A TOOTHY DISTRICT?

With the world's attention having been on babies, and one baby in particular, for the past few days, I did not post yesterday or on Monday. What do you think about when you think of babies? Cribs, cradles, rattles and baby buggies? The babies themselves and how irresistibly cute they are with all the smiles, gurgles and cuddles? Or perhaps you remember the more stressful moments, like those of teething.

You could be forgiven for imagining that there are rather a lot of teething babies in a district of Modica called "Dente". Or could it be that the area has more than its fair share of dentists? Perhaps the area is shaped like a tooth? The area where I live is called the "Sorda", after a deaf woman who had a café here, so maybe a somewhat toothy lady owned a similar establishment in Dente?  No, none of these provide the reason for the district's name and I've always wondered about it.  Now, thanks to a student of mine, I can tell you the etymology of "Dente":

It seems that, at the beginning of the last century, a wooden sculpture of a Byzantine Madonna was found in the area and afterwards that part of Modica was always called "Urenti", the Sicilian dialect pronunciation of "Oriente". But this is also the way in which "dente" ["tooth"] is pronounced in Sicilian dialect. Later, when the term was translated into standard Italian, a mistake was made and the district acquired the name "Dente" instead of "Oriente."

SYNTACTICAL GALLANTRY

Speakers of other languages are often surprised to find that, in English, it is possible to string several adjectives together in one sentence and that there is an accepted order for these adjectives, according to their meaning.  We say, for example, "a nice young man" rather than "a young nice man".  The native speaker usually uses the correct order automatically and does not have to think about it but the English learner needs some rules to hold on to, so is taught that the "opinion" adjective comes first, then the "size" one, then the "age" adjective, then "shape", "colour",  "nationality", "material" and "purpose" ["a nice, big, new, rectangular, brown, British, wooden dining table"].

We were practising such combinations today in class and, towards the end of the lesson I asked students to use three adjectives together in a sentence describing a person and another three in a sentence describing an object.  One student wrote,

"My English teacher is a beautiful, middle-aged, Welsh woman."

Besides admiring his good judgement in his choice of "opinion" adjective, I could have hugged him for having the gallantry to leave "size" out of it and for not writing "old". What's more, he even remembered that I am Welsh! Could this mean that I am getting somewhere in my campaign to convince Sicilians that "Inghilterra" is not Britain and that Britain is not England? No.... that would be too optimistic!

Weren't these the days?
Image:  WP Clipart

AS IT WERE....

I once taught the subjunctive to an Advanced Level French class, all of whom were also studying Advanced Level English Literature, by using French versions of lines from Shakespeare that they already knew, because they were more likely to find the subjunctive in Shakespeare than in modern English. The method, I am glad to be able to report, worked.

Here is a confession: I love the subjunctive. I love its elegance, its sound and the grammatical hoops you have to go through in order to use it.  But what is it? It is not a tense but what is known grammatically as a "mood", implying that what is important in the utterance is not what happens but the speaker or writer's attitude towards it.  A simple example in Italian would be, "Penso che sia buono" ["I think it's good"]. The second verb - part of essere [to be] - is in the subjunctive; the speaker or writer thinks something is good but it may not be - so the subjunctive is often an indicator of uncertainty. Half the fun of using it, in the Romance languages, is in judging the degree of uncertainty. In Italian, as in French and Spanish, the subjunctive is also used in certain set expressions and after certain verbs and conjunctions but the uses are not necessarily the same in the different languages.

Frequency of subjunctive use varies from language to language, too: The subjunctive is a rarity and a formal mode of expression in British English so it may surprise some of you to learn that it is more often used in American English. However, it does survive in British English and most of us are unaware that we are using it in forms such as "If I were you". It also survives in our national anthem, for the line "God Save the Queen" is the expression of a wish. 

Alas, even in French, a language passionately defended by its académiciens, the present subjunctive is drowning out the other forms and it is now quite common to hear "Penso che è" rather than "Penso che sia" in Italian - so much so, in fact, that Rosalba Occhipinti, a primary school teacher from Gela, has formed a Society for the Protection of the Subjunctive. All signora Occhipinti's pupils are members of the society and they have promised to seek out examples of the use of the subjunctive and to correct any errors that they come across. Next year, the school will run a competition based on exercises involving the use of the subjunctive. Long live [there's another one] the Associazione a tutela del congiuntivo and may signora Occhipinti's students continue to have fun with the subjunctive for many years to come!

