Very interesting and helpful
Monica
----- Original Message -----
From: <matteoravasi...@gmail.com>
To: "Monica Hall" <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk>; "David van Ooijen"
<davidvanooi...@gmail.com>
Cc: "Lutelist" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 11:55 AM
Subject: [LUTE] OT: Italian grammar question
Hi,
I would say that the most common meaning of â?oincantarsiâ? is not the
one connected with the original meaning of the verb â?~incantareâ?T. We
use it quite often to say that something or someone is stuck in a certain
state. For instance, a smartphone can â?~incantarsiâ?T, when it freezes.
But people can have the same problem, when they just stare at whatever is
in front of them and are absorbed by their thoughts to the point that they
are barely aware of what happens around them.
I guess this is a rather modern use of the word - but Iâ?Tm not sure about
it. I donâ?Tt know whether you have encountered the word in an old treatis
or modern text. In fact, it sound quite awkward to me to use this
reflexive form to mean â?~to stand spellboundâ?T, if not
straightforwardly wrong. I would rather suggest â?orimanere incantatoâ?
as a translation for â?~to stand spellboundâ?T. Ex.: Matteo è rimasto
incantato dallâ?Tesecuzione di Hopkinson Smith.
The conjugation for the present indicative is as follows:
Io mi incanto
tu ti incanti
lui/lei si incanta
noi ci incantiamo
voi vi incantate
loro si incantano
Finally, notice that we use reflexive verbs to express reciprocal actions
(Ex: loro si amano: they love each other), in such a way that â?~loro si
incantanoâ?T might mean something like â?~they enchant each otherâ?T, but
this is hardly something you would commonly encounter outside the world of
Harry Potter.
As always, it is difficult to give this kind of indications without
knowing the proper context, but I hope this helps.
Best,
Matteo
Da: Monica Hall
Data invio: â?Zlunedìâ?Z â?Z31â?Z â?Zagostoâ?Z â?Z2015 â?Z12â?Z.â?Z43
A: David van Ooijen
Cc: Lutelist
I am not a native Italian speaker but according to my "Complete Italian
verb
book" - a very handy reference book - incantarsi is the infinitive of a
different verb from incantare and it means among other things "to stand
spellbound" - to be enchanted rather than to enchant. It's a reflexive
verb....
I will be interested to know whether native speakers think my book is
correct!
Monica
----- Original Message -----
From: "David van Ooijen" <davidvanooi...@gmail.com>
To: "lutelist Net" <Lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 11:23 AM
Subject: [LUTE] OT: Italian grammar question
Sorry to be so OT, but I know there are some native Italian speakers
and linguists on the list.
Incantare means to enchant.
Incantarsi, can someone enlighten me on the conjugation or whatever
it's called?
grazie mille
David
*******************************
David van Ooijen
[1]davidvanooi...@gmail.com
[2]www.davidvanooijen.nl
*******************************
--
References
1. mailto:davidvanooi...@gmail.com
2. http://www.davidvanooijen.nl/
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