Chiamer

Chiamer is the stem used in Italian to conjugate the verb chiamare, which means to call or to name. It is not an independent infinitive; the standard infinitive is chiamare. The form chiamer- appears in the conjugation of the simple future and the conditional, among other derived forms.

In the future tense, the stem chiamer- combines with endings to produce: creerò? No—correct forms are: chiamerò, chiamerai, chiamerà, chiameremo, chiamerete, chiameranno. In the conditional, the corresponding forms are: chiamerei, chiameresti, chiamerebbe, chiameremmo, chiamereste, chiamerebbero. For example: Domani chiamerò Luca. Se avessi tempo, chiamerei tua madre.

Chiamer- also appears as the basis for related moods in some tense developments, but the main, productive use in standard Italian is for future and conditional forms of chiamare. Other tenses use different stems or endings derived from the same verb, such as chiam- for the present and imperfect in the present tense system (io chiamo, tu chiami, lui chiama, etc.), or chiam- with past participles in compound tenses (avere chiamato).

Etymology and classification: chiamare derives from Latin clamare, meaning to shout or call. The modern Italian stem chiamer- reflects regular inflection patterns for -are verbs in the formation of the future and the conditional, with phonological adaptations typical of Italian phonotactics.

See also: Italian grammar, Chiamare, Verb conjugation.