parlare Italian · revision 37516

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=13th century, Uguccione da Lodi|origins=grc παραβολή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /parˈla.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''parlare''' (first-person singular present pàrlo, first-person singular past historic parlài, past participle parlàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ The noun ''parlare'' has the plural ''parlari'', now rare.^(Treccani 2011)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*parabolō|alt=*parabolāre]], a verb formed from [[la-lat|parabola|t=word]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) The verb is attested in [[la-med|parabolō|alt=parabolāre]] from the 9th century,^(DEI|2778)^(Prati 1951|744)^(Devoto 1968|318) and Nocentini finds it with the meaning “to speak” in 7th-century France.^(Nocentini 2010) Devoto sets out the steps ⟨*paravolare⟩ and ⟨*par(au)lare⟩.^(Devoto 1968|318)

+

+ Nocentini differs on the route: he takes the Italian verb from [[fro|parler]], which spread into the Italo-Romance area from Gaul.^(Nocentini 2010) The verb belongs to French and Occitan, which has both [[oc|paraular]] and [[m|oc|parlar]], and passed from Occitan into [[ca|parlar]] and, from there into [[es|parlar]] and [[pt|palrar|t=to chatter]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) it is missing in Romanian.^(DEI|2778) Körting doubted that a verb ⟨*parabolare⟩ ever existed and thought the noun ⟨parola⟩ was formed from the verb instead.^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The new verb displaced classical [[la|loquor|t=to speak]], of which nothing survives in the Romance languages.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935) According to Migliorini, quoted by DELI, it first had to compete with [[m|la|fābulor]], which gave [[es|hablar]], and with ⟨fabellare⟩, which survives in Sardinian and Ladin and was alive in Dalmatian; the Christian innovation spread through Gaul and Italy from north to south, and its rival [[favellare]] was still common in the oldest central and southern Italian texts.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The Latin noun is the Christian [[m|la|parabola]], the word for the parables and sayings of Christ, which came to mean simply “word”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It was borrowed from [[grc|παραβολή|tr=parabolḗ|t=comparison]], from [[m|grc|παραβάλλω|tr=parabállō|t=to set side by side, compare]].^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini traces the change of meaning to the Septuagint, where the Greek noun rendered [[hbo|מָשָׁל|tr=māšāl|t=comparison; saying, proverb]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record of the verb, in the sense “to utter words, communicate by speech”, is in Uguccione da Lodi, 13th century;^(DELI 1999) GRADIT, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date it to the first half of the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The noun, “speech, way of speaking”, is in Odo delle Colonne in the 13th century,^(DELI 1999) and GDLI quotes Patecchio's warning against the man who talks too much and loses good sense “entre 'l so tan' parlare” (in all his talking).^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the end of the 13th century the verb also meant to deliver a speech or sermon and to treat or discuss a subject, both in Brunetto Latini (before 1294); Dante (before 1321) uses it for speaking a given language.^(DELI 1999) The sense “to let out secrets, confess” is recorded in Anton Francesco Doni before 1574, and the figurative “to be expressive, speak to the feelings” in Paolo Segneri in 1686.^(DELI 1999) The reflexive ''parlarsi'' “to be on speaking terms” is in Tommaseo–Bellini (1871), and in the first edition of ''I promessi sposi'' (1825–1827) Manzoni used ''parlare'' for courting, a popular sense he replaced with ''discorrere'' in the final text.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2778)

+

+ As a noun the infinitive named speech, a way of speaking and a local idiom: Dante's “ripensando / a quel parlar che mi parea nemico” (''Inferno'' 10: thinking back on those words that seemed hostile to me) uses it for a discourse.^(GDLI)^(Treccani 2011) Among the derivatives, ''parlamento'' meant “talk” and “assembly” from the 13th century, and took its political sense from English ''Parliament'' in the reports of Venetian ambassadors, first in Lodovico Falier's of 1531.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The verb travelled abroad: the slang of English actors, showmen and travelling people, ''parlyaree'' or ''Polari'', recorded from 1846, is named after it, and German had ''parlen'' about 1515 and ''parlaren'' in 1566 for chattering.^(DIFIT)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 7th century – The Vulgar Latin verb is attested in France with the meaning “to speak”.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 9th century – Medieval Latin ''parabolare'' is recorded.^(DEI|2778)^(Prati 1951|744)

+ * 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses ''parlare'', Odo delle Colonne uses the noun.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for making a speech and for discussing a subject.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for speaking a language.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1574 – Anton Francesco Doni uses it for revealing secrets.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1686 – Paolo Segneri uses it of things that speak to the feelings.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1825–1827 – Manzoni uses it for courting in the first edition of ''I promessi sposi''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1846 – English ''parlyaree'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|speak]], to utter words; to have the faculty of speech: ''il nipotino ha cominciato a parlare a un anno''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To express one's thoughts in words, to [[m|en|talk]], in a given manner: ''parla piano, ti prego''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # To talk with someone, to converse (with ''con'' or ''a''), and to talk about something (with ''di''): ''ieri sera abbiamo parlato di viaggi''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To speak a [[m|en|language]]: ''mia nonna parlava solo il dialetto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To reveal what one knows, to [[m|en|confess]]: ''alla fine il testimone ha parlato''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To be expressive, to convey meaning without words: ''i suoi occhi parlavano''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(reflexive, parlarsi)'' To speak to each other; to be on speaking terms.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or manner of speaking: ''un parlare lento e pacato''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A local speech, [[m|en|dialect]]: ''il parlare delle valli''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' A speech, discourse.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[parlamento]]

+ * [[parlante]]

+ * [[parlantina]]

+ * [[parlata]]

+ * [[parlato]]

+ * [[parlatore]]

+ * [[parlatorio]]

+ * [[parlottare]]

+ * [[riparlare]]

+ * [[sparlare]]

+ * [[straparlare]]

+ * [[altoparlante]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parlucchiare]]

+ * [[parola]]

+ * [[parabola]]

+ * [[favellare]]

+ * [[fr|parler]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases include ''senti chi parla!'' (look who's talking), ''parlare al vento'' (to waste one's words), ''con rispetto parlando'' (an apology before a coarse expression) and the proverb ''parlare a nuora perché suocera intenda'' (to say something to one person so that another will hear it).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Altoparlante'' “loudspeaker” (1927) renders English ''loud-speaker''.^(Prati 1951|744)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}