Nov. 4 – “You have to find the right words, words are important,” used to say Michele – interpreted by Nanni Moretti – in the famous 1989 film, “Palombella Rossa.” One of the most famous and quoted lines by the Italian director invites us to reflect on the importance of language and the fact that it’s essential to know how to put the right word in the right context, wait for good timing, and avoid overused expressions. After all, Pablo Neruda once wrote that “a whole idea changes because a word changed place.” And Italian words, vocabulary, and communication will be discussed Friday, November 28 at the Italian Cultural Institute in Munich to celebrate the 14th edition of the Week of Italian Language in the World. Special guest will be Paola Tiberii, author of the “Dizionario delle collocazioni,” published by Zanichelli in 2012. Particularly valuable to students of the Italian language as well as teachers, translators and reporters, the Dictionary is the ideal tool for anyone who takes pleasure in using a richer, more accurate and incisive vocabulary. It’s more than a thesaurus, featuring over 6000 entries and 200 000 collocazioni; it helps put the right word in the right context. Collocazioni are expressions consisting of two or more words that together form a phraseological unit. The combinations do not follow a precise rule, but are determined and established by their use, and often there is no logical connection between the linked words. For nouns there are collocazioni with adjectives, verbs and phraseological constructions. For the verbs and adjectives, collocations come with adverbs and verbs. (PO / red)
