Page 14 - Italian American Herald - September 2019

14 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | SEPTEMBER2019 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD ITALIAN MADE FUN&SIMPLE
It’s that time of year school reopens after the summer break and it’s a fresh start. So
this lesson will be a fresh start for new readers with an introduction to basic Italian and a well-needed review for our longtime readers. For this first lesson, we plan on only using nouns and simple phrases; words that you’re likely to run into and should know what they mean. In January after our traditional October-through-December holiday lessons, we’ll get into verbs and sentence structure. This having been said, let’s get to work.
Surnames and Their Origins
ciao hello, goodbye (familiar) salve hello
addio goodbye
bene well
lui he (common speech), him lei she (common speech), her loro them (persons or things), they (common speech, persons)
grazie thank you Pronunciation
spiacente I’m sorry
noi us, we (plural) signore sir, mister, mr. signora madame, mrs. signorina miss
tu you (informal)
voi you (plural, formal
and informal) io I
WHO ARE YOU?
Readers who wish to research surnames can do so on the visiting two websites: https://www.italyheritage.com/genealogy/surnames/etymology/ and https://cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani.
The Italian alphabet is fairly similar to our own (English, or depending on where you’re from, American). The letters K, J, W, X and Y occur only in foreign-origin words. Each lesson will explain a few more letters. This month, we’ll explain the interesting letters (or combina- tions thereof) from this week’s words (above).
gli The gli (followed or not by another vowel) in Italian is pronounced more or less as ll in Spanish
However there are words like glicine (flower name), negligente, anglicano in which, for etymological reasons, g and l are pronounced as two separate sounds as in English.
Thus, the Italian word coniglio (rabbit) is pronounced like conihlyo. and the word conigli (rabbits) is pronounced like conihli.
gn The gn is the same sound as Spanish ñ i.e. is the same sound as the ny pair in the word canyon. Thus, signore is pronounced like sin-yore.
h The Italian h is always silent and as such an Italian speaker won’t pronounce it when it occurs in foreign origin words (e.g. hotel). Moreover the letter h in Italian occurs only in the groups ch and gh (see below) and in the present tense of the verb “to have”. Thus, ho ([I] have is pronounced o and hanno ([they] have) is pronounced anno, the same as the word anno (year).
a, e, i, o, u The Italian vowels have only one sound, regardless of what letters they precede or follow, or accent marks on the vowel, with the (minor) exception of e and o.
a The a is always pronounced as in the English word car.
e The e has the sound of the e in bed. Actually there are two sounds of e
i The Italian i is the same as the English long e or ee as in see.
o The o is always pronounced as the o in the word cold or dog.
Here too actually there are two sounds of o:
The same comments made above for the letter e hold.
u The Italian u has the sound of the English oo as in too or the English ue as in blue.
r As opposed to the English r, which is formed in the back of the mouth with the back of
the tongue, the Italian r is formed using the tip of the tongue on the upper palate, behind the front teeth, more like the English d.
Next month: Getting by Italian at Halloween.
This month’s proverb: It comes from Sardinia.
Sardo: Poveresa non est vilesa. Italiano: Una rondinella non fa l’estate.
English literal translation: A swallow does not make a summer.
(Meaning: Do not feel sure or rejoice because you notice a favorable sign. The appearance
of a single sign of a favorable event is not yet a definite indication of its coming. It may be an unrelated, sporadic appearance.)
This month’s falso amico
It is annoiare, which is not Italian for to annoy. It means to bore, as in this game is boring. To annoy in Italian is irritare or dar fastidio.
MARRUCINI — This surname derives from the name of a pre-Roman population that lived in the Chieti area, who with the Samnites gave the origin to the Abruzzese people. It is not among the most common of Italian surnames. In fact, it is found in very small numbers only in the Abruzzo region.
MARSI — This surname derives the name of a pre-Roman population that lived in the Fucino area, who with the Samnites also gave the origin to the Abruzzese people. Again, it is not among the most common of Italian surnames. However, unlike Marru- cini, it is found in six regions. Most present in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and least in Lazio. Oddly though, it is not present in Abruzzo.
MARTELLI — This surname derives from the word “martello,” meaning hammer, used as a nickname to indicate someone that in war hits strongly or someone that uses
the hammer for his job. It is present in all 20 regions. It is most present in Emilia-Romagna and least present in Val D’Aosta. Variations: MARTELLO, MARTELLINI, MARTEL- LOTTI, MARTELLONI, MARTELLANI, MARTELLATO.
MARTINELLI — This surname derives from the first name Martino. It is among the most common of Italian surnames and is present in all 20 regions. It is most present in Lombardia and least present in Val D’Aosta. Variations: MARTINI, MARTINOTTI, MARTINONI, MARTINENGHI.
MARTONE — This surname derives
a name of a locality of the Reggio Calabria Province. Also possibly derived from the Greek “murton,” meaning myrtle. It is present in 19 regions. It is mostly found in the region of Campania and strangely least in Calabria, where it is said to have origins. It is not
present in the Val’D’Aosta region. Variations: MARTONI.
MARCIANO — This surname derives from the Latin first name “Martius,” meaning sacred to Mars or from the name of a place as Marzano or Marciano. It is a somewhat common Italian surname and is present in all 20 regions. It is most present in Campania and least present in Basilicata. Variations: MARZIANO, MARCIANI,MARZIO MARZIANI, MARZIANO.
MARZOLI — This surname derives
from the Roman family name “Marcius.”
It is present in 16 regions. It is not present
in Basilicata, Calabria, Sardinia, or the Val D’Aosta region. Variations: MARZI, MARZO.
MASCI — This surname derives from the surname Mastro, derived from the nickname “Mastro,” meaning very good craftsman who knows all the traditional secrets of his job. It is present in 16 regions. It is not present in Trentino-Alto Adige, Basilicata, Molise and the Val D’Aosta region. Variations: MASCIO, MASCIULLO, MASTO.
MASELLI — This surname derives from the first name Maso, which is an abbrevia- tion of Tommaso. It is present in 19 regions. The only region where it is not present is the Val D’Aosta region. Variations: MASI, MASIELLO, MASILLO, MASULLO, MASIN, MASIOL, MASON, MASUTTI, MASINA, MASOTTI, MASSETTI.
MASSARO — This surname derives from the job of “Massaro,” owner of lands and farms. It is present in all 20 regions. It is most present in Puglia and least present in Val D’Aosta. Variations: MASSARI, MASSAI, MASSARELLI, MASSARINI, MASSA- ROTTO, MASSARUTTI, MASSARDO, MASSARENTI.
Come visit the first Italian national parish in America. Discover our rich history and marvel over our two strikingly beautiful churches. Seated in the heart of the Italian Market in South Philadelphia.
Celebrate 10am Sunday Mass at St. Mary Magdalen or 12 noon Mass at St. Paul Church. For more information go to our website: www.stpaulparish.net
Saint Paul Church
923 Christian Street
St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi Church
712 Montrose Street