Archive by Author
Talking about the time Posted by Serena on Jun 21, 2009
Many people say that we Italians have a different concept of time, and that domani (tomorrow) often means mai (never). This may or may not be accurate, but it is certainly true that concepts of time are expressed quite differently in English and Italian. This is one of the many cases in which English uses one word…
‘O Sole Mio Posted by Serena on Jun 18, 2009
‘O sole mio is without doubt the most well known Neapolitan (and probably Italian) song in the world. The lyrics were written by the journalist Giovanni Capurro in 1898, and the music was composed by his friend Eduardo di Capua, a professional posteggiatore, a Neapolitan word meaning someone who sings in restaurants and at parties. They then…
A visit to Portovenere Posted by Serena on Jun 15, 2009
Last week my husband, my uncle and I went for a day out to Portovenere, a little jewel on the Riviera di Levante (the Eastern Riviera) in Liguria. Portovenere is a medieval fishing village situated on the southern tip of the Golfo di La Spezia also known as Il Golfo dei Poeti (the Gulf of the Poets), which takes its name…
Parliamo L’Italiese, part 2 Posted by Serena on Jun 12, 2009
In my last blog I had a look at the way in which English words have been incorporated into the Italian language. In part two I thought it would be interesting to take a look at ‘the other side of the coin’, and discover some of the less obvious Italian words that we use in…
Parliamo L’Italiese Posted by Serena on Jun 9, 2009
Whether we like it or not, la bella lingua has absorbed a fairly substantial vocabulary from the English language. The language of sport and entertainment in Italy, for example, has long been influenced by English: ‘Il Jazz’ for example, was already in use back in the 1920s. During the fascist years under Mussolini there was…
Bisogno or Bisogna? Posted by Serena on Jun 6, 2009
Here is another example of a verb that does not translate very well from English into Italian: “to need”. In Italian the verb bisognare (to need) has become redundant except in its third person form, but we use two different constructions to express the concept of ‘need’ that should not be confused with each other…
If I could have … Posted by Serena on Jun 3, 2009
There is an old popular Italian song from 1939 called ‘Mille Lire al Mese’, which somehow seems very appropriate given the present economic climate. The first verse goes: Che disperazione, che delusione dover campar, sempre in disdetta, sempre in bolletta! Ma se un posticino domani cara io trovero’, di gemme d’oro ti copriro’! Se potessi…