L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano O ur word of the day, cogliere ( koh-lleeai-reh) has a versatile r a n g e o f u s e s and variations in meaning, rooted in its origin and ety- mology. Its broad spectrum of applications in the Italian language shows how adapt- able it is in many different contexts! Cogliere comes from the L a t i n c o l l i gĕ r e , w h i c h means "to collect," "gather," or "pick." The transition from Latin to Italian involved a slight shift in pronunciation and spelling but maintained the core concept of gathering or picking. T h e m o s t l i t e r a l u s e of cogliere is faithful to the w o r d ' s L a t i n r o o t a n d denotes the physical act of picking or gathering things like fruits, flowers, or other natural products. For exam- ple, we can say, cogliere le m e l e ( " t o p i c k a p p l e s ) , o r c o g l i e r e f i o r i n e l campo ("to gather flowers in the field"). Cogliere also refers to the action of seizing or grasping opportunities, moments, or concepts. This use is more figurative and it stresses the idea of capturing or taking 1 (they) give 5 the (feminine) 6 (you/tu) say 7 long 13 (we) stay 15 chair 18 top 19 there (less precise) 20 beginnings Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 from the 2 not; no, not any 3 (I) hear 4 echo 8 man 9 people 10 among; between 11 (you/tu) wash 12 with the 14 more 15 (you/tu) know 16 (plural of) of the 17 wings hold of something intangi- ble, as in cogliere l'opportu- nità ("to seize the opportu- nity") or cogliere il senso di u n a f r a s e ( " t o g r a s p t h e meaning of a sentence"). A n o t h e r c o m m o n u s e of cogliere is in the context of understanding thoughts and emotions, or to empha- size when we understand abstract ideas. For example, we can say cogliere l'iro- nia ("to perceive the irony"), and also cogliere un sottin- t e s o ( " t o u n d e r s t a n d a n implication"). Cogliere can also describe the action of catching some- one or something (often by surprise) doing or thinking something, as in, cogliere qualcuno sul fatto ("to catch s o m e o n e i n t h e a c t " ) , o r cogliere un'espressione sul volto di qualcuno ("to catch an expression on someone's face"). Se non conosci il contesto storico, probabilmente non coglierai il senso del film If you don't know the his- torical context, you might not understand the meaning of the movie. Ho colto un'espressione di incertezza sul suo volto I've noticed an uncertain expression on his face LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Cogliere: a word to "collect" and to "understand" Photo: Igor Mojzes/Dreamstime 1 man 2 car 3 home 4 two 5 father 6 Monday 7 to drink 8 one 9 river 10 friend 11 door 12 face 13 light 14 shirt 15 to hold 16 hand 17 to talk 18 three 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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