Posts in February 2009

Using the definite article

Posted by Serena
Feb
28
2009

In Italian we use l’articolo determinativo (the definite article): il, lo, la, i, gli, le (the) more often than in English, in fact even now after many years of speaking and reading English I still tend to use ‘the’ far too often because, I suppose, it just doesn’t sound right without it! The articolo determinativo brings concepts and ideas to life: if I say pane (bread) or vino (wine), they could be just objects in a shopping list, but if I say il pane, il vino they become concepts. What’s more, the definite article allows us to transform adjectives, verbs, adverbs, etc. into nouns. For example: there is the old proverb ‘fra il dire e il fare c’e’ di mezzo il mare’ which literally means: ‘between the saying and the doing there is the sea’, or ‘conoscere il perche’ delle cose’ which means ‘knowing the why of things’. As you can see from these two examples adding il to dire, and fare transforms them from the verbs ‘to say’ and ‘to do’ into nouns: ‘the doing’, and ‘the saying’. Likewise adding il to the adverb perche’ changes it from ‘why’ into ‘the why’. The following is a list of the cases in which the articolo determinativo is used in Italian:

 

People

When talking about people we use the articolo determinativo before surnames preceded by titles: Questo e’ il signor Rossi (this is Mr Rossi); e’ arrivata la dottoressa Bianchi (Dr Bianchi has arrived); il professor Verdi e’ al telefono (Prof Verdi is on the phone). However, if we are talking directly to someone, we don’t use the article: Cosa prende da bere, signor Rossi? (What will you have to drink, Mr. Rossi?); Buongiorno, dottoressa Bianchi (Good morning, Dr Bianchi); Come sta, professor Verdi? (How are you, Prof Verdi?). Notice that in front of a name, the male titles signore, dottore, professore, etc. drop the final ‘e’: signor Rossi. We don’t normally use the article before first names (Mario, Giovanna, etc.), but in certain regions, here in Tuscany for example, you will often hear the articolo determinativo used in spoken Italian when talking about women: la Giovanna e’ ammalata (Giovanna is ill).

 

Geographical places

When talking about geographical places we use the articolo determinativo before:

Continents: L’Europa (Europe), l’Africa (Africa);

Regions: La Toscana (Tuscany), la Normandia (Normandy);

Countries: L’Italia (Italy), la Francia (France);

Large Islands: La Sicilia (Sicily), la Sardegna (Sardinia);

Lakes and rivers: Il lago di Garda (Lake Garda), il Tevere (the Tiber);

Mountains and volcanoes: Le Alpi Apuane (the Apuan Alps), il Vesuvio (the Vesuvius);

We don’t, however, normally use the article in front of names of cities, towns and villages: Roma e’ la capitale dell’Italia (Rome is the capital of Italy), but there are a few exceptions: La Spezia and L’Aquila in Italy, Il Cairo in Egypt, L’Aia in Holland, and La Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

 

We also use the articolo determinativo in the following cases:

Languages: l’Italiano e’ difficile (Italian is difficult); studio il Francese (I study French).

Nouns used in a general, collective sense: gli amici sono importanti (friends are important); le lingue sono utili (languages are useful); i gatti sono animali felini (cats are feline animals); il cane e’ il miglior amico dell’uomo (dog is man’s best friend).

Substances and categories: lo zucchero e’ un dolcificante (sugar is a sweetener); il calcio e’ lo sport piu’ popolare in Italia (football is the most popular sport in Italy); l’oro e’ un metallo prezioso (gold is a precious metal).

Abstract nouns, ideas: la musica (music), la poesia (poetry), la guerra (war).

Finally, we always use the articolo determinativo before the possessive adjective, e.g. il mio libro (my book), with the exception of singular members of the family: mia sorella (my sister). For further explanation see my post: http://www.transparent.com/italian/mamma-mia/

Basta, la mia mente e’ confusa! (Enough, my mind is confused!)

 
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Oreste Lionello, the Italian voice of Woody Allen

Posted by Serena
Feb
25
2009

I have just read the sad news in the Corriere della Sera (an Italian newspaper) that Oreste Lionello died last week at the age of 81 following a long illness. Born in Rhodes (Greece) in 1927 of Italian parents, he was a famous comedian and one of the founding figures of Italian cabaret. Oreste Lionello and his company Il Bagaglino satirized Italian politics for many years, both in theaters and on TV shows, with an intelligent humor which always avoided insults or rudeness. Particularly memorable was his excellent impersonation of our former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.

