Category: The Venetian Language
The Venetian state and the Venetian people had a language, a Venetian language, different from Italian. It is now little spoken.
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Arzanà – Arsenale – Arsenal
The word arsenal came to Europe from Arabic through the Venetian language – from the original meaning of a workplace it became a shipyard
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Quarantine – forty days of isolation
Quarantine is derived from the Venetian (and Italian) word for forty, because the quarantine period on the Lazzaretto Nuovo ended up around forty days.
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Ciao – I’m your slave
Ciao – the Italian informal salute – is actually Venetian, and has its roots in the medieval slave trade.
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Ballot and ballottaggio
The Venetian lawmakers voted by casting a small ball in a vase. That ball, a balote, became a ballot in the United States.
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The word “Lazzaretto”
The word “Lazaret” (“Lazzaretto” in Italian) comes from the original name of the medieval plague hospital in the Venetian Lagoon.
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The Venetian Language
The now almost extinct Venetian language was once widely spoken around Europe, and some Venetian words have survived.