Need help with Italian please

AlexBell · 02-21-2018, 09:59 PM

I am preparing The Italian by Ann Radclife for the MR library. The name Santa Della Pieta occurs several times in the text I am using from the University of Adelaide ebook library, and in the Penguin and Oxford Classics editions. Sometimes, in all three sources, Pieta is spelled with an acute accent over the e, and sometimes with a grave accent over the a. Google translate suggests that the grave accent over the a is correct.

Which should I use? So far as I can tell Pieta means Pity, and I can't believe that the context could change the word's meaning to require a different form and different placement of the accent.

And I can't accept that I should use whatever is in the original text whether it's correct or not - especially as I can't find the original text anyway.

DNSB · 02-21-2018, 11:07 PM

A quick Google search shows a lot of Santa Maria della Pietà with the grave accent on the a and a few with no accents. Seems a rather popular religious name as Santa Maria della Pietà popped up very often on pages in Italian.

I did talk to one neighbour who speaks Italian but his comment was he hasn't written anything in Italian in 3 decades so any memory has long since faded.

sjfan · 02-22-2018, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I am preparing The Italian by Ann Radclife for the MR library. The name Santa Della Pieta occurs several times in the text I am using from the University of Adelaide ebook library, and in the Penguin and Oxford Classics editions. Sometimes, in all three sources, Pieta is spelled with an acute accent over the e, and sometimes with a grave accent over the a. Google translate suggests that the grave accent over the a is correct.

Which should I use? So far as I can tell Pieta means Pity, and I can't believe that the context could change the word's meaning to require a different form and different placement of the accent.

And I can't accept that I should use whatever is in the original text whether it's correct or not - especially as I can't find the original text anyway.

Pietà has a grave accent on the “a”. Columbia Encylopedia:

Quote:

In writing, accent is also used to show syllable stress as in Spanish María (acute accent) and Italian pietà (grave accent)

Wiki summarizes why:

Quote:

A general rule in Italian is that words that end with stressed -a must be marked with a grave accent. Words that end with stressed -e or -o may bear either an acute accent or a grave accent, depending on whether the final e or o sound is closed or open, respectively

AlexBell · 02-22-2018, 02:22 AM

Many thanks to you both.

02-21-2018, 09:59 PM	#1
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	Need help with Italian please I am preparing The Italian by Ann Radclife for the MR library. The name Santa Della Pieta occurs several times in the text I am using from the University of Adelaide ebook library, and in the Penguin and Oxford Classics editions. Sometimes, in all three sources, Pieta is spelled with an acute accent over the e, and sometimes with a grave accent over the a. Google translate suggests that the grave accent over the a is correct. Which should I use? So far as I can tell Pieta means Pity, and I can't believe that the context could change the word's meaning to require a different form and different placement of the accent. And I can't accept that I should use whatever is in the original text whether it's correct or not - especially as I can't find the original text anyway. Last edited by AlexBell; 02-21-2018 at 10:05 PM.

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02-21-2018, 11:07 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 35,311 Karma: 145435140 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Forma, Clara HD, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	A quick Google search shows a lot of Santa Maria della Pietà with the grave accent on the a and a few with no accents. Seems a rather popular religious name as Santa Maria della Pietà popped up very often on pages in Italian. I did talk to one neighbour who speaks Italian but his comment was he hasn't written anything in Italian in 3 decades so any memory has long since faded.

02-22-2018, 02:22 AM	#4
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	Many thanks to you both.

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