However, aside from his career as a political satirist, Lionello was also a great voice over actor. Film subtitles in Italy are not very popular, and we have a long tradition of film dubbing. Lionello was the Italian voice of many famous actors, including Peter Sellers in Doctor Strangelove, Gene Wilder in Frankenstein Junior, Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. But his longest lasting dubbing partnership was with Woody Allen, for whom Oreste Lionello was the official Italian voice in all of his films. According to the Corriere della Sera Allen is quoted as having said: “For many years Oreste Lionello made me a better actor than I really was. We met personally and he always seemed to me a very kind person”.

I grew up here in Italy watching Woody Allen films which had been overdubbed with Oreste Lionello’s voice, and I have to say that when I moved to England and finally saw one of Allen’s films with his original voice I was surprised to discover that it was just like hearing Oreste Lionello speaking in English: it’s not just that the voices are similar, but that Lionello perfectly portrays that particular way of speaking which Allen has, including all of his neurotic and world weary tones. Legend has it that Lionello occasionally introduced himself on the phone as “the voice of Woody Allen”.

Oreste Lionello added his voice to many cartoons and animated films, such as The Aristocats in which he portrayed the voice of Georges Hautecourt, Winnie the Pooh as the voice of Winnie the Pooh, and two of the Asterix  animated films for which he was the voice of Asterix himself.

Lionello also translated and adapted into Italian many film scripts including, notably, the challenging script for Cyrano de Bergerac, in which all the dialogues are in rhyme. Three of his five children have followed in his footsteps and have also become dubbing actors.

Here is a link to the Mondo dei Doppiatori (World of Dubbers) website page about Lionello: http://www.antoniogenna.net/doppiaggio/voci/vociol.htm

 
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Le Cioce

Posted by Serena
Feb
23
2009

I recently read an article in the magazine ‘Acqua & Sapone’ about the region known as Ciociaria and was inspired to add it to my ever growing list entitled ‘Places that I must explore in Italy’. Ciociaria is a loosely defined region comprising approximately the northern half of the Provincia di Frosinone which is located in central Italy south of Rome and north of Naples.

I found it particularly interesting to discover that the origins of the region’s name and that of its inhabitants, who are known as Ciociari, come from an ancient type of footwear called la ciocia.

La ciocia, plural cioce, was the traditional footwear of the contadini (peasants) and pastori (shepherds), being worn by both men and women alike. It consists of a tough treated leather sole which is bound to the foot and ankle by means of leather thongs. It was traditionally worn with long calze (socks) which reached up to the knee length trousers worn by men, whilst the women would wear a long skirt that mostly covered the socks. Apparently these shoes are very comfortable, being extremely flexible, well ventilated, and adapting well to all types of terrain, although I don’t think I’d fancy wearing them in deep mud!

The name ciocia comes from the Latin root soccus  from which we also get the word zoccolo meaning clog, as in the carved wooden footwear. Zoccolo is, incidentally, also the name we use for an animals hoof. These days of course le cioce are not seen very often outside of a museum, but they are still apparently worn by the zampognari, the itinerant musicians who travel the region of Ciociaria playing the traditional zampogna, a kind of primitive bagpipe. They are also worn during some of the many folklore pageants of which we Italians are so fond.

 
Posted under Italian Language
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Chiacchiere di Carnevale

Posted by Serena
Feb
20
2009

Here in Italy we have reached la Settimana Grassa (the fat week), which is the final week of Carnevale. La Settimana Grassa began yesterday with Giovedi’ Grasso (fat Thursday) and will end next Tuesday with Martedi’ Grasso (fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday). These are days of euphoria and excess, particularly regarding food, because traditionally people had to use up all their meat, butter and eggs (hence the name fat week) before Mercoledi’ delle Ceneri (Ash Wednesday) when the Quaresima (Lent) begins. Quaresima was traditionally a period of penitence and moderation during which the consumption of meat and rich food was not allowed. During la Settimana Grassa Feste in Maschera (masquerade parties) will be taking place in every school and main piazza, as well as many private houses (see my last blog about Maschere di Carnevale, Carnival masks), and wherever you go you’ll find Chiacchiere di Carnevale (lit. Carnival chats), which are the fried sweet pastries that are also known as Cenci fritti  (lit. fried rags) or Frappe. They are very easy to make, so if you want to try them, here is the recipe:

Ingredienti:

400 grammi di farina (14oz of plain flour)

60 grammi di zucchero semolato (2.5oz caster sugar)

50 grammi di burro (2oz butter)

2 uova (2 eggs)

200ml di vino bianco secco (200ml of dry white wine)

Un pizzico di sale (a pinch of salt)

