{"id":12826,"date":"2016-11-04T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T08:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=12826"},"modified":"2016-11-03T21:02:34","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T20:02:34","slug":"gli-accenti-italiani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/gli-accenti-italiani\/","title":{"rendered":"Gli Accenti Italiani"},"content":{"rendered":"

It can be a strange business, this blogging. Unlike teaching in schools, colleges, and universities, where one has regular direct contact with one\u2019s students, blogging can often feel like sending out messages in bottles. <\/span><\/p>\n

Who are our readers, where are they, what do they know about the Italian language and culture? From a didactic point of view, these are important questions if we are to identify your learning needs.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, what a pleasure it has been to read all of your fascinating comments on my article A Brief History Of Spoken Italian<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. It\u2019s as if you, dear readers, have written a blog for me. And I loved it!<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first moved here nearly a decade ago, spoken Italian was either more or less clear to me (usually less!), and my awareness of different accents was very limited. As I\u2019d spent a lot of time in Lucca I was able to identify some characteristics of the accent from that part of Tuscany. I love, for example, the ci<\/b>, which in ‘standard’ Italian is normally pronounced chee<\/i> as in cheese but in the Lucca area is pronounced she<\/i> as in \u2026 well, she! When I met people from the Firenze area I noticed that the c<\/i> as in casa<\/b> (house) became an h<\/i>: la mia hasa<\/b>, instead of la mia casa<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

These days, I can usually tell straight away if someone is from the north or south of Italy. I can recognize a Romano accent, and distinguish a Toscano accent from that of Emilia Romagna. But there are still many sfumature<\/b> (shades) that I can\u2019t place.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where we need the help of an expert, and at this point I turn to my friend youtube. Here’s a great video of comedian Enrico Brignano parodying gli accenti italiani<\/b> (Italian accents). Don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t understand much of what he says, it\u2019s all about the sounds and how they change as he travels around the peninsula.<\/span><\/p>\n