steal · Italian (rubare) — Event-Structure Dictionary

Arguments

Thief, Victim, Theme · marking by lemma · Italian cloth · working claim, revisable

Voice[Thief] + low Appl(Victim) + complement of the root (Theme)

rubare · Theme direct object · person a + DP or a dative clitic · Treccani gli rubarono il portafoglio · a quel pastore rubano le pecore · Garzanti [+ a] · mi (= a me)

derubare · Victim direct object · Theme di + the thing · Treccani lo derubarono del portafogli · the entry prints the contrast: one steals the thing, one robs the person

svaligiare · place or container as direct object where that object is printed · Treccani s. una banca, un appartamento, una gioielleria

A theft, on this reading, has a Thief, a Victim, and a Theme. They are not three equal sisters of one Italian verb. Voice adds the Thief. Low Appl introduces the Victim, as a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain: the person who had the thing and no longer has it. That is the same kind of added argument as the dative Victim on stehlen, the indirect Victim on robar, and the dative Victim on voler. It is a working drawing. It is not a settled analysis. The root’s complement is the Theme, the thing taken. On rubare the Theme is the direct object, and the printed person is a or a dative clitic. On derubare the direct object is the person, and the Theme, where the line fills one, is di.

What is different from the English gloss. English Wiktionary prints the source of steal in from (stolen from the gallery, stolen from us, They stole all my money (from me)) and does not print a bare indirect object as that source. One English preposition covers the person and the place. Italian does not. On rubare the person is a or a dative clitic: Treccani gli rubarono il portafoglio, a quel pastore rubano le pecore; Sabatini-Coletti mi hanno rubato l’automobile; De Mauro rubare i soldi a qcn.; Garzanti rubare il portafoglio a qualcuno and the parenthesis mi (= a me). A place beside a Theme is not that a. Treccani prints dal tegame (il gatto ha rubato un pesce dal tegame). De Mauro prints dai pollai. Treccani also prints nella vigna beside l’uva, which is in, not da. Sabatini-Coletti’s intransitive r. al supermercato puts a on a place, and that line has no Theme. English from does not make those cuts.

What derubare changes. Treccani prints the contrast in the entry: Differisce da rubare in quanto si «ruba» la cosa, si «deruba» la persona. The thing is the object of rubare. The person is the object of derubare. The Theme, when the line fills it, is di: lo derubarono del portafogli, Sabatini-Coletti l’hanno derubato del portafoglio, De Mauro mi hanno derubato del portafogli, Garzanti [+ di] lo hanno derubato del portafoglio, Hoepli lo hanno derubato dell’orologio. That is the case flip against rubare. English rob someone of something is the nearer gloss of this frame. English steal something from someone is the nearer gloss of rubare.

What is different from German. stehlen and rauben put the Theme in the accusative and the Victim in the dative. rubare matches that pair: direct Theme, person in a or a dative clitic. berauben puts the Victim in the accusative and the Theme in the genitive (geh. jmdn. einer Sache berauben). derubare puts the Victim in the direct object and the Theme in di. Italian has no morphological genitive on that Theme. The preposition is di, contracted del / dell’ in the examples. The German label gehoben is not printed on derubare sense 1.

What is different from French, Spanish, and Russian. voler puts the Victim in the dative, à or lui, beside a direct Theme. robar puts the Victim in the indirect object, le or a, and clitic doubling is the ordinary description of that indirect object. rubare is that cloth: direct Theme, person in a or a dative clitic. No line read here stacks the clitic and a full a-phrase in one rubare clause. Garzanti’s mi (= a me) is a parenthesis, not a second phrase in the clause. украсть keeps the accusative Theme and prints the person as у plus genitive, not as a dative. Italian prints the dative clitic. Russian prints no dative Victim on the articles read there. When French prints Voler qqn de qqc., and when Spanish prints lo or la for the person, the Italian match among the lines read here is derubare, whose direct object is the person and whose Theme is di. Spanish does not print that di-Theme on robar. Russian обокрасть puts the person or the place in the accusative and does not print a Theme in the object slot. svaligiare is the place-object among the Italian lines: una banca, un appartamento, una gioielleria.

Places · who wears which marking

The three-place lines do not stack every marking in one clause. Treccani prints the clitic and the Theme together: gli rubarono il portafoglio. The same article prints the full a-phrase and the Theme together: a quel pastore rubano le pecore. It does not print gli and a quel pastore in one clause. A place with da is a different line, dal tegame, and the Theme there is un pesce. On derubare the direct object is the person, and del portafogli is the Theme. A line can leave that di-phrase out: Sabatini-Coletti sono stato derubato sull’autobus, Treccani ci hanno derubati.

