A group of elementary school students in Treviso has started a crusade to clean up the Italian used by journalists and officials. The fifth-graders, led by teacher Maria Cristina Andreola, have one main gripe: the incorrect use or lack of the subjunctive mood. Often one of the most difficult things to learn for students of Italian, the subjunctive (or congiuntivo) is used to express preference, desire, thought and hypothetical situations.
Under fire are linguistic clangers like: “I wish I was” instead of “I wish I were, ” pronounced on national television by public figures ranging from soccer coach Giovanni Trapattoni to ex anti-corruption magistrate Antonio Di Pietro and former Premier Massimo D’Alema.
As part of a homework assignment, students were asked to find examples of subjunctive use in newspapers and on television. "They’re finding errors everywhere, especially on television, but also a lot of incorrect use by family members." With the help of Andreola, the kids plan to start an Italy-wide campaign, tentatively called "S.O.S–Subjunctive." The class wrote a letter to local paper La Tribuna di Treviso asking journalists and officials to use the language more carefully.
The Accademia della Crusca (Crusca Academy), however, the national language academy of Italy and the oldest such institution in Europe, considers these errors only venial sins. "Even Dante, considered the father of modern Italian, didn’t always use it," commented Crusca president Francesco Sabatini.
Related resources:
www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ngargano/corsi/varia/eser/congiuntivo.html
Subjunctive or not? Try these excercises…
Sainthood may have to wait, but Padre Pio has already been made the star of a new television channel. Tele Radio Padre Pio which has a brown-and-yellow logo featuring the Capuchin monk in profile, currently only broadcasts in the area of San Giovanni Rotondo near Foggia but plans are already underway to broadcast by satellite throughout Europe. Padre Pio, expected to be proclaimed a saint in June 2002, is also the subject of countless websites and a radio station.
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