Stop saying "Nativi"!

Hi, there! I am Luca and this amazing video is aimed at those who study Italian as a foreign language.

In this video, in fact, I'd like to talk about a rather peculiar word which for some reason has recently started to be used in a way which is quite weird, if not absurd.

The word I'm referring to is "nativo". That is, "nativo" as a noun, and "nativo" as an adjective. This word has four forms: nativo, nativi, nativa, native.

Properly speaking, "i nativi" means the indigenous peoples, that is, the peoples who have always lived in a given place.

The most famous "nativi" are quite possibly the Native Americans. Who are the Native Americans? They are the peoples that in the past were improperly referred to as (North) American Indians.

Why are these tribes called "nativi" in Italian? Because they are indigenous, that is, they are people who have always lived there.

These people have always lived in America, when the Europeans arrived, they found them there, but these people were already living in America. They didn't move from Europe to America. These people were the native inhabitants of those places, they were natives.

Like I said, in Italian there's an equivalent word, which is "indigeni". So we can say either "nativi" or "indigeni".

I have noticed that many people, including some Italian language instructors, have recently started to use the word "nativi" to indicate the native speakers of Italian. Basically, these people say "un nativo italiano" and by that they mean "un madrelingua italiano".

What does "madrelingua italiano" mean? For example, I am "un madrelingua italiano". What does it mean? It means that my native language is Italian. When I was young, people always said "madrelingua", no matter what. So I can say that I am "un madrelingua italiano".

Someone whose native language is English is "un madrelingua inglese". So I can say that I am "un italiano madrelingua" and he is "un inglese madrelingua". The word "madrelingua" is used this way.

In theory, we can also say that I am "di madrelingua italiana" and he is "di madrelingua inglese". Similarly, if we consider somebody whose first language is French, we can say that this person is "un francese madrelingua", "un madrelingua francese" or "è di madrelingua francese".

If we want to ask a question, we can ask somebody: "Qual è la tua madrelingua?" And this person could reply: "La mia madrelingua è l'inglese"

This word is indeed quite difficult to use. Back in the day, people also used to say, instead of "madrelingua" - they said "lingua madre". For example, someone could reply: "La mia lingua madre è l'inglese" Or I could reply: "La mia lingua madre è l'italiano".

What happened next? In the field of linguistics, copying-and-pasting from English (for a change!), linguists started to say "parlante nativo" instead of "parlante madrelingua". Back in the day, people used to say "parlante madrelingua". Then, people in the field of linguistics started to say "parlante nativo".

Alright! Thing is, in the field of linguistics the word "nativo" was always used together with the word "parlante". That is: "parlante nativo", "un parlante nativo", "dei parlanti nativi". Not: "un nativo", "dei nativi".

What happened next? To put on airs, that is, to look more important, people started to use these strictly linguistic terms in everyday speech as well.

The problem is that, instead of saying "parlante nativo", people started to say "nativo italiano". Basically, to look more important, these people took the phrase "parlante nativo" from linguistics and started to use it. However, they just say "nativo". That is, they use "nativo" as a noun and say things such as: "un nativo italiano".

You have surely seen this type of language instructors, who suggest that you speak with "i nativi", specifically that you speak with "i nativi italiani".

Well, this use of the word "nativo" actually puzzles me, because I would understand if somebody said "Devi parlare con i parlanti nativi". That is, with people whose native language is Italian, or with people who have Italian as native language.

If somebody tells me "Devi parlare con i nativi italiani", though, I find it funny, I don't know why. I for one find it funny when I hear this phrase, that is, "i nativi italiani", because in Italy, unlike in America, there were no Natives.

In the end, I think that the problem lies in the fact that these people use the word "nativo", "nativi", which is a technical term, inappropriately.

I for one think that, given that in Italian there's already a word, which is "madrelingua", it would be better to keep using this word. I would simply say: "Per imparare bene l'italiano bisogna parlare con i madrelingua". It is implied: "i madrelingua italiani".

I realize that this word is somewhat difficult to use because it is an invariable word. If you paid attention, I said "con i madrelingua italiani". Anyways, this sounds standard Italian to me and I think it's better to say that, rather than "Dovete parlare coi nativi italiani".

In theory, one could say: "È molto importante parlare con i parlanti madrelingua. But in this case the word "parlanti" can be dropped, because, if I use the word "madrelingua", it implies "parlante madrelingua". The problem is that, if I use the word "nativo" / "nativi", I shouldn't drop the word "parlante" / "parlanti".

I'm gonna give you one example which in my opinion is questionable. "Ho difficoltà a capire i nativi". Or: "Ho difficoltà a capire i nativi italiani". "È molto difficile capire i nativi quando parlano tra loro".

To me, this sentence is absurd. I would say: "Ho difficoltà a capire gli italiani madrelingua". Or: "Ho difficoltà a capire i madrelingua italiani".

Another example could be: "le espressioni usate dai nativi". I would say: "le espressioni usate dai madrelingua italiani".

Well, that's it! I hope that you have found this video useful.

In the comments below please let me know what you think and if you have ever heard this phrase ("i nativi italiani") or "i nativi", "parlare coi nativi". Or similar phrases such as: "parlare come un nativo". Again, in this case too I'd simply say: "parlare come un madrelingua".

Well, that's it! In the comments, please, let me know what you think.

That being said - Until next time!

And may the Force of Advanced Italian be with you!