Italian parole alterate
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.
In order 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 Italian parole alterate:
- 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!
What are parole alterate?
Basically, parole alterate means “altered words”.
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.
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:
- Accrescitivi (augmentative)
- Diminutivi (diminutive)
- Vezzeggiativi (expressing affection)
- Dispregiativi/ 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.
Italian accrescitivi
We use accrescitivi to describe something bigger than usual.
These are common accrescitivi suffixes:
- –one
This is the most common one.
pigrone
big lazy person
golosona
big gluttonous girl
librone
big book
- –accione
omaccione
big man
- –acchione
furbacchione
someone very cunning
Italian diminutivi
We use the diminutive alteration to describe something that is smaller than usual.
These are common diminutive endings:
- –ino
This is the most common one. Here are some examples:
cagnolino
small dog
ragazzina
small girl
tavolino
small table
- -etto
casetta
small house
sorsetto
small sip
- -ello/a
asinello
small donkey
- -icino
libricino
small book
Italian vezzeggiativi
We use vezzeggiativi when we want to describe something that looks lovely, cute, and small.
So, it’s similar to diminutivi.
- -uccio
casuccia
small and cute house
calduccio
hot in a cute way
Martuccia
cute and small Marta
- -acchiotto
orsacchiotto
small and cute bear (like a teddy bear)
lupacchiotto
small and cute wolf
- -olo
figliolo
small and cute son
- -etto/a
ometto
small and cute man
Italian Dispregiativi
Last but not least, we use dispregiativi to point out bad aspects of something. Dispregiativo literally means derogatory or pejorative.
- -accio
ragazzaccia
bad girl
tipaccio
bad guy
giornatacce
bad days
- -iciattolo/a
mostriaciattoli
bad monsters
- -astro
giovinastro
bad young person
Practice with Quizlet
Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.Examples with parole alterate
Let’s now have a look at some examples:
Che giornataccia!
What a bad day!
Che villona!
What a big house!
Ho comprato del prosciutto ma aveva un saporaccio e l’ho buttato.
I bought some ham but it didn’t smell good so I threw it away)
Che odorino! Da dove viene?
What a good smell! Where is it coming from?
Guarda cos’hanno combinato quei ragazzacci!
Look what those bad guys did!
As you can see from the examples, altered words are fairly easy to use and are also very helpful.
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