LESSONS—COMMANDS
D ESCRIPTIVE A DJECTIVES
The child is to read the sentences, find the objects described in them, and finally build the sentences with his cards as follows: suppose the card reads:
il colore verde the green color il colore turchino the blue color il colore rosso the red color
The child finds the three colored tablets used in the familiar exercise of the "Children's House" for the education of the sense of color. He places these tablets on his table. Then he builds the phrases out of his word cards:
il colore verde the green color
Beside the completed expression he places the green color-tablet. Passing to the next phrase, he does not disturb the words the and color. He removes only the word green and substitutes for it the adjective blue, at the same time removing the green tablet and substituting for it the blue. Similarly, for the third phrase, he changes the adjective, putting the red tablet at the end. Thus the three different objects were distinguished only by the adjective:
il colore verde the green color turchino blue rosso red
All the phrases and sentences refer to objects used in the previous educational material. Occasionally the teacher will have to prepare something herself (e.g., hot, cold, warm, or iced water; clear water; colored water). For this exercise on water, the box contains six slips with the six printed
phrases. In the box-sections, the child finds the corresponding word-cards which are exactly in the number needed for the exercise (not corresponding, that is, to the number of words in the phrases, since the articles and nouns are not repeated). There are five groups of such exercises, dealing with various kinds of sensation.
A. SENSO CROM ATICO SENSEOF COLOR
il colore rosa the pink color il colore rosa scuro the dark pink color il colore rosa chiaro the light pink color il prisma azzurro the blue prism il prisma marrone the brown prism il colore verde the green color il colore turchino the blue color il colore rosso the red color i lapis neri the black pencils i lapis colorati the colored pencils l'acqua colorata the colored water l'acqua incolora the clear water il colore giallo the yellow color il colore arancione the orange color
B. SENSO VISIVO: DIM ENSIONI SENSEOF SIGHT: SIZE
l'asta lunga the long staff
l'asta corta the short staff
il cubo grande the large cube
il cubo piccolo the small cube
il cilindro alto the tall cylinder il cilindro basso the short cylinder il prisma marrone grosso the thick brown prism il prisma marrone fino the thin brown prism
il rettangolo largo the broad rectangle il rettangolo stretto the narrow rectangle l'incastro solido the solid inset
l'incastro piano the plane inset
C. SENSO VISIVO: FORM A SENSE OF SIGHT: SHAPE
il triangolo equilatero the equilateral triangle il triangolo isocele the isoceles triangle il triangolo scaleno the scalene triangle il triangolo acutangolo the acute-angled triangle il triangolo ottusangolo the obtuse-angled triangle il triangolo rettangolo the right-angled triangle l'incastro circolare the circular inset
l'incastro quadrato the square inset l'incastro rettangolare the rectangular inset la piramide quadrangolare the quadrangular pyramid la piramide triangolare the triangular pyramid il prisma azzurro rettangolare the blue rectangular prism il prisma azzurro quadrangolare the blue quadrangular prism la scatola cilindrica the cylindrical box
la scatola prismatica the prismatic box
D. SENSO TATTILE: MUSCOLARE SENSEOF TOUCH: MUSCULAR SENSE
la superfice piana the flat surface la superfice curva the curved surface la stoffa ruvida the rough cloth
l'acqua calda the hot water
l'acqua fredda the cold water
l'acqua tiepida the warm water
l'acqua fredda the cold water
l'acqua ghiacciata the iced water
la tavoletta pesante the heavy black-board la tavoletta leggera the light black-board la stoffa morbida the soft cloth
la stoffa dura the hard cloth
E. SENSO UDITIVO; OLFATTIVO; GUSTATIVO SENSESOF HEARING; SM ELL; TASTE
il rumore forte the loud noise
il rumore leggero the faint noise
il suono acuto the sharp sound
il suono basso the deep sound
l'acqua odorosa the fragrant water
l'acqua inodora the odorless water
l'odore buono the good smell
l'odore cattivo the bad smell
il sapore amaro the bitter taste
il sapore dolce the sweet taste
il sapore acido the sour taste
il sapore salso the salty taste
The teacher who is observing notices whether the child has taken the right objects; if so, she proceeds to the permutations.
P
ERMUTATIONSAt this point, the teacher should recall (in dealing with Italian) the grammatical rules for the position of adjectives, some of which (the fundamental ones) will certainly be very useful to her in
executing these first permutations:—
I. In general, the adjective follows the noun. If placed before the noun, it is less conspicuous; if placed after, it assumes more importance and has a different force.
II. When the adjective is used to signify the exclusive superlative of a quality, it is not only placed after the noun, but is preceded by the article. (Umberto il buono, "Humbert the Good.")
Example:—The child has composed the following phrase with his cards: il triangolo rettangolo "the right-angled triangle." The teacher can interchange the words thus: il rettangolo triangolo, "the triangle right-angled." Similarly also, for other phrases:—
il prisma rettangolare azzurro the rectangular blue prism il rettangolare azzurro prisma the prism, rectangular, blue
i lapis neri the black pencils
i neri lapis the pencils black
il colore rosso the red color
il rosso colore the color red
Both the meaning and the child's habits show him the normal position of the adjective. In some phrases, such as,
il rumore leggero the faint sound il sapore dolce the sweet taste
the placing of the adjective before the noun renders the meaning vague, figurative, emotional, or generic, whereas it would be clearly descriptive and precise were the adjective in its normal position:
il dolce sapore the taste sweet il leggero rumore the noise faint
(In English the normal position of the adjective is before the noun. The permutation develops a strong rhetorical flavor, of which the child will become conscious later in his studies on poetic inversions.—Tr.)
After the teacher has made these changes, if they have interested the child, she may say for example: "The adjective comes after its noun" (for Italian); "The adjective comes before its noun" (for English). In this way she will have given a lesson in theoretical grammar.