Andrea Camilleri, the 90-year-old author of the Inspector Montalbano series featuring a Sicilian detective, has 'signed' the definition of 'dialect' in the 2016 edition of the Zingarelli Italian dictionary and speaks of his own particular writing.
"In my family we spoke both dialect and Italian. When I told stories aloud, I realized I could be more effective if I used a mixed tongue. I started to ask myself why Italian wasn't enough and I studied how Pirandello made his characters speak," writes Camilleri in the signature definition accompanying the precise lexicographical entry for the word.
"Later, one of his affirmations struck me, that language expresses a concept, dialect a feeling of something: that became the basis for my writing," he continues. Camilleri is just one of numerous Italians from the worlds of science, culture, sport and lifestyle who have provided signature definitions for the dictionary. They include the best selling author Elena Ferrante (Identity), Valentino Rossi (Speed) and Sofia Loren (Beauty). New to the 2016 edition is the verb in dialect babbiare, meaning 'to joke or make fun'. The term is frequently on the lips of Camilleri's Montalbano.
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