Elia Iafelice

Contributing writer

O Sole Mio

July 2018
For the astronomer Niccolò Copernico, the sun is like a king sitting on a regal throne governing the family of the celestial stars that surround it. San Francis of Assisi, in his poem “Canticle of the Sun,” honors it as one of the most amazing...


Buon Onomastico, The Italian Name Day

June 2018
Besides their birthday, many Italians also celebrate their onomastico. This term, which in English translates to “name-day,” derives from the Greek verb onomázein - chiamare per nome (to call by name). The onomastico has a strong religious...


Ciao, I Am No Longer Your Slave

April 2018
In Italian, we salute family and friends with the casual greeting “ciao”. We express this four-letter word interchangeably to indicate both “hello” and “goodbye.” Many times, we also use it as a parting salutation with the echoing version “ciao,...


Loving the Italian Way

February 2018
Love is all around us. We share this love with our family, our friends and our significant others. In English, we normally express this affection with the standard “I love you.” We use these same three words with a sister, a husband or a close...


The Two Stolen Pernigotti Chocolates

December 2017
When I was young, I didn’t get along very well with my older sister who was a neat freak. From her perspective, whatever I did was not good enough. The bedroom we shared was never thoroughly tidy. If I were to leave the slightest bit of dust on the...


"Buon Appetito or Not, that is the Question!"

November 2017
During one of my last visits to Italy, as I was about to eat lunch with a friend, I picked up my fork and wished her “buon appetito!” Surprisingly, she didn’t respond “grazie, altrettanto” (“thank you, same to you!”) as I had expected, but rather...


Jhumpa Lahiri's Italian Linguistic Journey

September 2017
Have you ever tried to learn a language and felt bewildered, confused, and discouraged no matter which method you tried? Have you ever felt inadequate when speaking with natives, not being able to construct sentences, forgetting the vocabulary? If...


Why do you Study Italiano?

August 2017
For the past few years, I have had the pleasure to teach Italian to people from the Cleveland community at the Alta House in the heart of Little Italy. The diligent students attending the classes vary in age, gender and cultural background....


The Promenade of an Italian Village

July 2017
Quando il sole comincia a tramontare ed una gentile brezza soffia per spazzare via il caldo torrido, in molte città italiane inizia la consuetudine serale della passeggiata, un rituale particolarmente popolare la domenica sera, dopo un...


A Linguistic Tour Around the Kitchen

May 2017
In English, we use adjectives like small and big to modify the size of a word. For example, to downsize the word spoon, we say small spoon. On the other hand, in Italian, we express the concept of smallness or largeness by dropping the last vowel...


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