Italian Question

[howeird]

Calling on the interwebs for a second opinion. Those of us in the music/theater biz are familiar with shouts of "bravo!" for a great performance. I have heard it shouted for both men and women, and my Italian dictionary doesn't list any conjugations for it. Lately I have been hearing and seeing "brava!" shouted for women, and used to indicate women's theater/art/events.

My question is simple - is "brava"  a legitimate form of the Italian word "bravo"?

Just curious linguistically.

Comments

[scendan.livejournal.com]

I would guess so, since Italian has gender the same way Spanish does. When you are shouting "bravo" you are basically saying that the person is "brave" or it's a brave performance. Brave being awesome, well-done, etc.

So, in Spanish at least, that performer would be (if a man) - un hombre bravo. (The o ending being the masculine ending to an adjective describing a man). Or - una dama brava (the a ending being the feminine ending to an adjective describing a woman).

My guess is Italian would be the same. But I do not speak Italian.