What are “parole alterate”: Italian grammar lesson 243

What are parole alterate in Italian?

One of the great things about Italian is that you can express yourself in many different ways.

Sometimes this is possible by just changing the ending of a word a tiny bit.

Think of the word bello (nice) and bellissimo (very nice).

Now, let’s get to the point.

You might have heard the concept of parole alterate but you might not know what they are and that’s why you’re here.

For you to understand, let’s have a look at an example of a parola alterata in English: mommy (instead of mom).

Well, parole alterate has something to do with Italian suffixes that change the meaning of words.

A suffix is added at the end of a word to form a derivative, like -tion, -ity, -ment in the words connection, activity, and argument.

Here are some examples of parole alterate in Italian:

• Festa (party): festicciola (small party)
• Odore (smell): odoraccio (bad smell)
• Mamma (mom): mammina (mommy)

These alterations are very powerful, as you can use them to better express yourself, but you have to know how to first.

Let’s find out!

How to use parole alterate?

Parole alterate means “altered words” in English. In other words, when we talk about a parola alterata we refer to noun or adjective alteration.

An alteration happens when the suffix of a noun or adjective changes but its root remains the same. By doing so, we slightly change the meaning of the word to a different meaning depending on the added suffix.

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This nuance of meaning is given by the opinion that the speaker has towards what they’re referring to.

Also, you have to remember that suffixes change depending on the gender and number of the noun or adjective.

In Italian, there are four types of parole alterate:

1. Accrescitivi (augmentative)
2. Diminutivi (diminutive)
3. Vezzeggiativi (expressing affection)
4. Dispregiativi or spregiativi (derogatory)

Let’s take the word gatto (cat) as an example and see how to form parole alterate from it:

• accrescitivo: gattone (big gat)
• diminutivo and vezzeggiativo: gattino (small and cute cat)
• peggiorativo: gattaccio (bad cat)

Don’t worry if this looks confusing for now.

We’ll show you some more examples for you to understand better.

How to use Italian accrescitivi?

We use accrescitivi to describe something bigger than usual.

These are common accrescitivi suffixes:

• –one is the most common one.

• –accione

• –acchione

How to use Italian diminutivi?

We use the diminutive alteration to describe something smaller than usual.

These are some diminutive endings:

• –ino is the most common one.

• -etto

• -ello or -ella

• -icino

How to use Italian vezzeggiativi?

We use vezzeggiativi when we want to describe something that looks lovely, cute, and small.

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So, it’s similar to diminutivi.

• -uccio

• -acchiotto

• -olo

• -etto or -etta

How to use Italian Dispregiativi?

Last but not least, we use dispregiativi to point out the bad aspects of something. Dispregiativo means derogatory or pejorative.

• -accio

• -iciattolo or -iciattola

• -astro

Parole alterate: examples

Let’s now have a look at some examples:

As you can see from the examples, altered words are fairly easy to use and are also very helpful.

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