Loanwords: patterns and usage

For the pronunciation of loanwords see

It. has borrowed hosts of foreign words over the centuries. In the process, all sorts of things have happened.

A few words have been adapted to conform with our phonological and spelling system (for example, beefsteak and wag(g)on have become "bistecca, vagone"). Translated forms exist for nations and states, capital cities and geographical names (rivers, lakes, seas, mountains, etc.). This aspect is common with other languages, including Eng. For example, the German region called Bayern has become Bavaria in Eng. and Baviera in It. Its capital city, Muenchen, is Munich in Eng. and Monaco di Baviera in It. ("di Baviera" prevents confusion with the Principality of Monaco).

Several Eng. compound words have lost the headword so It. uses "basket, volley, corner, beauty..." for basketball, volleyball, corner-kick, beauty-case...

Other words are used in a way that does not correspond to their original meaning. In It., a "box" is a private garage, a "golf" is a type of wool jacket or pullover with buttons in the front, and so on.

Traditionally, people with a medium or high level of education think that we should not use foreign words when there are It. words that work equally well - there is a distinction between "luxury" borrowings, which should be avoided, and necessary borrowings.

An often-quoted example of the latter is "computer": "calcolatore" seems inadequate because that machine can do an enormous lot of things beside calculating; "elaboratore elettronico dei dati" is just much too long.

You can ignore these disputes and use any borrowings that you may find useful. Only beware that some words have altered or selected their meanings when landing in Italy. An example of selection is "festival" that It. uses only for some song competitions like il Festival di Sanremo. Another example is It. "bar" that only means "café".