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Hi everyone, my name is David and this is an Italian podcast.In this episode, I want to talk to you about a special language usage catch up (catch up) In Italian. I mean In combination “Not” (Instead of) Use in a specific new way, I will explain to you. But let’s start by using the word “quite” alone to remind you how to use it. Let’s start with some examples:
-I have read this book, but it is not easy to finish it. The language is quite complicated. (= very complicated)
-I don’t want to go to the beach, but take a walk in the city center. (I would rather do = I prefer to do)
Now let us look at the traditional usage of “instead of”.
-I don’t like classical music very much.I prefer to go to rock concerts Instead of To the violin.
-My son is really lazy, he did a thousand things quite That/learn.
This is a traditional use. It is not synonymous with “replacement/of” and “replacement”.
I choose A instead of B. I choose A instead of B/ instead of B/ instead of B.
Now let us see how it is used more and more frequently.
-Gabriele likes music very much and has listened to many genres. He participated in many concerts of rock artists, Instead of Rap, Instead of electronic music, Instead of Popular music.
-We can visit many beautiful cities: Rome, Instead of Paris, Instead of new York, Instead of Shanghai.
So the “not” here just means “O”, “pure”. It is said that it has acquired “disjunction” function or “or” function.
All options are possible: Option A, Option B, Option C.
In this “separate” approach, the most common usage of “not” is to list several possibilities, and in written language, we only use commas.
“We can go to pizzerias, sushi restaurants, (or) Spanish restaurants”
“We can go to the pizzeria, Instead of Go to sushi, not to a Spanish restaurant”
Pizzerias, sushi and Spanish restaurants are all possible choices.I’m not Express preference For pizzerias or sushi, I listed the possibilities. A or B or C.
Usually context and tone help to understand the meaning of “not” we use. Let us give some examples.
“I love nature: I always go to the beach on weekends Instead of In the mountains”.
Both the sea and the mountains are “natural”. Obviously in this case, “not” means “O to the sea OR to the Mountains”. I don’t “always go to the sea, I never go to the mountains”.
“I really like going out to watch movies at night Instead of Go clubbing. “
Here we are also dealing with two possible options, we are not exclude Disco beneficial to the film. So here we are also dealing with this new usage of “not”.
“Let’s go to Spain this summer Instead of In France. We have been to France many times”
In this case, it means “let us go to Spain instead of France”. So this is the classic, traditional and even correct usage of this conjunction (according to the dictionary and Crusca Academy).
Nevertheless, in some cases, there may be ambiguity. Let’s think about sentences like this:
“You can give me a ring on my birthday, Instead of a muffler”.
what should I do? Give a ring instead of a scarf, or can I choose between a ring and a scarf? How about the ring and scarf? Or one of them? What will you ask me in this situation? This sentence is a bit ambiguous.
It is because of this ambiguity that many Italian “purists” (including the famous “Kruska Academy“) This usage is not popular at all. Whether “but not” can mean “replacement” or “or” at the same time, some sentences may be ambiguous and not completely clear. This is why many people define “not separate of” unfortunately (Plague, tragedy), A kind shame (monster), A must-have fashion disappear (disappear) From Italian.
It is difficult to predict and say whether this phenomenon will remain or disappear from the language.Of course we must Emphasize It has been around for decades and is being used by more and more people-or at least this is my impression. Maybe I was wrong, but in my opinion, it is becoming more and more common. It may have originated in northern Italy and spread to other parts of the country. Although this episode is part of the “Spoken Language Use” series, it is not actually used in spoken language (because everyone is using it). On the contrary, it is used in many people’s formal speeches. “Rather than” is more refined and elegant for many people, it is considered more refined (refined) And it is more elegant than “o” and “or”, perhaps because its syllable is longer than “o” and “or”. They are four syllables, so they are very long. Recently I heard that everyone uses it like this: friends, professors, doctors, everyone has something. The same goes for people of all ages. In addition, even newspapers and televisions have used them for a long time. So this is a very widespread and almost universal phenomenon.I believe no matter who uses it Feel it (think, Being “considered”) is absolutely normal and natural.It’s a bit like now they say “absolutely” or “absolutely not”, but in fact they didn’t say that 50 years ago. It is essentially an English actor spread through dubbing (I’m in Doubled).
I usually don’t like Placeholder (Stand aside) Don’t criticize the way people use language, because I know every language It is constantly changing (keep changing) Every generation in history has criticized the next generation guilty (guilty) Destroy language. So on the one hand I think this development of Italian is very interesting, and I will not attack those who use it. Also because I don’t think of myself as the so-called “Nazi grammar”, I don’t particularly like these people. On the other hand, this is not a development I particularly like, because it introduces a certain degree of ambiguity. In fact, I found myself thinking (I found myself thinking)What does it mean whenever someone uses the conjunction “instead of”. How do they use this “instead of”? Is it a classic use or a new use? Then, usually, thanks to the context and intonation of the sentence, we can understand what the speaker means. But in some cases, I actually found that “not” may be ambiguous because it has this new meaning. A language should be as clear as possible, so in my opinion, even if you spend a fraction of a second thinking about how to use it “rather than”, the use of the language is not very effective. A language must be clear and easy to understand, and understood by everyone who uses it.However, as mentioned earlier, I understand that these language phenomena are unpredictable (unpredictable), Difficult to control, it keeps appearing in the history of language.As the American linguist John McWhorter said, these are like clouds: they are constantly and constantly changing accident (accident).
If I can give you some suggestions, I will try not to use “not” in this way (especially in written Italian) and Just use it (Limit yourself to use it) In the classic way, because the most authoritative sources still believe it is wrong. However, I think it is useful for you to understand this usage because it is becoming more and more common. Therefore, if you feel that “rather than” is used in a separate way in the future, maybe this episode will help you not be confused.
This is the end of the episode. On podcastitaliano.com, you will find the complete transcription. Thanks for listening, see you next time!
Goodbye!
