If you live in a place and hear a certain word enough times, you just know what it means. But that doesn't mean that you can translate the word... The word that has perplexed us translators several times is l'accoglienza. That's because in recent times, it conjures up the image of boat people and migrants needing shelter and help as they come into the country. It is so much more than "welcoming" or "reception."
ACCOGLIENZA
Pochi anni fa, nel corso del problema dei profughi che arrivavano a Lampedusa dall'Africa, la Caritas spezzina, ci hanno [sic: ci ha] chiesto di fare accoglienza.
A few years ago, during the problem with the refugees, who arrived in Lampedusa from Africa, the Caritas of La Spezia asked us to receive some of them.
Captions 1-3, L'Italia che piace Territori - Part 6
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Accoglienza is a word Italians associate with everything people and organizations do to help refugees once they reach the shores of Italy. When refugees land on the island of Lampedusa, for example, in Sicily, it's necessary to find accommodations, temporary housing, job possibilities, health care, food, and more. All of this is accoglienza. We've seen accoglienza used this way before in Yabla videos.
In Sposami, a young Polish man wants to get married in an immigrant shelter.
Dentro il centro di accoglienza c'è una piccola cappella.
Inside the immigrant shelter, there is a small chapel.
Caption 34, Sposami EP 4 - Part 18
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So it can mean "shelter," either for the homeless, migrants, or refugees, and can also be a rehabilitation center for addicts, or where people have AA meetings. It's for anyone who needs shelter or help and is often called un centro di accoglienza (sheltering center). In the same episode of Sposami, it's called a "community center" in English. In fact, we can't know for sure what kind of shelter it is.
Ma... come mai avete scelto di sposarvi in un centro di accoglienza?
But... why did you choose to get married in a community center?
Caption 42, Sposami EP 4 - Part 18
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You will find various translations for centro di accoglienza and accoglienza itself, but we hope you have gotten the idea by now.
e infatti riuscì a scappare dal centro di accoglienza prima di essere rimpatriata.
and, in fact, she managed to escape from the refugee center before she could be repatriated.
Caption 23, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1EP1 L'estate del dito - Part 12
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ACCOGLIERE
The noun accoglienza comes from the verb accogliere.
Signorina, non è certo questo il modo di accogliere delle potenziali clienti, no?
Miss, this certainly isn't any way to welcome potential clients is it?
Caption 55, La Ladra EP. 5 - Chi la fa l'aspetti - Part 3
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Sometimes accogliere can mean "to receive."
Perché hanno proprio... sembrano quasi dei letti pronti per accogliere la salma...
Because they have actual... they almost look like beds ready to receive the corpses...
Captions 13-14, Meraviglie EP. 6 - Part 4
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And, although the English word "la reception" is used in places like hotels, accoglienza can mean "the hospitality."
In a future lesson, we will look at related verbs, such as cogliere and raccogliere!
You might have noticed, from watching TV shows and movies on Yabla, or elsewhere, that in Italy, the term dottore (doctor) is used loosely, or rather, differently than in other countries. In fact, addressing someone with a particular role often means using their title (or guessing at it). Sometimes signor (Mr.) and signora (Mrs.) just don't seem respectful enough.
One example of this usanza (use, custom) occurs in a recent episode about Adriano Olivetti.
Io e la mia famiglia dobbiamo tutto al Dottor Dalmasso.
My family and I owe everything to Doctor Dalmasso.
Caption 61, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1
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Dalmasso is just an executive in a company, not necessarily a doctor (even in terms we go on to describe below), but he is one of the most important people there. People treat him with respect by using dottore instead of his name or they shorten it to dottor when it's followed directly by the person's name: Dottor Dalmasso, in this case.
In some cases dottor is used, but with a person's first name. Many people follow the reasoning that it's better to be too respectful than not respectful enough. In the following example, Giacomo could be a physician or someone's boss. We would need context to determine this.
Dottore! -Gina! -Dottore! Dottor Giacomo.
Doctor! -Gina! - Doctor! Doctor Giacomo.
Che succede? -Signora, Giacomo non risponde. -Giacomo!
What's going on? -Ma'am, Giacomo isn't responding. -Giacomo!
Captions 3-4, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne
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If the person is a woman, then it's dottoressa by itself, or followed by the name (first name or last name depending on the relationship). In the following example, the dottoressa in question works at city hall. Her position of importance gives her the title, more than any degree she might (or might not) have.
Dottoressa, scusate, ma perché ci volete fare questo regalo?
Doctor, excuse me, but why do you want to give us this gift?
Caption 24, L'oro di Scampia - film
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Lawyers also fall into the "important person" category and are often addressed by their professional status. We might liken this to the use of "Esquire," or "Esq." for short, used primarily in written correspondence with attorneys.
Sì, avvocato De Santis.
Yes, Attorney De Santis.
