italiano Italian · revision 39008

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la Italia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /i.taˈlja.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''italiano''' (feminine italiana, masculine plural italiani, feminine plural italiane, superlative italianissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|taliano]], [[m|roa-oit|ytaliano]] and [[m|roa-oit|italian]].^(TLIO) Tommaseo notes that popular speech in several dialects still said ''Taliano''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|Italia|-ano]], formed like [[veneziano]] and [[siciliano]] from the names of their places.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Wiktionary derives it from Latin [[m|la|italianus|alt=italiānus]], but the Latin adjective is itself formed on the model of the Romance word.^(Wiktionary) DELI quotes Migliorini, for whom the appearance of the name was a sign of the coming together of the scattered parts of the peninsula: Medieval Latin had [[m|la|Italus]] and [[m|la|Italicus]], but the vernacular had no common term, and in France all Italians were simply called Lombards.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ According to Nocentini the ethnic name first appears in its French form, [[fro|ytalien]], in Brunetto Latini's French encyclopedia (1260–1266), and then in the Tuscan translation of that work.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) The adjective long competed with [[italico]], [[volgare]], [[toscano]] and [[fiorentino]] as the name of the language, and won definitively only in the second half of the 19th century.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|Italia]] and [[m|la|Italus]] follow Greek [[m|grc|Ἰταλία|tr=Italía]] and [[m|grc|Ἰταλοί|tr=Italoí]], at first the name of a people of Calabria, extended later to peninsular Italy and under Augustus to the whole of Italy south of the Alps.^(Nocentini 2010) The form [[osc|Viteliú]], on the coins of the Italic league against Rome (90 BC), has an initial ⟨v⟩, and ancient tradition linked the name with [[m|la|vitulus|t=calf]]; whether that is old or a folk etymology is uncertain.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni (before 1292).^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The TLIO's first record is the Florentine translation of Brunetto Latini's ''Tesoro'', from the late 13th century.^(TLIO) A Sienese collection of exempla of the same period, retelling Valerius Maximus, speaks of the Romans having captured “a great Italian” (''uno grande ytaliano'').^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word was used of places in the peninsula, of persons born there, of the language spoken in Italy, and of the ancient Italic peoples; as a noun it named an inhabitant of Italy.^(TLIO) From the 18th century [[italico]] was kept almost only for classical antiquity, while ''italiano'' prevailed in all other uses.^(DEI|2124) As the name of the language, based on 14th-century literary Florentine, it was established from the 16th century, but was mostly written outside Tuscany until the unification of Italy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The phrase ''all'italiana'' “in the Italian manner” is recorded from 1721; it can be ironic, implying cunning or improvisation.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) Derivatives record the national debate: ''italianità'' (1821 for the language), ''italianizzare'' (1688) and ''italianista'' (1853).^(DELI 1999) English has ''Italian'' as a noun from 1422 and as the name of the language from 1485, and French ''italien'' is recorded about 1265.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1260–1266 – Brunetto Latini uses French ''ytalien'' in the ''Tresor''.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''italiano''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – The Florentine ''Tesoro'' translation has ''italiano''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1422 – English ''Italian'' “an Italian” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1485 – English ''Italian'' is recorded for the language.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1688 – ''Italianizzare'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1721 – ''All'italiana'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1853 – Carducci uses ''italianista''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|italian|alt=Italian]]: of or from Italy: ''Mi piace molto la cucina italiana.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(dated)'' Having patriotic Italian feelings.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An Italian: a native or inhabitant of Italy: ''Molti italiani sono emigrati in Argentina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The Italian [[lingua|alt=language]]: ''Studia l'italiano da tre anni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Italian language and literature as a school subject: ''Domani ho il compito di italiano.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[italianità]]

+ * [[italianismo]]

+ * [[italianista]]

+ * [[italianistica]]

+ * [[italianizzare]]

+ * [[italianamente]]

+ * [[italianizzazione]]

+ * [[antitaliano]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Italia]]

+ * [[italico]]

+ * [[italo]]

+ * [[fr|italien]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''All'italiana'' means “in the Italian style”, often ironically.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Parlare italiano'' can mean figuratively “to speak plainly”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) The literary adjectives ''italo'' and ''italico'' also appear as the first element of compounds such as ''italo-americano''.^(DEI|2124)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}