Abbondante olio per friggere (enough oil for deep frying)

50gr di zucchero a velo (2oz icing sugar)

Place the flour, caster sugar and salt on the work surface. Make a well and add the butter, which should be cut into small pieces, and the eggs, then mix all the ingredients whilst adding the white wine a bit at a time. Knead the dough until smooth, and then roll it out very thinly (about 1-2 mm), then, using a fluted pastry cutter, cut the pastry into roughly 5cm by 2cm rectangles. Make 2 parallel lengthwise cuts through each rectangle of pastry. Deep fry the chiacchiere in hot oil until they become a dark, golden color, drain them and put them on some kitchen paper, let them cool and then dust them with icing sugar. Serve the chiacchiere with Moscato Naturale d’Asti (or any fruity sweet white wine).

Buon Appetito!

 
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Le Maschere di Carnevale

Posted by Serena
Feb
18
2009

Here in Italy the Carnevale (Carnival) period is reaching its euphoric climax, so I thought it might be appropriate to write a few words of explanation.

The word Carnevale originally comes from the Latin “carnem” (meat) and “levare” (remove, put away) with reference to the banquet that preceded the beginning of Lent, the period of 40 days during which the eating of meat used to be prohibited. Today Carnevale takes place over a period of about 2 weeks immediately preceding Quaresima (Lent, lit. 40 days) and is celebrated in many Christian countries, particularly Roman Catholic ones. It’s a time of celebration and irreverence when all social rules are broken and people can laugh at the authorities without risk of punishment, because, as the saying goes, di Carnevale ogni scherzo vale (during Carnival any joke is allowed). Carnevale has a long history probably reaching back to the Middle Ages when, thanks to use of carnival masks, peasants and lords alike could mix together without being recognized. ‘Masquerading’ is still the characteristic of the modern Carnevale, with children dressing up as the latest cartoon characters, and adults satirizing TV celebrities and politicians, but the old traditional maschere are still very popular, having become the symbol of Carnevale. Although the literal translation of maschera is ‘mask’, maschere are in fact actual representations of characters or personalities. The traditional maschere date back to the Commedia dell’Arte (lit. Comedy of Art), an improvised comedy popular in Italian theatres of 16th-18th centuries, which featured familiar ‘stock’ characters. Almost every Italian town has its own characteristic maschera, but some of these have become well known throughout the whole of Italy thanks to Carlo Goldoni, the most important play-writer of the Commedia dell’Arte, and to the Teatro dei Burattini (a popular puppet-theatre portraying the maschera characters).

The following are just a few of the most famous maschere:

Pulcinella is Neapolitan and has got all the stereotypical traits of his home town: he is pigro (lazy), extrovert, opportunist, always hungry, and especially chiacchierone (very chatty), so much so that we use the expression il segreto di Pulcinella to mean a well known ‘secret’. He is dressed all in white with a very wide shirt on the top of baggy trousers and a pointed hat, representing the traditional costume of the poor peasants. The name Pulcinella, which in some cultures has been transformed into Punchinello, is the origin of the English name ‘Punch’, the famous star of the ‘Punch and Judy’ puppet show.

Pantalone (‘Pantaloon’ in English) is one of the most important characters in Goldoni’s plays. He is an old, rich Venetian, grumpy, wise, prudent, and avaricious, who often falls in love with women much younger than himself with predictable comic results. He wears a red shirt over red pantaloni (pantaloons or trousers), a black or red hat and black sleeveless coat, and has a pointed beard.

Dottor Balanzone represents the successful layer: fat, boring and ignorant. He speaks a mixture of Bolognese dialect and Latino maccheronico (broken Latin), ridiculing the sages of the Universita’ di Bologna (the oldest University in Europe). His name comes either from balanza (in Italian bilancia, ‘scale’) symbol of justice, or from balla colloquial for bugia ‘lie’.

Colombina (Columbine) is the most popular female maschera. Her name comes from colomba (dove), the name given to a young woman who is innocent and naive or is pretending to be so. Pretty, lively, furba (cunning) and chiacchierona, Colombina represents the typical servant who is always lying in order to protect her young mistress. She is usually engaged or married to Arlecchino.

Arlecchino (Harlequin) is certainly the most popular and best loved Italian maschera. Born in Bergamo Arlecchino is a servant who is furbo, bugiardo (liar) and simpaticissimo (witty). He wears a multicolored patchwork costume made up of many diamond shaped pieces of fabric.

You can see pictures of these maschere and many others on this site http://utenti.romascuola.net/bramante/laboratori/carnevale/le_maschere.htm

Buon divertimento!

 
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