On the occasion of the Italian Language Week 2026 (19–25 October 2026), entitled “Lingua geniale: ideare, progettare, creare con l’italiano“ (A Brilliant Language: Conceive, Design and Create with Italian), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation presents the project “Onde – Parole italiane in viaggio” (Waves – Italian Words on the Move), an audio journey through Italianisms, created in collaboration with the Foundation Treccani Cultura.
The project, conceived and developed by the Foundation Treccani Cultura and created with the collaboration and support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, takes its cue from an image: language as something that travels, crosses borders and reinvents itself. At its heart are “Italianisms” – Italian words that have become firmly established in the lexicon of other languages – presented as a geographical tapestry of sounds and knowledge.
The selected Italianisms will be available, free of charge, at all Italian Cultural Institutes worldwide via a user-friendly platform, developed by the Foundation Treccani Cultura in collaboration with Hibou Soc. Coop., which enables users to select and listen to twenty audio tracks, each lasting just a few minutes. Each track explores a single word in depth, detailing its etymology, history and current usage. The selection thus spans words that travelled with artists and craftsmen through the courts of Europe – such as ‘stucco’ and chiaroscuro from the world of great painting – and musical terms such as soprano, capriccio and falsetto. There are also terms from the worlds of science and technology – such as volt, the unit of measurement named after Alessandro Volta.
Recalling Guglielmo Marconi and his contribution to the transmission of sound via radio waves, the project ONDE embodies the metaphor that gives the initiative its name – the idea of language transmission as an action of cultural positioning in the world – and somehow celebrates the genius of Italian, the language of research, design and creativity. It is precisely for this reason that we believe the project ONDE is particularly fitting for the theme of this 26th Week of the Italian Language in the World, i.e. Lingua geniale: ideare, progettare, creare con l’italiano.
The “Italianisms” have been selected for their ability to capture the moment when an invention, a technological or artistic transformation, made its mark on the rest of the world. The “brilliant language” is always at the heart of it: Italian ingenuity is thus presented within a framework that provides an informal and curious insight into the Italian language and culture.
Thanks to the extensive network of Italian Cultural Institutes, the project ONDE will embark on a genuine journey around the world, reaching the vast community of Italian speakers, enthusiasts and those simply curious about the Italian language, which, as every year, is celebrated and honoured during the third week of October.
The Treccani Cultura ETS is a not-for-profit Foundation whose aim is to design and implement initiatives to promote the dissemination of knowledge and foster the country’s cultural development. To this end, it seeks to establish and develop links between the general public, associations, and the cultural, scientific and business communities, as well as the Italian Encyclopaedia Institute.
The Foundation collaborates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to promote the Italian language and is one of the partner organisations involved in organising the Italian Language Week in the World. This collaboration is part of the agreement signed between the Foreign Ministry and Treccani last May, which aims to strengthen cooperation in the dissemination of the Italian language and culture, as well as in the promotion of the country’s cultural heritage and areas of excellence abroad.
