-SONS IN ITALIAN. 



83 



Tin fun --is. iii f.r. mnablo parts, cover a third of the 



i wilh lh.-,r- 



. whoso bristl< 



t!i- h in-.- valuable economic products. Tho wolf and 



tin- IMI.II- still Ki-i-k in phi.-- 



iiiviitiiiii-iiim.ro fur tip- lake of extermination ili.-m I 



produce. Timbi-r is UJi iinj>i>rlaiif, it. -in in tin: i. 



ir\.iiiic. Thousands of logs float down tin- Klnm-, 



i inli) i-af'is, (ml ol' which in tho courso uf 1 1 



illage is Imill, with labum-iTs, their laniilii-s, 

 ami ai'|iurtonancos of shelter and for f<> 



an. I h.-mi ly ^mwn. tho latter attaining 



i !'.: in height, ami Ill-mil full of fibre. Every 



has his patch, from which r.iar-- Hnihs ami 



rc made. 



LESSONS IN ITALIAN. XXII. 



ADJECTIVES. 



ITALIAN adjectives either terminate in o or in c ; as, pA-vc-ro, 

 v, strong. 



ives terminating in o are of the masculine gender, 

 and become feminine by changing o into a. Tho masculine 

 adjectives of this class, in the plural, ohango o into t ; and tho 

 feminine, a into e ; as : 



SINGULAR. PLURAL. 



Jl jxJ-w-ro uo-mo, the poor man. / p6-va-ri uo-mi-ni, the poor men. 

 La jx$-w-ra doii-na, the poor L p6-ve-ra duii-nc, the poor 

 woin women. 



Tho article is determined by the initial letter of the word 

 which immediately follows it ; as : 



11 nlj-li-me t-aem-pio, I' e-sfm-pio sub-li-ine, the sublime example. 

 J 8ub-(i-mt -sin-pi, gli e-sem-yi sub-li-mi, the sublime examples. 

 /.' u-bi-to itret-to, lo strct-to d-bi-to, the tight dress. 

 L' \m-prf-sa p-ri-co-l6-a, la pe-ri-co-U-ta im-prc-sa, the hazardous 

 undertaking. 



Tho adjectives terminating in e are used for the masculine as 

 well as for the feminine gender. They change e into i in the 

 plural ; as : 



SINGULAR. PLURAL. 



n eap-pel-lo vtr-de, the green hat. J cap-pd-li vir-di, the green hats. 

 La/d-tflia vir-de, the green leaf. Lefo-glie vbr-di, the green leaves. 



Nouns terminating in the masculine in to-re, and in the 

 feminino in tri-ce, frequently stand for adjectives following a 

 substantive : 



vin-ci-td-re, victor (i.e., man-conqueror). 



Din-no trtn-ct-tr(-c, victress (i.e., woman-conqueror). 



Italian adjectives must agree with the nouns to which they 

 belong or refer, in gender and number, when they stand 

 immediately before or after these nouns, and even when they are 

 separated from them by verbs or other words ; as : 



Un u6-mo d<'>t-to e ra-gio-n-vo-le, a learned and sensible man. 



Ud-mt-ni dvt-ti e ra-yio-nc-vo-li, learned and sensible men. 



U'-na don-na d-tna pru-den-te, a wise and prudent woman. 



QuO-U d6n-ne 6-no sd-vie e pru-dtn-ti, those women are wise and 

 prudent. 



MSz-zo, when it means la me-tH, the half or moiety, in the 

 singular, either agrees with the nouns or remains unaltered. It 

 must remain unaltered in the plural ; as : 



Un 6-ra e mtz-za, or uti 6-ra e mtz-zo, one hour and a half. 



V -na lib-Ira c mcz-za, or u-na lib-Ira e mf:-:o, one pound and a half. 



Dii- lib-bre mfz-zo, two pounds and a half. 



, when it is used as an adverb before an adjective or 

 participle, also remains unaltered ; as : 



2f-ro mfz-so m6r-ta perlo pa-vSn-to, she was half dead with fright. 



Of adjectives connected with and following each other, only 

 the last agrees with the noun in gender and number ; as : 



Os-ser-va-tU-ni s(d-ri-o cri-li-clic, historical and critical remarks. 

 Seu-dj po-U-ti-co U-gd-li, political and legal studies. 



An adjective which refers to two nouns of different genders, 

 takes the plural number and the masculine gender ; as : 



L' u6-moe la din-na sS-no goy-g't-tl dl-k *t,:-se j>is-...;,;.ii,-. man and 



woman are liable to the same passions. 

 eii dl-b-n lo vi-li fu-ron di-xtrut-ti ddl-la gra-gnuo-la, the trees and 



the vinet were destroyed by the hail. 



