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Italian language in Venezuela
The Italian language in Venezuela has been present since colonial times in the area around Caracas and Maracaibo. Actually is found in many modisms and words of the Venezuelan Spanish language.
History
The same name of Venezuela comes from the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, who called the area "Little Venice" in a typical italian expression. Some Italians participated in the first european colonies in Venezuela, mainly in the island of Margarita and in Cumana (the first european city in the Americas), but their influence in the local language was very limited.
During the Venezuelan Wars of Independence some Italians helped Simon Bolivar against the Spanish Empire and they brought some Italian military words to the Venezuelan Spanish. The military officer Agostino Codazzi created the first "Atlante" of Venezuela and - as a consequence - many geographical words in Venezuela are loanworded from the Italian (like Pico Bolivar from the Italian "Picco" Bolivar).
After WWII came a huge emigration to Venezuela from Italy and the Italian language started to get importance in the country. The modisms of the upper class in Caracas (called "Sifrinos") are full of Italian words and expressions.
In the second half of the XX century, more than 300,000 Italians moved to this oil rich country and left -linguistically - many words in the local language: "Ciao" is now an usual friendly salute in Caracas, for example. There are even expressions in the local young people that mix Italian and Spanish words: "Muerete que chao" is an example.
Some young Italo-venezuelans use a special "slang" (with Italian dialect words and Spanish) in Caracas to communicate between them.
List of some Italian words in the Venezuelan Spanish
Balurdo. Strange kind of stupid. From the Italian "Balordo".
Calarse. To digest (or sustain) something bad. From the Italian "Calarsi" with the same meaning.
Chao. Friendly salute. From the Italian "Ciao" .
Comadre. Stepmother. From the Italian "Comadre".
Compadre. Stepfather . From the Italian "Compadre"
Cretino. Stupid. From the Italian "Cretino".
Facista. Fascist. From the Italian "Fascism".
Lasana. Food. From the Italian "Lasagna" (a food made with pasta and meat).
Macho. Strong man. From the Italian "Maschio".
Mafioso. Criminal. From the Italian "Mafioso".
Milanesa. Food. From the Italian "Milanesa" (a food made with meat and bread).
Paisano. From the italian "paesano", meaning an italian (or southern european) immigrant
Pico. Geographical term meaning the top of a mountain. From the Italian word "Picco".
Pizza. Food. From the Italian "Pizza".
Radio. Radio. From the Italian "Radio"
Terraza. Balcony. From the Italian "Terrazza"
Bibliography
Guido Gomez de Silva, Guido. Breve diccionario etimologico de la lengua espanola Madrid. ISBN 968-16-2812-8
Vannini, Marisa. Italia y los Italianos en la Historia y en la Cultura de Venezuela. Oficina Central de Informacion. Caracas, 1966
See also
Venezuelan Spanish
Italo-venezuelans
Italianism
List of Spanish words of Italic origin
External Links
Dictionary of Venezuelan Modisms and words (in Spanish)
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Italian language in Venezuela
