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Italian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 62 million people, most of whom live in Italy. Standard Italian is based on Tuscan dialects and is somewhat intermediate between the languages of Southern Italy and the Gallo-Romance languages of the North. Italian has double (or long) consonants, like Latin (but unlike most modern Romance languages, e.g. French and Spanish). As in most Romance languages (with the notable exception of French), stress is distinctive. Italian is an official language in Italy, San Marino and in the Ticino canton of Switzerland. It is also the second official language in Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with Italian minority. Some people claim that Tuscan[?] became the standard language because it's so close to Latin, but other languages spoken in Italy are even closer to Latin (e.g. sardo logudorese as well as some Southern Italian idioms). It was also not the beauty of Dante's language but rather the economic power that Tuscany had at the time, specially considering Pisa's influence. Also, the increasing cultural relevance of Florence in the period of Umanesimo[?] (before Rinascimento) made its vulgare become a standard in art, quickly imported to Rome.
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| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st Person | io - I | noi - we |
| 2nd Person | tu - you (one person, familiar) | voi - you (plural, familiar) |
| 3rd Person |
lei - she Lei - you (one person, polite) lui - he |
loro - they Loro - you (plural, polite) |
Lei and Loro (written with a capitalized L) have special meaning in addition to their meanings as "she" and "they". Lei is the polite form of tu (which is only used for individuals one is familiar with, or for children), and similarly, Loro is the polite form of voi.
Questions are formed by a rising intonation at the end of the sentence, as in most European languages, possibly with the reversal of the subject and verb also (see examples below).
| -are | Singular | Plural |
| 1st Person | -o | -iamo |
| 2nd Person | -i | -ate |
| 3rd Person | -a | -ano |
Example: mangiare, "to eat".
guardare, "to watch"
| -ere | Singular | Plural |
| 1st Person | -o | -iamo |
| 2nd Person | -i | -ete |
| 3rd Person | -e | -ono |
Example: leggere, "to read"
Some regular -ire verbs conjugate normally, and some conjugate according to the -isco pattern. There is no way to tell other than to memorize which are which.
| -ire (normal form) | Singular | Plural |
| 1st Person | -o | -iamo |
| 2nd Person | -i | -ite |
| 3rd Person | -e | -ono |
Example: partire, "to leave"
| -ire (-isco form) | Singular | Plural |
| 1st Person | -isco | -iamo |
| 2nd Person | -isci | -ite |
| 3rd Person | -isce | -ono |
Example: capire, "to understand".
i /i/
e, é /e/
e, è /E/
a /a/
o /o/
o /O/
u /u/
p /p/
b /b/
t /t/
d /d/
c before velar vowels, ch- before palatal vowels, q before u in some words, k in foreign words /k/
g- before velar vowels, gh- before palatal vowels /g/
z /ts/
z /dz/
c- before palatal vowels; ci- before velar vowels /tS/
g- before palatal vowels, gi- before velar vowels /dZ/
f /f/
v /v/
s /s/
s /z/
sc- before palatal vowels, sci- before velar vowels /S/
sg- before palatal vowels, sgi- before velar vowels /Z/ ?
m /m/
n /n/
gn /n_j/ palatal [n]
l /l/
gl(i) /l_j/ palatal [l]
r /r/
/'fato/ - /'fatto/
/'kade/ - /'kadde/
/'kasa/ - /'kassa/
/'pala/ - /'palla/
/'karo/ - /'karro/
/'pena/ - /'penna/
Length is distinctive for all consonants except /ts, dz, S, z, n_j, l_j/.
See Common phrases in different languages and Italian proverbs.
I talk twelve pages about your am/american.html">American instruction projects, and your
nonexistent things, and your diligence and zeal and sincerity, and your
statistics and far facts that lack a pedigree; and you turn around and
change of language, in the bulk of your rejoinder, so much of my own
on; and I like the compliment, and am frank to say so; but agreeing with
weather; and of almost the worst sort. It pleases me greatly to hear you
is as far as he can get. I think.html">think that no foreigner.html">foreigner can report its
six months among a people, cannot express opinions that are worth jotting
I think that foreigners' impressions are more interesting than native
struck the foreigner.'"]--which is a quite clear way of saying that a
impressions. It pleases me to have you follow my lead in that glowing
deny and refute; I would do as much for you.
It pleases me to have you playfully warn the public against taking one of
wrote in a preface addressed to Jonathan: "If ever you should insist in
countrymen, I warn you that your world-wide fame for humor will be
days. I did it in a prefatory note to a book of mine called Tom Sawyer.
persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons
BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR
The kernel is the same in both prefaces, you see--the public must not
principle, and the preface is a corpse. Yes, it pleases me to have you
combat; and that is damage to me.
Am I seeming to say that your Reply is not a reply at all, M. Bourget?
general answer to my inquiry as to what France through you--can teach us.
.
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