Caption 50, La Ladra - Ep. 5 - Chi la fa l'aspetti
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The other way dottore is used is for someone with a college or university degree. Graduates earning the title dottore have often completed a Laurea triennale (three-year bachelor's degree equivalent) plus a Laurea Magistrale (two-year master's degree equivalent). It has nothing to do with being a medical doctor. Learn more here about higher learning in Italy.
As well as being an industrialist, Adriano Olivetti designed machinery, so it makes sense for him to have the title of ingegnere (engineer.) And so in the film about Olivetti, that's how many people address him. It so happens that he did, indeed, have a degree in engineering.
Ingegnere, Lei mi sta facendo una proposta incredibile.
Sir, you are making me an incredible offer.
Caption 46, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1
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Other titles commonly used in Italian before a name, or in place of a name, are Architetto (architect), Commissario, (commissioner, chief) Notaio (notary).
We hope this little article has shed some light on this curious usanza (custom). Finding a suitable translation for these titles can be tough. Sometimes there's no good alternative, so we use a word we feel can fill the bill, even if it isn't a word-for-word translation.
How do Italians talk about email? Even in English we don't all use the same spelling. Some people write it as one word; some use a hyphen. We also use email as a verb in English, too: "I'll email you." Language doesn't stay the same. It evolves.
In Italian, too, "email" as a word, and as a concept, receives different treatment from different people. Be that as it may, the official name for email is la posta elettronica. It makes sense: the electronic mail.
And if you say la posta elettronica, you won't be wrong. But la posta elettronica actually stands for email in general, or even the inbox itself. One single email is more like unmessaggio di posta elettronica.
Still, more and more frequently, Italians use English words when talking about computers and the internet.
Since saying la posta elettronica every time can get old pretty quickly, the English term emailhas been adopted by many Italians. It's certainly quicker to say than la posta elettronica or unmessaggio di posta elettronica. But there's a basic problem. La posta is a feminine noun, so it makes sense for email to be feminine, too. So it might become la email. But how to pronounce the "E"?
Vowels:
Many Italians don't fully realize that we Americans pronounce the "E" in "email" like the letter "E." We say email, e-book, ezine, e-commerce, etc. In Italian, an "E" is pronounced more like the "A" in make.
Italians learn to pronounce just about every letter they see. There are rules. But when they come upon foreign words, they can have a hard time imagining a pronunciation different from what think it should be by following the rules. As in most languages, people invent a version of a foreign word that sounds good or right to them.
And regarding the word "mail," an average Italian who doesn't know English would pronounce the "mai" in "mail" as something more akin to "my." So it's actually a very difficult word to pronounce.
To pronounce email in a similar way to English, an Italian would write something like ìmeil. Pretty weird, right?
Accent:
In English, we put the accent on the "E," and when the word came into being, there was a hyphen so it was easier to figure this out, but Italians don't necessarily realize that it's the letter "E" as an abbreviation for "electronic." They just read it as they see it and the accent ends up on "mail."
So we get la email or worse, una email, with two vowels juxtaposed: "A" followed by "E," neither of which is accented. It's awkward.
So lots of people just shorten email to mail.
Ti mando una mail.
I'll send you an email.
In the latest episode of La Ladra, someone is sending some files via email. But what they say is via mail. It has become very common to say it this way.
Allora, io Le mando via mail tutti i dati della villa.
So, I will send you all the information about the villa by email.
Caption 52, La Ladra - Ep. 5 - Chi la fa l'aspetti - Part 3
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In the following example, la mail refers to a single email.
L'hai mandata la mail al commercialista?
Did you send the email to the accountant?
Caption 30, Marika spiega - Pettegolezzi in ufficio con Anna
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In the following example, what's meant is the email account.
Se per te privacy è entrar nella mia mail e scrivere a Marco al posto mio...
If privacy for you means going into my email account and writing to Marco in my place...
Caption 55, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema - Part 11
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Sometimes you need to provide your email address.
Certo. Qual è l'indirizzo mail?
Sure thing. What's your email address?
Caption 68, Italiano commerciale - Cominciare un nuovo lavoro - Part 2
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Italians have found a darling way to name the @: the "at" sign. They call it a chiocciola (a snail).
Sì, certo. È Arianna chiocciola Phones and More punto it.
Yes, of course. It's Arianna at Phones and More dot it.
Caption 69, Italiano commerciale - Cominciare un nuovo lavoro - Part 2
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Can you provide your email address in Italian? If you can't remember how to say the names of the letters, check out Marika's video. If you have trouble making yourself understood, check out this handy telephone alphabet. Remember that punto (point, period, full stop, dot) is what you say for the dot in "dot com." In Italy, some email addresses end in "com," but many end in it for Italy. Sometimes it gets spelled "I-T" but sometimes it gets pronounced as a word, as in the previous example.
Italians use English words more and more frequently, but they might differ from the original in meaning and in pronunciation, so they might be the hardest words to understand when an Italian is using them in the middle of an Italian sentence.
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