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Old Italian (Dantesque)
Indo-European (Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Tuscan) · historical / hidden variety
Old Italian (italiano antico) is the literary Florentine Tuscan of the "Three Crowns" of the 14th century: Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (~1308-1320), Petrarch's Canzoniere (~1350), and Boccaccio's Decameron (~1353). Foundational to the Italian literary canon and the basis on which Pietro Bembo's Prose della volgar lingua (1525) standardized Modern Italian. Distinguishing features from Modern Italian (it): foco (vs fuoco), bevere (vs bere), core (vs cuore), mercede (vs grazie); passato remoto used as default narrative tense; archaic articles (lo, li) before consonant clusters; ellisi-rich syntax; Provençal/Sicilian poetic vocabulary borrowings. Pronunciation reflects 14c. Tuscan: closed /e o/ in many words later opened in Modern standard, intervocalic /s/ voiced /z/ throughout (preserved in Modern Tuscan accent), unraised /i u/ in checked syllables. Taught canonically in Italian schools (Liceo Classico) for reading the Divine Comedy and the Tuscan canon.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Old Italian (Dantesque)
Water
acqua
/ˈakːwa/
Fire
foco
/ˈfɔko/
Sun
sole
/ˈsole/
Moon
luna
/ˈluna/
Mother
madre
/ˈmaːdre/
Father
padre
/ˈpaːdre/
Eat
mangiare
/manˈd͡ʒare/
Drink
bevere
/ˈbevere/
Love
amore
/aˈmore/
Heart
core
/ˈkɔre/
Tree
albero
/ˈalbero/
House
casa
/ˈkasa/
Dog
cane
/ˈkane/
Cat
gatto
/ˈɡatːo/
Hand
mano
/ˈmano/
Eye
occhio
/ˈɔkːjo/
Hello
salute
/saˈlute/
Thank you
mercede
/merˈt͡ʃede/
One
uno
/ˈuno/
Good
buono
/ˈbwɔno/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Tuscan) languages
| Meaning | Old Italian (Dantesque) | Italian | Old Spanish | Golden Age Spanish (Siglo de Oro) | Spanish (Europe) | Aragonese | Esperanto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | acqua /ˈakːwa/ | acqua /ˈakkwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | augua /ˈawɡwa/ | akvo /ˈakvo/ |
| Fire | foco /ˈfɔko/ | fuoco /ˈfwɔːko/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fajro /ˈfajro/ |
| Sun | sole /ˈsole/ | sole /ˈsoːle/ | sol /sol/ | sol /sol/ | sol /sol/ | sol /sol/ | suno /ˈsuno/ |
| Moon | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluːna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luno /ˈluno/ |
| Mother | madre /ˈmaːdre/ | madre /ˈmaːdre/ | madre /ˈmaðre/ | madre /ˈmadɾe/ | madre /ˈmaðɾe/ | mai /maj/ | patrino /paˈtrino/ |
| Father | padre /ˈpaːdre/ | padre /ˈpaːdre/ | padre /ˈpaðre/ | padre /ˈpadɾe/ | padre /ˈpaðɾe/ | pai /paj/ | patro /ˈpatro/ |
| Eat | mangiare /manˈd͡ʒare/ | mangiare /manˈd͡ʒaːre/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | minchar /minˈt͡ʃaɾ/ | manĝi /ˈmandʒi/ |
| Drink | bevere /ˈbevere/ | bere /ˈbeːre/ | bever /beˈveɾ/ | beuer /beˈβeɾ/ | beber /beˈβeɾ/ | beber /beˈβeɾ/ | trinki /ˈtrinki/ |
| Love | amore /aˈmore/ | amore /aˈmoːre/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amo /ˈamo/ |
| Heart | core /ˈkɔre/ | cuore /ˈkwɔːre/ | coraçón /koɾaˈt͡son/ | coraçón /koɾaˈt͡son/ | corazón /koɾaˈθon/ | corazón /koɾaˈθon/ | koro /ˈkoro/ |
| Tree | albero /ˈalbero/ | albero /ˈalbero/ | árbor /ˈaɾβoɾ/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | arbo /ˈarbo/ |
| House | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkaːsa/ | casa /ˈkaza/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | domo /ˈdomo/ |
| Dog | cane /ˈkane/ | cane /ˈkaːne/ | can /kan/ | perro /ˈpero/ | perro /ˈpero/ | can /kan/ | hundo /ˈhundo/ |
| Cat | gatto /ˈɡatːo/ | gatto /ˈɡatto/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | kato /ˈkato/ |
| Hand | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmaːno/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ |
| Eye | occhio /ˈɔkːjo/ | occhio /ˈɔkkjo/ | ojo /ˈoʒo/ | ojo /ˈoʃo/ | ojo /ˈoxo/ | güello /ˈɣweʎo/ | okulo /oˈkulo/ |
| Hello | salute /saˈlute/ | ciao /ˈt͡ʃaːo/ | salud /saˈlud/ | Dios os guarde /djos os ˈɡwaɾde/ | hola /ˈola/ | hola /ˈola/ | saluton /saˈluton/ |
| Thank you | mercede /merˈt͡ʃede/ | grazie /ˈɡratt͡sje/ | mercedes /meɾˈt͡seðes/ | gracias /ˈɡɾat͡sjas/ | gracias /ˈɡɾaθjas/ | gracias /ˈɡɾaθjas/ | dankon /ˈdankon/ |
| One | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuːno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | un /un/ | unu /ˈunu/ |
| Good | buono /ˈbwɔno/ | buono /ˈbwɔːno/ | bono /ˈbono/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bona /ˈbona/ |
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