Printed rubare frame · dative clitic · direct Theme

✓ nella ressa gli rubarono il portafoglio Treccani · rubare sense 1a

gli is the person · il portafoglio is the Theme · the crowd is the setting

Printed place · da · direct Theme

✓ il gatto ha rubato un pesce dal tegame Treccani · rubare · animal subject

the cat stole a fish from the pan · un pesce is the Theme · dal tegame is the place · not the person

Printed derubare · the direct object is the Victim · di is the Theme

✓ lo derubarono del portafogli Treccani · derubare sense 1

they robbed him of the wallet · lo is the person · del portafogli is the Theme

Places of Italian steal: introducer, marking, status, and the English, German, French, Spanish, and Russian marking
Place	Introduced by (working)	Italian marking	Status in the sources	English, German, French, Spanish, and Russian marking
Thief	Spec,Voice	subject of rubare (i ladri, il cassiere, il gatto in Treccani)	structural subject · auxiliary avere where the entry prints it · Garzanti aus. avere · Sabatini-Coletti aus. avere on the intransitive · Treccani hanno rubato, ha rubato	subject of steal and of rob · subject of stehlen · subject of voler · subject of robar · subject of украсть
Victim · a or dative clitic, Theme present	low Appl · possessor-source · revisable	a + DP · clitic gli, mi, ti where printed on the theft or the time line · Garzanti mi (= a me)	Treccani gli rubarono il portafoglio · a quel pastore rubano le pecore · Sabatini-Coletti mi hanno rubato l’automobile · De Mauro a qcn. · the clitic and a full a-phrase are not in one clause · feminine le is unprinted on this wallet frame	English from + the person · German dative on stehlen (ihm) · French dative lui or à · Spanish indirect le or a · Russian у + genitive, not a dative
Theme · direct object of rubare	complement of the root	direct object (il portafoglio, le pecore, l’automobile, un pesce, i soldi)	Sabatini-Coletti [sogg-v-arg] · Garzanti [+ a] beside that object · a line with no person is printed: Treccani tutti i gioielli e l’argenteria	object of steal · accusative of stehlen · direct object of voler beside lui · direct object of robar beside le · accusative of украсть
Place · da, in, or intransitive a	not a fourth argument in this drawing	da + place beside a Theme · in + place beside a Theme · a + place on the intransitive	Treccani dal tegame · De Mauro dai pollai · Treccani nella vigna · Sabatini-Coletti al supermercato, no Theme · Garzanti da un abile ladro is the agent of the passive, not this place	English from covers the person and the place · Russian splits them into у and из · Italian splits the person (a / clitic) from the container (da)
Victim · direct object of derubare	low Appl · possessor-source · revisable · the object is the person, and the Theme is di	direct object · lo, l’, mi, ci where printed	Treccani lo derubarono · Sabatini-Coletti l’hanno derubato · De Mauro derubarla · the di-phrase can be left out · Sabatini-Coletti says the second argument is often understood	object of English rob · accusative Victim of berauben · French le / la when the person is direct · Spanish lo / la in DPD §1b · accusative of обокрасть
Theme · di of derubare	complement of the root · the marking is di, not a second direct object	di + the thing · del portafogli, del portafoglio, dell’orologio, di tutti i suoi averi	Treccani, Sabatini-Coletti, De Mauro, Garzanti [+ di], Hoepli · not a morphological genitive · unprinted as a bare second object	English of on rob · German genitive of berauben · French de in TLFi Voler qqn de qqc. · Spanish de unprinted on the robar examples · Russian genitive Theme unprinted on обокрасть
Place · direct object of svaligiare	the place is the object · working, revisable · not a further sister of the wallet frame	direct object · una banca, un appartamento, una gioielleria, la cassaforte, un negozio	Treccani sense 1 · Sabatini-Coletti [sogg-v-arg] s. una banca · De Mauro sense 1 CO · Garzanti · Hoepli un negozio · a person-object is Treccani non com. or the figurative line	object of English rob in three banks · French dévaliser of a place · Russian accusative place of обокрасть and of ограбить

Marking map. On rubare the direct object is the Theme, the person is a or a dative clitic, and a container beside that Theme is da. On derubare the direct object is the person and the Theme is di. On svaligiare the direct object, in the ordinary theft sense, is the place.

