volgare illustre
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
31 core words in Old Italian (Dantesque)
Water
acqua
/ˈakːwa/
Fire
foco
/ˈfɔko/
Sun
sole
/ˈsole/
Moon
luna
/ˈluna/
Star
stella
/ˈstella/
Mother
madre
/ˈmaːdre/
Father
padre
/ˈpaːdre/
I
io
/ˈio/
You
tu
/ˈtu/
Name
nome
/ˈnoːme/
Eye
occhio
/ˈɔkːjo/
Hand
mano
/ˈmano/
Heart
core
/ˈkɔre/
Love
amore
/aˈmore/
Tree
albero
/ˈalbero/
House
casa
/ˈkasa/
Dog
cane
/ˈkane/
Cat
gatto
/ˈɡatːo/
Eat
mangiare
/manˈdʒare/
Drink
bevere
/ˈbevere/
One
uno
/ˈuno/
Two
due
/ˈduːe/
Hello
salute
/saˈlute/
Thank you
mercede
/merˈtʃede/
Good
buono
/ˈbwɔno/
Cuckoo
cucco
/ˈkukko/
Computer
abbaco
/abˈbaːko/
Sushi
tonnina
/tonˈniːna/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Tuscan) languages
| Meaning | Old Italian (Dantesque) | Italian | Old Spanish | Interlingue | Interlingua | Spanish | Golden Age Spanish (Siglo de Oro) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | acqua /ˈakːwa/ | acqua /ˈakkwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | aqua /ˈakwa/ | aqua /akwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ | agua /ˈaɣwa/ |
| Fire | foco /ˈfɔko/ | fuoco /ˈfwɔːko/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | foy /foj/ | foco /fɔko/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ | fuego /ˈfweɣo/ |
| Sun | sole /ˈsole/ | sole /ˈsoːle/ | sol /sol/ | sole /ˈsole/ | sol /sɔl/ | sol /sol/ | sol /sol/ |
| Moon | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluːna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | lune /ˈlune/ | luna /luna/ | luna /ˈluna/ | luna /ˈluna/ |
| Star | stella /ˈstella/ | stella /ˈstɛlla/ | estrella /esˈtɾeʎa/ | stelle /ˈstele/ | stella /ˈstɛla/ | estrella /esˈtɾeʎa/ | estrella /esˈtɾeʎa/ |
| Mother | madre /ˈmaːdre/ | madre /ˈmaːdre/ | madre /ˈmaðre/ | matre /ˈmatre/ | matre /matre/ | madre /ˈmaðɾe/ | madre /ˈmadɾe/ |
| Father | padre /ˈpaːdre/ | padre /ˈpaːdre/ | padre /ˈpaðre/ | patre /ˈpatre/ | patre /patre/ | padre /ˈpaðɾe/ | padre /ˈpadɾe/ |
| I | io /ˈio/ | io /ˈio/ | yo /jo/ | yo /jo/ | io /ˈio/ | yo /ʝo/ | yo /ʝo/ |
| You | tu /ˈtu/ | tu /tu/ | tú /tu/ | tu /tu/ | tu /tu/ | tú /tu/ | tú /tu/ |
| Name | nome /ˈnoːme/ | nome /ˈnome/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nómine /ˈnomine/ | nomine /ˈnomine/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ | nombre /ˈnombɾe/ |
| Eye | occhio /ˈɔkːjo/ | occhio /ˈɔkkjo/ | ojo /ˈoʒo/ | ocul /oˈkul/ | oculo /okulo/ | ojo /ˈoxo/ | ojo /ˈoʃo/ |
| Hand | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmaːno/ | mano /ˈmano/ | manu /ˈmanu/ | mano /mano/ | mano /ˈmano/ | mano /ˈmano/ |
| Heart | core /ˈkɔre/ | cuore /ˈkwɔːre/ | coraçón /koɾaˈtson/ | cordie /ˈkordie/ | corde /kɔrde/ | corazón /koɾaˈθon/ | coraçón /koɾaˈtson/ |
| Love | amore /aˈmore/ | amore /aˈmoːre/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amore /aˈmore/ | amor /amor/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ |
| Tree | albero /ˈalbero/ | albero /ˈalbero/ | árbor /ˈaɾβoɾ/ | árbor /ˈarbor/ | arbore /arbore/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ | árbol /ˈaɾβol/ |
| House | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkaːsa/ | casa /ˈkaza/ | dom /dom/ | casa /kasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /ˈkasa/ |
| Dog | cane /ˈkane/ | cane /ˈkaːne/ | can /kan/ | cane /ˈkane/ | can /kan/ | perro /ˈpero/ | perro /ˈpero/ |
| Cat | gatto /ˈɡatːo/ | gatto /ˈɡatto/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | cat /kat/ | catto /katto/ | gato /ˈɡato/ | gato /ˈɡato/ |
| Eat | mangiare /manˈdʒare/ | mangiare /manˈdʒaːre/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | manjar /manˈʒar/ | manducar /mandukar/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ | comer /koˈmeɾ/ |
| Drink | bevere /ˈbevere/ | bere /ˈbeːre/ | bever /beˈveɾ/ | trincar /trinˈkar/ | biber /biber/ | beber /beˈβeɾ/ | beuer /beˈβeɾ/ |
| One | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuːno/ | uno /ˈuno/ | un /un/ | un /un/ | uno /ˈuno/ | uno /ˈuno/ |
| Two | due /ˈduːe/ | due /ˈdue/ | dos /dos/ | du /du/ | duo /ˈduo/ | dos /dos/ | dos /dos/ |
| Hello | salute /saˈlute/ | ciao /ˈtʃaːo/ | salud /saˈlud/ | salute /saˈlute/ | salute /salute/ | hola /ˈola/ | Dios os guarde /djos os ˈɡwaɾde/ |
| Thank you | mercede /merˈtʃede/ | grazie /ˈɡrattsje/ | mercedes /meɾˈtseðes/ | mersí /merˈsi/ | gratias /ɡratias/ | gracias /ˈɡɾaθjas/ | gracias /ˈɡɾatsjas/ |
| Good | buono /ˈbwɔno/ | buono /ˈbwɔːno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bon /bon/ | bon /bon/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ | bueno /ˈbweno/ |
| Cuckoo | cucco /ˈkukko/ | cuculo /ˈkuːkulo/ | cuco /ˈkuko/ | cucú /kuˈku/ | cucu /ˈkuku/ | cuco /ˈkuko/ | cuclillo /kuˈkliʎo/ |
| Computer | abbaco /abˈbaːko/ | computer /komˈpju.ter/ | ábaco /ˈabako/ | computator /komputaˈtor/ | computator /komputaˈtor/ | ordenador /oɾðenaˈðoɾ/ | ábaco /ˈabako/ |
| Sushi | tonnina /tonˈniːna/ | sushi /ˈsuʃ.ʃi/ | cecial /tseˈtsjal/ | — | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | sushi /ˈsusi/ | escabeche /eskaˈbetʃe/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.