NO OMINICCHI IN MY BACK YARD!

This is another of my articles previously published published in Italy Magazine. I think it will interest my readers here.

The 2010 edition of lo Zingarelli , Vocabolario della lingua italiana [ Zanichelli ] Italy’s bestselling Italian dictionary, has been published amid a chorus of controversy over the inclusion of 1,200 recent coinages, 700 of which are new entries. Some of these are Italian coinages whilst others are borrowings from other languages - mainly English - and still others are Italianisations of English words.

The Sicilian exclamation, “mizzica!” [“my goodness!”] is included for the first time and the word “ominicchio” [meaning a mediocre man – “uomo mediocre”] which was coined by the writer Sciascia also makes an appearance. We also have “da acchiappo” to mean a seductive person, “infoetica” to refer to problems created by information technology and the communications revolution and “tvfonino” to refer to a cellphone which can receive TV programmes. An “ottista” is a student who constantly receives 8 marks out of ten in upper school tests. “Ciberbullismo” is listed for the first time, too. From Brazilian comes “Capoeira” and in the political sphere words such as “neocon” and “baathista” now appear. We can also find “antietà” [anti-ageing] “bionaturale” and other words which represent new concepts and ideas.

Among the English words and expressions now accepted into Italian are: chick lit, embedded, social card, pro life, pro choice, chill out, finger food, wine bar, nerd and “not in my back yard”.

The 2010 edition of the dictionary earmarks 2,800 Italian words which the compilers feel should be saved. These words are not particularly archaic but are simply falling out of use as they are replaced by snappier coinages. Among them are “ vaghezza” [vagueness] the elegant form of address “Esimio” [replaced by “Egregio” in correspondence] and “protervia” [arrogance]. Some commenters on various sites which discuss the new dictionary are saying that attempting to save words is a waste of time.

What do you think? Is it worth trying to save the words which are becoming obsolete?

BROCCOLI BARNEY

As one who adores broccoli but hates cauliflower, I had to smile over this.

Here in Sicily the question is not so much whether broccoli or cauliflower is better for you as whether broccoli is what we know as broccoli in the UK or whether it is cauliflower. Broccoli is usually labelled as such when being sold and I would ask for cavolfiore if I wanted cauliflower, [which I wouldn’t] but it is a word I have never heard a Sicilian utter. Some people refer to cauliflower as broccoli bianchi [white broccoli]. “So why should there be any confusion?” you may ask.

The matter becomes important on Christmas Eve in Modica, when the traditional fare is focaccia bread [scacce] filled with “broccoli”. At least, that is what you are offered and copious amounts are piled onto your plate. It is hot from the oven , the pastry smells wonderful, you take a bite – and discover it is cauliflower. Only very rarely does it actually contain broccoli. This is fine if you like both vegetables, of course, but a social disaster if you don’t. I’ve learnt now to only accept a small piece of scaccia until I am certain.

Quite why the Sicilians insist on calling cauliflower “broccoli” when it is cavolfiore in the rest of Italy I have been unable to ascertain but I suspect it is because the dialect word for white cauliflower is vrucculi. And I am told that it’s always really cauliflower in scacce – unless it happens to be broccoli.

USING "USED TO"...

... and other difficulties for the Italian student learning English:

With regard to pronunciation, how to pronounce - ed when added to a verb has to top the list; it is nearly always enunciated as a separate syllable here. Then we have difficulties with the pronunciation of th as in the and th as in think. Constant work on both of these does, eventually, lead to success, though.

Much harder to correct are misconceptions about used to: it is not understood that use to has no meaning in the present tenses and that it cannot translate usarsi = "to be in the habit of". Teach this 100 times to a group and no matter, reader, for you will have to teach it 100 times more! And then, poor dears, your students also have to grapple with the complications of get used to / be used to.

What is worrying, to me, is that these incorrect usages are actually being taught in certain State schools here. Mind you, in Britain I have even witnessed native speaker teachers of English [but not ESOL] instructing students that the negative of used to is didn't used to, instead of didn't use to! And that brings me to my final point this evening; I have 2 other "pet hates" when it comes to incorrect grammar use by native speakers. They are:
- incorrect use of apostrophe in general, but in particular with its
- of for have as in should/could/would have.

What are yours?

