Italian 101: ...these are a few of my favorite words!

Ciao a tutti!

It's been a rather uneventful week, with lots of rainy weather.  We finally finished our midterms this week so now we are settling back into our usual workload.

Bubu studying Ghirlandaio for the art history midterm

I thought it might be fun to make series of posts to teach you all some simple Italian words and phrases, so I made a list of my top 10 favorite silly-sounding Italian words to share with you. :)

10. Coccolare, co-co-là-re

This verb means to cuddle and the "coco" part always makes me imagine that warm feeling of being curled up with a blanket and a nice mug of hot chocolate.  One of my professor's dogs is named coccolina, which is from the noun coccola and basically means little cuddles. :)

9. Muffa, moo-fa

This word sounds kind of like "muffin" but it actually means mold, which I didn't know until I came to Italy and we talked about blue cheese in our sustainable food class. I also didn't know that it derives from the Latin mucere, to mold.  Unfortunately, given that I usually translate either battle scenes or love poems, I probably won't come across it in Latin anytime soon.

8. Chiacchierone, kiac-kieh-rò-ne

This word is a mouthful!  Chiacchierone is the Italian equivalent to chatterbox, from the Italian verb chiaccheriare, to chat.  The kiac-kieh sounds mimic indistinct chattering, making it particularly fun to say.

7. Urlare, ur-là-re

One of the many words associated with screaming, urlare means to yell.  It derives from an even more silly-sounding Latin word, ululare which has the same meaning -- and I have seen it many times in my translations. :)

6. mucca, moo-kah

Remember this word?  It is one of the Italian words for cow!  I think it is really cute and easy to remember because it sounds so much like "moo".  It comes from the Swiss-German "Mugg" and was originally used in reference to Swiss cows.  Fun fact: one of the local milk brands here in Florence is called Mukki.

5. Svenire, sve-nì-re

Very similar to venire, to come or arrive, this word means to faint.  In Italian, usually when you see a word with an "S" at the begin, it means the opposite.  For instance, contento means happy and scontento means unhappy.  That rule doesn't apply here but it helps me remember svenire because fainting is rather like the opposite of coming or arriving.

4. Topolino, prononced exactly as written

The very unique Italian word for mouse.  Topolino is actually the diminutive form so it means little (or cute) mouse.

3. Fanciulla, fan-chu-la

A poetic term deriving from the word fanciullezza (childhood), which in this case means youthful, adolescent girl.  Fanciullo is the masculine form.  This word is part of high register language so it isn't used much in daily conversation.  I have only heard it as a term of affection from a mother to her children.

2. Zanzara, zan-zà-ra

One of the most fun words I know for mosquito. It comes from the Latin zinziare, which means to chirp or buzz (like mosquitoes!).

1. Pipistrello, pronounced exactly as written

This is my all-time favorite silly-sounding word in Italian and it means bat (the animal).  I'll leave it at that. :)

Hope you enjoyed learned some new words!  This weekend we are taking a field trip to the mountains to learn more about typical Tuscan mountaineer cuisine and cooking techniques, so stay tuned!

If you have time, leave a comment - I love hearing from you all :D  Please let me know what you think of the posts and what else you would like to see on this blog.