The Meaning of "Novecento" in Italian

[qquito]

Dear Everyone:

What is the original meaning of the word, "novecento", in Italian?

I know that "Novecento" is the original title of a 1976 film directed
by Bernardo Bertolucci, and in the English language, the film is known
as "1900".

My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or "new
century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The 1900's". Is the
word used only to refer to the 20th century?

Thank you for reading and replying!

--Roland

[Harlan Messinger]

qquito@***********m wrote:
> Dear Everyone:
>
> What is the original meaning of the word, "novecento", in Italian?
>
> I know that "Novecento" is the original title of a 1976 film directed
> by Bernardo Bertolucci, and in the English language, the film is known
> as "1900".
>
> My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or "new
> century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The 1900's". Is the
> word used only to refer to the 20th century?

Yes, that's a way they refer to the centuries from 1200 to 2000 in
Italian. Il cinquecento = the 16th century, etc.

[qquito]

On Jun 4, 10:25*pm, Harlan Messinger
<hmessinger.removet...@************> wrote:
> qqu...@***********m wrote:
> > Dear Everyone:
>
> > What is the original meaning of the word, "novecento", in Italian?
>
> > I know that "Novecento" is the original title of a 1976 film directed
> > by Bernardo Bertolucci, and in the English language, the film is known
> > as "1900".
>
> > My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or "new
> > century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The 1900's". Is the
> > word used only to refer to the 20th century?
>
> Yes, that's a way they refer to the centuries from 1200 to 2000 in
> Italian. Il cinquecento = the 16th century, etc.

Thank you very much for the answer!

So is "diecicento" for the 2000s? Then what are the names for 1100's
and 2100's in Italian?

--Roland

[grammatim]

On Jun 4, 10:25*pm, Harlan Messinger
<hmessinger.removet...@************> wrote:
> qqu...@***********m wrote:
> > Dear Everyone:
>
> > What is the original meaning of the word, "novecento", in Italian?
>
> > I know that "Novecento" is the original title of a 1976 film directed
> > by Bernardo Bertolucci, and in the English language, the film is known
> > as "1900".
>
> > My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or "new
> > century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The 1900's". Is the
> > word used only to refer to the 20th century?
>
> Yes, that's a way they refer to the centuries from 1200 to 2000 in
> Italian. Il cinquecento = the 16th century, etc.

The cinquecento is the 1500s, ottocento = 1800s, etc. They match the
number to the hundreds-number, so novecento is the "900s," not "new
hundred."

[Harlan Messinger]

grammatim wrote:
> On Jun 4, 10:25 pm, Harlan Messinger
> <hmessinger.removet...@************> wrote:
>> qqu...@***********m wrote:
>>> Dear Everyone:
>>> What is the original meaning of the word, "novecento", in Italian?
>>> I know that "Novecento" is the original title of a 1976 film directed
>>> by Bernardo Bertolucci, and in the English language, the film is known
>>> as "1900".
>>> My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or "new
>>> century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The 1900's". Is the
>>> word used only to refer to the 20th century?
>> Yes, that's a way they refer to the centuries from 1200 to 2000 in
>> Italian. Il cinquecento = the 16th century, etc.
>
> The cinquecento is the 1500s,

(That's what I said, give or take a year.)

> ottocento = 1800s, etc. They match the
> number to the hundreds-number, so novecento is the "900s," not "new
> hundred."

1900s.

[qquito]

On Jun 4, 11:51*pm, "alan" <in_flagra...@***********m> wrote:
> ....
> Out of curiosity, Roland, I just now checked out Babelfish and novecento was
> translated to "nine hundred". *Wonder how you got a different result?

Good question! I just tried it again. It turned out that "Novecento"--
with upper-case of N--is translated into "The 1900's", but the lower-
case version ("novecento") is translated into "nine hundred".