MORE LINGUISTIC MUSINGS

This article, about the Italians voting for their least favourite English incursions into their language, has amused me.

I have always rather admired the French for their fervour in trying to protect their language but the Italians, though concerned, do not take themselves so seriously: “OK” or “buon weekend” are shorter and snappier than the Italian equivalents, so that is “OK” with them! All languages have their fascinating characteristics and the genius of English often lies in its economy. Perhaps the Italians have an inner confidence , too, knowing full well that the language of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and of most opera would be hard to eradicate.

It is, of course, utterly mad to attempt to control language: the Dante Alighieri Society, which commissioned the poll, ironically exists precisely because what we now recognise as modern Italian evolved from Latin. These days, language is changing so fast that dictionaries have to be updated every 2 years.

Esperanto and other “invented” languages never really took off because “real” language contains thousands of cultural overtones which they cannot hope to reproduce: English, for instance, is full of references to Shakespeare which most of us do not realise we are using on a daily basis.

A friend of mine back in old Cardiff disapproves entirely of “text” language, though I keep trying to persuade her that this is just an adapatation of language for a specific purpose. What else are all abbreviations, codes and job-specific jargon? [I would agree, though, that it all gets a bit much when teachers have to “instruct” students not to use “text style” in their GCSE English exams!]

Language, as I am always telling my students, is a living form, always changing and evolving with its users. It changes first and later – usually much later – someone writes the rules! No one just “decided“ that a “book” would be “masculine” and a “pen” “feminine” in Italian and French: people started using whichever definite or indefinite article seemed easier to them and afterwards the grammatical rules were written as a way of explaining the usage.

Incidentally, long ago my Italian professor told me that his favourite English word was “conglomeration”!

IL RE DEI BAMBOCCIONI

I've mentioned the term bamboccioni [denoting the young people in Italy who will not leave the parental nest even when they are well into their thirties] before: it is a word that has been much in the news again during the past week, as, according to Isae [ Istituto di Studi e Analisi Economica] 71.9% of Italians aged 20 - 30 continue to live with their parents, the highest figure in Europe. [Spain is next with 71.2 % remaining at home.] Unemployment among this age group is given as the main reason and it was also previously thought that those with a higher level of education were more likely to live at home. However, the UK has the most graduates in this age group [41.3%] and is also the country with the highest number living "independently".

Earlier I came across an article in an Italian magazine suggesting that the "biggest" bamboccione of them all is none other than our own beloved heir to the throne, with his mother still controlling his finances and being able to stick her nose into his marital affairs. - "Only fit to be king of the bamboccioni" sneers the article, which has cheered me up no end.

LA SIMI CASALINGA

It is very stormy over Sicily tonight and this kind of weather does not "blow over" quickly, as in the UK: I have known it to continue relentlessly for three whole days and just the volume of the thunderclaps is enough to frighten you to death [or me, at any rate]. Here are Simi's reactions:
1. "A girl can eat her way through this."
2. "This is getting nasty. Better line up my weapons."
3. "Time to shake my toys at this naughty weather!"

I have decided that Simi would make a much better Italian housewife than her Mum as she cannot stand it if any item of furniture, ornament or cushion is out of place. This morning she barked like crazy in the bedroom and what was my "crime"? - I had left a drawer open! By the way, it is no accident that here "Everything all right?" is rendered by, "Tutto a posto?" ["Everything in place?"] If you are not me and are a really tidy person, you might reply, "A postissimo".

CASTE E BAMBOCCIONI

Corriere has recently run a poll on the most popular Italian words of 2007. The winner is "La Casta", the title of a book on Italian politicians by two Corriere journalists: the caste [plural] of the title refer to the strongholds of political power throughout Italy and the book reveals that Italian politicians cost more and enjoy more perks than any in Europe: The Presidential HQ costs more to run than Buckingham Palace, the Italian Parliament building is the most expensive to maintain in Europe and, most scandalously, after only 30 months of service, Italian parliamentarians are guaranteed a good pension once they are 60! No wonder Italians are the most disillusioned people in Europe when it comes to those who run their country.

Other words I like which appear in the list are "bamboccioni", a term coined by the economy Minister for the over-30s who will not leave the parental nest [-one is a suffix denoting "big"] and, at number 10, predellino, referring to the car running board from which the irrepressible [you have to hand him that!] Berlusconi announced the setting up of a new party.

Are there any new coinages or "words of the year" where you are?