Zibaldone

by Leopardi, Giacomo

  For the preceding page margin. In truth, both these writers and the Greeks criticized by Cicero, ibid. for their lack of rhythm, and they are many and classical, and our 14th-century and 16th-century writers, most of them not rhythmic, and all (except Speroni, affected and false in that respect, but in a different way from later writers), not much concerned either about rhythm, do have a rhythm although it is more or less unsophisticated and sporadic, yet clearly characteristic and recognizable either as their own or as coming from the language, etc., and the rhythm of later corrupt writers is different from this, etc. etc. (10 Feb. 1824.) See p. 4034.

  Grecism. Colla—κόλλα and κόλλη [glue] with the derivatives and compounds of both the Italian and Greek word. And see Forcellini, Glossary, the French, Spanish dictionaries. This word could have been taken directly from the Greek, even in later centuries, if it is considered as an absolutely technical word, but it is really, at least today, in extremely common use, just like what it signifies. (11 Feb. 1824.)

  Plurals in a. Mantella plural of mantello [cloak]1 (11 Feb. 1824.) Peccata [sins]. Uscia [doorways]. (Machiavelli, part 5, p. 151.)

  Sbarbare–sbarbicare [to uproot], abbarbicare or abbarbicarsi [to take root]. To what I said elsewhere [→Z 4004] about our verbs in ĭcare, formed from verbs in common use or not, or even from nouns, etc. (11 Feb. 1824.) Barbare–barbicare [to take root].

  Positivized Greek diminutives. See σωμάτιον for σῶμα [body], without any reason for diminution, in Apollonius Dyscolus’s tales of wonder, ch. 3,1 and in others, and see Scapula. (11 Feb. 1824.)

  [4030] Claquer–claqueter [to flap] which Alberti calls a frequentative of it. Crier–criailler [to shout], of which sort of verb I speak elsewhere [→Z 3985, 3991, 4005]. (12 Feb. 1824.)

  Positivized diminutives. Clientolo [client], Maillet–mail, maglio, malleus [hammer]. That the et in French in verbs and nouns is in itself diminutive or frequentative, etc., like ett in Italian, can be seen from the preceding thought and from thousands of other examples, etc. (13 Feb. 1824.)

  Nascere for accadere [to happen], etc. “Se altro di meglio non nasce” [“If something better does not happen”]. Machiavelli, Clitia, act 5, scene 2, end.1 (13 Feb. 1824.)

  Altro for nulla or alcuna cosa [nothing or anything], etc. See the preceding thought and many other similar phrases of ours. (13 Feb. 1824.)

  Faventia–Faenza. (14 Feb. 1824.) Faentini (Guicciardini, 1, 418, 419, etc. Faventini as in Latin). Fayence for Faenza and for a city in France, Latin Faventia.2

  Immutatus [changed or unchanged], immixtus [mixed or unmixed] affirmatives and negatives. To add to what I said elsewhere [→Z 2947, 3949] about intentatus [attempted or untried]. (14 Feb. 1824.)

  Greek duplications, mentioned elsewhere [→Z 2774–75, 2811, 3940, 3979, 3994]. ἐληλαμένος, ἐληλεγμένος, ὀρωρυγμένος, ἀληλειμμένος, ἀλήλειμμαι, etc., ἄραρε, etc. (14 Feb. 1824.)

  Change from Latin cul to Italian chi. Bernoccolo [bump] (an entirely Italian word, see however the Glossary and various dictionaries) with its derivatives —bernocchio which means the same. (15 Feb., Septuagesima Sunday, 1824.)

  Positivized Greek diminutives. Συγγραμμάτιον [piece of writing]. See Lucian at the beginning of Herodotus,3 where it seems to be positivized, and Scapula, etc., if there is anything on this. (15 Feb., Septuagesima Sunday, 1824.)

  Ionic does not seem to have been a native dialect even to Herodotus (with reference to a point mentioned elsewhere [→Z 961–62]), as far as I can see from a note by Palmerius at the beginning of the Herodotus sive Aetion of Lucian.4 (15 Feb. 1824.)

