sopravvivuto

Sopravvivuto is the past participle form associated with the Italian verb sopravvivere, which means to survive or outlive. In standard Italian, the correct past participle is sopravvissuto; sopravvivuto is generally regarded as a misspelling or nonstandard variant and is rarely used in formal writing. It can appear in dialectal texts or in historical sources, but it is not the normative form.

Grammatical use and note on spelling: When forming compound tenses with the auxiliary essere, the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number (for example, è sopravvissuto, è sopravvissuta; sono sopravvissuti; le persone sopravvissute). As an adjective, the standard form is sopravvissuto or sopravvissuta in agreement with the noun it describes (una persona sopravvissuta; i sopravvissuti). The form sopravvivuto is not typically accepted in modern standard Italian and may be flagged as erroneous in grammar references.

Etymology: The term derives from the verb sopravvivere, which in turn comes from the Latin supervivere, composed of super- “over” or “beyond” and vivere “to live.” The modern past participle is built on the same root as sopravvissuto, reflecting the same semantic core of lasting beyond or outliving.

Usage context: There is no common Italian noun or widely recognized title that standardly uses sopravvivuto; in most contemporary contexts, sopravvissuto is preferred when referring to someone who has survived, while sopravvivuto is treated as a nonstandard form. In practice, readers encountering sopravvivuto should consider sopravvissuto as the correct variant.

See also: sopravvissuto; sopravvivere; supervivesse.