Direct object of the Theme, on rubare. Sabatini-Coletti heads the theft sense v.tr. [sogg-v-arg], definition Prendere di nascosto o con la forza qlco. che è di altri, and the example is mi hanno rubato l’automobile. The note says the person robbed is frequent. Garzanti’s government is [+ a]: rubare il portafoglio a qualcuno. Treccani’s objects include il portafoglio, tutti i gioielli e l’argenteria, quasi 50.000 euro, l’uva, le pecore, un pesce. De Mauro: il portamonete, i soldi, gioielli e preziosi, le uova. Those objects are the thing taken.
a and the dative clitic, the person. Treccani prints gli in gli rubarono il portafoglio and the full phrase in a quel pastore, a qualcuno, a un’amica, a una madre. Sabatini-Coletti prints mi and, on the extended sense, all’amico, a qlcu. De Mauro prints mi and a qcn. Garzanti prints a qualcuno and glosses the clitic mi (= a me). Hoepli prints mi hanno rubato il portafoglio. Treccani’s ti rubo qualche minuto is the time line, figurative, and the clitic is still ti. Feminine le is not in those wallet lines. Hoepli’s le rubò il bambino is sense 2, glossed Rapire. It stays off the wallet frame. loro as a dative is unprinted on these articles.
da and in, the place, and intransitive a. Treccani: dal tegame beside un pesce, and nella vigna beside l’uva. De Mauro: dai pollai beside le uova. Sabatini-Coletti’s intransitive, [sogg-v], auxiliary avere, is r. al supermercato and r. per necessità. That a is the place of committing thefts. It is not the Victim, and the line has no Theme. Garzanti’s il diamante è stato rubato da un abile ladro uses da for the thief of the passive. That da is not dal tegame.
A person as direct object of rubare is labeled. Treccani sense 3 is ant. and glossed derubare, with Boccaccio rubando ciascuno. De Mauro sense 7 is LE, the same Boccaccio line di rubarlo. Hoepli sense 10 is ant., region. and glossed Derubare, rapinare: mi hanno rubato di ogni cosa, and rubarono i soldati catturati delle armi e delle uniformi. The di-Theme on rubare is that labeled sense. The modern entries put the person-object and the di-Theme on derubare. This page does not drop the label.
derubare. Treccani: lo derubarono del portafogli, lo hanno derubato del portafoglio sull’autobus, è stato derubato senza rendersene conto, ci hanno derubati. The contrast sentence is quoted above. Sabatini-Coletti: [sogg-v-arg-prep.arg] l’hanno derubato del portafoglio; the second argument is often understood; sono stato derubato sull’autobus; the price sense is [sogg-v-arg] quel negozio ci ha derubati. De Mauro sense 1 is marked AD: mi hanno derubato del portafogli, lo derubarono di tutti i suoi averi, derubarla dell’eredità. Sense 2 is OB. Garzanti: [+ di] lo hanno derubato del portafoglio. Hoepli: lo hanno derubato dell’orologio. No dative Victim is printed beside that direct object.
svaligiare, the place. Treccani sense 1: s. una banca, un appartamento, una gioielleria, hanno svaligiato la cassaforte, s. il vagone postale, svaligiato il furgone blindato. Sabatini-Coletti prints only s. una banca, frame [sogg-v-arg]. De Mauro sense 1 is CO: svaligiare una banca, una gioielleria, la cassaforte. Garzanti: svaligiare una banca, un appartamento. Hoepli adds un negozio and la villa al mare. Treccani sense 2a, marked non com., glosses the verb as robbing a person and cites Ariosto. De Mauro files that person reading as OB. The figurative line is printed: Treccani lo svaligiavano, o gli svaligiavano la casa, De Mauro i nipotini gli svaligiano la casa, marked CO, hyperbolic, familiar, joking. gli there is a dative beside a place-object. It is not the wallet frame of rubare.
scippare, both frames, where the entry prints them. Treccani defines the verb as stealing or robbing by a snatch. The lines are le hanno scippato la borsetta (dative le, direct Theme), scippando turisti e anziani (the person is the object, no Theme), and è stato scippato del campionario di preziosi (the person is the passive subject, the Theme is di). Sabatini-Coletti files s. un’anziana signora della borsetta under [sogg-v-arg]. The figure l’arbitro ha scippato la nostra squadra della vittoria is [sogg-v-arg-prep.arg]. De Mauro prints both a person-object, l’hanno scippato, and scippare la borsa a qcn. Garzanti prints the government [+ di; + a] and both examples: scippare una donna della borsetta and scippare la borsetta a una donna. Hoepli prints le hanno scippato la borsetta. The two frames are quoted. They are not ranked.
trafugare, secret removal of a Theme. Treccani’s transitive definition is Portare via, sottrarre, trasferire nascostamente cosa o persona, examples oggetti d’arte, la salma del santo, documenti segreti. The label letter. is on the pronominal trafugarsi, marked rare, not on that transitive. Sabatini-Coletti: [sogg-v-arg] Portare via qlco. segretamente, synonym rubare, example t. gli arredi sacri in una chiesa. The place is in. De Mauro marks the transitive CO: trafugare un quadro d’autore, documenti segreti, una salma dall’obitorio. dall’obitorio is da plus the place. Garzanti: trafugare un quadro, trafugare un dossier. Hoepli: t. il prigioniero, un prezioso vaso etrusco, and labels trafugarsi lett. A person in these lines is the Theme of a secret removal, not the Victim of derubare. No a-person is printed on the transitive.

EN ⇄ IT valency strip

Each row lines up one English slot with an Italian slot. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (a from-phrase ↔ a, a dative clitic, da, or di). Printed dictionary lines come first. Every other Italian sentence is constructed, modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.

