Accademia della Crusca
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The Accademia della Crusca is an Italian institution that brings together scholars and experts in Italian linguistics and philology. It was founded in Renaissance Florence in 1582 by Antonio Francesco Grazzini, commonly known as Il Lasca. To this day, the Accademia della Crusca has remained well-known for its mission to maintain the "purity" of the original Italian language. In 1612, the Academy published the first edition of the Dictionary of the Italian Language, or the Vocabolario della Crusca which also served as a model for subsequent French, German, English and Spanish dictionaries.

Introduction

Academy

An academy is not a school nor a university. Rather, it is an institution devoted to research or to the perfection of some art. It is a thoroughly European concept and these institutions are located in every European country. They are of fundamental importance in the development of the European mind.^[1] The University as an instiution of higher learning was founded during the Middle Ages, while the concept of the Academy grew out of Renaissance ideas.^[2]

History

Founding of the Accademia della Crusca

The Accademia della Crusca began in a "light-hearted manner", when some intellectual friends decided to form a small society or club for their own amusement. Gradually as time went on the group grew larger and more members joined. These determined individuals decided to specialize on a topic that they felt passionate about: purifying the Tuscan dialect and compiling a dictionary of the language.^[3] Founded in Florence in 1582, it was actually an offshoot of a larger body known as the Fiorentina whose interests were largely philological. Leonardo Salviati who joined the Crusca shortly after its founding became the most conspicuous member and had the distinction of drawing up its code of laws and supervising its first serious undertaking, the preparation of its Vocabolario.

Significance of the Accademia della Crusca

The Vocabolario della Crusca is one of the first and probably the most famous of language dictionaries and was published in Venice in 1612.^[4] It has gone through many editions and has been the model for subsequent efforts of the same kind. The Vocabolario has influenced many other language dictionaries, including the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française and English language dictionaries. The Cruscans used their sieve to "purify language", sifting good words from bad in order to produce a perfect work. In one of the editions, the capital letters introducing each letter of the alphabet are formed from the imprese of the academy leaders. The Accademia began in a comedic, almost burlesque fashion and the names of the early members are reflected in this. All personal names are related to flour or grain. For example, one called himself l'Infarinato- a name suggestive of the harlequinade. Another was the famous Il Lasca, whose daring burlesque dialogues created controversy among the academy members. Il Lasca relates to flour because the fish lasca requires to be floured before being cooked. ^[5] The name Crusca means bran and the symbol of this academy was the sieve, which denoted a process of refining. Refining words was essentially the purpose of the Academy, so it was appropriate that the symbol is a sieve. A sieve is a material instrument through which something is purified and perfected. Also, the name of Academy, the Accademia della Crusca or Academy of the Bran implies that the linguists are not perfect. The allusion that is formed is that they are rough bran not yet sifted to form perfect flour. Essentially they are imperfect beings who are seeking their prefect or refined form.^[6] The function of the Accademia resembled that of the Académie Française, which was essentially the governor and overseeing body of the French language. Pietro de Medici became the patron of the Accademia and his ultimate goal was to refine the Italian language. By 1738, the dictionary had been published in six volumes. Each group member were responsible for reporting on and defining a certain number of words; each definition was then submitted to be judged by the academy before officially entering the dictionary. The Accademia della Crusca was a useful enterprise and it accomplished many great things. For example, it enforced the proper use of words anf frowned upon slang, in order to maintain a high standard for the Italian language and to elevate it into one of the world's great languages. It established definite principles for good usage by selecting appropriate words from the best authors to use in the dictionary. This helped popularize literary language and kept it from being inaccessible to the general population. Finally it rendered a valuable service in publishing classic works distinguished for their pure diction and cultural influence. Again, this helped increase the spread of great literature among the people and formalized the Italian language. ^[7]

On 9 April 1809, Napoleon gave the Florentines the right to use their own language in a decree sent from the Tuileries Palace. In this decree he affirmed that "The Italian language may be used in Tuscany alongside the French language, in the courts, in notarized acts and in private." In a further attempt to display benevolence, Napoleon continued: "We have created an annual prize of 500 napoleons, which will be administered by our civil service and will be presented to the authors whose works contribute with the greatest effect to the maintenance of the Italian language in all of its purity."

Biblioteca Riccardiana, one of the holdings of Accademia della Crusca.

Every so often Napoleon put forth laws in favour of the Florentines, such as the decree of 9 January 1811 which reestablished the former Accademia della Crusca, "particularly charged with the revision of the dictionary of the Italian language, and with the conservation of the purity of such." Thanks in part to the reopening of the Academy, a project was begun to publish a new edition of the Dictionary. The Academy's scholars were given an annual salary of 500 francs, 1000 francs were paid to those charged with the compilation of the dictionary, and 1200 francs were paid to the secretary of the Academy. In 1813 the Accademia della Crusca acquired the Biblioteca Riccardiana, an important collection of texts and manuscripts.

Progress was however, if perhaps inevitably, slow. Various fascicles concerning words beginning with the letter ‘A’ were issued over the ensuing years, but the first complete volume of this fifth edition of the Vocabolario appeared only in 1863. Further volumes were issued at irregular intervals until 1923 when the project was finally halted on the completion of ‘O’. Thus the Fifth Edition’s final word was Ozono.^[8]

Works Cited

Yates, Frances A. 1983. "The Italian Academies." In Renaissance and Reform: The Italian Contribution. London, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 6-29 L'Accademia della Crusca: Some Historical References, by Clarence King Moore

References

• L'Accademia della Crusca: Some Historical References, by Clarence King Moore - Italica © 1935
• Yates, Frances A. 1983. "The Italian Academies." In Renaissance and Reform: The Italian Contribution. London, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 6-29

External links

• Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca – online version of the 1612 edition