  [4031] Certainly social conditions and governments and every kind of circumstance in life greatly influence and modify the character and the customs of the various nations, even with opposite effects to those which their respective climate and other natural circumstances would produce. But in such cases the state either does not endure, or else it is weak, or bad, or not very contrary to the climate, or is not widespread throughout the nation, or etc. etc. And generally you find that the principal characteristics and customs of a nation, even when they seem to have nothing to do with climate, either derive from it, or even if they do not derive from it and come from quite different causes, yet they do correspond wondrously to the quality of climate or other natural conditions of the nation or people or citizenry, etc.1 For example I will not go so far as to say that social life with regard to conversation and to the infinite number of other things which depend on or are influenced by it in the different nations of Europe comes entirely from and is determined by their climate. But certainly, in the different ways of life of each, characteristic of each almost since they came to have a precise and distinct national form of civilization, over a shorter or longer period of time, we discover a very curious general correspondence with their respective climates considered overall. The climate of Italy and Spain is a climate for walking out and about and particularly in the south. Now these nations hardly have any conversation at all, neither do they take any delight in it. The little there is in Italy is more in the north, in Lombardy, where there is certainly more conversation than in Tuscany, in Naples, in the Marche, in Romagna, places you may go for a holiday [4032] and have pleasurable daily excursions, but not conversation, where you may chat and play the gentleman a good deal, but there is no conversation; in Rome, etc.1 The English and German climates keep men in their own homes, and therefore their characteristic and national way of life is domestic, with all the other infinite qualities of character and custom and opinion, which grow out of or are modified by such a practice. Yet there is more conversation there than in Italy or Spain (which are at the opposite extreme of conversation) because their climate is naturally less inimical to conversation, since by obliging them to live most of the time indoors and depriving them of the pleasures of nature, it inspires in them a desire to stay together, by way of a substitute for them, and to make up for the emptiness of time, etc. The climate in France which is the center of conversation, whose life and character and customs and opinions is all conversation, occupies exactly the middle ground between the climates of Italy and Spain, England and Germany, by not preventing people from going out, and from moving from place to place, and making staying inside pleasant, just as life in England and Germany occupies exactly the middle ground, especially in recent times, in respect of conversation, between life in Italy and Spain and that of France, and so too in character, etc., which is dependent on it. And indeed in thousands of other ways too France, like its climate, occupies the middle ground between southerners and northerners, mentioned elsewhere in several places [→Z 1045–46, 2989–90]. I am not speaking about the less extrinsic and more spiritual influences of climate on the complexion and habits of the body and the spirit, right from birth, which indeed [4033] contribute enormously to cause and determine the variety that can be seen in the life of nations, populations, individuals all participating (as they do today) in a similar kind of civilization, in terms of the talent for and use of conversation in intellectual life. (15 Feb. 1824.)

  “Οὐδὲν ξένον εἰ πάνυ ἐσπουδακὼς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ὑπὸ σοῦ γνωρίζεσθαι, ἐκ τῆς ἄγαν ἐπιθυμίας εἰς τοὐναντίον, διαταραχθείς, ἐνέπεσον” [“It is not strange if I, who have given my all to make you take notice of my best qualities, have then fallen into the opposite position through my excessive desire”]. Lucian, Pro lapsu inter salutandum, Opera, tome 1, 502, Amsterdam 1687. (16 Feb. 1824.)

  To what I said elsewhere [→Z 2865–66, 3901, 3997] about Spanish luego, etc., the phrase εὐθὺς ἀρχόμενος is relevant and the corresponding Latin statim ab initio [from the very beginning] or a principio, etc., and that in Lucian, loc. cit. above, p. 498, εὐθὺς ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ and πρῶτον εὐθὺς [straightaway] and the like, that you can look up in Forcellini, Scapula, etc. (16 Feb. 1824.)r />
  Fiorito, fleuri, etc., for fiorente [flourishing, in bloom], like età fiorita, that is, which fiorisce [flourishes], floret. (16 Feb. 1824.)

  Giuntare for truffare [to cheat], etc., comes from iungo–iunctum [to join] as Spanish juntar does with another meaning, since giungere [to arrive] is also used for giuntare which in this sense, entirely Italian, is a continuative of it. From iungere comes aggiuntare for giuntare as well (Machiavelli, Mandragola, act 3, scene 9; the Crusca has the verbal noun aggiuntatore [cheat]),1 like our vulgar aggiuntare and Spanish ayuntar, etc., with another meaning. And see the Glossary. Giunto for giunteria [trickery]. Crusca. (17 Feb. 1824.)

  [4034] Imprenta, imprentare, etc., impronta, improntare, etc. [imprint, to imprint], almost imprimita, imprimitare from imprimitum, unattested regular supine, for impressum. (17 Feb. 1824.)