English–Italian valency alignment for steal, one row per argument
Slot	EN form	IT form	Align	EN example	IT example
Thief	SUBJ of steal	subject	=	They stole all my money English Wiktionary · steal	i ladri hanno rubato tutti i gioielli Treccani
Victim · person	from + person on steal	a + DP or a dative clitic	shift · Italian spells a or a clitic · English spells from · Russian spells у + genitive	stolen from us · (from me) English Wiktionary · steal	gli · a quel pastore Treccani · mi (= a me) Garzanti
Theme	object of steal	direct object of rubare	=	They stole all my money English Wiktionary	il portafoglio Treccani · l’automobile Sabatini-Coletti
Place	from + place	da + place beside a Theme · in is also printed	shift · English uses from for the person and for the place · Italian prints da for the container and a for the person	stolen from the gallery English Wiktionary	dal tegame Treccani · dai pollai De Mauro
Victim · derubare	object of rob	direct object	= · the Theme is di, not a second direct object	robbed the soldiers of their pay English Wiktionary · rob	lo derubarono Treccani
Theme beside a direct Victim	of + the thing, where printed	di + the thing	shift · English spells of · German spells a genitive · Italian spells di	of their pay English Wiktionary · rob	del portafogli Treccani · dell’orologio Hoepli
Place · svaligiare	object of rob	direct object	= · no separate Theme is in the example	He robbed three banks English Wiktionary · rob	s. una banca Treccani · Sabatini-Coletti · Garzanti

The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame, with English on top and Italian under it. A card that quotes a dictionary line has no added name.

EN · IT · rubare

gli + direct Theme

He stole the wallet from him

gli rubarono il portafoglio

IT · Treccani · dative clitic · direct Theme · EN from

RolesHide roles VictimTheme

Victim him · gli Theme the wallet · il portafoglio

Move the Victim is a dative clitic · English spells from · Russian spells у + genitive

EN · IT · da

un pesce dal tegame

stolen from the gallery

ha rubato un pesce dal tegame

IT · Treccani · place in da · direct Theme

RolesHide roles PlaceTheme

Place the pan · dal tegame Theme a fish · un pesce

Move English from is one marker · Italian prints da for the place and a for the person

EN · IT · derubare

lo … del portafogli

rob him of the wallet

lo derubarono del portafogli

IT · Treccani · direct Victim · di Theme

RolesHide roles VictimTheme

Victim him · lo Theme the wallet · del portafogli

Move the person is the direct object · the thing is di · not the dative of rubare

EN · IT · place

s. una banca

He robbed three banks

s. una banca

IT · Treccani · Sabatini-Coletti · the place is the direct object

RolesHide roles Place

Place a bank · una banca

Move no separate Theme is in the example

Examples

Argument difference. English steal X from Y puts the Theme in the object and the source in from, whether Y is a person or a place. Italian rubare puts the Theme in the direct object. The person, in the lines that print one, is a or a dative clitic, and a container beside that Theme is da. That person is not da. English rob Y of X puts the person in the object and the thing in of. derubare puts the person in the direct object and the thing in di. svaligiare puts the place in the direct object. scippare prints both the a-frame and the di-frame. trafugare prints a direct Theme taken secretly, and the literary label sits on trafugarsi where an entry prints that label. The low Appl of the Victim stays inside the verb’s domain on the working drawing.

Senses kept off the wallet frame, and quoted so their objects are not reread as a purse. Treccani’s una povera innocente and Hoepli’s le rubò il bambino are abduction. Treccani’s ti rubo qualche minuto and r. la fidanzata a qualcuno are the time line and the person-as-Theme. The sport, music, and sailing idioms stay in the entries. Hoepli’s mi hanno rubato di ogni cosa is marked ant., region.

Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed

gli rubarono il portafoglio · a quel pastore rubano le pecore · un pesce dal tegame · l’uva nella vigna Treccani · rubare · treccani.it/vocabolario/rubare

si «ruba» la cosa, si «deruba» la persona · lo derubarono del portafogli Treccani · derubare · treccani.it/vocabolario/derubare

s. una banca, un appartamento, una gioielleria · gli svaligiavano la casa Treccani · svaligiare · treccani.it/vocabolario/svaligiare · the house line is figurative

le hanno scippato la borsetta · scippando turisti e anziani · scippato del campionario di preziosi Treccani · scippare · treccani.it/vocabolario/scippare

oggetti d’arte · documenti segreti · trafugarsi marked letter. Treccani · trafugare · treccani.it/vocabolario/trafugare

[sogg-v-arg] mi hanno rubato l’automobile · [sogg-v-arg-prep.arg] r. la fidanzata all’amico · [sogg-v] r. al supermercato Sabatini-Coletti · rubare · dizionari.corriere.it · rubare · auxiliary avere on the intransitive

[sogg-v-arg-prep.arg] l’hanno derubato del portafoglio · sono stato derubato sull’autobus Sabatini-Coletti · derubare · dizionari.corriere.it · derubare

[sogg-v-arg] s. una banca Sabatini-Coletti · svaligiare · dizionari.corriere.it · svaligiare

[sogg-v-arg] s. un’anziana signora della borsetta Sabatini-Coletti · scippare · dizionari.corriere.it · scippare · the victory line is the prep.arg frame

t. gli arredi sacri in una chiesa Sabatini-Coletti · trafugare · dizionari.corriere.it · trafugare · synonym rubare

mi hanno rubato il portamonete, rubare i soldi a qcn. · le uova dai pollai De Mauro · rubare sense 1a FO · dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/rubare

mi hanno derubato del portafogli · di tutti i suoi averi De Mauro · derubare sense 1 AD · dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/derubare

svaligiare una banca, una gioielleria, la cassaforte · gli svaligiano la casa De Mauro · svaligiare · dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/svaligiare · sense 1 CO · the house line is sense 3

l’hanno scippato · scippare la borsa a qcn. De Mauro · scippare · dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/scippare · CO

una salma dall’obitorio De Mauro · trafugare · dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/trafugare · CO · da + place

