Italian

I·tal·ian

I0260300 (ĭ-tăl′yən)adj. Of or relating to Italy or its people, language, or culture.n.1. a. A native or inhabitant of Italy.b. A person of Italian ancestry.2. The Romance language of the Italians and an official language of Switzerland.

[Middle English, from Latin Italiānus, from Italia, Italy.]

Italian

(ɪˈtæljən) n1. (Languages) the official language of Italy and one of the official languages of Switzerland: the native language of approximately 60 million people. It belongs to the Romance group of the Indo-European family, and there is a considerable diversity of dialects2. (Peoples) a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Italy, or a descendant of one3. See Italian vermouthadj4. (Placename) relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Italy, its inhabitants, or their language5. (Peoples) relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Italy, its inhabitants, or their language6. (Languages) relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Italy, its inhabitants, or their language

I•tal•ian

(ɪˈtæl yən)

n. 1. a native or inhabitant of Italy. 2. a Romance language spoken in Italy, Corsica, and the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Abbr.: It adj. 3. of or pertaining to Italy, its people, or their language. [1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin] pron: The pronunciation of Italian with an initial (ī) sound (pronounced like eye) is heard primarily from uneducated speakers. It is sometimes used facetiously or disparagingly and is usu. considered offensive.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Italian - a native or inhabitant of Italy Italia, Italian Republic, Italy - a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century ADEuropean - a native or inhabitant of Europedago, ginzo, greaseball, wop, Guinea - (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Italian descentEtruscan - a native or inhabitant of ancient Etruria; the Etruscans influenced the Romans (who had suppressed them by about 200 BC)Neopolitan - a resident of NaplesRoman - a resident of modern RomeSabine - a member of an ancient Oscan-speaking people of the central Apennines north of Rome who were conquered and assimilated into the Roman state in 290 BCVenetian - a resident of VeniceSicilian - a resident of SicilyTuscan - a resident of TuscanyOscan - an Oscan-speaking member of an ancient people of CampaniaSamnite - an Oscan-speaking member of an ancient people of Campania who clashed repeatedly with the early RomansFlorentine - a native or resident of Florence, ItalyGenoese - a native or resident of GenoaMilanese - a native or inhabitant of MilanNeapolitan - a native or inhabitant of NaplesSardinian - a native or inhabitant of Sardinia
	2.	Italian - the Romance language spoken in ItalySignora - an Italian title or form of address for a married womanSignorina - an Italian title or form of address for an unmarried womanLatinian language, Romance language, Romance - the group of languages derived from LatinOld Italian - the Italian language up to the middle of the 16th centurySardinian - the Italian dialect spoken in Sardinia; sometimes considered a separate language with many loan words from SpanishTuscan - a dialect of Italian spoken in Tuscany (especially Florence)Italia, Italian Republic, Italy - a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century ADdonna - an Italian woman of rank
Adj.	1.	Italian - of or pertaining to or characteristic of Italy or its people or culture or language; "Italian cooking"

Translations

意大利语意大利人意大利的

italian

→ 意大利人zhCN, 意大利的zhCN, 意大利语zhCN

Italian EN-UKEN-GB-P0041050 EN-USEN-US-P0041050

PT-PTPT-PT-P0041050 → 意大利语 ZH-CNZH-CN-P0041050

Italian

the official language of Italy and one of the official languages of Switzerland: the native language of approximately 60 million people. It belongs to the Romance group of the Indo-European family, and there is a considerable diversity of dialects

Italian

a language of the Romance group of the Indo-European languages. Italian is spoken in Italy (about 54 million people; 1971, estimate), in San Marino, in the Swiss canton of Ticino (Tessin), on the islands of Corsica and Malta, and among Italian emigrants (more than 7 million people), most of whom reside in the USA, Canada, Australia, and the Somali Republic (where Italian is one of the official languages).

Italian developed from Vulgar Latin after the fall of the Roman Empire. The first written records, in various dialects, date from the tenth to 12th centuries; the first literary documents date from the 13th century (the “Sicilian School” of poets). Italian dialects are divided into three groups: northern Italian (Gallo-Italian dialects of the Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Venice, and Istria), central-southern (Marche, Umbria, Latian, Campanian, Apulian, Abruzzese, Molise, Basilicata, and Sicilian dialects), and Tuscan (dialects of Florence, Siena, Arezzo, and Pisa). Some northern and central-southern dialects (the dialects of Venice, Milan, Naples, and Sicily) have written literary versions in addition to the spoken differences.

Common Italian was formed from the 14th-century Florentine dialect made popular by the Florentine writers Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. In view of the fact that Italy lacked a single cultural and administrative center until 1871, Common Italian existed outside of Tuscany almost exclusively in written form as late as the 20th century and was accessible only to the literate segment of the population. In the 20th century, under the influence of radio and television, the oral literary norm is supplanting the dialects, adopting in turn a different dialect coloration in each region (italiano regionale).

The phonetic and morphological features of the Italian literary language (and the Tuscan dialects) include the following. All words in absolute final form end in a vowel sound. Seven stressed vowels (i, e, ε, a, ɔ, o, and u ) and a number of stressed diphthongs (uo, ie, io, ia, iu, and au) are distinguished. Vowel clusters occur frequently (lei, “she”; io, “I”; aiuola, “flower bed”; ghiaia, “gravel”). There is a characteristic opposition between single and double consonants (dita, “fingers”; ditta, “firm”; buco, “hole”; bocca, “mouth”). Articulation of the sounds is sharp and tense. Gender and number of nouns are expressed by inflection (rosa, “rose”;rose, “roses”; and capo, “head”; capi, “heads”), and definite and indefinite categories are expressed by articles (il/la, “the”; uno/una, “a”). There are no cases; their meanings are expressed by the use of prepositions (di, “of”; a, “to”; da, “from”). The grammatical meanings of person, number, tense, and mood are expressed by inflection of the verb. The indicative tense system consists of four simple and four compound forms. Word order is free.

REFERENCES

Boursier, E. Osnovy romanskogo iazykoznaniia. Moscow, 1952. (Translated from French.)
Migliorini, B. Storia della lingua italiana [2nd ed.]. Florence, 1960.
Mauro, T. de. Storia linguistica dellTtalia unita.Bari, 1963.
Rohlfs, G. Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti, vols. 1–3. Turin, 1966–68.
Camilli, A. Pronuncia e grafia delVitaliano, 3rd ed. Florence, 1965.
Battaglia, S., and V. Pernicone. La grammatica italiana, 2nd ed. Turin, 1968.
Cappuccini, G., and B. Migliorini. Vocabolario della lingua italiana. Turin, 1955.
Palazzi, F. Novissimo dizionario della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. Milan [1964].
Prati, A. Vocabolario etimologico italiano.[Turin, 1951.]
Battisti, G., and G. Alessio. Dizionario etimologico italiano [vols.] 1–.Florence, 1968.

T. B. ALISOVA

Italian

I·tal·ian

Italian

I•tal•ian

italian

Italian

Italian

Italian

REFERENCES

Italian

Words related to Italian

noun a native or inhabitant of Italy

Related Words

noun the Romance language spoken in Italy

Related Words