avvalete

Avvalete is a term that appears in discussions of Italian grammar as a specific inflected form of the reflexive verb avvalersi. It is generally associated with the second-person plural form used when addressing a group, and it is most often found in historical, legal, or formal contexts rather than in everyday contemporary Italian.

Meaning and usage

Avvalersi means to avail oneself of something or to make use of an opportunity. The form avvalete is discussed in grammars as part of the paradigms of the verb avvalersi, illustrating how reflexive constructions shift with subject and mood. In modern usage, this particular form is rarely encountered in ordinary speech and writing, where speakers tend to prefer periphrastic or other reflexive constructions to convey the same idea.

Origins and etymology

The verb avvalersi is related to the root valere, meaning to be worth or to have value, and it developed in Italian with the sense of drawing upon a resource or advantage. Avvalete, as a particular inflected form, reflects historical patterns of addressed forms in formal Italian and is discussed in linguistic works as an example of reflexive verb conjugation in polite or archaic registers.

Present status

Today, avvalete is largely of philological or historical interest. It may appear in older texts, lexicons, or annotations that illustrate Italian verb morphology, but it is not a common productive form in contemporary standard Italian. When modern Italian speakers need to express “you (plural) avail yourselves,” they typically use other constructions rather than the bare form avvalete.

See also

avvalersi; avvalere; valere.