[+ a] rubare il portafoglio a qualcuno · mi (= a me) hanno rubato l’automobile · rubato da un abile ladro Garzanti · rubare · as numerosamente.it prints the Garzanti block · dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/rubare · aus. avere · da here is the agent

[+ di] lo hanno derubato del portafoglio Garzanti · derubare · dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/derubare

[+ di; + a] scippare una donna della borsetta · scippare la borsetta a una donna Garzanti · scippare · dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/scippare · both frames in one government note

mi hanno rubato il portafoglio · lo hanno derubato dell’orologio · le hanno scippato la borsetta Hoepli · as dizionari.repubblica.it prints it · rubare · derubare · scippare

vuole rubare il posto di lavoro a quella persona Italian Wiktionary · rubare · it.wiktionary.org/wiki/rubare · secondary · the gloss names English steal · the job line is not a purse

Three irreplaceable paintings were stolen from the gallery. · The problem is the two bicycles stolen from us. · They stole all my money (from me). English Wiktionary · steal · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steal

He robbed three banks. · I never robbed the soldiers of their pay. English Wiktionary · rob · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rob

der Dieb hat ihm die Uhr gestohlen · geh. jmdn. einer Sache berauben German · quoted on stehlen · dative Victim, and the genitive Theme

On lui a volé son portefeuille French · quoted on voler · dative Victim · direct Theme

Le robaron la cartera Spanish · quoted on robar · indirect Victim · direct Theme

Вор у вора дубинку украл · меня обокрали Russian · quoted on украсть · у + genitive, and the accusative Victim

Strings below are constructed, modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. Pat continues the named-participant series on prestare. A name does not spell the object. gli spells the dative. lo spells the direct object. No constructed line adds feminine le on rubare, a da-person as the source, or a clitic stacked with a full a-phrase.

✓ Pat gli ha rubato il portafoglio.

RolesHide roles ThiefVictimTheme

Thief Pat Victim gli Theme il portafoglio

constructed · modelled on Treccani gli rubarono il portafoglio · dative clitic · direct Theme · ha rubato is the auxiliary shape Treccani prints on ha rubato un pesce

✓ Pat lo ha derubato del portafoglio.

RolesHide roles ThiefVictimTheme

Thief Pat Victim lo Theme del portafoglio

constructed · modelled on Treccani lo derubarono del portafogli and Sabatini-Coletti l’hanno derubato del portafoglio · direct Victim · di Theme

✓ Pat ha svaligiato una banca.

RolesHide roles ThiefPlace

Thief Pat Place una banca

constructed · modelled on Treccani and Sabatini-Coletti s. una banca · the place is the direct object · no Theme

✓ gli rubarono il portafoglio Treccani · gli · direct Theme
✓ a quel pastore rubano le pecore Treccani · a · direct Theme
✓ mi (= a me) hanno rubato l’automobile Garzanti · the parenthesis glosses the clitic
✓ un pesce dal tegame Treccani · da · direct Theme
✓ le uova dai pollai De Mauro · da
✓ l’uva nella vigna Treccani · in · not da
✓ r. al supermercato Sabatini-Coletti · intransitive a · no Theme
✓ lo derubarono del portafogli Treccani · direct Victim · di
✓ s. una banca Sabatini-Coletti · place as object
✓ scippare la borsetta a una donna · scippare una donna della borsetta Garzanti · both frames
✓ una salma dall’obitorio De Mauro · trafugare · da

What the passive and the principal parts show

Garzanti prints il diamante è stato rubato da un abile ladro. The diamond, the Theme, is the subject. da un abile ladro is the thief. No Victim is in the clause. Treccani prints è stato derubato senza rendersene conto, and Sabatini-Coletti prints sono stato derubato sull’autobus. The person is the subject. The bus is the place. No di-Theme is in the Sabatini-Coletti line. Treccani’s snatch line è stato scippato del campionario di preziosi promotes the person and keeps di. Nothing further is constructed. The participle rubato is also an adjective in Treccani: roba rubata, soldi rubati. The note on promotion is Causative templates and argument selection.

What the entries print of the verb. rubare is a transitive of the first conjugation. Garzanti and Hoepli print the present stem rùbo. Garzanti prints aus. avere. Sabatini-Coletti prints aus. avere on the intransitive. Treccani’s compound is hanno rubato and ha rubato. derubare is transitive, the same auxiliary where Garzanti prints aus. avere, and Hoepli notes the antique dirubare. svaligiare prints io svalìgio in Treccani. trafugare prints io trafugo, tu trafughi. Those are the cells the entries print. Lo Zingarelli was not opened. No sentence from it is quoted.

