OK, here's a compilation of most of the Italian I use in the story. None of it is essential, just interesting, and I would have put it in the text, but it took away from the story. Not all of this is gramatically correct, but it is what Italians say, so if you're studying the language and it seems strange, just bear with me, because I'm an American living in Rome, and you do pick this stuff up.
Pronunciation Guidelines:
You don't have to read this, but it will help, and you'll be able to impress all your friends with your command of Italian, the language of love. ^_~
- c - when followed by 'i' or 'e' becomes 'ch', otherwise always 'k', so C'è is pronounced 'che' and the word che (what) is pronounced 'keh'. If there's an h after the 'c' it makes it 'k'; crochette is pronounced 'kroketteh'
- e - always pronounced 'eh'
- i - pronounced 'ee'
- sc - when followed by 'i' 'e' or 'u' is 'sh', otherwise 'sk' as with 'ci' or 'ce' an 'h' nullifies it.
- z - always pronounced 'ts'; tramezzini is 'trah-mets-eenee' *Yeah, I know it looks funny when I write it!*
Also, here's the disclaimer for the whole story:
Kel & co. belong to Tamora Pierce, but Raecla Domenico, Luisa Rodriguez, Rob Kerrigan, and Marco Mattiuzzo belong to me, Adoracia. Use them without my express permission and I'll sic Robbin, the god of zany writers; Xerox, the god of office equipment; and Clarissa, the goddess of schizophrenic novelists, on you! Mwahahaha, see if you can stand up to that!
And by the way, the mention of 'Pixie' refers to a super caffineated sugary drink created by Meghanne called Pixie Light. That belongs to her and was invented in either Shang Visitors or Shang Returns, I can't remember.
~ Adoracia
