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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Cinzia: Buongiorno a tutti. Mi chiamo Cinzia. And welcome back to the fourth lesson of Culture Class.
Marco: Yes, today’s lesson is Italian names lesson number 4 and the names are: Luca and Maria.
Cinzia: Oh, these names are so common in Italy.

Lesson focus
Marco: Very, very common names. And in this lesson we will be focusing mostly on their Biblical origins on the onomastici, I’m sure I’ve told you what onomastico means by now and also patron saints.
Cinzia: Yes and Marco, don’t forget that we will also see two important singers that bore these names.
Marco: And very good singers they are indeed.
Cinzia: True, and dear listeners, if you want some information about the names why don’t you just write us in the forum and ask about your name?
Marco: Please remember that we may not have an answer for every single name out there. Maybe some names don’t have any correspondence in Italian.
Cinzia: If they do have a correspondent name we could find their origins.
Marco: Yes. So please let us know.
Cinzia: So today’s first name is Luca.
Marco: Luca? Is that a masculine name?
Cinzia: Of course, Marco. Even if it ends up with a vowel “A” which is normally associated with feminine singular nouns, Luca is a masculine proper name.
Marco: So, if I hear Luca I’m a hundred percent sure it’s a male?
Cinzia: Oh yes. Of course.
Marco: Okay. So in Italian, Luca is always a male name.
Cinzia: Yes. Male name. And Marco, would you like to tell us about the origins of this name?
Marco: The origins are actually very nice because Luca seems to be the abbreviated form of the Latin name Lucanus that means ‘inhabitant of the Lucania’.
Cinzia: Oh, yes. Lucania was the name given by Romans to an area in southern Italy, I know.
Marco: How do we say “inhabitant of the Lucania” in Italian?
Cinzia: Abitante della Lucania.
Marco: Very, very nice. And the old region name Lucania actually corresponds to the modern Calabria region, a very, very nice region to go visit.
Cinzia: Oh, yes, that is true. We have a second theory.
Marco: A second theory on Lucania?
Cinzia: Oh, no, no, no, no. On the name Luca.
Marco: What is that theory?
Cinzia: The Greek name where Luca comes from is Leucos that means “light, bright”, “luce, luminosità”.
Marco: Yes, and this name was later adopted in the Latin language as the verb lucere, “to grow light, to be born in the light”. And how do we say “light” in Italian? You just said it a few moments ago.
Cinzia: Luce. What about the onomastico? When is it?
Marco: Well the San Luca, of San Luca, Saint Luke, is celebrated on the 18th of October in honor of the Evangelist San Luca. And the Saint San Luca is the patron saint of artists, painters, sculptures, medics and surgeons. Quite many people, right?
Cinzia: Oh, yes. It’s true, but it’s because San Luca was also an appreciated painter.
Marco: Oh, so that’s why, that’s why. What about diminutives deriving from the name Luca?
Cinzia: We don’t have many, but we can hear Luchino, Lu, Luke.
Marco: Luke?
Cinzia: It sounds foreign.
Marco: Yes, it does, but hey, Italians like foreign things as well.
Cinzia: Yes, yes. That’s true.
Marco: And what about compound names deriving from Luca?
Cinzia: We have Gian Luca, Pier Luca, Leo Luca.
Marco: Mmm, I think…
Cinzia: Leo Luca is really fun, isn’t it?
Marco: It is strange. Why is Leo Luca funny for you?
Cinzia: It sounds not really nice.
Marco: But what can Leo mean in Italian? I mean, what do we…?
Cinzia: Leo I think comes from lion, “leone”.
Marco: If I say just Leo for me it’s lion. Because it sounds like “leone”.
Cinzia: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we have some other names like Leonardo and Leone also.
Marco: Yeah, yeah. And what about feminine versions of this name?
Cinzia: Actually, I don’t like the old feminine version we have.
Marco: That is…
Cinzia: Luchina.
Marco: Luchina? Not very nice.
Cinzia: But, Marco, let’s not forget our famous singer Luca Carboni.
Marco: Yes, he is a very young talented Italian song writer and singer.
Cinzia: Do you like his songs, Marco?
Marco: I don’t like music that much.
Cinzia: Oh, okay.
Marco: Yes, I’m the boring type. We all know now. We all know.
Cinzia: Yes, but how can you not like music?
Marco: Anyway. Not anyone else know who I am or what I am.
Cinzia: Okay, okay.
Marco: I want to know who Luca Carboni is.
Cinzia: Yes. Who is Luca Carboni then?
Marco: Well, you tell me since you know.
Cinzia: Yes, of course I know. And he is a famous Italian song writer also.
Marco: I said that. I said that.
Cinzia: Okay. What else can we say?
Marco: What is one of the most important aspects of his songs?
Cinzia: They’re often concentrated on social issues.
Marco: So in Italian we would call him an artista impegnato.
Cinzia: Artista impegnato in cause sociali.
Marco: An artist committed to social causes.
Cinzia: What is the second name we have today, Marco?
Marco: Well, today’s second name is a feminine name ending with “a” and it is Maria.
Cinzia: Oh, my God. I think this is the most common name in Italy.
Marco: Yes.
