EASIT
Easy Access for Social Inclusion Training
This is unit 2,
Easy-to-understand language (E2U).
Element 2,
Legislation, standards,
and guidelines.
Video lecture:
E2U language in Italy:
specificities, recommendations
and guidelines.
This is Elisa Perego,
from Università degli Studi di Trieste.
In this video lecture,
I will focus on
linguistic specificities
of Easy Italian.
I will show examples
and clarify the current standards
and guidelines used in the sector.
In Italy,
the National Association
of Families of Persons
with Intellectual
and/or Relational Disabilities
(Anffas)
participates in most activities
linked to language simplification.
Anffas took part
in the Inclusion Europe project
and contributed to
the creation of the 2009 European standards
for making information
easy to read and understand,
which was translated into several languages,
including Italian.
These standards are
a reference point
for Easy to read Italian.
The title in Italian is
Informazioni per tutti.
Linee guida europee
per rendere l'informazione
facile da leggere
e da capire per tutti.
They are available online.
The Inclusion Europe guidelines are
a major step in a country
that was lacking basic rules
on the subject,
even though they do not include
language-specific recommendations.
In fact,
comprehensive language-specific guidelines
to produce Easy Italian
are currently lacking,
but sparse recommendations do exist.
These are included,
in publications by
Cortelazzo and Pellegrino 2002,
Fortis 2003
and Sciumbata 2017,
for example.
What are the language specificities
of Easy Italian?
For instance,
1. limit the use of the subjunctive mode;
2. limit past and present participles
(explicit forms are preferred);
3. limit impersonal forms;
4. limit Latin words or expressions.
It is better to avoid
the combination
of the “d” consonant sound
(d eufonica)
with the conjunctions
“e” (and) and “o” (or)
preceding a vowel:
“E ora” (and now)
is better than
“ed ora”.
The Italian language tends to prefer
obscure means of expression,
so, in Easy Italian
common and concrete words
(such as the verb
ricordare, to remember,
or the noun segnali, signs)
should be preferred over
formal and low-frequency
or abstract items
(such as the verb rammentare
and the noun segnaletica).
Using simple verbs
(such as assicurare, to ensure,
and pagare, to pay)
is better than using
long and intricate circumlocutions
with the same meaning
(such as provvedere
alla copertura assicurativa
and provvedere al pagamento).
This applies to nouns as well.
Sfratto, eviction, is better than
provvedimento esecutivo di rilascio.
The double negation,
which is frequent in Italian style
(e.g. non infelice, not unhappy, in English)
should be replaced by
a single clear word
(felice, happy),
which is more direct.
Interpreting double negation
as an affirmative sentence
takes a longer time to process,
it is more difficult,
and could hinder comprehension.
It is common to use
mild or indirect words
or expressions
to substitute
words considered
harsh, blunt, unpleasant
or embarrassing,
but this is not efficient
when it comes to
enhanced comprehensibility.
So, using a direct verb,
such as morire (to die),
instead of
a multi-word expression
such as
venire a mancare
or passare a miglior vita,
would boost comprehensibility.
These are some recommendations,
and they can be applied to Plain Italian.
In fact, Easy Language
and Plain Language recommendations
are often mixed
or used interchangeably,
in Italian.
All the pictures used
come from
the Public Domain Vectors website,
which gathers hundreds
of royalty-free vector images
under the Creative Commons
Universal Picture
Domain Dedication license.
This video lecture was prepared by
Elisa Perego
and produced by
Martina Atzeri,
from Università degli Studi di Trieste.
You can reach me at
eperego@units.it.