Editing Italian grammar (section)

==Nouns==
Most nouns are derived from Latin. Many of these are themselves borrowed from Greek (e.g. ''poeta'' below). Although Italian nouns do not inflect for case, they are derived from a mixture of the Latin nominative and accusative cases:

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|+Derivation of noun inflections
|-
![[Latin declension]] (nominative/accusative)
!Italian singular/plural
!Masculine
!Feminine
|-
|1st (-a, -ae &nbsp; / &nbsp; -am, -ās)     || ''-a, -e''|||| ''amic'''a''' / amich'''e''''' 'female friend(s)'
|- 
|1st & 2nd (-a, -i &nbsp; / &nbsp; -, -)<ref>This class emerged in 13th Century Old Italian. Presumably the plural ending changed to -i because these nouns were masculine. See ''Dynamics of Morphological Productivity'' by Francesco Gardani, p. 427.</ref>||''-a, -i''||''poet'''a''' / poet'''i''''' 'poet(s)'||''al'''a'''/al'''i''''' 'wing(s)'
|-
|2nd (-us, -ī &nbsp; / &nbsp; -um, -ōs)     || ''-o, -i'' || ''amic'''o''' / amic'''i''''' 'friend(s)'         ||
|-
|3rd (-is, -ēs &nbsp; / &nbsp; -em, -ēs) || ''-e, -i'' || ''can'''e''' / can'''i''''' 'dog(s)'             || ''paret'''e''' / paret'''i''''' 'wall(s)'
|-
|4th (-us, -ūs &nbsp; / &nbsp; -um, -ūs)    || ''-o, -i'' || ''pass'''o''' / pass'''i''''' 'step(s)'          || ''man'''o''' / man'''i''''' 'hand(s)'
|-
|5th (-ēs, -ēs &nbsp; / &nbsp; -em, -ēs)  || ''-e, -i'' ||                                                || ''fed'''e''' / fed'''i''''' 'faith(s)'
|}

Nouns ending in any letter other than ''-a'', ''-e'' or ''-o'', as well as nouns ending in a stressed vowel, are normally invariable in the plural. Thus:
* ''la gru'' / ''le gru'' ('the crane(s)', from Latin ''grūs / grūes'')
* ''la città'' / ''le città'' ('the city(ies)', contracted form of archaic ''cittade, cittadi'', from Latin ''cīvitātem, cīvitātēs'')
* ''il caffè'' / ''i caffè'' ('the coffee(s)')
* ''il film'' / ''i film'' ('the film(s)')

There are certain words (derived from Latin second-declension neuter nouns) that are masculine in the singular and feminine or masculine in the plural. Examples include:
* ''il braccio'' / ''le braccia'' or ''i bracci'' ('the arm(s)')
* ''l'uovo'' / ''le uova'' ('the egg(s)')
* ''il ginocchio'' / ''le ginocchia'' or ''i ginocchi'' ('the knee(s)')
* ''il sopracciglio'' / ''le sopracciglia'' or ''i sopraccigli'' ('the eyebrow(s)')
These nouns' endings derive regularly from the Latin neuter endings of the second declension (sg. ''-um'' / pl. ''-a''), but there are some from the third declension as well: e.g. ''il gregge / le greggi'' ('flock(s)', but ''i greggi'' works, too); the tradition of calling them "irregular" or "mobile gender" (''genere mobile'') would come from the paradigm that there are so few nouns of this type that the existence of neuter can be considered vestigial (compared to [[Romanian language|Romanian]], which has many more nouns of the masculine singular&ndash;feminine plural type, and as such are usually classified as a separate neuter gender). The choice of plural is sometimes left to the user, while in some cases there are differences of meaning:<ref>[http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/lingua-italiana/consulenza-linguistica/domande-risposte/plurali-doppi Accademia della Crusca, ''Plurali doppi'']</ref>
* Sometimes, for body parts, the feminine/neuter plural denotes the literal meaning while the masculine one denotes a figurative meaning: ''il braccio'' ('the arm') / ''le braccia'' ('the arms') / ''i bracci'' ('the isthmuses', 'the inlets'); ''il corno'' ('the horn') / ''le corna'' ('the horns' of an animal) / ''i corni'' ('the horns' as musical instruments)
* Sometimes, especially in poetic and old-fashioned Italian, the masculine plural acts as a [[count noun]], while the neuter/feminine plural acts as a [[mass noun]]: ''il cervello'' ('the brain') / ''due cervelli'' ('two brains') / ''le cervella'' ('the cerebral matter'); ''l'anello'' ('the ring') / ''due anelli'' ('two rings') / ''le anella'' ('ringlets'); furthermore, ''il dito'' ('the finger') / ''le dita'' ('the fingers') and also ''due dita'' ('two fingers') / but ''i diti indici'' ('the index fingers')

Most noun stems are derived from the accusative: Latin ''socer/socerum'' begets Italian ''suocero'', and Latin ''pēs/pēdem'' begets Italian ''piede''. There are a few exceptions, however, such as ''uomo'' from Latin ''homo/hominem'' and ''moglie'' from Latin ''mulier/mulierem''. Neuter third-declension nouns may bequeath Italian nouns either from the nominative/accusative case (e.g. ''capo'' from ''caput'', ''cuore'' from ''cor'') or from the oblique case used for other cases and for the plural (e.g. ''latte'' from ''lac, lact-'', ''giure'' from ''ius, iur-'').