Derivations · working sketches, revisable

Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Thief to Voice, the Victim to low Appl, and the Theme to the root. The Victim is a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain, analogous to the dative Victim on stehlen, to the indirect Victim on robar, to the dative Victim on voler, and to the у-phrase of украсть. The marking on rubare is a or a dative clitic. The function of the Victim changes with the lemma. Open one sketch at a time. Which phrase is the structural object, when derubare puts the person in the direct object and the Theme in di, is not settled here. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.

Voice · the Thief is the external argument

Constructed · one external argument

[CP Pat_1
  [TP t_1
    [VoiceP t_1 Voice                     ← Thief = Spec,Voice
      … rubare … ]]]

✓ Pat gli ha rubato il portafoglio. constructed

✓ i ladri hanno rubato tutti i gioielli e l’argenteria Treccani · i ladri is the Thief · no person in the clause

The external argument is the Thief. English keeps that one subject on steal and on rob. Italian does not keep the Victim and the Theme in one function under that subject: the Theme is the direct object of rubare, and the Victim is the direct object of derubare.

Low Appl · the Victim as possessor-source · the root takes the Theme

rubare · a / dative clitic · direct Theme · working, revisable

[VoiceP Pat Voice
  [ApplP_LOW [gli]_DAT Appl                  ← Victim · possessor-source · a / clitic
    [VP √rub-
       [Theme il portafoglio ] ]]]           ← Theme · direct object

derubare keeps the three roles where a Theme is expressed, and the printed function of the Victim is the direct object. The Theme is di.

[VoiceP Pat Voice
  [ApplP_LOW [lo]_DO Appl                    ← Victim · direct object
    [VP √derub-
       [Theme del portafoglio ]_di ]]]       ← Theme · di

✓ gli rubarono il portafoglio Treccani · dative clitic · direct Theme

✓ lo derubarono del portafogli Treccani · direct Victim · di Theme

✓ geh. jmdn. einer Sache berauben German · WDG · accusative Victim · genitive Theme · Italian prints di, not that genitive

English, German, French, Spanish, and Russian · from, the dative, and у

Working · no English steal page is opened · the German page is stehlen · the French page is voler · the Spanish page is robar · the Russian page is украсть

[VoiceP Pat Voice                                  ← Thief
  [VP √STEAL
     [Theme a wallet ]
     [PP from [ her ]]]]                        ← source in from
                                                · Italian a / gli is that person
                                                · da is the place
                                                · not one preposition for both

English Wiktionary’s steal lines put the source in from. Italian gli in gli rubarono il portafoglio is the person, and dal tegame is the place. German ihm in der Dieb hat ihm die Uhr gestohlen is the same person, in the dative. French lui and Spanish le are that person as well. Russian у вора is that person in the genitive after у, and a dative of that person is unprinted on the Russian articles. German berauben flips the Victim to the accusative and prints a genitive Theme. Italian derubare flips the Victim to the direct object and prints di.

Layer-by-layer parallel: English steal and rob, German stehlen and berauben, Spanish robar, French voler, Russian украсть and обокрасть, Italian rubare and derubare
Layer	steal / rob (EN)	stehlen / berauben	robar · voler · украсть	rubare / derubare
Spec,Voice	Thief	Thief	Thief	Thief
Victim	from-phrase on steal · object of rob	dative on stehlen · accusative on berauben	Spanish indirect le / a · French dative lui / à · Russian у + genitive on украсть · accusative on обокрасть	a or a dative clitic on rubare when the Theme is direct · direct object on derubare
Theme	object of steal · of-phrase on rob, where printed	accusative on stehlen · genitive on berauben, marked gehoben	direct object beside le, beside lui, and as the accusative of украсть · French de in TLFi Voler qqn de qqc. · unexpressed as a direct object in the обокрасть examples	direct object of rubare · di on derubare · not a morphological genitive
Place	from on steal · object of rob in three banks	aus is a place on one rauben line, on the German page	Spanish Robaron un banco · French dévaliser takes a place as object · Russian из + genitive beside украсть	da or in beside rubare · intransitive al supermercato · direct object of svaligiare

On insegnare the added argument is an a-phrase Learner and the direct object is the Content. On rubare the added argument is the Victim in a or a dative clitic, and the direct object is the Theme. The analogy is the added argument. It is not a claim that a Learner and a Victim are one role.

derubare, svaligiare, scippare, and trafugare are notes on this page, not further pages. Languages of steal: German · stehlen / rauben / berauben · Spanish · robar · French · voler · Russian · украсть / красть · Italian · rubare · Japanese · 盗む · Polish · kraść / ukraść · Hungarian · lop / ellop · Dutch · stelen · Norwegian · stjele · Bulgarian · крада / открадна · Chinese · 偷 (tōu). The same a on a Recipient: lend · Italian · prestare. No English steal page.

Notes

Working paper · October 2026 · Italian micro-entry · Beyond Index 2

Theft in Italian is not one function frame. Thief (Voice, subject), Victim (low Appl, a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain, working and revisable), Theme (complement of the root). On rubare the Theme is the direct object and the person is a or a dative clitic. A container beside that Theme is da. On derubare the Victim is the direct object and the Theme is di. On svaligiare the place is the direct object. English steal takes the source in from.