Cinzia: Italy has so many diminutives, altered names and so on.
Marco: So many…
Cinzia: Compound names also.
Marco: Oh. Okay, so. Dear listeners, we won’t give you all the diminutives, compound names and so on.
Cinzia: Oh no. You don’t want that.
Marco: But please, check the PDF because some are very, very interesting.
Cinzia: Where does it come from?
Marco: Well, it seems that it comes from the Jewish name Mariam that means “princess, lady”. And how do we say “princess” in Italian?
Cinzia: Principessa.
Marco: And “lady”?
Cinzia: Signora.
Marco: Very, very nice. So principessa, what a nice sound to that, right?
Cinzia: Yes. Very romantic.
Marco: And it seems that the Jewish word Mariam in turn originates from an Egyptian name that means “loved”, “beloved”.
Cinzia: But Marco, wait. Do you remember Tre Marie?
Marco: In the Bible, you mean?
Cinzia: Yes. Three Marys.
Marco: Yes, yes, now the first one is…
Cinzia: The Virgin.
Marco: Then we have Mary Magdalene, and then?
Cinzia: And then we have Mary of Cleopas.
Marco: They were also named Marionette, right?
Cinzia: Oh, yes, but this way of calling them is very strange because marionette in Italian means…
Marco: In modern Italian marionetta means “a puppet operated by strings”, like the theater puppets.
Cinzia: Yes. Il teatro delle marionette.
Marco: Exactly. Very famous in the south of Italy, right?
Cinzia: Oh, yes. Yes. Very famous. So, it sounds strange but it’s very interesting that the Three Marys were called Marionette.
Marco: And there is one reason for this, actually. Because at the time of the Middle Ages women were not normally allowed to work as theatre actresses. So, clergymen had to play the role of the Tre Marie and they were called, then, Marionette.
Cinzia: Oh, wow. That’s amazing. When is the onomastico?
Marco: The name day of Maria is celebrated on the twelfth of September. And it is obviously in honor of the mother of Jesus Christ.
Cinzia: Oh, yes. But anyway there are at least other twenty name days where each are different titles to Saint Mary. For example we have many derivatives of Maria which are…
Marco: Mariella, Marietta, Mariettina, Mariola, Mariolina, Mariuccia, I also take a…ugh, some air here.
Cinzia: There are so many.
Marco: Then, Mariuccina, Mariuzza, Maruzzella.
Cinzia: Maruzzela.
Marco: Okay, that comes from Napoli, I think.
Cinzia: Yes, of course.
Marco: And finally Miriam.
Cinzia: Oh, I like the name Miriam.
Marco: What about diminutives?
Cinzia: We have Mari, Mariu, Mary, Mari, Meri, Mery.
Marco: Wait, wait. You said many types of Mary. What’s the difference?
Cinzia: Oh, yeah. Because the way in which we write it is different.
Marco: So, normally it’s M-A-R-I or R-Y.
Cinzia: Yes. Or even M-E-R-I, M-E-R-Y so many.
Marco: So many, so many. What about compound names?
Cinzia: Oh…
Marco: Just a few.
Cinzia: Compound names.
Marco: Just a few.
Cinzia: Okay. Let’s see. Maria Rita, Maria Rosa, Maria Cristina, Maria Angela, Maria Antonia... Oh, my god. There are too many.
Marco: Too many, too many really?
Cinzia: Yes.
Marco: What about masculine compound names?
Cinzia: he masculine compound names, I think they are very strange. I don’t like them.
Marco: Why?
Cinzia: I don’t like a masculine name with Maria inside.
Marco: It may sound strange but I’m sure many people out there are proud of their name. So, let’s read them out. One is Alfonso Maria then…
Cinzia: Gian Maria.
Marco: Also written altogether Gianmaria, or one last one, please.
Cinzia: Luigi Maria.
Marco: That I think is a bit rare.
Cinzia: I’ve often heard also Luca Maria.
Marco: Really? Luca Maria?
Cinzia: Yes.
Marco: But we must remind our listeners that when Maria, the name Maria, is given to males it is always a middle name.
Cinzia: Yes.
Marco: Otherwise it will be a bit strange, I think. What about?
Cinzia: Personaggi famosi?
Marco: No, not yet, not yet. Not yet important people, first of all what about names that are variance of religious nature? For example Maria Addolorata?
Cinzia: Oh, and also Maria Assunta.
Marco: So, Maria Addolorata means “our lady of sorrows” and…
Cinzia: Maria Assunta means “our lady of the assumption”
Marco: You can find many of these names especially in the literature from 16th century to 18th century in Italian. So, now it’s your turn Cinzia to tell us about an important person with the name Maria.
Cinzia: Yes, but I think you’ll like her, Marco.
Marco: Only me?
Cinzia: Well, everyone likes Maria Callas.
Marco: Yes, Maria Callas, she was such a beautiful singer. But what is Maria Callas famous for?
Cinzia: Oh, come on. She’s considered the greatest opera soprano of the 20th century.
Marco: But was she 100% Italian?
Cinzia: Not really, because she was a Greek singer, then obtained the Italian citizenship in 1949.
Marco: Very, very nice. So she came to our beautiful country to sing opera.
Cinzia: Oh, yes. And we’re also glad that she did come.

Outro
Marco: Yes. So listeners, if you have time and you like listening to opera, please check out Maria Callas and also check out our PDF.
Cinzia: That’s all for today. Thank you, Marco. Thank you, listeners. See you next time. Ciao ciao.

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