Discussione:naufragare

I listened to the aria of C. Bartoli and there is a form "naufragar" (without e), which is absent in Wikizionario. Is that a special form of the verb? I found also in some arias the verbs: imaginar, trasportar without the final "e". Is that an archaic form?

You're right, that form of verbs is an archaic form used in ancient italian literature, in poetry and also in theatre. You can do this form with almost all verbs. This form is used in poetry for example to eliminate a syllable for the verb. For example in Giacomo Leopardi's poem "the infinity" in the last verse "E il naufragar m'è dolce in questo mare" this technique is used to keep the hendecasyllabic verse (it would have been a twelve-syllable verse if he had use the form "naufragare")(the syllabication of the verse is: "eil | nau | fra | gar | m'è | dol | cein | que | sto | ma | re"). In short is a question of rhythm. I hope you understand what I've tried to say in my faulty english. Regards.

P.S. If you are intrested in this famous poem you can read it in the italian Wikisource [1]. --Pullus (disc.) 11:09, 6 gen 2010 (CET)