IT micro-entry live Beyond Index 2 Low Appl of the Victim unranked DE stehlen live ES robar live FR voler live RU украсть live IT prestare live

Sense × language: steal · Italian (rubare). The theft sense is the page. The abduction, the time line, and the fiancée stay off the wallet frame. derubare, svaligiare, scippare, and trafugare stay notes. No English steal hub. German: steal · stehlen / rauben / berauben. Spanish: steal · robar. French: steal · voler. Russian: steal · украсть / красть. The a of a Recipient is on lend · prestare. Index 2 does not list Italian rubare. Index 2 Italian Transfer cites scambiare, dare.

Places
EN ⇄ IT strip
Examples
Voice
Derivations
Hierarchy
Geometry
Open items
Corpus and sources

Working paper. Italian micro-entry of steal, beside the German, Spanish, French, and Russian pages. Dictionary frames were checked on Treccani (rubare, derubare, svaligiare, scippare, trafugare), on Sabatini-Coletti as served by Corriere (the same five), on Il Nuovo De Mauro as served by Internazionale (the same five), on Garzanti linguistica as served by numerosamente.it (the same five), and on Hoepli as served by dizionari.repubblica.it (the same five).

Constructed examples. Dictionary lines are marked as printed. Every other full clause is marked constructed. Pat gli ha rubato il portafoglio follows Treccani gli rubarono il portafoglio. Pat lo ha derubato del portafoglio follows lo derubarono del portafogli. Pat ha svaligiato una banca follows s. una banca. A feminine le on the wallet frame of rubare, and a da-person as the source, are unprinted and are not constructed.

Arity. Index 2 does not list rubare. Surface count can name a thief, a victim, and a thing taken. The lexicon does not list three co-arguments of one flat V, and it does not list one function frame for every line. Voice adds the Thief. Low Appl adds the Victim. The root takes the Theme. da or in of a place, and the place-object of svaligiare, are not a further sister of the wallet frame.

What this page does not do. It does not open a separate page for derubare, svaligiare, scippare, or trafugare. It does not open an English page of steal. It does not give rubare a person-object on the modern wallet frame. That object is the labeled antique or regional sense, or it is derubare.

Hierarchy

Not a flat grid of three sisters, and not one function frame copied from the English gloss. Voice adds the Thief. Low Appl adds the Victim, as a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain. The root takes the Theme. The function of those two dependents is the lemma’s. The drawing is working and revisable.

What Italian changes, against English steal X from Y, is the Victim’s marker, and the split of person and place. The person is a or a dative clitic, in Treccani’s gli rubarono il portafoglio and a quel pastore rubano le pecore, and the container is da, in dal tegame and De Mauro’s dai pollai. English spells both with from. The Theme stays the direct object. What derubare changes, against rubare, is which phrase is the direct object. The person is the object, and the Theme is di. berauben makes the Victim accusative and prints a genitive Theme. Italian prints di, not that genitive. Russian обокрасть makes the Victim accusative and prints no Theme in the object slot.

Geometry · Italian theft beside the live dative and the live indirect object

English steal. Source in from, person or place. Theme as object. A bare him is not that source. No English page is opened.
English rob. The person or place is the object. of is printed for the thing in the deprive citations. No English page is opened.
stehlen and rauben. Accusative Theme, dative Victim. Italian rubare matches the direct Theme and the oblique person. The Italian person is a or a clitic. It is not a case ending on a full noun.
berauben. Accusative Victim, genitive Theme, marked gehoben. derubare matches the direct Victim. The Theme is di. No gehoben label is printed on that sense.
voler. Dative Victim, direct Theme, clitic lui. With no Theme the person is le or la. TLFi prints de for a Theme beside that person. Italian a matches à on rubare. Italian di matches that de on derubare.
robar. Indirect Victim, direct Theme, clitic le. Doubling is the ordinary description of that indirect object. Italian prints the clitic and the full a-phrase in different clauses. A di-Theme is printed on derubare, and the Spanish page does not print that phrase on robar.
украсть / красть. Accusative Theme. Person in у plus genitive. Place in из plus genitive. A dative Victim is unprinted. Italian prints the dative clitic, and the place-source is da, not у.
обокрасть. Accusative Victim or place. The Theme is not a direct object in the examples. derubare matches the direct Victim and prints di. svaligiare matches the place-object.
rubare. Direct Theme. Person in a or a dative clitic. Container in da. in and intransitive a are also printed for a place. Auxiliary avere where the entry prints it.
derubare. Direct Victim. Theme in di. Treccani states the contrast with rubare in the entry.
svaligiare. Place as direct object in the ordinary theft sense. A person-object is labeled non com. in Treccani or OB in De Mauro. The house line prints gli beside the place.
scippare. Snatch. Garzanti prints [+ di; + a]. Treccani prints le with a direct Theme, a person-object, and a passive with di.
trafugare. Direct Theme, defined as secret removal. De Mauro prints da of a place. The literary label is on trafugarsi in Treccani and in Hoepli. The transitive is not given that label in the articles read.
prestare. Recipient in a or a dative clitic. The preposition is the one this page cites for the Victim. A Recipient and a Victim are not one role. On prendere in prestito the source is da. That da is the source of a loan, not the Victim of rubare.

