{"id":16766,"date":"2018-07-25T16:54:58","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T14:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=16766"},"modified":"2018-07-25T16:54:58","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T14:54:58","slug":"italian-cognates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/italian-cognates\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Cognates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Identifying similarities between Italian and English words can be a very useful way of expanding your vocabulary, but it also has its pitfalls.<\/span><\/p>\n

English is a Germanic language which has been heavily influenced by the Romance languages throughout its history. The Renaissance period in particular brought a huge influx of Latin words, and it’s estimated that the English vocabulary virtually doubled during this period.
\nLearners of Italian will soon begin to recognise helpful cognates <\/em><\/span>in words such as stazione<\/strong> (station), ospedale<\/strong> (hospital), origine<\/strong> (origin) and so on. But this can easily lull one into a false sense of security, as lurking amongst these useful similarities we also encounter false friends<\/em> <\/span>(sometimes referred to as false cognates<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/em><\/strong>cognates<\/span><\/span><\/em> = words which have a common etymological origin. These may have the same, similar, or even quite different meanings. In most cases these words look and sound similar.
\nfalse friends<\/em><\/span> = words which share a common etymology but have evolved to have different meanings.
\nfalse cognates<\/em><\/span> = words which look or sound similar but have different etymological roots.<\/p>\n

Here’s a short piece by Serena which we’ll use as a model for identifying helpful cognates and false friends:<\/p>\n

“Andiamo a fare una passeggiata mentre l’aria <\/span>\u00e8 fresca<\/span>?” dice Geoff.<\/strong>
\n“S\u00ec, va bene!” gli rispondo <\/span>io. E cos\u00ec facciamo rapidamente <\/span>colazione, indossiamo gli scarponi e apriamo la porta, ma subito incontriamo<\/span> un problema<\/span>: i gatti reclamano<\/span> la loro colazione.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sfamati gli animali<\/span> ci avviamo lungo <\/span>il sentiero. Dopo la pioggia di ieri l’altro il cielo \u00e8 limpido<\/span>, la natura <\/span>\u00e8 verdeggiante<\/span>, e la temperatura <\/span>\u00e8 piacevole. Siamo circondati dalla sinfonia <\/span>degli uccelli, che cantano felici tutt’intorno. Ma ben presto la loro melodia<\/span> viene coperta <\/span>da un suono stridente<\/span>: “Quante cicale <\/span>ci sono!”, dice Geoff. “S\u00ec, attualmente <\/span>ce n’\u00e8 una grande quantit\u00e0<\/span>“, replico <\/span>io.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arriviamo <\/span>ad una biforcazione<\/span>, e prendiamo a sinistra. Il sentiero diventa pi\u00f9 difficile<\/span>: “Fai attenzione <\/span>a dove metti i piedi”, avverte Geoff. Infatti <\/span>\u00e8 impossibile <\/span>non inciampare sui sassi sconnessi, tuttavia riusciamo a ritornare <\/span>a casa senza incidenti<\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

La natura \u00e8 verdeggiante<\/strong>. Photo by Geoff<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Helpful Cognates:<\/span>
\naria<\/strong> = air
\nfresca<\/strong> = fresh
\nrispondo<\/strong> =\u00a0 (I) respond
\nrapidamente\u00a0<\/strong> = rapidly
\nincontriamo<\/strong> = encounter
\nproblema<\/strong> = problem
\nanimali<\/strong> =animals
\nlimpido <\/strong>= limpid
\nnatura<\/strong> =nature
\nverdeggiante<\/strong> = verdant
\ntemperatura<\/strong> = temperature
\nsinfonia<\/strong> = symphony
\nmelodia<\/strong> = melody
\ncoperta<\/strong> = covered
\nsuono<\/strong> =sound
\nstridente<\/strong> = strident
\ncicale<\/strong> = cicada
\nquantit\u00e0<\/strong> = quantity
\nreplico<\/strong> = (I) reply
\narriviamo<\/strong> = (we) arrive
\nbiforcazione<\/strong> = bifurcation
\ndifficile<\/strong> = difficult
\nattenzione<\/strong> = attention
\ninfatti<\/strong> = in fact
\nimpossibile<\/strong> = impossible
\nritornare<\/strong> = return
\nincidenti<\/strong> = incidents (n.b. incidente<\/strong> is also equivalent to the English word accident)<\/p>\n

False Friends:<\/span>
\nreclamano<\/strong> = sounds like reclaim<\/em> but means ask for<\/span>
\nattualmente<\/strong> = sounds like actually<\/em> but means presently\/at present<\/span><\/p>\n

False Cognates:<\/span>
\nlungo<\/strong> = along (long). Lungo<\/strong> comes from the Latin longus<\/em>, whilst along comes from Germanic andlang<\/span> <\/em>(entire, continuous, extended). However, it is not a false friend because both lungo<\/strong> and along have similar meanings.<\/p>\n

Useful Ways Of Identifying Cognates:<\/span><\/p>\n

Italian words ending with –zione<\/strong> often end with -tion in English:
\nbiforcazione<\/strong> = bifurcation
\nattenzione<\/strong> = attention<\/p>\n

Italian words ending with –ale<\/strong> often end with -al in English:
\nanimale<\/strong> = animal
\nfinale<\/strong> = final<\/p>\n

Italian words ending with –bile<\/strong> often end with -ble in English:
\nimpossibile<\/strong> = impossible
\nterribile<\/strong> = terrible<\/p>\n

Italian words ending with –ente<\/strong> or –ante<\/strong> often end with -ent or -ant in English:
\nverdeggiante<\/strong> = verdant
\nstridente<\/strong> = strident<\/p>\n

Italian words ending with –ia<\/strong> often end with -y in English:
\nsinfonia<\/strong> = symphony
\nmelodia<\/strong> = melody<\/p>\n

Some Italian words ending in –t\u00e0 <\/strong>end with -ty in English:
\nquantit\u00e0<\/strong> = quantity
\nuniversit\u00e0<\/strong> = university<\/p>\n

Many words are almost identical but end with a different vowel, or no vowel in English:
\nnatura<\/strong> =nature
\ntemperatura<\/strong> = temperature
\nconcerto<\/strong> =concert
\nmoderno<\/strong> = modern<\/p>\n

Find out more about false friends HERE<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Identifying similarities between Italian and English words can be a very useful way of expanding your vocabulary, but it also has its pitfalls. English is a Germanic language which has been heavily influenced by the Romance languages throughout its history. The Renaissance period in particular brought a huge influx of Latin words, and it’s estimated…<\/p>\n

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