--Roland

[Adam Funk]

On 2009-06-05, Harlan Messinger wrote:

> qquito@***********m wrote:
>> Dear Everyone:
>>
>> What is the original meaning of the word, "novecento", in Italian?
>>
>> I know that "Novecento" is the original title of a 1976 film directed
>> by Bernardo Bertolucci, and in the English language, the film is known
>> as "1900".
>>
>> My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or "new
>> century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The 1900's". Is the
>> word used only to refer to the 20th century?
>
> Yes, that's a way they refer to the centuries from 1200 to 2000 in
> Italian. Il cinquecento = the 16th century, etc.

AIUI, there's a slight difference in the precise meanings:

"il cinquecento" = 1500--1599
"16th century" = 1501--1600

--
I could show them the ansible, but it didn't make a very convincing
Alien Artifact, being so incomprehensible as to fit in with hoax as
well as with reality. (LeGuin 1969)

[António Marques]

alan wrote:
>
> "grammatim" <grammatim@************> wrote in message
> news:dcba4b56-0786-495e-bc9e-dd19cf8a7203@f19g2000yqh.************.com...
> On Jun 4, 10:25 pm, Harlan Messinger
> <hmessinger.removet...@************> wrote:
>> qqu...@***********m wrote:
>> > Dear Everyone:
>>
>> > What is the original meaning of the word, "novecento", in Italian?
>>
>> > I know that "Novecento" is the original title of a 1976 film directed
>> > by Bernardo Bertolucci, and in the English language, the film is known
>> > as "1900".
>>
>> > My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or "new
>> > century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The 1900's". Is the
>> > word used only to refer to the 20th century?
>>
>> Yes, that's a way they refer to the centuries from 1200 to 2000 in
>> Italian. Il cinquecento = the 16th century, etc.
>
> |:The cinquecento is the 1500s, ottocento = 1800s, etc. They match the
> |:number to the hundreds-number, so novecento is the "900s," not "new
> |:hundred."
>
> If cinquecento = the 1500s, and ottocento = 1800s, then how are the 500s
> and the 800s expressed?

Sesto secolo, nono secolo (a rare case in italian of the adjective
preceding the noun).
Starting in 501 and 801.

> (Although you said that novecento is the 900s, I think you meant the
> 1900s, although to me it would seem that it actually should be the 900s.)

No.
_Novecento_ *is* 'nine hundred'. It *refers* to the 1900s. 'They match
the number to the hundreds-number', said Peter but was lost on the both
of you.

> Wouldn't the 1500s be the "quindicicento" and the 1800s be the "diciotto"?

Sedicesimo secolo and diciannovesimo secolo.

The 'hundred' system only applies to a few centuries before the
speaker's own. In 2756 the 'three hundred' will refer to the 2300s, in
all probability.
--
António Marques

[António Marques]

LEE Sau Dan wrote:
>>>>>> "qquito" == qquito<qquito@***********m> writes:
>
> qquito> My first guess of its original meaning was "new hundred", or
> qquito> "new century", but The Babel Fish translates it into "The
> qquito> 1900's". Is the word used only to refer to the 20th century?
>
> "New" is "nuovo", not "nove".
>
> So, "new hundred" would be "nuovo cento", not "novecento".

Not necessarily. There are languages in which compounds evolve
differently from their isolated elements, you know.
--
António Marques

[Emungo]

On 5 June, 07:13, "PaulJK" <paul.kr...@paradise.net.nz> wrote:
>
> For goodness sake, how much longer is it going to take
> before you guys accept the fact that the Italian expression
> Novecento (literally "nine hundred") usually refers to 1900s?
>
> Somewhat similarly, in English when I say I was born in
> the fifties what period of time do you think I meant?
> AD 50s or 1950s?
>
> pjk- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Exactly. The sense flows from the context. I have sat in history
lectures in Italy where 'il seicento' meant the seventh century,
unambiguously because it was a lecture on early medieval history.
Similarly when the topic is Florentine art of the renaissance (as it
so often is) Quattrocento can be used instead of a fuller-form Mille
quattrocento for the fifteenth century. I have occasionally heard the
fuller form, by the way, so it's not entirely notional.