The Italian Language Today, by Anna Laura Lepschy and Giulio Lepschy (2nd edition, 1988) is a useful guide for anyone who has been through a basic to intermediate Italian course.
The book has 2 parts:
- part one The Linguistic Situation in Italy has 4 sections: Italian today; a historical view; Italian dialects; varieties of Italian.
- part two The Grammar of Italian, is divided into 2 sections:
– an outline of Italian Grammar
– 16 points of syntax.
Outline of Italian Grammar
The outline covers the following 16 areas:
- Phonology
- Spelling
- The article
- Prepositions with the article
- Conjunctions
- Nouns and adjectives
- Comparatives and superlatives
- Adverbs
- Personal pronouns
- Possessives
- Interrogatives and relatives
- Negatives
- Demonstrative
- Indefinites
- Numerals
- Verbs
Section 1 of the outline describes for foreign learners a phonological system:
- that conventional spelling reflects more closely than it reflects the systems described by more purist grammars based on Tuscan pronunciation;
- is closer than more purist systems to an overall national system because it ignores some phonemic oppositions treated differently in different parts of Italy;
- leans towards a northern variety that enjoys high prestige, was gaining ground in the rest of the country and does not sound parochial
Syntax
The 16 points of syntax discussed are:
- Some notes on word order
- The use of the article
- Evaluative suffixes
- Compound and juxtaposed nouns
- Position of adjectives
- Agreement of adjectives
- Position of adverbs
- Some constructions with/without prepositions
- Agreement of past participles
- Clitic clusters
- Constructions with causative and perception predicates
- The use of si
- The use of indicative past tenses
- The use of the subjunctive
- Sequence of tenses
- The use of the conditional
I give below brief notes on each of those 16 sections.
1. Some notes on word order
Section 1 points out that in an unmarked Italian sentence:
- the subject often precedes the predicate.
- the theme (what the sentence is about) often precedes the ‘rheme’ (what is said about the theme)
- given information (information that the speaker assumes the listener already knows) often precedes new information (information that the speaker assumes to be already known by the listener or not to be at the front of the listener’s mind).
A change in word order and/or intonation can highlight a different part of the sentence.
2. The use of the article
Section 2 discusses when the definite or indefinite article is or is not used in Italian, and compares that with the distribution of the articles in English.
3. Evaluative suffixes
Italian has a large number of suffixes that modify a word’s meaning by expressing meanings such as one or more of the following:
- large size (eg -ona);
- small size (eg -etto, -ino);
- positive evaluation (eg -ello);
- negative evaluation (eg -azzo); and/or
- emotional involvement by the speaker.
Section 3 gives several examples.
4. Compound and juxtaposed nouns
Section 4 gives several examples of compounds, divided into the following categories: noun + noun; noun + adjective; adjective + noun; adjective + adjective; verb + noun; verb + verb; preposition + noun.
This section also comments briefly on the juxtaposition of 2 words not forming a single compound word, pointing out that:
- this construction is less common than in English; and
- the head always precedes the modifier, whereas in English the opposite order is common. For example, vagone ristorante (‘restaurant car’) is a type of car /wagon, not a type of restaurant.
5. Position of adjectives
Section 5 summarises the main regularities on the position of adjectives:
- when adjectives have a distinguishing, restrictive function, they generally follow the noun they modify
- when adjectives have a purely descriptive, non-restrictive function, they generally precede the noun they modify.
- some adjectives always follow the noun (eg adjectives of nationality and past participles used as adjective) Some others normally precede the noun (eg possessives, indefinites and numerals). Some other adjectives have:
– one meaning when they follow the noun (eg notizie certe, ‘news which is certain’)
– a different meaning when they precede the noun (eg certe notizie, ‘some news’) - when a specification follows the noun, the adjective often precedes the noun. When a specification (or an evaluative suffix) follows the adjective, the adjective often follows the noun.
- if there are several adjectives, they usually follow the noun.
- If an adverb (other than piú ‘more’ or bene ‘well’) modifies the adjective, the adjective usually follows the noun (eg una passeggiata molto lunga, ‘a walk very long’ = a very long walk’).
- for emphasis, an adjective’s position departs from the above regularities in some cases, often with a change in intonation.
6. Agreement of adjectives
Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. If the noun is a collection of nouns:
- a following adjective is in the masculine unless all the nouns are feminine (ie masculine is treated as the unmarked default).
- a preceding adjective agrees with the nearest noun.
7. Position of adverbs
In normal, unmarked contexts:
- when an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, the adverb modifies the adjective or adverb that it modifies (eg piuttosto brave, ‘very good’; molto facilmente, very easily’).
- when adverb modifies a verb, the adverb usually comes immediately after the verb, between the 1st auxiliary and the past participle, or at the end of the clause.
- anche (‘also’), neanche (‘neither’), solo, solamente, sotanto (‘only’) precede the word they modify.
The positions mentioned above sometimes change for emphasis.
8. With or without prepositions
Section 8 lists the prepositions required by some verbs and adjectives.
This section also mentions some prepositions requiring a 2nd preposition (often a or di) before pronouns (but not before nouns): eg senza i guanti (‘without [the] gloves’) but senza di noi (‘without us’).
9. Agreement of past participles
Past participles agree in gender and number:
- with the subject of an intransitive verb conjugated with the auxiliary essere (‘be’);
- optionally with the object of a transitive verb or with a preceding relative pronoun;
- with a preceding direct object that is a 3rd person pronoun.
Past participles are invariable (ending always in -o) for intransitive verbs conjugated with the auxiliary avere (‘have’).
Section 9 summarises whether agreement is required in various circumstances involving pronouns.
10. Clitic clusters
Section 10 summarises the order of clusters of clitics, such as pronouns and the negative particle ne. For discussion of clitic clusters in French (another Romance language), please see Position of pronouns in French – Language Miscellany
11. Causative or perception predicates
Section 11 covers:
- Causative constructions with the verb fare (‘make, do’). For more on these constructions, please see The sins of Adam: more on the Italian verb ‘fare’ – Language Miscellany
- constructions with verbs of perception, eg vedere (‘see’), sentire (‘hear’)
12. Using si
Section 12 discusses uses of the pronoun si:
- as a reflexive pronoun;
- as a passive;
- as an impersonal pronoun
- as 1st person plural
- in combination with other pronouns
13. Using indicative past tenses
Section 13 explains that the past historic (passato remoto) is rarely used in Northern Italy, where the perfect (passato prossimo) is used instead. The past historic is used in the south.
In central Italy and in standard literary Italian:
- the perfect is used for:
– an event with continuing relevance
– a state continuing into the present
– a completed event no longer related to the present - the imperfect is used:
– for an action that was happening at the same time as another action reported using the past historic or present
– for describing a state or condition
– for habitual past events
– in some instances instead of the present, past conditional or pluperfect subjunctive.
The present or imperfect is used (unlike the English perfect or pluperfect) in instances such as:
- é qui da una settimana
[she] is here from a week
‘she has been here for a week’ - era qui da una settimana
[she] was here from a week
‘she had been here for a week’
14. Using the subjunctive
Section 14 discusses the use of the subjunctive:
- in main clauses;
- in subordinate clauses:
– obligatory uses
– stylistic choices
– where the subjunctive and indicative have clearly different meanings
– when introduced by che ‘that’.
15. Sequence of tenses
Section 15 summarises how the tense of a main clause affects the tenses used in subordinate clauses.
16. Using the conditional
Section 16 covers the use of the conditional
Further reading
A Linguistic History of Italian, Martin Maiden (1995)