Speak Italian : The Fine Art of the Gesture

by Bruno Munari

Attenzione! They say that a gesture is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to speaking with your hands, the Italians speak volumes. This quirky handbook of Italian gestures, first published in 1958 by renowned Milanese artist and graphic designer Bruno Munari, will help the phalange-phobic decipher the unspoken language of gesturesa language not found in any dictionary. Charming black-and-white photos and wry captions evoke an Italy of days gone by. Speak Italian gives a little hand to anyone who has ever been at a loss for words.

Genres: Nonfiction, Italy, Design, Language, Italian Literature, Art, Cultural

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Bruno Munari was an Italian artist and designer, who contributed fundamentals in many fields of visual arts (paint, sculpture, film, industrial design, graphics) and non visual arts (literature, poetry, didactic) with the research on the game subject, infancy and creativity.

Reviews

[Josefine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nel caso che il mio amore Giuseppe mi sta perseguitando anche su Goodreads...
Questo libro è fenomenale. Mi piacciono le foto in bianco e nero. Il testo è semplice e corto e spiega tutti i gesti molto bene. Non vedo l’ora di provare i gesti con Giuseppe e vedere se mi capisce.

[Marco Innamorati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curioso ma un po’ datato. In origine si proponeva realmente di spiegare soprattutto agli stranieri il significato dei gestì italiani.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

non so, non ne ho, non c'è n'è, non ce la faccio, ecc.

[Reem · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short sweet and creative book introducing you to the gestural Italian language. I loved how it got me to understand so many gestures I saw in movies or in the streets. It has pics of the gesture, a description of it (in english and Italian) and it included who and when they use the gesture.

[Val Liberty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to bring to dinner and play charades

[Claudia]

sono cresciuta in un ambiente in cui si parlava in LIS e questa appendix mi ha riportato indietro nel tempo :(

[Gooshe · Rating 4 out of 5]

برونو موناری، نویسنده، نقاش، مجسمه‌ساز، طراح و مخترع ایتالیایی این کتاب را طراحی و منتشر کرده؛ کتابی درباره فرهنگ اشاره با سر و دست ایتالیایی‌ها که از دید او بخش نانوشته فرهنگ کشورش است و در لغتنامه‌ها پیدا نمی‌شود

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprising little book of hand gestures. Most were familiar to me. The thing that I found fascinating and surprising was that these were taken largely from an 1832 book. Most of the speaking gestures that appear universal seem to have a connection to Italy and to Naples in particular. I blame/credit pizza, the most important of Naples' gifts to the world.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received two copies of this book for Christmas 2005, since I was learning Italian. It's a funny little book that certainly won't help you learn Italian but it's entertaining!

[Reeny · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favorite things about Italy (after the food), is they way Italians make ample use of hand gestures and non-verbal communication. This illustrated manual is a great guide.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's great !!

[Acy Varlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful design, engaging content, munari.

[Eleonora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that all the non native Italians should read before they try to mimic Italian hand gestures

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

All right, I know that Bruno Munari is somewhat of a national Italian treasure, famous and celebrated designer and whatnot... But I really can't bring myself to give this book more than two stars. I am glad that it was so short because after having read empty descriptions and having seen multiple pictures of hand gestures, I have learnt absolutely nothing new.

I was hoping for original gestures and deep descriptions of their origin, their meaning, how widespread they are, what variations there are... And instead I got the same short texts in four different languages that didn't even match properly half of the time. When I move my thumb across my face from my ear to my mouth, am I complimenting someone on their cleverness, as the English translation suggests or is it more like...



....as the German translation suggests? I feel like this information is sort of important and should not get lost in translation, Bruno!
For some gestures you have to read all four translations to get all the information. German speakers get "Bittende Gebärde eines Menschen, der etwas erreichen möchte, was er in anderer Weise nicht erhalten kann." [Pleading gesture of a Pearson who wishes to obtain something that they cannot get in any other way.] while all that French speakers get is "Geste d'imploration." [Imploring gesture.] Like, why Bruno?? Have you ever heard of consistency??
And don't even get me started on typos and missing words! This book first came out in the 1960s, you'd think that they'd have spotted them all in the last 60 years. Especially given the fact this book is mostly pictures! But still don't know from my chin to where I have to move my hand in a stroking motion to signal indifference.
Insofar, for me the read was neither educational, nor entertaining. Unfortunately, the author explicitly decided against including rude gestures which would have been exactly the thing to do if you want to create an entertaining book about gestures... But alas, who am I to judge?