An adjoctivo which refer* to more than two nounn of different 

 gender*, flrenerally takan the gender of the majority of the noun* 

 to which it refers ; M : 



'/. la t(.a, U eM. 9 i.n i6.no par-H.it, th father, the cant, and 

 the (femato) couin ba departed. 

 L fO.rfl-U, a pd-<lrt id i //a-Ul-li t6-no an-dj-ti a pattttfUm, tha 



{ton, the father, and tba brotben have gouts oat to Uk* a walk. 



The adjective* Ifl-lo, beautiful ; grdn-df, great, large , idn-to, 



holy ; and tho maaoulino pronoun qiu'l-lo, that, nomtimwi drop 



the last syllable. With regard to thin abbreviation, the follow- 



ing rules must be adhered to: 



1. The above-mentioned words can only drop their last 

 syllable when they precede a noun. 



2. Tho initial letter of this noun most be a consonant whioh 

 is not tho s impure. 



3. They take the apostrophe before nouns commencing with a 

 vowel. 



4. They must never be abbreviated before nouns beginning 

 with the impure. 



5. Bfl-lo and qiutl-lo mdy drop tho last syllable in tho singular 

 and before nouns cf tho masculine gender. 



6. Grdn-dc also drops tho last syllable in the singular and 

 before nouns of tho masculine gender ; but, in addition to this, 

 it may lose its last syllable before a noun of the feminint 

 gender, and also in the plural before nouns of both gendero. 



7. Kdn-to only drops tho last syllable before a proper name of 

 the masculine gender and singular number, but not before an 

 appellative or common name. It must also immediately precede 

 the proper name. 



U'-no drops tho final vowel before any word commencing with 

 a consonant which is not the s impure. Buv-no only drops it* 

 final vowel when immediately preceding a noun of this descrip- 

 tion ; as : 



Un ijiar-di no, a garden. 



Un p6-co, a little. 



Bu6n fi-glio, good son. 



Adjectives very frequently are used in the place of nouns, and 

 in such cases have tho article before them : 



H viir-de nd-sco da u-na com-po-i-zi<5-ne del <jidl-lo del tur-cM-iM, tho 

 green colour springs from a mixture of (the) yellow and (the) 

 blue. 



Uii p6-co di bf-nc, un pd-co di md-le, a little of what is good, a little 

 of what is bad. 



In most cases, emphasis or euphony will bo the best guide for 

 deciding whether an adjective is to be placed before or after a 

 noun ; as : 



Con ver-g6-gna c-tHr-na, or con c-ftV-ca vtr-g6-yna t with eternal dis- 

 honour. 



Un ca-vdi-Io bei-h's-st-mo, or un M-liz-s.-mo ca-vdl-lo, a very beautiful 

 horse. 



In the following cases, however, tho learner will do beet, at 

 least in prose, strictly to adhere to the practice of placing the 

 adjective after the noun : 



1. When adjectives arc ilcriveu from proper names of nations, 

 countries, and towns ; as : 



La let-te-ra-tu-ra in-gU-se, English literature. 



L' ac-ca-dt-mia fio-reii-ti-na, the Academy of Florence. 



IZ p6-po-lo spa-gnu6-lo, the Spanish people. 



2. When adjectives oxjn-t s the form or colour of a thing; 

 as : 



L'II Iiu6-no td o-nf-tto vit-chio, & 

 good and honest old man. 



I, \-cUio-stro n?-ro, black ink. 



rit-ta ros-sa, red cop. 

 A-bi-to tur-chi-no, blue drees. 



U'-na pid:-M ro-tun-da, a roniiJ 

 market-place. 



IT-ua Jl-gu-ra qita-drd-ta, a quad- 

 rangular figure. 



3. When adjectives have more syJlables than their nouns, or 

 tho words po-co, little ; rii<H-(o, mnch ; as-sd-i, enough, much, 

 greatly, very ; trop-po, too mnch, too, excessively ; b4-ne, well, 

 justly, rightly, right ; co-si, so, thr.s ; and similar adverbs before 

 them ; as : 



Un t'c-chio ra-gio-ni-ro-lc, a sensible old man. 

 U'-no dori : na gra-zi6-sn, n graceful won-an, 

 l'i li-bro p<5-co &-ti-lt, a not very useful hook. 

 Un o-dor mol-to grd-u>, a very agreeable odour. 



4. When participles are used in the place of adjectives ; as r- 



U'-no *ju<ir-do eom-mo-ivi: t>, :\ moving look. 

 Un u<J-mo e-ru-di-lo, i>-t-t> -.M-.-C, :\ lourued inin. 



5. When adjectives denote natural qualities perceivable Cy 

 the olfactory organs, by the sense of tasting, or by any other "f 