  ᾿Εθέλω [I want] for δύναμαι [to be capable of] or rather for μέλλω [I intend] mentioned elsewhere [→Z 2919ff., 3000–3001, 4002]. See Plato, De re publica, 4, Opera, ed. Ast, tome 4, p. 200b. (18 February 1824.)

  Positivized diminutives. Compagnon [companion]. (20 Feb. 1824.)

  Bequeter (beccare) [to peck] frequentative or diminutive. Gresset, Ver-vert, first Canto.1 (20 Feb. 1824.) Feuilleter [to leaf through].

  Positivized diminutives. Avorton [runt, freak], menton [chin], mentonnière [chin strap], etc. (20 Feb. 1824.) Flacon–fiasco [flask].

  “Καὶ ὅλως ἁπάντων ὁ πολυψηφότατος ἐν παιδείᾳ σύ γε, καὶ μάλιστα ὅσῳ τὴν λευκὴν ἀεὶ καὶ σώζουσαν φέρεις” [“And in learning you have at your disposal many votes, especially inasmuch as you carry the white vote which absolves”]. (Lucian, in Harmonides, end.) E massime in quanto or in quanto che [inasmuch as]. Grecism of the Italian in this phrase and many other similar ones of ours. (21 Feb. 1824.) See French and Spanish, etc.

  For p. 4029. The rhythm or sound of the period in 14th-century writers is uniquely their own, and very different generally from that of 16th-century writers. And similarly not only all languages, but each of their phases, even those in which rhythm is not cultivated, have a particular sentence structure as far as sound is concerned, different from that of other phases, in fact all the more particular to them and different from others, the more rhythm is less studied. For art, which remains constant, brings conformity, and so two ages which make a study of rhythm, although they may be distant from one another, can easily look more similar than others; and in fact we see such similarity even between different languages in writers who make a study [4035] of rhythm, for instance between Greek and Latin, and Latin and Italian. (21 Feb. 1824.)

  Positivized diminutives. Vallon [valley], coteau [hill], costola [slope of a hill], etc. (21 Feb. 1824.) Rayon [ray], pavot [poppy].

  Genitive plural instead of the accusative with the pronoun alcuni or alcuno mentioned elsewhere [→Z 3560–61, 4012]. Lucian in Scytha, Opera, 1687, tome 1, p. 598, beginning: “δεῖξαι τῶν λόγων ὑμῖν” [“to show you some of my speeches”] that is ex meis orationibus or doctrinis, which passage is well interpreted by Graevius at the end of the volume, which should also be looked at. (22 Feb., Sunday, 1824.)

  Grecism in Italian. Se non quanto or in quanto [as] or quanto che, or in quanto che —παρ' ὅσον [inasmuch as]. See Lucian, cited above, end, p. 599, and Scapula, etc., and the French and Spanish dictionaries, etc. (22 Feb. 1824, Sunday.)

  It is argued that Σίλλος, σίλλοι o σιλλοὶ [squint-eyed] comes from ἴλλος occhio [eye] “παρὰ τὸ διασείειν τοὺς ἴλλους” [“because of the batting of the eyelids”]. See Scapula and Ménage on Laertius, Timon 9, 111. I agree it comes from ἴλλος, but not that it has anything to do with σείειν [to move to and fro], a derivation which seems very improbable. I think that σίλλος is in fact originally the same as ἴλλος, with the sigma in place of the breathing mark, although it is smooth, like the Latin use of rough breathing and the Aeolian use of the digamma, or else like Latin v (and therefore as the Latins use v) also instead of the smooth breathing, at the beginning of words. See what I said elsewhere [→Z 1276, 3815] about σῦκον [fig] which I think has come from ὗκον or ὖκον. From σίλλος occhio [eye] the metaphor brought the meaning to one of derision, etc., as if it meant, as we say, wink, etc., so σιλλαίνειν would be like to wink, in the sense though of to mock, etc. The metaphor is natural, because laughter generally, and derision in particular, is found and is expressed mainly through the eyes and often through them alone. (22 February 1824, Sexagesima Sunday.)

  “῎Εξω τῶν ὤτων” fuorché l’orecchie [except the ears] Lucian, Opera, 1687, p. 580 end, tome 1. About this use of the Greek ἔξω similar to Italian fuori, fuorché, infuori [except], etc., and to the French hors, hormis, etc., and the Spanish fuera, fuera de que (oltre di che) [apart from the fact that], etc. (in Greek too I think ἔξω is used or some similar word for oltre [besides]. See Scapula and Forcellini, etc.), I speak elsewhere if I remember rightly.1 (22 Feb., Sexagesima Sunday, 1824.)

