How to Use Italian Definite Article Forms

How to Use Italian Definite Article Forms The Italian definite article (articolo determinativo) indicates something well defined, which is assumed to be already acknowledged. If, for example, someone asks: Hai visto il professore? (Have you seen the professor?) they are alluding not to any professor, but to one in particular, that both the speaker and listener know. The definite article is also used to indicate a group (luomo à ¨ dotato di ragione, that is, ogni uomo- man is endowed with reason, every man), or to express the abstract (la pazienza à ¨ una gran virtà ¹- patience is a great virtue); to indicate parts of the body (mi fa male la testa, il braccio- my head hurts, my arm), to refer to objects that belong strictly to oneself mi hanno rubato il portafogli, non trovo pià ¹ le scarpe- they stole my wallet, I cannot find my shoes), and is also used with nouns that signify something unique in nature (il sole, la luna, la terra- the sun, the moon, the earth) and the names of materials and matter (il grano, loro- wheat, gold). In certain contexts the Italian definite article functions as a demonstrative adjective (aggettivo dimostrativo): Penso di finire entro la settimana- I think Ill finish by the end of the week (or later this week); Sentitelo lipocrita!- Listen to him the hypocrite! (this hypocrite!) or a demonstrative pronoun (pronome dimostrativo): Tra i due vini scelgo il rosso- Between the two wines I choose the red, (the one thats red); Dei due attori preferisco il pià ¹ giovane- Of the two actors I prefer the younger (the one thats younger). The Italian definite article may also refer to individual members of a group: Ricevo il giovedà ¬- I receive it Thursday (every Thursday); Costa mille euro il chilo (or al chilo)- It costs a thousand euro a kilogam (per kilogram), or time: Partirà ² il mese prossimo.- Im leaving next month (in next the month). Italian Definite Article FormsIl, iThe form il precedes masculine nouns beginning with a consonant except s consonant, z, x, pn, ps, and the digraphs gn and sc: il bambino, il cane, il dente, il fiore, il gioco, il liquorethe child, the dog, the tooth, the flower, the game, the liquor The corresponding form for the plural is i: i bambini, i cani, i denti, i fiori, i giochi, i liquorithe children, the dogs, the teeth, the flowers, the games, the liqueurs Lo (l), gliThe form lo precedes masculine nouns that begin: with s followed by another consonant: lo sbaglio, lo scandalo, lo sfratto, lo sgabello, lo slittino, lo smalto, lo specchio, lo studiothe mistake, the scandal, the evicted, the stool, the sled, the enamel, the mirror, the office with z: lo zaino, lo zio, lo zoccolo, lo zuccherothe backpack, the uncle, the clog, the sugar with x: lo xilofono, lo xilografothe xylophone, the engraver with pn and ps: lo pneumatico, lo pneumotorace; lo pseudonimo, lo psichiatra, lo psicologothe tire, the collapsed lung, the pseudonym, the psychiatrist, the psychologist with the digraphs gn and sc: lo gnocco, lo gnomo, fare lo gnorri; lo sceicco, lo sceriffo, lo scialle, lo scimpanzà ©the dumpling, the gnome, to play dumb; the sheikh, the sheriff, the shawl, the chimpanzee with the semivowel i: lo iato, lo iettatore, lo ioduro, lo yogurtthe hiatus, the evil eye, the iodide, the yogurt NOTE: Nevertheless, there are variations, especially before the consonant cluster pn; for example, in contemporary spoken Italian il pneumatico tends to prevail over lo pneumatico. Also, before the semivowel i the use is not constant; in addition to lo iato there is liato, but the elided form is less common. When preceding the semivowel u, its necessary to distinguish between Italian words, which take the article lo in the elided form (luomo, luovo), and words of foreign origin, which take the form il: il week-end, il whisky, il windsurf, il walkman, il word processorthe weekend, the whiskey, the windsurfer, the Walkman, the word processor. With plural nouns the forms gli (gli uomini) and i (i walkman, i week-end) are used respectively. For words starting with h use lo (gli, uno) when preceding an aspirated h: lo Hegel, lo Heine, lo hardwarethe Hegel, the Heine, the hardware. And use l when preceding a non-aspirated h: lhabitat, lharem, lhashishthe habitat, the harem, the hashish. NOTE: In contemporary colloquial Italian there is a preference for the elided form in all cases, since even foreign words with an aspirated