Tra inglese e italiano. Il caso di ‘pittare’ e la genesi dei verbi ibridi omofoni

This paper aims to investigate a specific type of hybrid verbal neoformation in Italian, which we termed “homophonous hybrid formations”, products of an English-Italian linguistic interference that result homophonous with pre-existing Italian words. In these neologisms, the homophony is purely coincidental, a key feature that distinguishes them from camouflaged borrowing. This review will discuss a selection of examples of this neoformation type that fall under the category of verbs, analyzing their production mechanisms, contexts of use, and their relationship with the pre-existing Italian verbs.