Cosa Does it mean “peace” for a twelve year old? And “anxiety”? How do you define as “sacrifice” when you don’t read it on a school book, but you live it, perhaps in silence, among the desks or in your bedroom? In Pordenone, on the occasion of the literary festival Pordenoneleggeinaugurated today, a project was born that tries to answer these questions with a simple and revolutionary tool: A dictionary. But this time it was written by teenagers.
The dictionary, to really understand each other
Is called Small (imaginary) dictionary of girls and boys, And it is the result of a collective work that involved 1,500 Italian students between 11 and 14 years old. Coordinated by Valentina Gasparet and Gian Mario Villalta, in synergy with Treccani Culture Foundation and with the supervision of the linguist Giuseppe Antonelli, The project transformed the words into mirrors. Non -definitions from manual, but thoughts, emotions, visions.
A glossary who tells who I am
The dictionary rumors do not just explain the meaning of the terms. They reinvent it. “Friendship”for example, write the boys, “it is sharing, trust, acceptance”. “Anxiety” It is “the fear of not being up to par”. “War” It is “the opposite of the embrace”. “Peace” It is “tightening his hand after a quarrel”. Each word is a small story, a fragment of the world seen with young eyes, but very shiny.
The small imaginary dictionary collects 350 voices written by students between 11 and 14 years old. A journey into language, feelings and challenges of the new generation (@instagram Pordenonelegge)
The journey of words starts from the counter
The work was done in class, from February to May, in 40 schools throughout Italy, from Friuli to Calabria. The students reflected, discussed, written. They chose the terms to be included, analyzed them, rewritten them. With them, teachers and trainers such as Beatrice Cristalli, author of the Dictionary for Boomerwho guided the path delicately and rigor.
From the A of “embrace” to the Z of “uncle”
The result is a lively, emotional vocabulary that mixes slang and depth. There are words like “Bro”, “Chillare”, “Gossipple”but also “loyalty”, “freedom”, “cosmopolitanism”. And then “sacrifice”, defined as “a conscious choice that arises from love”. Finally, “uncle” is not just a relative: he is “a tight friend, part of our family”. Is an emotional atlasexplained Massimo Bray, general manager of Treccani, a way to make children dialogue with the Italian language, discovering their grammar, etymology, popular uses. But above all, to give value to the words they use every day.
A lexicon to understand each other
The dictionary is already available online on the Pordenonelegge website and will be officially presented at the Festival on September 19th. But its value goes beyond the event. It is a tool of mutual understanding, a bridge between generations. After all, the words are keys and, if they do not share, they are of no use.
Around 2027
The project will also continue in the coming yearsin view of Pordenone capital of culture 2027. The voices will update, they will enrich themselves, the changes of the time will follow. Because the language of the boys is constantly evolving and, listening to it is the first step to build a more conscious society. In an era when there is a lot of talk about teenagers, often without really listening to them, This dictionary is a kind and powerful answer. An invitation to stop, read, understand. And maybe, to rediscover the meaning of words that we just thought we knew.