h (for example the aforementioned hardware, as well as hamburgers, handicap, hobbies, etc.) usually have an Italianized pronunciation in which the h is muted. However, in adverbial phrases the form lo (instead of il) is common: per lo pià ¹, per lo meno, corresponding to the use of the definite article in early Italian. The form lo also precedes masculine nouns that begin with a vowel, but in this instance it is elided to l: labito, levaso, lincendio, lospite, lusignolothe dress, the fugitive, the fire, the guest, the nightingale. As previously noted, before the semivowel i there is typically no elision. The form corresponding to lo in the plural is gli: gli sbagli, gli zaini, gli xilofoni, gli (or also i) pneumatici, gli pseudonimi, gli gnocchi, gli sceicchi, gli iati, gli abiti, gli evasi, gli incendi, gli ospiti, gli usignoli NOTE: Gli can only be elided before i: glincendi (but more frequently the entire form is used). The gli form is used instead of i before the plural of dio: gli dà ¨i (in obsolete Italian gliddei, plural of iddio). La (l), leThe form la precedes feminine nouns starting with a consonant or the semivowel i: la bestia, la casa, la donna, la fiera, la giacca, la ienathe beast, the house, the woman, the fair, the jacket, the hyena. Before a vowel la is elided to l: lanima, lelica, lisola, lombra, lunghiathe soul, the propeller, the island, the shadow, the fingernail. The form corresponding to la in the plural is lei: le bestie, le case, le donne, le fiere, le giacche, le iene, le anime, le eliche, le isole, le ombre, le unghiethe animals, the houses, the women, the fairs, the jackets, the hyenas, the souls, the propellers, the islands, the shadows, the nails. Le may be elided only before the letter e (but this happens rarely, and almost always as a stylistic device in poetry): leliche- the propellers. With nouns starting with h, unlike the masculine form, the non-elided form predominates: la hall- the hall, la holding- the holding company.

Definition and Examples of Sarcasm

Definition and Examples of Sarcasm Sarcasm is a mocking, often ironic or satirical remark, sometimes intended to wound as well as amuse. Adjective: sarcastic. A person adept at using sarcasm is sarcastic. Also known in rhetoric as  sarcasm and the bitter taunt. Sarcasm, says  John Haiman,   is  a particularly transparent variety  of cheap talk or hot air insofar as the speaker is overtly meaning (and saying) the opposite of what he or she ostensibly claims to be saying (Talk Is Cheap: Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language, 1998). Pronunciation: sar-KAZ-um ​​​Etymology: From the Greek, bite the lips in rage Examples and Observations Oh, a sarcasm detector. That’s a really useful invention!(Comic Book Guy, The SimpsonsOh, Lou, my mother would whine, dressed for a cocktail party in her muted, earth-tone caftan. Youre not going to wear that, are you?Whats wrong with this? hed ask. These pants are brand-new.New to you, shed say. Pimps and circus clowns have been dressing that way for years.(David Sedaris, The Womens Open. Naked. Little, Brown and Company, 1997Dr. House: So youre treating professional sports injuries now?Patient: Oh, no, Im not . . .Dr. House: . . . familiar with the concept of sarcasm. Dont sweat it, its new.(Dying Changes Everything, House, M.D.Abed: Another muffin basket, from another actress who wants to be in my next film.Jeff: Does that work?Abed: Yep. Meryl Streep has two Oscars because of her baking. Ah, thats sarcasm, but I forgot to inflect. This sounds way more like sarcasm. Inflection is so interesting.[Abed should have said intonation, not inflection.](Danny Pudi as Abed and Joel McHale as Jeff in Communication Studies. Community, Feb. 11, 2010 Neither irony or sarcasm is argument.(Samuel Butler)First, situations may be ironic, but only people can be sarcastic. Second, people may be unintentionally ironic, but sarcasm requires intention. What is essential to sarcasm is that it is overt irony intentionally used by the speaker as a form of verbal aggression.