0 Quick reference Good morning. Buongiorno. bwon jorno Good afternoon. Buonasera. bwona sayra Good night. Buonanotte. bwona nottay Hello. Ciao. chaao Goodbye. Arrivederci. arreevaydehrchee Excuse me! Scusi! skoosee (getting attention) Excuse me [Pardon]. Permesso? pehrmehsso Sorry. Scusi! skoosee Please. Per favore. pehr favoray Thank you. Grazie. graatseeay Do you speak English? Parla inglese? eg_rla eengglayzay I don't understand. Non capisco. non kapeesko Emergency Help! Aiuto! aaeeooto Go away! Se ne va da! say nay vada Call the police! Chiami la polizia! apperlay la poleess Stop thief! Alladro! alladro Get a doctor! Chiami un dottore! keeaamee oon dottore Fire! Al fuoco! al foo-oko I'm ill. Sto male. sto malay I'm lost. Sono smarrito. sono smarreeto Can you help me? Mi puo aiutare? mee pwo a-eeootaaray Emergency Italy Switzerland ff Fire 113 118 Ambulance 113 11 4 or 117 in major towns Police 113 117 ® l t a i a n phrase book Berlitz Publishing / APA Publications GmbH & Co. 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Cover photo: ©VCG/FPG Printed in Singapore TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 PRONUNCIATION Ac1r J:YDRE=Ss•n 1c 10 Greetings/ Apologies 10 Why? 15 Communication Who?/Which?/Whose?16 difficulties 11 How? 17 Questions 12 Is it ... ? / Are there ... ? 17 Where? 12 Can/May? 18 When? 13 What do you want? 18 What kind of? 14 Other useful words 19 How much/ many? 15 Exclamations 19 rrnMMODATIONS 20 Reservations 20 Renting 28 Reception 22 Youth hostel 29 Problems 25 Camping 30 Requirements 26 Checking out 32 33 IIT Restaurants 33 Appetizers/ Starters 43 Italian cuisine 34 Pizza/ Soups 44 Finding a place to eat 35 Pasta /Fish and seafood 45 Reservations 36 Meat 46 Ordering 37 Vegetables/ Salads 47 Fast food 40 Cheese 48 Complaints 41 Fruit 48 Paying 42 Drinks 49 Course by course 43 Non-alcoholic drinks 51 Breakfast 43 Menu Reader 52 65 TRAVEL Safety 65 Hitchhiking 83 Arrival 66 Taxi/Cab 84 Plane 68 Car/ Automobile 84 72 Car rental 86 Train Long-distance bus 78 Gas station 87 Bus 78 Breakdown 90 Subway 80 Accidents 92 Boat Trips 81 Asking directions 94 Bicycle/ Motorbike 83 Road signs 96 97 SIGHTSEEING Tourist information 97 Impressions 101 Excursions 98 Tourist glossary 102 Sights 99 Who?/What? 104 Admission 100 In the countryside 106 108 LEISURE Tickets 109 Nightlife 112 Movies 110 Children 113 Theater 110 Sports 114 Opera/ Ballet/ Dance 111 At the beach 116 Music/ Concerts 111 Skiing 117 118 MAKING RIENDS Introductions 118 Enjoying your trip? 123 Where are you from? 119 Invitations 124 Who are you with? 120 Encounters 126 What do you do? 121 Telephoning 126 & 129 STORES SERVICES Opening hours 131 Household articles 146 Service 132 Jeweler 148 Paying 135 Newsstand/ Bookstore 149 Complaints 136 Photography 150 Repaii-s / Cleaning 136 Police 151 Bank/ Currency Lost property/ Theft 152 exchange 137 Post office 153 Pharmacy 139 S011venirs / Gifts 155 Clothing 142 Supermarket/Foodstore 157 Health and beauty 146 Conversion charts 160 161 HEALTH Doctor (general) 161 Gynecologist 166 Accident and injury 162 Hospital 166 Symptoms/Conditions 162 Optician 166 Doctor's inquiries 164 Dentist 167 Examination/ Diagnosis 164 Payment and insurance 167 168 ENGLISH-ITALIAN DICTIONARY 200 ITALIAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY 215 REFERENCE Grammar 215 Greetings 221 Numbers 219 Public holidays 221 Days/Months/Dates 220 Time 222 Seasons 221 Map 224 0 CIATO This section is desjgned to make you familiar with the sounds of Italian using our simplified phonetic transcription. You'll find the pronunciation of the Italian letters and sounds explained below, together with their "imitated" equivalents. This system is used throughout the phrase book: simply read the pronunciation as if it were English, noting any special rules below. HE ITALIAN LANGUAGE Italian evolved from Latin,just as French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. What is known as standard Italian today dates back to last