This book was given to me by my Italian in-laws and I'm being told that "nobody is going to quiz me on it", it's just supposed to be a "funny piece of history" and that I am "so German" to get so upset about it. And maybe I am.

I will say however, that I did enjoy the illustrations and the 5 gestures that I hadn't known before... The former by themselves, the latter only with the explanations that were given by my partner and his family. Otherwise, this book would have sucked.

[Alp Gökalp · Rating 5 out of 5]

İtalyanları, İtalyan olmayı olabildiğine büyük bir coşkuyla kutlayan bir kitap bu. Munari’nin pop kültüre en rahat adapte edilebilecek (bu yüzden de çeşitli kültürlere ait versiyonlarını yabancı kitapçıların kasa yanlarında bulabileceğiniz) bu kitabı, tasarımcı gözüyle bakıldığında yazarın brutalist çizgisinden ödün vermiyor.

[Jordi Gran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro oggetto più ch'altro. E interessante di guardare e a un valore artistico intrinseco, ma forse come un vero supplemento al dizionario non si può considerare. E una pubblicazione dal 1958, e con le sue fotografie originali, e un documento storico con una rilevanza particolare tra le opere di Bruno Munari.

[Sebastian Zavala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, simple, and frankly both hilarious and useful. If you plan to spend time in Italy, "Supplemento al dizionario italiano" will certainly come in handy. You can read it in a few minutes, but it's worth carrying with you in case you wanna practice your expressions --or understand what's going on around you.

[Antonella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some gesture are obsolete in today's culture but I remember my grandparents using them often. Some gesture have changed through the years and have modified to fit with the current generation. I would like to add that some gestures are only used in specific southern regions. Overall this one is a cute book.

[Nikhil & Rucha Gadre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun visualization of meanings of all the various hand gestures that Italians are famous for! Some of them are used today (across the world - by adults, kids) while others might be limited to Italy or even only used in the past. Can’t wait to take it with me for my next Italian holiday to see how many of these I can spot. Maybe a fun secret communication tool!

[Sienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful wee book! Got it as a gift for my partner before a trip to Italy. I chose this one because Isabella Rossellini said she gives it to all her friends. My Kindle wants me to know there's a whole genre out there.

[Jernej · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute addition to my bookshelf.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had the chin flick down for years, but now I can finally properly converse with my Italian family. Haha!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read that will hopefully get me incorporating more hand gestures when I’m speaking next time I’m in Italy!

[Xavi Blanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buon libro per conoscere meglio l'Italia e la sua cultura dei gesti!

[Oğuzhan Caneroğlu · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a nice compact book about the Italian gestures.

[Sophie Woodhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

il libro è utile per capire alcuni gesti curiosi, alcuni sono ovvi ma mi piacerebbe sapere l’origine di alcuni. penso che sia un po’ vecchio e certo che non include tutti i gesti utilizzati

[Vittore Luccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una gran bella lettura.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun! The gesture descriptions are in Italian and English.

[Ariane Lozé · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rigolo

[Martín · Rating 4 out of 5]

👏🏻👍🏻👎🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻👐🏻🤲🏻🤝🏻🤜🏻🤛🏻✊🏻👊🏻🫳🏻🫴🏻🫱🏻🫲🏻🫸🏻🫷🏻👋🏻🤚🏻🖐🏻✋🏻🖖🏻🤟🏻🤘🏻✌🏻🤞🏻🫰🏻🤙🏻🤌🏻🤏🏻👌🏻🫵🏻👉🏻👈🏻☝🏻👆🏻👇🏻🖕🏻🙏🏻🙇🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️💁🏻‍♂️🙆🏻‍♂️🙅🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ mamma mia