The Italian Language Today

Anna Laura Lepschy; Giulio Lepschy

doi:10.5771/9781461636267

Summary

Italian as a national spoken language is a new experience for Italians; until very recently it was normal for the majority of the people to speak in a dialect, and Italian was a literary language used only by a minority.

The first section of this book provides an outline of the language, and a sketch of the dialects. The authors also describe the formation of the modern standard language in its varieties (regional, social, and occupational).

Part two is a reference grammar of contemporary educated Italian, presented in the way it is actually used, rather than according to traditional prescription.

The book concentrates on contemporary usage and will enable the reader to understand and use appropriately a wide range of expressions, characterized where necessary according to their level of formality or their regional nature.

The illuminating combination of historical perspective and contemporary grammer make this a unique contribution to Italian linguistics, and an invaluable reference book for all students and scholars in the field of Italian.

The second edition has been revised throughout to bring it completely up to date.

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 1998
ISBN-Print: 978-0-941533-22-5
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4616-3626-7
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 261
Product type: Book Titles

1. Table of Contents No access
2. Preface to the Second edition No access
3. Preface No access
1. I:Italian Today No access
2. II:A Historical View No access
3. III: Italian Dialects No access
4. IV:Varieties of Italian No access
1. 1. 1:Phonology No access
  2. 2:Spelling No access
  3. 3: The Article No access
  4. 4: Prepositions with the Article No access
  5. 5:Conjunctions No access
  6. 6:Nouns and adjectives No access
  7. 7: Comparatives and Superlatives No access
  8. 8:Adverbs No access
  9. 9: Personal Pronouns No access
  10. 10:Possessives No access
  11. 11: Interrogatives and Relatives No access
  12. 12:Negatives No access
  13. 13:Demonstratives No access
  14. 14:Indefinites No access
  15. 15:Numerals No access
  16. 16:Verbs No access
2. 1. 1: Some Notes on word Order No access
  2. 2: The Use of the Article No access
  3. 3: Evaluative Suffixes No access
  4. 4: Compound and Juxtaposed Nouns No access
  5. 5: Position of adjectives No access
  6. 6: Agreement of adjectives No access
  7. 7: Position of adverbs No access
  8. 8: Some Constructions with/without Prepositions No access
  9. 9: Agreement of Past Participles No access
  10. 10: Clitic Clusters No access
  11. 11: Constructions with causative and Perception Predicates No access
  12. 12:The use of si No access
  13. 13: The use of Indicative Past Tenses No access
  14. 14: The use of the Subjunctive No access
  15. 15:Sequence of tenses No access
  16. 16: The Use of the Conditional No access
Short Bibliography No access Pages 247 - 249
Table of main symbols used No access Pages 250 - 250
Index No access Pages 251 - 261