Language methamorphosys
A language is a live thing and it changes with time and use just like any other living organism.
The Italian language is no exception. Just in the last fifty years, we can acknowledge some strong mutations due to a number of factors.
For one, the advent of television has brought to the Italian homes a constant stream of national language (which has been and is an abstraction over individual dialects) and this has slowly but surely eroded the prominence of dialects. Broader exposure to education of the populace has done the same.
If you speak with the new generations in Italian, they are likely to respond in Italian, not in dialect. Some older individuals and some uneducated types may respond in dialect, but even they may substitute Italian words for dialectal ones.
For example in Calabrese dialect one would announce that “Vado a stinicchiarmi” which means “I am going to lay down in bed”, however the new generations may say “Vado a sdraiarmi” which is Italian. In the North of Italy, in Veneto or Piemonte, the dialect word for chair is “carega” but almost anyone today would say “sedia”, the Italian word.
Another element of change is represented by the influx of English/American words. It is very fashionable to throw into the language these foreign words. The Italian word that describes unmarried status in Italian is nubile for a woman and celibe for a man.
But now the Italians say “single” for both.
Week-end has replaced fine settimana and other terms in Italian have equally been replaced, so Italians say baby sitter, part time, breakfast, fair play, Latin lover, sky diving, gig, scoop, and so on.Sometimes they sound ridiculous, because they totally mispronounce the word, like for example for the word tackle, used in soccer, which mysteriously is pronounce teickle (pronounced as in bake).
Many English terms have been adopted in Italy from the technological advances that the United States have spearheaded, in computer technology, telecommunications, medical diagnostic and intervention equipment, etc.
The adoption of foreign and particularly English terms to replace Italian words is welcome among the young Italians. The older generations, who cherish tradition and tend to cling to the past, are less likely to accept this phenomenon.Benito Mussolini would be furious. In fascist Italy, under his government, a colossal effort was made to retain the “purity” of the Italian language by banning foreign words, for example you could not say “hotel”, you had to say “albergo”.
But given that we live in a global economy, with barriers between countries being dismantled, it is a natural process that cultures ooze out of their historic boundaries into other countries.It is a bit of a consoling factor for us conservatives that Italian words are seeping into other languages as well, like Ciao, arrivederci, espresso, caffelatte, paparazzi and so on.
Viva la lingua italiana!!!!
10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410