century, when the great Italian novelist Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) gave Italy a national language by resolving that it should basically be Tuscan Italian with a heavy contribution from the Italian used in the other regions of Italy. The language spoken and written in Tuscany had taken precedence over the regional forms from the twelfth century to Manzoni's times because of the political, artistic and social prominence of Florence. There are approximately 64 million speakers of Italian. These are the coun tries where you can expect to hear ItaJian spoken (figures are approximate): Italia Italy Italian is the national language, spoken by almost the entire population (59 million). Other languages: Sardinian in Sardinia (1.5 million); Rhaeto Romanic in Friuli. near the border with Slovenia and Austria. Svizzera Switzerland Italian is one of the four official languages, spoken by about 800,000 people in the southern part of the country, particularly the canton of Ticino ( capital: Bellinzona). Other languages: German in the north (5 milllion); French in the west (1.3 million); Romansch in the east (50,000). Italian is also spoken amongst large Italian e1nigre communities, particular ly in the United States (Stati Uniti), with almost 1.5 million speakers, and Canada (Canada), with over half a million speakers. The Italian alphabet is the same as English, with the addition of accents which indicate stress only (see below). However, the letters i, k, w, x and y only appear in foreign words. English has absorbed numerous Italian words. for example: balcony, studio, umbrella, volcano as well as terms 1n the fields of food (e.g. broccoli, maca roni, pizza, spaghetti) and music (e.g. concerto, piano, solo, trio, viola) . • rn. r"I II\ ITC Letter Approximate pronunciation Symbol Example 1) before e and i, like ch cerco chayrko C ch in chip 2) elsewhere, like c in cat k conto konto ch like c in cat k che kay . g 1) before e and i, like} in jet valigia valeeja I 2) elsewhere, like g in go g grande granday gh like gin go g ghiaccio geeacho gl like lli in million ly gli lyee gn like ni in onion ny bagno banyo h always silent ha ah r trilled like a Scottish r r derive dehreeva s 1) genera1ly like s in sit s questo kwaysto ' 2) sometimes like z in zoo z VI• SO -veezo 1) before e and i, like sh in shut sh uscita oosheeta SC 2) elsewhere, like skin skin sk scarpa skarpa z/zz 1) generally like ts in hits ts graz1• e graatseeay 2) sometimes like ds dz romanzo romandzo in roads VOWELS a 1) short, like a in cat a gatto ggtto 2) long, like a in father QQ casa kaasa e 1) can always be pronounced oy sera sayra like ay in way, but without moving tongue or lips 2) in correct speech, it is eh bello behllo sometimes pronounced like e in get or, when long, more like ai in hair •I like ee in meet ee VI•O i• veenee 0 can always be 0 sole solay pronounced like o in go foomo u l . like oo in foot 00 fumo 2. like w in well w buono bwono b, d, f, k, I, m, n, p, q, t and v are pronounced as in English In groups of vowels a , e and o are strong, and i and u are weak vowels. The following combinations occur: two strong pronounced as two beato bay-aato vowels separate syllables a stong 1) the weak one is vowel and pronounced more quickly piede peegxday a weak and with less stress than vowel the strong one; such sounds are diphthongs and constitute only one syllable: 2) if the weak vowel is stressed, due doo-ay then it is pronounced as a separate syllable two weak pronounced as a diphthong; it is guida gweeda vowels generally the second one that is more strongly stressed C"'?fC«; Stress has been indicated in the phonetic transcription by underlining the letters that should be pronounced louder than the others. Generally, the vowel of the next to last syllable is stressed. When a fmaJ vowel is stressed, it has an accent written over it (caffe). Nonnally, when the stress falls on the syllable before the next to last one, it is not indicated by an accent.