The Italian language in Venezuela has been present since colonial times in the areas around

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Maracay ) , image_skyline = , image_caption =Top:Maracay Municipal Garden and Las Delicias area, Second:Sindoni Tower, Los Tamarindo residential area and overview to Maracay, Third:Maestranza Cesar Giron Bullring Stadium, Girardot Square and Maracay ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

and the

Andes mountains The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

. The language is found in many idiomatic sentences and words of

Venezuelan Spanish Venezuelan Spanish ( or ) refers to the Spanish spoken in Venezuela. Spanish was introduced in Venezuela by colonists. Most of them were from Galicia, Basque Country, Andalusia, or the Canary Islands. The last has been the most fundamental ...

. There are around 200,000 Italian-speakers in the country, turning it in the second most spoken language in Venezuela, after Spanish.

History

The name of Venezuela itself comes from the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, who called the area "Little Venice" in a typical Italian expression. Some Italians participated in the first European colonies in Venezuela, mainly on the island of

Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). T ...

and in

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...

, the first European city in the Americas, but their influence on the local language was very limited. During the Venezuelan Wars of Independence some Italians helped

Simón Bolivar Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genu ...

against the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

and they brought some Italian military words to Venezuelan Spanish. The military officer

Agostino Codazzi Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi (alternatively known in Latin America as Agustín Codazzi; 12 July 1793 – 7 February 1859) was an Italo-Venezuelan soldier, scientist, geographer, cartographer, and governor of Barinas (1846–184 ...

created the first "Atlante" of Venezuela and - as a consequence - many geographical words in Venezuela are loanwords from Italian. In the second half of the 20th century, more than 300,000 Italians moved to Venezuela and left their linguistic imprint on the local vocabulary: "

Ciao ''Ciao'' ( , ) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both "hello" and "goodbye". Originally from the Venetian language, it has entered the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world. Its du ...

" is now a usual friendly salute in Caracas, for example. There are even expressions among local young people that mix Italian and Spanish words: "Muérete que chao" is an example. Indeed after

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

came a huge emigration to Venezuela from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and the Italian language started to get importance in the country. The modisms of the upper class in Caracas (called "Sifrinos") are full of Italian words and expressions. Today, there are more than 5 million Venezuelans with some Italian roots: some young

Italo-Venezuelans Italian Venezuelans are Venezuelan citizens of Italian descent. The word may refer to someone born in Venezuela of Italian descent or to someone who has emigrated to Venezuela from Italy. Italians were among the largest groups of European immigrant ...

in Caracas use

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

mixing Italian dialect and Spanish among themselves. Italians also influenced Venezuelan accent, given its slight sing-songy intonation, like

Rioplatense Spanish Rioplatense Spanish (), also known as Rioplatense Castilian, is a variety of Spanish spoken mainly in and around the Río de la Plata Basin of Argentina and Uruguay. It is also referred to as River Plate Spanish or Argentine Spanish. It is the ...

. Nearly all the Italians speaking the Italian language in Venezuela live in the half of the country north of the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

Apure Apure State ( es, Estado Apure, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial author ...

rivers, while only a few thousands live in the Ciudad Bolivar-Ciudad Guayana and San Felipe areas of the Apure-Amazonas-Bolivar states.

Italian language teaching in Venezuela

In the 2000s there are nearly 50,000 Italians residing in Venezuela who speak a

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of Italian with their sons and daughters (second generation Italo-Venezuelans). The teaching of the Italian language is starting to be better implemented among the nearly one million Venezuelans who are of Italian descent, but there are only a few Italian language institutions in Venezuela. Indeed, the Italian community has some private Italian schools in the country. In the metropolitan area of

the best school is the "

Agustin Codazzi Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi (alternatively known in Latin America as Agustín Codazzi; 12 July 1793 – 7 February 1859) was an Italo-Venezuelan soldier, scientist, geographer, cartographer, and governor of Barinas (1846–1847 ...

" (with courses from elementary to high school), while there are others in the interior of Venezuela (like in Puerto La Cruz the " Colegio Angelo De Marta" and in

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the fou ...

the "Colegio Agazzi"). According to the Italian Embassy in Caracas the "...''Italian language teaching is guaranteed by the presence of a consistent number of private Venezuelan schools and institutions, where Italian language courses and Italian literature are active. Other similar courses are organized and sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Associations.The Didactic Office of the General Consulate of Caracas, together with this Embassy, is negotiating an Agreement with the Venezuelan Authorities for the recognition of the Study Diplomas emitted by the Italian School (in Venezuela there is a Civil Association called "Agostino Codazzi" which offers the complete didactic cycle from elementary to high school) so that there can be access to the University system in Venezuela with an Italian high school diploma.Since 2002, the Italian Government has become the promoter for a provision which makes it mandatory to teach Italian as a second language in a consistent number of public and private schools within Venezuela''..."http://www.ambcaracas.esteri.it/Ambasciata_Caracas/Menu/ Section:Cultural cooperation

List of some Italian words in Venezuelan Spanish

*Balurdo. Strange kind of stupid. From "Balordo". *Barco. From the Italian "Barca" (boat). *Birra. Beer. From "Birra". *Calarse. To digest (or sustain) something bad. From "Calarsi" with the same meaning. *Chao. From "Ciao". *Comadre. Godmother. From "Comare". *Compadre. Godfather (and even: "special friend"). From "Compare" *Contorno. Side dish. From "Contorno". *Cretino. Stupid. From "Cretino". *Gafo. Stupid. From "Cafone" (low class peasant). *Lasaña. Food. From the Italian "Lasagna" (a food made with pasta and meat). *Macho. Strong man. From the Italian "Maschio". *Malandro. A thug. From the Italian "Malandrino". *Milanesa. Food. From "Milanese" (a food made with meat and bread). *Mezanina. Building. From "Mezzanina" (intermediate floor in a building. Normally between groundfloor and first floor). *Mortadela. Food. From "Mortadella" (a big sausage made from pork and chicken) *Paisano. From "paesano", meaning an Italian (or southern European) immigrant *Paneton. From "panettone", meaning an Italian christmas bread *Pasticho. From "pasticcio" (a lasagna). *’’’Piccina/Piccino’’’. Little one, young child in Italian. Term of endearment *Pico. Geographical term meaning the top of a mountain. From "Picco". *Piñata. From "pignatta" (a bowl). *Pizza'. Food. From the Italian "Pizza". *Radio. Radio. From the Italian "Radio" *Terraza. Balcony. From the Italian "Terrazza"

References

Bibliography

* Guido Gómez de Silva, Guido. ''Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española'' Madrid. * Santander Laya-Garrido, Alfonso. ''Los Italianos forjadores de la nacionalidad y del desarrollo economico en Venezuela''. Editorial Vadell. Valencia, 1978. * Vannini, Marisa. ''Italia y los Italianos en la Historia y en la Cultura de Venezuela''. Oficina Central de Información. Caracas, 1966

External links

Dictionary of Venezuelan Modisms and words (in Spanish)
{{Italian schools in Venezuela European-Venezuelan culture Italian Venezuelan

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...