L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16 2023 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano T o d a y ' s w o r d , altrettanto (ah l - t r e h t - t a h n - t o h ) , i s a " u n i - v e r b a t i o n , " a fancy term that means it is formed by two words: altro and tanto. This combination r e f l e c t s t h e L a t i n e x p r e s - sion alterum tantum, and it i s s i m i l a r t o t h e F r e n c h a u t a n t a n d t h e V e n e t i a n altretanto. These roots con- vey meanings like "other," "more," and "much." It appeared in Italian in t h e 1 3 t h c e n t u r y a n d w e have plenty of famous attes- tations of it in our beautiful l i t e r a t u r e , i n c l u d i n g t h e works of the great Ludovico Ariosto. In contemporary Italian, a l t r e t t a n t o i s c o m m o n l y used as a polite response to good wishes. It means "the s a m e t o y o u , " " y o u t o o , " "equally," or "likewise." For i n s t a n c e , i n r e s p o n s e t o B u o n a g i o r n a t a ! ( H a v e a g o o d d a y ! ) , r e p l y i n g with Altrettanto! is custom- ary and considered polite. Although not among the most frequently used Italian words, "altrettanto" is still significant in daily commu- nication: guess, it ranks as 1 (he) does; (he) makes 2 a, an 5 me 7 they 8 smells 11 among; between 14 (he) laughs 15 (you/tu) laugh 18 my, belonging to me 20 line 22 (he) says 23 but, on the contrary 24 into, going inside 25 (I) have Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 flowers 3 (plural of) in the; moles 4 use, act of using 6 (I) give 9 nuts (for bolts) 10 king 11 three 12 tops 13 uncle 16 (we) give 17 of; from 19 aunt 20 she 21 from there/here; of/about it the 1048th word in the top 2000 Italian words! A l t r e t t a n t o c a n b e declined, which means it has a singular, a plural, a mascu- line, and a feminine, so, you can say: Ho mangiato 5 bis- cotti, e tu altrettanti! ("I had 5 c o o k i e s , a n d y o u a s many!"), or Tu dici di aver avuto pazienza, ma io ne ho avuta altrettanta ("You say y o u ' v e h a d p l e n t y o f patience, but so have I"). O n e o f t h e b e s t t h i n g s about altrettanto is how it applies to all contexts — just like it's common for most indefinite pronouns, so you can find it in very familiar expressions, like the ones you've just read, but also in m o r e f o r m a l c o n t e x t s , a s in Lo studio ha dimostrato c h e i l n u o v o f a r m a c o è altrettanto efficace di quello e s i s t e n t e ( " T h e s t u d y demonstrated the new med- ication is as effective as the existing one"). Buon appetito! Altrettanto! Enjoy your meal! You too! E' un anello costoso, ma il tuo vale altrettanto It's an expensive ring, but yours is worth as much LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Altrettanto: the way we say "you, too"! Photo © Dmitry Zimin | Dreamstime.com 1 shirt 2 to eat 3 river 4 son 5 three 6 father 7 to run 8 boy 9 woman 10 to listen 11 mother 12 two 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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