L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano T h e I t a l i a n w o r d siccome (seek- koh-mai) started being used in the second half of the 13th century, and is the union of two other Italian adverbs, sì and come. It must have become popular immediately, as even Dante and Petrarca used it! S i c c o m e f u n c t i o n s a s a subordinating conjunction used to introduce a reason or cause, much like the English e q u i v a l e n t o f " s i n c e " o r "because." Its use is predomi- nantly found at the beginning of a sentence, unlike "per- ché," which can also appear in the middle of sentences: so y o u s a y : s i c c o m e p a r l o Francese, chiamerò io l'al- bergo ("as I speak French, I'll call the hotel myself"), but chiamerò io l'albergo, perché parlo Francese, which trans- lates the same way. As we said, siccome has been part of Italian usage for centuries, and helps establish causal relationships between events or actions. It is formal but still commonly used in both written and spoken Ital- ian. However, the use of sic- come is preferred in situa- 1 of 2 (I) give 5 (feminine plural of) the 7 pink; rose 8 island 14 (you/voi) give 15 hard, resistant to pressure 18 museums 21 (you/tu) fear 22 king 23 and (before a vowel) 24 the (feminine) Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 (plural of) of the 3 hour; now 4 use, act of using 6 I 9 thirst 10 there (precise) 11 (I) hear 12 light, as sensed by the eye 13 us; we 16 you 17 goddesses 18 (feminine plural of) my 19 yes 20 anger t i o n s w h e r e t h e c a u s e i s already known or obvious to the listener or reader. For example, in the sentence sic- come piove, non andiamo al parco, which translates to "Since it's raining, we're not going to the park," the cause (rain) is known and directly related to the decision not to go to the park. Siccome differs slightly from other Italian causal conjunctions like dato che or poiché, as it often carries a more straightforward and neutral tone: indeed, it is u s e d w h e n t h e s p e a k e r wants to establish a clear, f a c t u a l r e a s o n w i t h o u t added emphasis. Siccome ero stanco, sono andato a letto presto. Since I was tired, I went to bed early. Siccome non ho i soldi, non posso comprare quel libro. S i n c e I d o n ' t h a v e t h e m o n e y , I c a n ' t b u y t h a t book. Siccome avevo già man- giato, non ho preso nulla al ristorante. Since I had already eaten, I didn't order anything at the restaurant. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Siccome, the fancier version of perché Did.: (Photo: Roman Samborskyi/Dreamstime) 1 car 2 school 3 Tuesday 4 head 5 woman 6 river 7 girl 8 book 9 son 10 to run 11 to look 12 to eat 13 hand 14 one 15 to hold 16 to talk 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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