(John Haiman, Talk Is Cheap: Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language. Oxford University Press, 1998 Irony and Sarcasm Classical rhetoricians admired irony as a rhetorical device primarily because of its ability to engage the audiences interest. . . .However, as Aristotle pointed out, irony frequently implies contempt for its target and therefore it must be used carefully. Moreover, while Aristotle observed that irony befit[s] a gentleman, he warns that to be most effective, [t]he jests of the ironical man [should be] at his own expense, not at the expense of others. . . .For example, when [Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia accuses] the Court of misleadingly describing its previous sex-classification cases, Scalias sarcasm is patent: The wonderful thing about these statements is that they are not actually falsejust as it would not be actually false to say that our cases have thus far reserved the beyond a reasonable doubt standard of proof for criminal cases, or that we have not equated tort actions, for all purposes to criminal prosecutions. He is equally sarcastic elsewhere.(Michael H. Frost, Introduction to Classical Legal Rhetoric: A Lost Heritage. Ashgate, 2005) Contrary to frequent usage, irony, the device, does not always communicate sarcasm, the effect. The speaker or authors rhetorical goal may be anything from gentle humor, intended to produce a mutual laugh and so establish rapport between speaker and hearer, to corrosive derision meant to insult the audience or reduce a target to a smoking ruin. What is attempted or achieved (the speech act or illocutionary dimension of the utterance) depends, as always, on the variables of the rhetorical situation, and on how the device and its detection contribute to those variables.(Jeanne Fahnestock, Rhetorical Style: The Uses of Language in Persuasion. Oxford Univ. Press, 2011)Let it be first provided that this figure (sarcasmus) be not used without some great cause which may well deserve it, as arrogancie, insolent pride, wilfull folly, shamefull lecherie, ridiculous avarice, or such like, for it is both folly and rudenesse to use derision without cause: but to mocke silly people, innocents, or men in misery, or the poore in distresse, argueth both the pride of the mind, and the crueltie of the heart.(Henry Peachum, The Garden of Eloquence, 1593) Adrian Monk: This is my assistant, Sharona.Ambrose Monk: Hello, we spoke on the phone.Adrian Monk: Oh, so you can dial a telephone! I was worried. I thought you might be paralyzed, or something.Ambrose Monk: I wasnt paralyzed.Adrian Monk: I was being sarcastic.Ambrose Monk: You were being sardonic. Sarcasm is a contemptuous ironic statement. You were being mockingly derisive. Thats sardonic.(Tony Shalhoub and John Turturro in Mr. Monk and the Three Pies. Monk, 2004)Whatever the reason, I was saddled with this strange name, which meant that I was constantly, constantly, being serenaded with the sometimes you feel like a nut Almond Joy/Mounds jingle, which I would have liked to quote in full, except that Hersheys legal staff denied me permission. I can certainly understand why. God only knows what ruin might befall Hersheys if this jinglewhich hasnt been used in two decadeswere suddenly brazenly resurrected by a young Jewish candy freak. One shudders to consider the fallout for the ent ire fragile candy-trademark-jingle trademark ecosystem.(Steve Almond, Candyfreak, 2004) Sarcasm is related to our ability to understand other peoples mental state. It is not just a linguistic form; it is also related to social cognition.(Dr. Shannon-Tsoory, qtd. by David Adam, Highest Brain Areas Spot Lowest Form of Wit. The Guardian, June 2, 2005)Sarcasm I now see to be, in general, the language of the devil; for which reason I have long since as good as renounced it.(Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, 1833-34) The Lighter Side of Sarcasm Teen 1: Oh, here comes that cannonball guy. Hes cool.Teen 2: Are you being sarcastic, dude?Teen 1: I dont even know anymore.Homerpalooza, The Simpsons) Leonard: You convinced me. Maybe tonight we should sneak in and shampoo her carpet.Sheldon: You dont think that crosses the line?Leonard: Yes. For Gods sake, Sheldon, do I have to hold up a sarcasm sign every time I open my mouth?Sheldon: You have a sarcasm sign?(Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons in The Big Bran Hypothesis. The Big Bang Theory, 2007)Leonard: Hey, Penny. Hows work?Penny: Great! I hope Im a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory for my whole life!Sheldon: Was that sarcasm?Penny: No.Sheldon: Was that sarcasm?Penny: Yes.Sheldon: Was that sarcasm?Leonard: Stop it!(Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, and Jim Parsons in The Financial Permeability. The Big Bang Theory, 2009)