (in fact the word salutation itself comes from the same root: salute). So for example when you are out walking in the countryside and you meet somebody you don’t know salve is a very good alternative to buongiorno. Like ciao, salve can be used at any time of the day, but salve cannot be used when parting.

 So, now it’s time for me to say….CIAO!

 
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