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My name is Antonio (Tony) Marinelli and I live in Civitanova Marche, a town on the eastern coast of central Italy.
Shortly after I was born, my family emigrated to Toronto, Canada. Although my mother tongue is Italian, the first language I actually learned was English (my parents spoke an Italian dialect at home).


When I was in my early teens we moved back to Civitanova, where of course we spoke Italian at school. After some time, I realized that my thought processes were taking place in both English and Italian (where language was involved, as opposed to imagery). This led me to become interested in bilingualism, so I began to read whatever I could find on the subject. From my personal experience I had formed the idea that knowing a different language (and the relative culture) can affect the way you look at things, and even change your outlook on life. This may seem obvious but it was a fascinating discovery for me at the time.


After finishing the liceo scientifico (a five-year secondary school where I also studied Latin) and getting a university degree in geology, I would have liked to work in research, but serious opportunities were rare in Italy. In need of employment, I took a job with a forwarding company. There I acquired an understanding of business and trade practices that would prove useful for my translation work later on.


In 1989 I joined a company that was building a reservoir dam in Ethiopia. I stayed with the company for three years, working in Turkey and Mozambique as a geologist and later as a project manager. I must say that I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to live in those beautiful countries, where I met wonderful people.


After that I returned to Civitanova, where I worked as a consultant geologist for several years. During that period I was involved in editorial work on two publications: an art show catalog and a book on the remediation of polluted soils (details in experience). I also translated into English one of the canti of Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi (translation here).


During all that time I had continued to study translation out of personal interest and had done translation work for local agencies. Finally, in 1999 I decided to make it my main activity, and since then doing translations has been my full-time job.

 
     
   
     
 

My first computers were Apple machines, but after taking up translation I switched to Windows.
Few professional translators can do without a computer-assisted translation tool (CAT); the one I use is Wordfast. Among my other resources is a database that I originally created as a glossary for a small project and that has grown into a respectable English-Italian dictionary, currently containing more than 62,000 records. Each record refers to an English or Italian headword and shows the relative translations taken from various sources, plus example sentences and special usage forms, all bilingual. I also make glossaries for specific subjects and/or customers.

 
     
   
     
 

Here is a list of some of the dictionaries I use.

 
     
 

GENERAL ENGLISH DICTIONARIES

  • Cambridge International Dictionary of English, Cambridge University Press, 1996
  • Cambridge Dictionary of American English, Cambridge University Press, 2000
  • Collins English Dictionary, 5th ed. (21st Century Edition), Zanichelli, 2000
  • Illustrated Oxford Dictionary, DK Publishing, 1998
  • The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 7th ed., Oxford, 1985
  • The Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus, American Edition, Oxford, 1996
  • Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Gramercy Books, 1994
  • Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1993, unabridged
  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1967
  • Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., 1997
 
     
 

GENERAL ITALIAN DICTIONARIES

  • G. Devoto & G.C. Oli, Dizionario della lingua italiana, Le Monnier, 1971
  • G. Devoto & G.C. Oli, Dizionario della lingua italiana, Le Monnier, 2004
  • N. Zingarelli, Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Zanichelli, ed. 1996
  • N. Zingarelli, Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Zanichelli, ed. 2002
 
     
 

GENERAL BILINGUAL DICTIONARIES

  • J.C. Corbeil & A. Archambault, Dizionario visuale IT-EN, Zanichelli, 1993
  • M. Hazon, Grande dizionario EN-IT-EN, 11a ed., Garzanti, 1968
  • Garzanti Hazon, Il nuovo dizionario EN-IT-EN, Garzanti, 1990
  • Italian College Dictionary, HarperCollins, 1995
  • C.E. Love, Webster's New World Italian Dictionary, Concise Edition, Macmillan, 1992
  • F. Picchi, Language & Business, Dizionario EN-IT-EN economico, commerciale e di lingua moderna, Zanichelli, 1993
  • G. Ragazzini, Dizionario EN-IT-EN, 3a ed., Zanichelli, 1995
  • G. Ragazzini, Dizionario EN-IT-EN, 4a ed., Zanichelli, 2001
  • G. Ragazzini, Dizionario EN-IT-EN, 4a ed., Zanichelli, 2004
  • G. Ragazzini, Dizionario EN-IT-EN, 4a ed., Zanichelli, 2007
  • G. Ragazzini, Dizionario EN-IT-EN, 4a ed., Zanichelli, 2008
  • Dizionario Sansoni EN-IT-EN, 4a ed., Rizzoli Larousse, 2003
  • Dizionario Sansoni EN-IT-EN, 5a ed., Rizzoli Larousse, 2006
  • Garzanti-Hazon 2.0, Grande dizionario EN-IT-EN, Garzanti Linguistica, 2010
 
     
 

SPECIALIZED MONOLINGUAL DICTIONARIES

  • P.A. Laplante, Comprehensive Dictionary of Electrical Engineering, CRC, 1999
  • Merriam-Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary, 1996
  • Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1997
  • H. Warren, Oxford Learner's Dictionary of English Idioms, Oxford, 1994
 
     
 

SPECIALIZED MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARIES

LAW - FINANCE - BANKING

  • Dizionario multilingue business & finanza, Sole 24 Ore, 1999
  • V. Edwards & G. Gessa Shepheard, Glossario commerciale IT-EN-IT, Routledge, 1997
  • F. de Franchis, Dizionario giuridico, vol. I, EN-IT, Giuffrè, 1984
  • F. de Franchis, Dizionario giuridico, vol. II, IT-EN, Giuffrè, 1996
  • F. Picchi, Economics & Business, Dizionario enciclopedico economico e commerciale EN-IT-EN, Zanichelli, 2001
  • West's Law & Commercial Dictionary, EN-IT-EN, Zanichelli, 1988

