30 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



when it comes in connection with an article commencing with 

 I, it is optional to contract it ; it being equally correct to say 

 con lo' or col-lo sce~t-tro, with the sceptre ; col or con V in-gdn-no, 

 with the deceit ; con la or col-la si-gno-ra, with the lady ; con le 

 or c6l-le brdc-cia, with the arms. 



Once for all, being obliged for the greatest part to divide the 

 syllables as they are divided in Italian spelling, I must em- 

 phatically warn the reader not to read the combination cc (when 

 not followed by h) as though the first c was a k (the Englishman 

 would naturally do so), but to read the whole combination as 

 though it was itch, gliding with great rapidity from one syllable 

 to the other. I must refer, on this point, to my remarks and 

 tables on pronunciation. 



Two important prepositions, tra and/ra, between, among, can 

 likewise be contracted with the article, but in a special way, and 

 with modifications which must be stated separately. 



If tra and fra are to be contracted with an article com- 

 mencing with. I, the letter I must be doubled, II ; as, for example, 

 frdl-le mon-td-gne, between the mountains ; trdl-le du-e so-r&l-le, 

 between the two sisters ; frdl-lo scri-gno e la sd-dia, between the 

 chest and the chair. 



Whenever tra ox fra is to be joined to the article i, the latter 

 is omitted, and an apostrophe placed in its stead. For example : 

 fra' cu-gt-ni, between the cousins ; tra' fra-Ul-li, between the 

 brothers. 



The words ira and fra are never contracted with the article 

 gli. For example : fra gli a-mi-ci, between the friends ; tra gl' 

 in-fe-li-ci, between the unfortunate. 



When tra or fra stands before il, the letter i of the article is 

 commonly not heard in pronunciation, and in writing the 

 apostrophe is used in its place. For example : fra 'I son-no, 

 during the sleep; tra 'I si e 'I no, between yes and no, hesi- 

 tating. 



The so-called indefinite article uno, masculine, and una, 

 feminine, will be hereafter explained. 



In Italian, as in English, the nouns have no terminational 

 alteration in either number ; that is to say, all cases are alike. 

 Strictly speaking, therefore, they cannot be said to have any 

 declensions. All changes in Italian nouns denote only a dif- 

 ference in gender or in number. For example : pds-se-ro, sparrow, 

 not only denotes the object sparrow, but also that it is a male ; 

 and pds-se-re (female), sparrows, not only denotes the feminine, 

 but the plurality of number. The article in Italian, as in 

 French, Spanish, and English, does not in itself denote the case, 

 but is a word that distinguishes one noun as a determined 

 object from another noun of the same class. It is on this 

 account a fixed principle of the language never to place the 

 article before a noun, when the latter is used in its general and 

 indeterminate signification. The articles il, lo, and la, are in 

 themselves as indeclinable as the noun itself. They only change 

 according to the gender and number of the noun ; and when the 

 Italians desire to denote cases, they must, on this account, like 

 the English, place before the articles certain words, which are 

 the substitutes of those inflections by which, in the Greek, 

 Latin, and German languages, the cases are expressed. The 

 English have only two such signs of cases the words of and 

 to. The Italians have three : di, for the second case, or geni- 

 tive ; a, for the third case, or dative ; and da, for the sixth case, 

 or ablative. These three words, di, a, and da, are used in the 

 singular as well as in the plural, before masculine nouns as well 

 as feminine. In the first case, or nominative, and in the fourth 

 case, or accusative, the Italian noun has, as well as the English, 

 no case sign before it, and both these cases are sufficiently dis- 

 tinguishable by the place which they take before or after the 

 verb, for which reason they require no special distinguishing 

 mark. For example : 



A-les-sdn-dro vin-se Dd-rio, Alexander conquered Darius; 

 Gdr-lo per-cuo-te il cd-ne, Charles strikes the dog ; il prin-ci-pe 

 d-nia-la cdc-cia, the prince likes the chase; Pi6-tro Ug-ge le 

 gaz-zft-te, Peter reads the newspapers. 



I must once for all, and emphatically, warn the reader, 

 because I am obliged, in the case of the double g (gg), to place 

 the first g in one syllable, and the second g in the next, not to 

 read (when the gg is not followed by h) the first g like g in the 

 English word get, to which mistake many readers will be 

 naturally liable ; but I must refer, with regard to the pronun- 

 ciation of the g (gg), to the lessons on pronunciation. 



I shall now subjoin two tables illustrating the declensions of 



Italian nouns : I. with and without an article ; II. , with some 

 important words frequently preceding them. These tables are 

 so important that they must be committed to memory. But let 

 me first remark, that it will be sufficient for our present purpose 

 to lay down this fundamental rule with regard to the formation 

 of the plural of Italian nouns : 



All Italian nouns, masculine and feminine, change their final 

 vowel into I in the plural ; as, il pd-dre, the father ; i pd-dri, 

 the fathers ; il po-$-ta, the poet ; i po-S-ti, the poets ; il ctr-vo, 

 the stag ; i cir-vi, the stags ; la md-dre, the mother ; le md-dri, 

 the mothers ; la md-no, the hand ; le md-ni, the hands. 



The most important exceptions from this rule are feminine 

 ,'iov.ras terminating in A, which form their plural by changing 4 

 into & ; as, la so-rel-la, the sister ; le so-rSl-le, the sisters. 



1. NOUNS DECLINED WITH AND WITHOUT AN ARTICLE. 



Singular. 



* Instead of the plurals i, dei, ai, dai, some old writers used the 

 plurals li, delli, alii, dalli ; but this is no longer usual. 



t The plurals dei, ai, dai, nei, col, pei, sui, are frequently marked 

 with the apostrophe for the sake of harmony, thus : de', a', da', ntf, 

 co', pe', su' ; especially when coming before several words all of which 

 terminate in i. For example, a ca-gi6-ne de' m6l-ti suo-i pec-cd-ti, on 

 account of his many sins. 



{ Harmony, which has had so much influence on the formation 

 and pronunciation of Italian words, frequently requires that to the 

 case-sign a, when it comes before a vowel, the letter d should be 

 added ; as, ad o-nd-re, to honour ; ad a-mi-co, to the friend ; for a 

 onore, and a amico. 



The laws of harmony, likewise, frequertly require the mark of the 

 apostrophe on the case-sign di, when it comes before words com- 

 mencing with a vowel ; as, ta-po d' 6-pe-ra, masterpiece-; se'-gno d 

 u-mil-td, sign of humility. 



The case-sign da, on the other hand, is never marked with the 

 apostrophe, but always written in full, in order to avoid the inevitable 

 ambiguity of confounding the case-sign di with it whenever it is 

 marked with the apostrophe, and the dissonance of two vowels in this 

 case coming together must be tolerated ; because, as I have already 

 remarked, perspicuity is a wore urgent law than harmony ki these 

 contractions. 



