Why do Italian words change?

LAA   Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:28 am GMT
I have noticed that a few words in Italian seem to change depending upon the circumstances, but not in a feminine/masculine kind of way like Spanish. Some examples that come to mind are "mare"-"mari", and "pane" - "pani". Why these words change?
Sergio   Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:44 am GMT
Hi LAA,

Basically, Italian nouns and adjectives form their plural by changing the last vowel, with the due exceptions of irregular plurals as in any language.

The vowel changes as follows:

O to I: mano (hand) - mani (hands)
E to I: rivoluzione - rivoluzioni
A to E: macchina - macchine

So, if in Spanish, Portuguese and French most plurals are formed by adding an -s, -es, -x, etc. at the end of the word, most Italian plurals change their last vowel.

*The overwhelming majority of Italian words end in a vowel.

some exceptions: con (with), al (contraction of a + il), del (contraction of di + il), and some more that I don't remember....
LAA   Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:07 am GMT
<<some exceptions: con (with), al (contraction of a + il), del (contraction of di + il), and some more that I don't remember.... >>

Yeah, those always stand out because they are just like Spanish, except that "el" is changed to "il".

But thank you for that explanation. Things make sense now.
Tiffany   Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:12 am GMT
I'd like to add the changing is based on masculine/feminine, but just because the nouns are masculine or feminine. Like Spanish, masculine nouns usually end in -o, while feminine ones end in -a or at times -e. They then change as Sergio pointed out.

Adesso, devo mangiare e non ho tempo tradurre il mio messagio sopra in italiano, ma scrivo in italiano per vidimare questo messaggio. Spero che una sistema registrazione arriva presto!
Sigma   Sat Sep 23, 2006 4:21 am GMT
Ahora, debo comer y no tengo tiempo para traducir mi mensaje sobre el Italiano, pero/mas escribo en Italiano para verificar este mensaje. Espero que un(a) sistema de registracion venga pronto!
Tiffany   Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:40 am GMT
Dammit, I forget to write 'per' after "tempo" but I swear I knew it was supposed to be there. I wrote it too fast. I did, however, forget that "sistema" was masculine. Thanks for pointing that out in Spanish Sigma.

Sigma, grazie per il traduzione in spagnolo. Cos'è il tuo obiettivo? Dimostrare quanto simili sono queste lingue?
Sigma   Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:20 am GMT
Tiffany,

Si, ambos lenguas poseen bastante de igualdad. Otro ejemplo:

"Sigma, gracias por la traduccion en Espanol. Que es tu objetivo? Demostrar cuanto similar son estas lenguas?"

No hay de que agradecer, Tiffany.
fab   Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:07 am GMT
" I have noticed that a few words in Italian seem to change depending upon the circumstances, but not in a feminine/masculine kind of way like Spanish. Some examples that come to mind are "mare"-"mari", and "pane" - "pani". Why these words change? "


these are just the plural forms. In Italian the plural is not made with the add of "s" as it is in French and spanish, but with the change of "a" to "e", and the change of "o" to "i".
LAA   Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:00 pm GMT
Thanks for your input Fab, but Sergio already pointed that out.
Adam   Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:05 pm GMT
Some examples that come to mind are "mare"-"mari", and "pane" - "pani". Why these words change?
----------------------------

That's the plural, just as English words change when they are in the plural - cat/cats, elephant/elephants, mouse/mice.
LAA   Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:09 am GMT
Again, thank you Adam. However, Sergio already pointed that out in the first response on this thread. Is this an echo chamber or something?
Sigma   Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:05 am GMT
Ella siempre cierra la puerta antes que cene. (Spanish)
Lei chiude sempre la porta prima di cenare. (Italian)
Ea semper portam claudit antequam cenet. (Latin)

Quien eres tu? (Spanish)
Chi e tu? (Italian)
Quis es tu? (Latin)

Que es verdad? (Spanish)
Che e verita? (Italian)
Quis es veritas?(Latin)
Vuestra merced   Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:47 am GMT
Perche cambiano le parole italiane? OR Perche parole italiane cambiano?
Tiffany   Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:56 am GMT
Corrections/Correzioni:

<<Chi e tu? (Italian) >>
"Chi sei tu?" is the correct phrase, but in daily speech you will more likely just hear "Chi sei?"

<<Che e verita? (Italian)>>
"Che è la verità?" is the correct phrase.

Interesting aside (at least to me): in daily speech I would most likely use "Cos'è la verità?" short for "Cosa è la verità?" or "Che cosa è la verità?" Italians like to combine things (look at "cos'è") but "ch'è" isn't used where I learned to speak Italian. However, though not used where I am from, I do know it is in use elsewhere, though rare from the looks of it as it is considered archaic.

Here's a short thread I found on it: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=22059

Now, the above says "What is the truth?", but if we are looking for the statement "What is true", it is "Che è vero?"

French is quite close too:
"Qui est tu?"
"Qu'est la vérité?"

(My French may be wrong, so excuse me)
Tiffany   Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:00 am GMT
<<Perche cambiano le parole italiane? OR Perche parole italiane cambiano?>>

Cosa? Are you asking which the correct way to ask that question? I don't know about correct, but it sounds more natural to me to say: "Perché cambiano le parole italiane?"