  [4036] Accortare, scortare [to shorten]. See elsewhere [→Z 3569–70] on curto as [to shorten]. (23 Feb. 1824.) Accorciare, scorciare, etc., with its derivatives, etc., are only corruptions, and they come from curtare too. (23 Feb. 1824.)

  Capter, Cattare [to catch], etc. See elsewhere on captare [→Z 2843, 2998]. (25 Feb. 1824.) Riscattare [to redeem], rescatar, etc., catar, mentioned elsewhere [→Z 3980], perhaps comes from captare?

  Faventini, mentioned elsewhere [→Z 4030]. Guicciardini, tome 2, pp. 34–36. (25 Feb. 1824.)

  Rilevato for che rileva [is important], that is have weight, that is have importance. Nardi often in the Vita of Giacomini. (25 Feb. 1824.)

  To what I said elsewhere [→Z 2865] about suppeditare [to support] add that in Don Quixote, part 2, ch. 18, end, I find supeditar for to tread on. (28 Feb. 1824.)

  The use of synizesis which I have noted elsewhere in a large number of places [→Z 1124, 1151–53, 2247–50] in Latin writers and shown to be used vulgarly and informally by them, etc., may be observed as another similarity between Vulgar Latin and our languages, where such synizesis is not vulgar however, but standard, etc. etc. (28 Feb. 1824.)

  Positivized diminutives. Struzzo–struzzolo [ostrich]. (28 Feb. 1824.)

  Italian frequentative and diminutive verbs. Balzare–balzellare [to jump, to hop about]. (28 Feb. 1824.)

  Pelle [skin] for donna [woman], etc., an obscene meaning in our language. See Forcellini under Scortum [skin, harlot] and under Pellex [kept mistress], etc., and the Crusca if it has anything. (28 Feb. 1824.)

  ῎Αλλο [other] for οὐδὲν [nothing] or redundant as in Italian, of which Italian type of meaning corresponding to another analogous Greek type I have spoken elsewhere in several places [→Z 3587–88, 4000, 4010–11]. Lucian at the end of his short book περὶ ἀστρολογίας [On Astrology] (if it really is his):1 “Ὑπὸ δὲ τῇ δίνῃ τῶν ἀστέρων μηδὲν ἄλλο γίγνεσθαι;” [{would you wish} the stars’ rotation to produce no effect?] for μηδὲν γίγνεσθαι; and this passage demonstrates the origin of this phrase and the use of the pronoun ἄλλος altri or ἄλλο altro [other], both in Greek and in Italian. So it comes to mean: μηδὲν ἄλλο ἢ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ δινέεσθαι; [nothing other than this influence?] likewise senz’altro [certainly] really means senz’altro fuor della cosa medesima or delle cose [without anything other than the very thing or things] which you are speaking about. See what I have said at length about the phrase οὐδὲν πλέον [nothing more] at the end of the Phaedo, in my notes on Plato.2 And see too the context of the quoted passage in Lucian. (28 Feb. 1824.) See the following page.

  [4037] “Εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ τῶν λόγων” [“from the very beginning of the discussion”] Lucian, Opera, 1687, tome 1, p. 861: on which elsewhere [→Z 4033]. (28 February 1824.)

>   For the preceding page. That passage of Guicciardini is relevant here, bk. 6, tome 2, Freiburg ed., p. 74. “Ai Veneziani non pareva piccola grazia se non fossero molestati dagli altri” [“It seemed no small blessing to the Venetians not to be harassed by others”]. Meaning simply not to be harassed. That by others is in relation to the Venetians themselves, and really means by anyone, so is actually redundant. This type of expression is very common especially in informal speech. So we say l’amicizia altrui [the friendship of others], la conoscenza altrui [the acquaintance of others], le offese altrui [the insults of others], and similar phrases, where the altrui is in relation only to whoever is being spoken about, either a person or thing, and so is actually redundant. And likewise with thousands of other phrases. And I think it is the same in Greek and in Latin, see, e.g., Lucretius, bk. 2, line 9,1 and in French and Spanish as well which both might be observed further for other types of expression noted above and elsewhere [→Z 2864, 4015, 4026] on this subject, etc. (29 Feb., Quinquagesima Sunday, 1824.)