Expert: Maria - 8/17/2006

Question
Greetings Maria, and many thanks for the recent help.

Please, where is the stress in the name for the Sardinian language, Sardu?

Are there any Italian dialects which still have cases like Latin?

Could you please just check that I've got the right understanding of the evolution of Marengo?
Originally a small village (paese?) near Alessandria, it later became a suburb (frazione) of this city and then recently a “Comune”, on which occasion it was renamed “Spinetta Marengo”.

Thank you,

Simon

PS In “ad captandum vulgus”, what case is “vulgus”? Is “captandum” a gerundive? How would you translate it?


Answer
Greetings Simon,

The stress in “ Sardu” , the name for the Sardinian language, is on the ‘a’ (Sàrdu).

As for your second question, there is no Italian dialect which still has cases like Latin, and neither has the Sardinian one, though among the Italian dialects “Su Sardu”(the Sardinian)  is just the one that is most  similar to Latin. In fact it has several words that end with –u (‘sanctu’ from Latin ‘ sanctus’, holy, which in Ialian is ‘santo’), for example.

Yes, you have got the right understanding of the evolution of Marengo, as originally it was a small village (BORGO)  near Alessandria, later became a FRAZIONE of this city and then recently a COMUNE on which occasion it was renamed “Spinetta Marengo”.

All the best,
Maria
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PS. In “ad captandum vulgus”, “vulgus” (crowd) is the accusative case of the neuter noun ‘vulgus’, 2nd.declension.
As for “captandum”, it is just a gerundive in the accusative case + ad. Such a  gerundive (accusative + ad)  is used to indicate a purpose.
In fact “Ad captandum vulgus” means “For pleasing/ courting  the crowd / rabble”, i.e. “to capture the affection of the crowd”.
[See those politicians who make false  promises to appeal to the masses]