{"id":2126,"date":"2012-07-13T08:55:58","date_gmt":"2012-07-13T08:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2012-07-17T15:34:12","modified_gmt":"2012-07-17T15:34:12","slug":"punto-esclamativo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/punto-esclamativo\/","title":{"rendered":"Punto Esclamativo!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered why the exclamation mark !<\/span> <\/strong><\/span>is written like that?<\/p>\n

No? \u2026 well I\u2019m going to tell you anyway! A couple of days ago, whilst browsing through the Italian magazine \u2018Focus\u2019<\/strong>, I came across the following curious piece of information. Sometime during the Fifteenth Century, when manuscripts were copied by hand, the amanuensis<\/em> (those who did the copying) started to introduce the Latin exclamation \u201cio<\/em>\u201d<\/strong>, which in Italian means \u201cevviva\u201d<\/strong> (hurrah), where appropriate at the end of sentences.\u00a0 The word \u201cIo<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> was used to express exultation, surprise, disbelief or anger. With time, the letter \u201ci\u201d was moved above the \u201co\u201d, which in turn was reduced to a simple dot, becoming the symbol!<\/span> <\/strong><\/span>which which we know today.<\/p>\n

And I bet you\u2019ve always wanted to know where the punto interrogativo ?<\/span><\/strong> (question mark?) comes from haven\u2019t you? Well, according to my Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani<\/strong>, this symbol evolved from the letter \u201cq\u201d, which is the first letter of the Latin word \u201cquaestio<\/em>\u201d<\/strong>, meaning \u201cdomanda\u201d<\/strong> in Italian, and \u201cquestion\u201d.in English. Interestingly, the English word has stayed much closer to the original Latin.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s have a look at the names of some other segni di punteggiatura<\/strong> (punctuation marks), starting with those that are most widely used:<\/p>\n

la virgola<\/strong>\u00a0,<\/span><\/strong><\/span> (the comma), means una piccola verga <\/strong>(a small rod), from the Latin word \u201cvirga<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> (rod).<\/p>\n

Il punto <\/strong>or punto fermo .<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong>, is the full stop. If we are dictating, we say \u201cpunto e a capo\u201d<\/strong> (full stop, new paragraph) to clarify when we are starting a new paragraph, and when we reach the end of a dettato<\/strong> (dictation), we say \u201cpunto e basta\u201d<\/strong>. This expression is also used metaphorically to mean \u201cthat\u2019s that\u2019s\u201d, \u201cend of the story\u201d, \u201cno more discussion\u201d, e.g. \u201cti ho detto che non puoi mangiare il gelato adesso, punto e basta\u201d <\/strong>(I told you that you can\u2019t eat ice-cream now, end of the story).<\/p>\n

Closely related to the above symbols is il punto e virgola<\/strong> ;<\/strong><\/span> (the semicolon), which literally translates as \u201cdot and comma\u201d.<\/p>\n

I due punti<\/strong> is the Italian word for colon, :<\/span><\/strong> ,<\/span> <\/span><\/span>meaning \u201cthe two dots\u201d.<\/p>\n

I puntini di sospensione<\/strong> \u2026<\/span> <\/strong>are suspension dots, more informally known as \u201cpuntini\u201d.<\/strong> But because we Italians like musical repetitions we often say \u201cpuntini puntini\u201d,<\/strong> which better expresses a sense of suspension.<\/p>\n

Le virgolette \u201c \u201d<\/span> <\/strong>(literally \u2018small commas\u2019) are the inverted commas. Le virgolette<\/strong> are often used in speech to express an implied irony,. In Italian we use the expression detto fra virgolette <\/strong>(said between inverted commas), to graphically describe this euphemistic meaning of a word, e.g.: direi che \u00e8 stata un\u2019esperienza molto \u201cinteressante\u201d, fra virgolette <\/strong>(I\u2019d say that it was a very \u201cinteresting\u201d, in inverted commas, experience).<\/p>\n

La parentesi <\/strong>(singular feminine), le parentesi <\/strong>(plural feminine) () <\/span><\/strong>are bracket\/s. Again, in spoken Italian we use the graphic expression aprire una parentesi <\/strong>(literally \u201cto open a bracket\u201d) when we want to introduce a digression, e.g. e qui permettetemi di aprire una parentesi<\/strong> = and here allow me to make a digression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered why the exclamation mark ! is written like that? No? \u2026 well I\u2019m going to tell you anyway! A couple of days ago, whilst browsing through the Italian magazine \u2018Focus\u2019, I came across the following curious piece of information. Sometime during the Fifteenth Century, when manuscripts were copied by hand, the…<\/p>\n

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