Dante/Italian filter: Nuova or Nova?

June 25, 2007 2:49 AM

Looking for a quick and simple explanation as to the difference between "La Vita Nuova" (with a u), and "La Vita Nova".

Why is Dante's La Vita Nuova spelt with a u in the title, while in the book the line reads "Incipit vita nova"?

My girlfriend asked me this question but I've been unable to find an answer. I'm guessing it's relevant in the original Italian, however, I could easily be wrong so I'd love to learn the answer.

posted by Nugget to writing & language (8 comments total)

The first looks like Italian and the second like Latin (though I know neither.)
posted by lullabyofbirdland at 3:01 AM on June 25, 2007

IS the line you quote in Latin? The page you link to says it's a heading, and I believe that "nova" (latin) changed to "nuova" (italian). I understand that the rest of the book was in Italian (and quite revolutionary for that reason among others), but having Latin titles might still have been a bow to fashion.
posted by claudius at 3:05 AM on June 25, 2007

Having read a bit more, I'm sure it's latin, and he's quoting it. At the time, most literature was in latin, so a quote from wherever would use "nova", in apposition to the "nuova" in the title.
posted by claudius at 3:07 AM on June 25, 2007

Of course! Thank you both - that's the answer and it's an obvious one as well.

For some reason I thought both were Italian and completely forgot about the Latin.

Thanks again folks, appreciate it.
posted by Nugget at 3:37 AM on June 25, 2007

The title is just "Vita Nuova," not "La Vita Nuova."
posted by The World Famous at 10:18 AM on June 25, 2007

You've already got the answer (Italian vs. Latin), but I thought I'd just contribute a nugget for Nugget from my long-ago humanities course. A liberal arts degree ought to be good for something, after all :-).

Dante and Petrarch were the first notable advocates of writing in the vernacular, and by the weight of their contributions led to the Tuscany dialect becoming the standard for modern Italian. Before them, high literature had been produced only in Latin, but Dante authored his works in "the sweet new style".
posted by Araucaria at 12:03 PM on June 25, 2007

You've already got the answer (Italian vs. Latin), but I thought I'd just contribute a nugget for Nugget from my long-ago humanities course. A liberal arts degree ought to be good for something, after all :-).

Dante and Petrarch were the first notable advocates of writing in the vernacular, and by the weight of their contributions led to the Tuscany dialect becoming the standard for modern Italian. Before them, high literature had been produced only in Latin, but Dante composed his works in "the sweet new style".
posted by Araucaria at 12:04 PM on June 25, 2007

Thanks Araucaria, always good when you get a little bit extra.

I've never read Petrarch, so think I'll go and see what I can find. Cheers for that!
posted by Nugget at 2:25 AM on June 26, 2007