L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5 2023 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano T o d a y ' s w o r d sounds fancy but t r u l y i s n o t ! Semmai (sehm- mahee)'s journey into the Italian lexicon is a fascinating one, that blends elements from ancient lin- guistic roots to the evolution of language over centuries. T h e t e r m , c o m m o n l y t r a n s l a t e d a s " i f e v e r " o r "eventually" in English, may have its roots traced back to various Proto-Indo-Euro- p e a n ( P I E ) e l e m e n t s a n d Latin, as well as an unexpect- ed connection to the name Carolus Magnus, known as Charlemagne in English . More commonly, we con- sider it the contraction of two separate words, se, "if" and mai, "ever" or "never." This means that semmai also has a sibling in the Italian l a n g u a g e : s e m a i . B o t h phrases are accepted in con- temporary Italian, although semmai is more widespread: for instance, you are more likely to see a sentence like Semmai mi capitasse di vin- cere la lotteria, comprerei una casa a Londra ("If I ever w o n t h e l o t t o , I ' d b u y a house in London"), rather than one stating the same, but starting with se mai. 1 (I) see 3 nine 7 of the; from the 8 (I) believe 9 ant 13 (you/tu) drop 15 (feminine plural of) your 16 (you/tu) hate 17 nut, hard-shelled fruit Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 (I) go 2 from the 4 hours 5 heroes 6 monkey 10 cooked 11 tall; high, elevated 12 (he) drinks 14 (plural of) on the The difference between t h e t w o v e r s i o n s i s n o t s e m a n t i c , i t l i e s i n t h e i r structure; "se mai" is sepa- rated, while "semmai" is a unified term. Both phrases carry a similar essence, hint- ing at hypothetical or condi- tional scenarios, often used in a context akin to "if ever" or "in case." For instance, y o u m a y h e a r a n I t a l i a n friend say: Passa a trovarmi, s e m m a i c a p i t a s s i i n c i t t à ("Come to visit me, in case you are in town"). The usage of semmai has been prevalent in Italian lit- erature and texts dating back to as early as the 1500s, indi- cating its entrenched posi- tion in the Italian lexicon over centuries. It has been used by writers to emphasize conditionality or hypothesize scenarios when developing their stories. Non dovresti giudicarlo, semmai dovresti provare a capirlo! You shouldn't judge him, if anything you should try to understand him. Semmai dovessero cercar- m i , d a p u r e l o r o i l m i o numero di telefono If they look for me, you c a n g i v e t h e m m y p h o n e number. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Semmai: the word of all hypotheses © Jetsam86 | Dreamstime.com 1 book 2 face 3 father 4 car 5 man 6 to talk 7 shirt 8 to run 9 to drink 10 to hold 11 one 12 two 13 river 14 head 15 three 16 table 17 girl 18 friend A C R O S S D O W N ITALIAN WORD SEARCH The solution to these word games will be available on the next edition. Games courtesy of Lexis Rex

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