===Irregular plurals===
There are a few genuine irregular plurals in Italian (''[[:it:plurali irregolari|plurali irregolari]]''). Most of these were introduced in Vulgar Latin, but some derive from irregular Latin plurals. Examples include:
*{{lang|it|uomo / uomini}} ('man'/'men'; Latin {{lang|la|homo / homines }})
*{{lang|it|il dio / gli dei}} ('god(s)'; note also the irregularity in the article: ''gli'' instead of ''i'')
*{{lang|it|bue / buoi}} ('ox(en)'; Latin {{lang|la|bovem / boves}})
*{{lang|it|tempio / templi}} ('temple(s)'; the plural retains the ''l'' from Vulgar Latin {{lang|la|templi}}<ref>In Classical Latin, the word is neuter: ''templum / templa''. However, in Vulgar Latin the neuter gender gradually eroded as more and more words migrated to the other genders. The earliest evidence for a masculine version of ''templum'' in Vulgar Latin comes from the Late Latin [[Codex Bezae]] (circa 400) where we read [https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-NN-00002-00041/664 'quiaegodestruamhunctemplum'] where in the Vulgata we read 'Ego dissolvam templum hoc' (''Evangelium secundum Marcum'' 14.58). The nominative singular is unattested, but judging from other attested neuter nouns turned masculine, it would presumably have been [[Asterisk#Historical linguistics|*]]''templus''. See ''An Introduction to Vulgar Latin'' by Charles Hall Grandgent, p. 145, and ''Itala und Vulgata'' by Hermann Rönsch, p. 266.</ref> in order to distinguish it from {{lang|la|tempi}}, the plural of {{lang|la|tempo}}; the ''l'' is lost in the singular)

===Alteration===
In Italian, altered nouns are nouns with particular shades of meaning. They are divided into [[diminutive]]s, ''vezzeggiativi'' (diminutives with kindness and sympathy nuance), [[augmentative]]s and [[Pejorative suffix|pejorative]]s.

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!
! Suffix
! colspan="2" | Example
|-

! rowspan="7" | ''diminutivi'' <br /> ([[diminutive]])
| ''-ino''
| tavolo (''table'')
| tavol'''ino''' (''small table'')
|-
| ''-etto''
| libro (''book'')
| libr'''etto'''
|-
| ''-atto''
| cerbia (''deer'')
| cerbi'''atto''' (''fawn'')
|-
| ''-ello''
| bambino (''child'')
| bambin'''ello''' (''small child'')
|-
| ''-icello''
| monte (''mountain'')
| mont'''icello'''
|-
| ''-icciolo''
| porto (''port'')
| port'''icciolo'''
|-
| ''-acchio''
| orso (''bear'')
| ors'''acchio'''
|-

! rowspan="5" | ''vezzeggiativi'' <br /> ([[terms of endearment]])
| ''-uccio''
| cavallo (''horse'')
| cavall'''uccio'''
|-
| ''-acchiotto''
| orso (''bear'')
| ors'''acchiotto'''
|-
| ''-iciattolo''
| fiume (''river'')
| fium'''iciattolo'''
|-
| ''-olo''
| figlio (''son'')
| figli'''olo''' (also ''figliuolo'')
|-
| ''-otto''
| cucciolo (''puppy'')
| cucciol'''otto'''
|-

! rowspan="2" | ''accrescitivi'' <br /> ([[augmentative]])
| ''-one''
| libro (''book'')
| libr'''one''' (''big book'')
|-
| ''-accione''
| uomo (''man'')
| om'''accione'''
|-

! rowspan="6" | ''dispregiativi'' <br /> ([[pejorative suffix|pejorative]])
| ''-accio''
| libro (''book'')
| libr'''accio''' (''bad book'')
|-
| ''-astro''
| medico (''medic'')
| medic'''astro''' (''quack doctor'')
|-
| ''-ucolo''
| poeta (''poet'')
| poet'''ucolo'''
|-
|-
| ''-onzolo''
| medico (''medic'')
| medic'''onzolo'''
|-
| ''-uncolo''
| uomo (''man'')
| om'''uncolo''' (''insignificant man'')
|-
| ''-otto''
| contadino (''farmer'')
| contadin'''otto''' (''peasant'')
|-
|}

Many other alterations can be built, sometimes with more than one suffix: for example, ''libro'' ('book') can become ''libretto'' (diminutive), ''libricino'' (double diminutive), ''libercolo'' (diminutive + pejorative), ''libraccio'' (pejorative), ''libraccione'' (pejorative + augmentative).
''Uomo'' ('man'), coming from Latin ''homo'', becomes ''om-'' in altered forms: ''omino''/''ometto'' (diminutive), ''omone'' (augmentative), ''omaccio'' (pejorative), ''omaccione'' (augmentative + pejorative).