FOOD & DRINK

  • A. Herbach & M. Dillon, Eating & Drinking in Italy, Capra Press, 1999
  • J.A. Sadowski, Italian Cuisine, John Wiley & Sons, 1997
  • O. Galeazzi, Dizionario gastronomico in 5 lingue, Hoepli, 1994
  • E. Neiger, Il nuovo dizionario gastronomico in 4 lingue, 19a ed., Buffetti, 1997

CONSTRUCTION

  • P.F. Balboni, S. Balboni, Dizionario tecnico dell'architettura IT-EN-IT, Hoepli, 2005

FOOTWEAR

  • Dizionario tecnico della calzatura in 5 lingue, s.d.

CERAMICS

  • Glossario ceramico IT-EN-IT, nuova ed., Faenza, 1992

CINEMA

  • P.G. Vezzoli, Dizionario dei termini cinematografici, IT-EN-IT, Hoepli, 2000

MEDICINE

  • Gould Chiampo, Dizionario enciclopedico di medicina EN-IT-EN, Zanichelli/McGraw-Hill, 1998
  • L'inglese medico essenziale, EN-IT-EN, Masson, 2001
  • AA.VV., Dizionario enciclopedico di scienze mediche e biologiche e di biotecnologie IT-EN-IT, Zanichelli, 1996
  • G. & M. Moncalvi, Dizionario medico di cardiologia, Zeneca
  • Maria Laura Petrelli, Dizionario medico IT-EN-IT, Le Lettere, 2007
  • D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert, il Saunders Point Vétérinaire, Diz. encicl. di medicina veterinaria, EN-IT-EN, 2005

VETERINARY MEDICINE

  • D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert, il Saunders Point Vétérinaire, Diz. encicl. di medicina veterinaria, EN-IT-EN, 2005

NAUTICAL

  • J-L. Garnier, Dizionario marittimo in 4 lingue, De Vecchi, 2000

SLANG

  • R. Cagliero & C. Spallino, Dizionario di slang americano, Mondadori, 1994
  • S.J. Teodori, American Slang & Idioms, Vallardi, 2000
  • M. Harvey & A. Ravano, The Word on Words, Grande dizionario EN-IT di parole e di frasi idiomatiche colloquiali e gergali, Zanichelli, 1999

SPORT

  • G. Ragazzini, Dizionario dello sport EN-IT-EN, Zanichelli, 1998

TECHNICAL

  • R. Denti, Dizionario tecnico IT-EN-IT, 11a ed., Hoepli, 1985
  • G. Marolli, Dizionario tecnico EN-IT-EN, 13a ed., Hoepli, 1996
  • Nuovo Marolli, Grande dizionario tecnico EN-IT-EN, 14a ed., Hoepli, 2007
  • Edigeo, Grande dizionario tecnico e scientifico EN-IT-EN, Zanichelli, 2005
  • McGraw-Hill, Dizionario enciclopedico scientifico e tecnico EN-IT-EN, 2a ed., Zanichelli, 1998
 
     
 

... plus dictionaries in other European and non-European languages, for example:

  • M. Toscano, Dizionario Italiano-Swahili-Italiano, Vallardi, 1992
 
     
   
     
 

These are some of the books I have that deal with language, linguistics and/or translation, in no particular order.

  • The Open University, Il linguaggio, Mondadori, 1979
  • G. Steiner, Dopo Babele, Sansoni, 1984
  • V.N. Volosinov (M. Bachtin), Il linguaggio come pratica sociale, Dedalo, 1980
  • E. Goffman, Forme del parlare, Mulino, 1987
  • AA.VV., Il linguaggio, Dedalo, 1976
  • N. Chomsky, On Language (incl. Language and Responsibility, Reflections on Language), The New Press, 1998
  • D.R. Hofstadter, Le Ton beau de Marot, Basic Books, 1997
  • C. Taylor, Language to Language, Cambridge University Press, 1998
  • T. McArthur (editor), The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992
  • Bartlett's Roget's Thesaurus, Little, Brown & Co., 1996
  • Reader's Digest Illustrated Reverse Dictionary, 1989
  • L. Coppo, Dizionario alla rovescia, 1a ed., Selezione dal Reader's Digest, 1992
  • G. Devoto, Il linguaggio d'Italia, BUR, 1999
  • G. Pittano, Sinonimi e contrari, 2a ed., Zanichelli, 1997
  • J. Hall, Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art, revised edition, Icon, 1979
  • Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Wordsworth, 1993
  • M. Dardano & P. Trifone, La nuova grammatica della lingua italiana, Zanichelli, 1997
  • Merriam-Webster's Guide to Business Correspondence, 2nd ed., 1996
  • U. Eco, Dire quasi la stessa cosa, Bompiani, 2003
  • R.M. Ritter, The Oxford Guide to Style, Oxford University Press, 2002
  • The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press, 15th ed., 2003
  • S. Bassnett-McGuire, La traduzione teorie e pratica, Bompiani, 1993
  • G. Cortese (a cura di), Tradurre i linguaggi settoriali, Libreria Cortina, 1993
  • B. Osimo, Manuale del traduttore, Hoepli, 1998
  • B. Osimo, Traduzione e nuove tecnologie, Hoepli, 2001
  • B. Osimo, Traduzione e qualità, Hoepli, 2004
  • F. Scarpa, La traduzione specializzata, Hoepli, 2001
 
     
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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