A Short Lesson in Italian

[ka-yakusoku.livejournal.com]

Greetings~ After a chat or two with jjblue1 I learned quite a lot about the word 'capisci'. It's that word we often hear in Mafia movies, the one that sounds like 'capeesh' XD So I'm here to share with you what I learned, with lots of quoting from jj~

Title: A Short Lesson in Italian
Quoting jjblue1 
Art and random yapping by kaya
Characters: Veneziano and Romano
Summary: The usage of the Italian word 'capisci'

Quotes from jj are written in italics.

So it all started when I used 'capisce' while imitating Romano...

You see, through watching Mafia shows (and Full House) I vaguely understood that 'capeesh' meant something like 'understand?' so thinking that the definition is so simple, I google 'understand in Italian' and came up with 'capisce'. Turns out 'capisce' is the super polite version.

It's 'capisci', not 'capisce'... unless you want to be really polite.

lol, I made Romano polite *pff*

Next is the complexity of the word. 'capisci' is informal but it's still not a word you can just throw around. You see, the usage of the word implies you have an...ulterior motive...

For example in your sentence 'It's just you and me, capisci?' adding the 'capisci' implies Veneziano expects this will lead to some consequences of this fact. For example, since it'll be just you and him, you'll bring him to eat pasta.
If it was your boyfriend speaking he was probably telling you in an allusive way he wanted to have sex with you.

...oh my gosh, Romano, what were you trying to imply? You cute little thing:



You find this used in movie mafia threats... when they say something like 'I don't know, if you don't stop doing it, someone might get hurt, capisce?'. Meaning 'do this and I'll beat/kill you' but told in a polite, concerned way so they can't be accused of threatening you... even if that's what they're doing. Though I don't know if it's a stereotypeout Mafia or their real behaviour.

Oh...whew, maybe you were just trying to talk like a Mafioso~! ...wait...that means you plan to kill me...politely? D:

As you might have noticed so far, the meaning changes depending on who is using the word. The best way to convey this is to task the Italian brothers:

Let's pretend you're Veneziano and say...



the 'capisci' implies 'can you understand how happy, delighted, overjoyed I am?'. It turns a fact (Germany hugged me) into a request to understand and possibly share his feelings.

Aww, that's so cute! Yes, Veneziano, I capisci! (will this lead to another correction on how I used this incorrectly again, jj? XD)

Of course if Romano were to say the same thing...



...the 'capisci' would mean 'can you understand how disgusted, revolted, angry I am?' different meaning but same request.

lol, don't get your panties in a bunch Romano. I'm sure Boss Spain can make it all better for you. And no, I don't capisci because who wouldn't want a hug from Germany? :3

And if Veneziano says 'I don't know how to do it, capisci?' he's asking for help or, at least, emotional comfort if you can't help him or understanding.

D'awww

In short the 'capisci' implies the sentence have an extra meaning you should catch. The extra meaning can be nice or... not so nice, according to who's using it. Basically is an 'are you getting what I mean with my words?'

And some food for thought:

I think it can have interesting potentialities in Hetalia... because I guess if Veneziano uses it with Germany to imply something I fear Germany would take him in the litteral sense... frustrating him.

Like Veneziano doesn't frustrate him already~

Not too sure if this would work with Spain though... because I think he has something similar...

So that means I can't throw around 'comprende' either? ;_;

(BTW, Germany might have something similar as well. I don't really know German...)

Any German speakers? :D

And that is all. Thanks for reading! Here's an extra fun fact as a reward:

Did you know the castle 'Castello Sforzesco' at the center of Milan is home to over 60 homeless kitties? (I saw them frolicking about in the castle's moat, which is overgrown with soft green grass =w=) They are taken care of by volunteers and the mayor of the city is lovingly nicknamed 'papà dei gatti' (cats' daddy)

So...Greece, looks like you're not the only one with a cat army ;)

Thanks jj for letting me quote you and for all the lessons!

Comments

[pixelmicrocat.livejournal.com]

I'm from Spain, and yes, we do have something like 'capisci', I guess ^^
But 'Comprende' sounds really weird, since it uses the formal form of 'you', which is usted. In Latin America this form is used whenever you talk to anyone besides family and friends, while in Spain we only use it when talking to elderly people and in formal situations. We just prefer to stick with 'tú' for everything :P
Also, both comprender and entender mean understand, though literally speaking, 'entender' is closer to understanding and comprender is closer to comprehend. However, comprender can also mean to empathize/agree/grasp. Example:

Entiendo lo que me dices pero no te comprendo.

I understand what you are telling me but I cannot grasp it.

Comprender is more formal, so we use entender a lot more, except when talking about someone's inner feelings, for example.

So yeah, after that useless rant, I think 'capisci' would translate to something like '¿entiendes?', but to be able to imply an extra meaning you'd have to say '¿lo entiendes?' (do you understand it?), just to make sure the other person gets that you're trying to imply something else :P Example:
Spain: Italy hugged me, ¿entiendes? >> Romano: I just heard you, idiot!
Spain: Italy hugged me, ¿lo entiendes? >> Romano: So? Stop being so damn happy, you bastard!

I guess we just don't have that kind of extra-meaning-thingy in Spanish, but we can get close. Also, I think something like 'got it?' could work in English too ^^

[ka-yakusoku.livejournal.com]

Now I really wonder why 'comprende' was chosen. Maybe America had more influence from Latin America since it's closer?

Thanks for the explanation! Aww, your examples are just as cute. I'm tempted to draw them XD

I thought that too, making 'got it?' or 'do you understand?' the English equivalent, but from the way jj explained it, 'capisci' sounded a lot more complex :/

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

Hum... accordig to the situations I think you might translate 'capisci' both with '¿comprendes?' or with '¿lo entiendes?'... but my knowledge of Spanish is scaringly low... -_-

[pixelmicrocat.livejournal.com]

I think you got it just right ^^

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

Thank you!