1. Italy’s ruling party has had it with the bastardization of their language and is seeking to pass a new law asking people to say ciao to English words and to show Italian food some real amore.
2. According to CNN, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party is seeking to impose fines of up to 100,000 euros, or about $109,000, for people who use phrases or words in languages other than Italian in official communications.
3. The proposed law seeks to stop “Anglomania,” which the bill’s text says “demeans and mortifies” Italian language and culture, and could even penalize Italians who mispronounce words like “bruschetta.”
What do you think about Anglicisation? Is it a problem? To what extent do you think it exists in Japan? Have you seen it elsewhere abroad?
4. One example CNN gave was that pronouncing bruschetta as “bru-shetta” and not “bru-sketta” might cost Italians if the proposal becomes law. Saying “grazie,” thank you in Italian, without the right accentuation at the end of the word may as well be an insult — and could also be a fineable offense for Italian bureaucrats.
5. “It is not just a matter of fashion, as fashions pass, but Anglomania has repercussions for society as a whole,” the lawmaker Fabio Rampelli wrote in the draft bill, per CNN. Meloni’s party is said to be in support of the bill, which will be opened for parliamentary debate soon.
Why do you think the Brothers of Italy party wish to instantiate such a law? What short term and long term results do you expect?
6. Italian residents under the law would be required to use their native language as the main language “for the promotion and use of public goods and services in the national territory” and could face fines of 5,000 to 100,000 euros for using other languages.
7. According to Euronews, if passed, the legislation would require Meloni’s government would need to stop using English words that have replaced longer Italian expressions — instead of the adopted “dispenser,” for instance, politicians would have to revert to “dispensatore di liquido igienizzante per le mani.” The law would go even further in terms of the cultural ramifications.
8. According to CNN, the culture ministry would be expected to form a committee to advise schoolchildren, university students, and businesspeople on how to properly pronounce Italian words — and ultimately, avoid fines.
Phonetic Chart
