Prima dell'«indole». Latinismi latenti dell'italiano

This contribution is one of the studies that are part of the DiVo project (Dizionario dei Volgarizzamenti), hosted by the Opera del vocabolario italiano (CNR) and by the Scuola normale superiore di Pisa, and aims at recognizing the special kind of latinisms that are found in the Italian language. The definition of "hidden" (latenti) applies to loanwords from Latin that are, on the one hand, common in contemporary Italian and that, on the other hand, were generally speaking poorly attested or even unknown in the past. These latinisms are therefore in the medieval vernacular language a minor and deliberate lexical choice, which reached, in the modern age, the linguis- 364 SOMMARI DEGLI ARTICOLI tic standard currently in use. The data concerning the first attestation of a word is therefore examined in close connection with the stylistic change of the word itself over time, according to the results of an analysis of the available documentation . The class of "hidden" latinisms, defined in this way, is then described in its inner articulations. Three lexical sub-categories can be singled out: the essay examines one in particular, retracing the history of the word indole. Specifically, starting from the valuable evidence testimony of the translations in vernacular language, archeological research on the word indole focuses on the phases before its lexical confirmation and its modern semantic definition.