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There was the following passage in an article written by Jhumpa Lahiliri, 2000 Pulitzer Prize winner that came under the title, “Teach yourself Italian” in The New Yorker (December 7, 2015):

“I’m very fond of my teacher. Although for four years we use the formal lei, we have a close, informal relationship. We sit on a wooden bench at a small table in the kitchen. I see the books on her shelves, the photographs of her grandchildren.”

As I was unable to catch the meaning of “We use the formal lei,” I consulted English dictionaries online, and found that almost of all dictionaries provide nothing more than a definition of “lei” as “a necklace of flowers that is given to a visitor in Hawaii” like Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary does.

But a Hawaiian necklace doesn’t seem to have anything to do with learning Italian or fit well in the line, “Although for four years we use the formal lei” to me. What is “lei” here? Why is it shown in italic? Why is it the formal lei even they have an informal relationship?

Mari-Lou A
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Yoichi Oishi
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about Italian, not English. – DyingIsFun Mar 02 '16 at 03:15
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    @Silenus. This is an article wrtiten in English and appearing in a leading English language journal. Don't be stingy. If it's Italian, what does it mean in English?, that what I want to know. – Yoichi Oishi Mar 02 '16 at 03:21
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    It means "you." In English (and many languages), we use italics when we want to indicate that a word is being used metalinguistically, that is, that the word is being mentioned rather than used. – DyingIsFun Mar 02 '16 at 03:21
  • It doesn't matter whether it's mentioned or used to me.All I want to know is just a meaning of the word. No more than that. Don't waste your mouth. Give me the translation. – Yoichi Oishi Mar 02 '16 at 03:27
  • It means "you." Good luck. – DyingIsFun Mar 02 '16 at 03:28
  • It mean 'formal you'? What does it mean? – Yoichi Oishi Mar 02 '16 at 03:29
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Yoichi Oishi Mar 02 '16 at 03:41
  • @YoichiOishi, see also this question – Hellion Mar 02 '16 at 22:59
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    @YoichiOishi 'lei' is not an English word. Native English speakers have to look it up just like you (unless one is familiar with Romance languages and can guess). – Mitch Mar 03 '16 at 01:40
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    @YoichiOishi also 'Don't waste your mouth' is a little rude sounding, especially for a mod. – Mitch Mar 03 '16 at 01:42
  • As others have said, it is an Italian word. You can find more information about its use here: http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Italian/Grammar/Italian-Verb-Forms_of_address.html – herisson Mar 03 '16 at 02:30
  • Mitch. I overlooked that Sumelic (Correction: Silenus) actually had given me the answer that ‘lei’ means “you” in his second comment. So I mistook him for not having the answer (in fact, he gave), but comment only, and was frustrated. My apology for my misunderstanding and rudeness. Actually, I casted an up-vote and “approval” to his answer no later than I got it and found that ‘lei’ mean ‘you.’ I also deeply appreciate semelic's input on orbilat.com/Languages/Italian/Grammar, which was very informative. – Yoichi Oishi Mar 03 '16 at 06:02
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    I’m voting to close this question because the word lei in this sense is not in the lexis. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 22 '20 at 15:26

1 Answers1

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It's not English. It's Italian. It's the formal version of "you" in Italian (here).

The italics indicates that the word is being used metalinguistically, that is, that the word is being mentioned rather than used.

The author is saying that he and his teacher used the formal version of "you" even though they had an informal relationship.

DyingIsFun
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