Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

Intro

Michael: What are augmentatives and how are they formed in Italian?
Ofelia: And are they commonly used?
Michael: At ItalianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Isabella Russo is an elementary school student and has a test soon. Her mom asks her,
"Do you have a lot of homework?"
Emily Erba: Hai tanti compiti?
Dialogue
Emily Erba: Hai tanti compiti?
Isabella Russo: Sì, devo leggere questo librone!
Michael: Once more with the English translation.
Emily Erba: Hai tanti compiti?
Michael: "Do you have a lot of homework?"
Isabella Russo: Sì, devo leggere questo librone!
Michael: "Yes, I have to read this big book!"

Lesson focus

Michael: In Italian, words can change shape in order to convey extra information about the size or the appearance of something, or the way the speaker feels. This phenomenon is called
Ofelia: alterazione,
Michael: which means "alteration" or "modification," and is achieved by adding certain suffixes to the words. There are different types of alteration, but, in this lesson, we'll focus on
Ofelia: accrescitivi,
Michael: "augmentatives" which allow for describing something as bigger, or overwhelming. The most common suffix used for creating augmentives in Italian is:
Ofelia: -one
Michael: For feminine words, this changes into
Ofelia: -ona
[Recall 1]
Michael: Let's see the augmentative word from the lesson's conversation. Do you remember how Isabella says "Yes, I have to read this big book!"
(pause 4 seconds)
Ofelia as Isabella Russo: Sì, devo leggere questo librone!
Michael: Here, the augmentative is
Ofelia: librone [SLOW] librone,
Michael: which means "big book" and comes from
Ofelia: libro,
Michael: meaning "book." The augmentative version of the noun here indicates a big size, but it is more likely that Isabella uses it to express the feeling of being overwhelmed by the great quantity of homework. To form the augmentative form of a noun, you drop the suffix, in this case
Ofelia: -o
Michael: and replace it with
Ofelia: -one, as in librone.
Michael: Let's see another example:
Ofelia: ragazzone [SLOW] ragazzone.
Michael: This means "big boy" and comes from
Ofelia: ragazzo,
Michael: meaning "boy." The augmentative suffix is
Ofelia: -one, as in ragazzone.
Michael: Let's hear an example
Ofelia: Mio nipote è diventato un ragazzone.
Michael: "My nephew has become a big boy." Here, the speaker wants to point out that the nephew has grown a lot. Depending on the context, it could also convey the impression of a boy that behaves like an adult, even if he's still young.
Michael: Now let's see a feminine example.
Ofelia: casona [SLOW] casona.
Michael: This means "big house" and comes from
Ofelia: casa,
Michael: meaning "house." The augmentative suffix is
Ofelia: -ona, as in casona.
Michael: The interesting fact about feminine nouns is that they often change into the masculine form when modified into augmentatives. For example,
Ofelia: testone [SLOW] testone.
Michael: This means "big head" and comes from
Ofelia: testa,
Michael: meaning "head," which is feminine. However, as you might have noticed, the augmentative suffix is
Ofelia: -one, as in testone,
Michael: which is masculine. Let's hear two more similar examples:
Ofelia: pentolone,
Michael: which means "big pot" and comes from the feminine noun
Ofelia: pentola.
Michael: The next example is
Ofelia: barcone,
Michael: which means "big ship" and comes from the feminine noun
Ofelia: barca.
[Summary]
Michael: In this lesson, you learned that, in Italian, you can modify words in order to convey extra information and connotation about what you're talking about or the way you feel about it. Augmentatives are modified words that describe something as bigger or overwhelming. In Italian, there is one main suffix to form augmentatives:
Ofelia: -one
Michael: The feminine version of the suffix is
Ofelia: -ona.
Michael: However, many feminine nouns become masculine in their augmentative form.
Expansion
Michael: Under the augmentatives, we could also list the "pejoratives" or
Ofelia: peggiorativi.
Michael: These words have different suffixes, such as
Ofelia: -accio, -astro.
Michael: For example, let's hear how the word "book" changes in this case.
Ofelia: Libro becomes libraccio.
Michael: This version of the word clearly conveys disapproval, the speaker's feeling of being upset by the book, which is not necessarily a torn and dirty book.

Outro

Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them!
Ofelia: A presto!
Michael: See you soon!

Comments

Hide