L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano T he Italian word ciononostante ( c h o - n o - n o - stahn-tai) is an adverb meaning "nevertheless," "nonethe- less," or "despite that." It is used to introduce a contrast- ing statement or an excep- tion, similar to how "howev- er" functions in English. It typically signals a shift in tone or outcome that con- t r a s t s w i t h t h e p r e c e d i n g c l a u s e . F o r e x a m p l e : I l tempo era brutto; ciononos- tante, siamo usciti a fare u n a p a s s e g g i a t a , w h i c h m e a n s , " t h e w e a t h e r w a s bad; nevertheless, we went out for a walk." C i o n o n o s t a n t e h a s a n interesting origin, as it is a compound word that comes from ciò (meaning "that" or " t h i s " ) , n o n ( n o t ) , a n d o s t a n t e ( f r o m L a t i n obstans-obstantis the pre- sent participle of obstāre, meaning "to stand against" or "to hinder"). This forma- t i o n l i t e r a l l y s u g g e s t s "despite that" or "in opposi- tion to that," and is a perfect embodiment of the word's contrastive nature. While common in Italian l a n g u a g e , y o u w o n ' t s e e ciononostante used every- where, as it is quite a formal 2 me 3 (plural of) to the, at the 5 yesterday 7 king 8 (he/she) smells 14 frog 15 hatred 17 line 21 you 22 (I) pay 23 the 24 of Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 goddess 2 my, belonging to me 4 anger 6 (I) know 9 (I) give 10 (I) laugh 11 three 12 years 13 you (plural) 16 if 17 he 18 from there/here; of/about it 19 bees 20 needle term, often found in written Italian, such as in essays, n e w s a r t i c l e s , o r f o r m a l s p e e c h e s . I n s p o k e n l a n - guage, Italians might use alternatives like tuttavia or comunque for a slightly less formal tone. Yet, ciononos- t a n t e a d d s a s e n s e o f e m p h a s i s a n d c o n t i n u i t y w i t h p r i o r s t a t e m e n t s , which is ideal for highlight- i n g t h e p e r s i s t e n c e o f a n outcome against odds. For e x a m p l e , h a i n c o n t r a t o m o l t i o s t a c o l i d u r a n t e i l progetto; ciononostante, ha p o r t a t o t u t t o a t e r m i n e t r a n s l a t e s a s " s h e f a c e d many obstacles during the project; nevertheless, she completed everything. Simi- larly, sapeva che sarebbe s t a t o d i f f i c i l e ; c i o n o n o s - t a n t e , h a d e c i s o d i p r o s - eguire means "he knew it would be difficult; neverthe- less, he decided to contin- ue." E r a m o l t o s t a n c o ; ciononostante, si è offerto di aiutare He was very tired; never- theless, he offered to help N o n a v e v a m o m o l t o t e m p o ; c i o n o n o s t a n t e , siamo riusciti a finire tutto We didn't have much time; nonetheless, we managed to finish everything LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Ciononostante, Italy's fancy "nevertheless" © Tracy Moore | Dreamstime.com 1 boy 2 to look 3 hand 4 to eat 5 Monday 6 mother 7 to talk 8 to listen 9 table 10 light 11 home 12 to drink 13 woman 14 two 15 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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