{"id":271,"date":"2010-02-16T14:58:21","date_gmt":"2010-02-16T18:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=271"},"modified":"2010-02-16T14:58:21","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T18:58:21","slug":"la-dolce-lingua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/la-dolce-lingua\/","title":{"rendered":"La Dolce Lingua"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learners of Italian often ask me if my native language sounds as beautiful and musical to me as it does to them. In a recent comment for example, Vince wrote \u201cwhen I read \u201cSotto casa nostra\u201d it sounds beautiful to me but it just means, \u201cBelow our house\u201d which sounds totally mundane in English\u201d.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This it is always a difficult question to answer. Personally, I find Italian to be a much more lively and expressive language than English, but<\/span> Italian is my mother tongue and I believe that it\u2019s difficult to really express yourself, and your culture in another language. Language and cultural concepts, it seems, are inextricably bound together.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Geoff (my English husband), who is also a fairly accomplished musician, feels that Italian definitely is more musical and expressive. The other day for example we were listening to \u201cFango<\/strong>\u201d (Mud), a Jovanotti song which has the refrain:<\/span><\/p>\n

Io lo so che non sono solo
\nanche quando sono solo
\nio lo so che non sono solo
\nio lo so che non sono solo
\nanche quando sono solo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Translating this into English it completely looses it musicality, that is, it\u2019s essential rhythm:<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that I\u2019m not alone
\neven when I am alone
\nI know that I\u2019m not alone
\nI know that I\u2019m not alone
\neven when I am alone<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I don\u2019t wish to start a controversy about the expressive merits of one language over another, I really enjoy English literature, poetry, and music, and I know that, in the right hands, it can be a beautiful emotive language. However there is an interesting technical explanation for the inherent musical quality of the Italian language, and it can be easily illustrated by examining that simple refrain by Jovanotti: the Italian version only contains one word, \u2018non<\/strong>\u2019, that doesn\u2019t<\/span> end in a vowel, whilst the English translation only contains one word, \u2018alone\u2019, that does<\/span> end in a vowel, and that vowel, ‘e\u2019, \u00a0is not pronounced. It is this preponderance of words ending in vowels that causes \u2018La Dolce Lingua<\/strong>\u2019 (\u2018The Sweet Language\u2019 – my pun on \u2018La Dolce Vita\u2019) to lend itself so well to poetry and music. It also lends itself, to the constant dismay of students of Italian, to being spoken rapidly. In addition to this you have to take into account the tonality of spoken Italian, and who can say how much of this is part of the language itself and how much is simply inherent in our cultural temperament. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll leave the final word to my friend, and student of English, Vilma, who, when I asked her the famous question that prompted this blog, replied: \u201cCerto, la lingua Italiana \u00e8 molto dolce ed espressiva. Per esempio, quando dico la parola \u2018piacere\u2019 la sento nel cuore, nel viso, ecco mi viene un sorriso e gli occhi mi brillano. Mentre se dico \u2018pleasure\u2019 non sento niente, mi sembra una parola fredda che non esprime niente.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo be sure, the Italian language is very expressive. For example, when I say the word \u2018piacere<\/strong>\u2019 (pleasure) I feel it in my heart, in my face, I mean I have to smile and my eyes shine. But when I say the word \u2018pleasure\u2019 I don\u2019t feel anything, it seems to me a cold unexpressive word.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Opinions please! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learners of Italian often ask me if my native language sounds as beautiful and musical to me as it does to them. In a recent comment for example, Vince wrote \u201cwhen I read \u201cSotto casa nostra\u201d it sounds beautiful to me but it just means, \u201cBelow our house\u201d which sounds totally mundane in English\u201d. This…<\/p>\n

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