Open items

Whether low Appl is the right head for the Victim. The drawing puts a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain, on the analogy of the dative Victim of stehlen, of the indirect Victim of robar, and of the dative Victim of voler. The dictionaries print a, the clitic, and the direct object of derubare. They do not print that head. The ranking stays open.
Feminine le on rubare. Unprinted on the wallet lines. Hoepli’s le rubò il bambino is the abduction sense. le hanno scippato la borsetta is scippare. Not constructed on rubare.
A clitic and a full a-phrase in one clause. Unprinted on rubare. Garzanti’s mi (= a me) is a gloss in parentheses. Not constructed as doubling.
da of a person as the source. Unprinted. Garzanti’s da un abile ladro is the agent of è stato rubato. The container is dal tegame and dai pollai. Not constructed as a person-source.
di on modern rubare. Hoepli prints mi hanno rubato di ogni cosa under ant., region. The unlabeled di-Theme is on derubare. Not constructed on the modern wallet frame.
Which scippare frame is ordinary. Garzanti prints both di and a. Treccani prints the clitic frame, the person-object, and the passive with di. Sabatini-Coletti’s theft example is the person plus della borsetta, filed as [sogg-v-arg]. Not ranked.
A literary label on transitive trafugare. Unprinted. Treccani and Hoepli put letter. / lett. on trafugarsi. De Mauro marks the transitive CO. Not relabeled.
Lo Zingarelli. Not opened. No line from it is quoted.

Corpus filenames and sources checked

Dictionary frames: Treccani, rubare, derubare, svaligiare, scippare, and trafugare; Sabatini-Coletti, the Corriere pages of the same five; Il Nuovo De Mauro, the Internazionale pages of the same five; Garzanti linguistica, as the numerosamente.it page prints the Garzanti block, for the same five; Hoepli, as dizionari.repubblica.it prints it, for the same five; Italian Wiktionary rubare, secondary; English Wiktionary steal and rob. The German, French, Spanish, and Russian theft frames are the lines already on steal-de.html, steal-fr.html, steal-es.html, and steal-ru.html. Constructed clauses put a printed function on a named thief. Index 2 does not list this lemma. Lo Zingarelli was not opened.

Treccani · rubare treccani.it/vocabolario/rubare · gli · a quel pastore · dal tegame · nella vigna
Treccani · derubare treccani.it/vocabolario/derubare · lo … del portafogli · the contrast with rubare
Treccani · svaligiare treccani.it/vocabolario/svaligiare · una banca · non com. the person · gli … la casa
Treccani · scippare treccani.it/vocabolario/scippare · le … la borsetta · turisti · del campionario
Treccani · trafugare treccani.it/vocabolario/trafugare · Theme direct · trafugarsi letter.
Sabatini-Coletti · rubare dizionari.corriere.it · rubare · [sogg-v-arg] · mi … l’automobile · al supermercato
Sabatini-Coletti · derubare dizionari.corriere.it · derubare · del portafoglio · passive with no Theme
Sabatini-Coletti · svaligiare dizionari.corriere.it · svaligiare · s. una banca
Sabatini-Coletti · scippare dizionari.corriere.it · scippare · della borsetta
Sabatini-Coletti · trafugare dizionari.corriere.it · trafugare · in una chiesa
De Mauro · rubare dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/rubare · FO · a qcn. · dai pollai
De Mauro · derubare dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/derubare · AD · del portafogli · di tutti i suoi averi
De Mauro · svaligiare dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/svaligiare · CO the bank · gli svaligiano la casa
De Mauro · scippare dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/scippare · person-object · a qcn.
De Mauro · trafugare dizionario.internazionale.it/parola/trafugare · CO · dall’obitorio
Garzanti · rubare dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/rubare · [+ a] · mi (= a me) · passive da the agent
Garzanti · derubare dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/derubare · [+ di]
Garzanti · svaligiare dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/svaligiare · una banca, un appartamento
Garzanti · scippare dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/scippare · [+ di; + a]
Garzanti · trafugare dict.numerosamente.it/definizione/trafugare · un quadro · un dossier
Hoepli · rubare dizionari.repubblica.it · rubare · mi … il portafoglio · sense 10 ant., region.
Hoepli · derubare dizionari.repubblica.it · derubare · dell’orologio
Hoepli · svaligiare dizionari.repubblica.it · svaligiare · un negozio
Hoepli · scippare dizionari.repubblica.it · scippare · le … la borsetta
Hoepli · trafugare dizionari.repubblica.it · trafugare · il prigioniero · trafugarsi lett.
Italian Wiktionary · rubare it.wiktionary.org/wiki/rubare · gloss steal · a quella persona on the job line · secondary
English Wiktionary · steal en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steal · from the gallery · from us · (from me)
English Wiktionary · rob en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rob · He robbed three banks · of their pay

Records the direct Theme and the a-person of rubare, the da-place, the direct Victim and di-Theme of derubare, and the printed frames of svaligiare, scippare, and trafugare. Does not open an English page.