Here are some webpages I have set up concerning the language in various Lucanian towns.

The first is a book from 1915 called STUDIES IN THE DIALECT OF BASILICATA by Professor Alfonso de Salvio
http://members.tripod.com/~toncxjo/Lucano.html

It also includes some word lists at the bottom I compiled from various sources.

The next is a word list for Rionero in Vulture, PZ (in Rionerese, Italian, & English)
http://members.tripod.com/~toncxjo/rionerese.html

The last is a word list for San Fele, PZ (in Sanfelese, Italian, & English)
http://members.tripod.com/~toncxjo/sanfelese.html

Dialects in Italy - More questions than answers!

This past summer while going to school in Perugia, Umbria I tried to find out all about

dialects of Italian that I could. Dialects rather they be in Italian, Spanish or English fascinate me.

We speak of dialects of Italian but a dialect is defined as a change in a language that

still permits understanding. So Neopolitano e Siciliano per esempio are really differente languages rather

than dialects of standard Italian. Non e vero?

The people of Perugia for example have their own language which is quite different than standard Italian. Then again

everybody in Perugia speaks standard Italian but they speak it with a different accent(different being a realative term in this case)

which is very noticable I might add. So the way they speak standard Italian is the dialect and the so called Perugian dialect is their

language.(when I first arrived in Perguia I noticed their accent right off but got use to it in no time. One of my teachers was from Perugia

and the other 3 were from different parts of Italy but not that far away from Perugia.

They all spoke with a very noticable different accent. (I was loving it of course)

I don't claim to be an expert on anything let alone dialects of Italian or anyother language. Infatte I've got more questions than

answers about dialects of Itallian. For example how different are the following basic every day standard Italian words from Neopolitano,

Siciliano or anyother dialect or language of Italy?

Another question. How is it that Spanish is closer to standard Italian than say Neopolitano or Siciliano or other dialect/languagges of Italy?

Spain ruled southern Italy for 60 years so why would standard Italian be so close or closer to standard Italian that comes from the north of Italy?

Consider anche that Catalan is a language from Spain but it even closer to Italian than Spanish is. Catalan is spoken in parts of Sardegna a proposito.


An interesting side note is that one of my Italian teachers in Perugia that wasn't from Perugia told us that we could notice

how much better she spoke Italian than the other 3 teachers. According to her she spoke much clearer, with a better accent e cosi via.

Of course she told us this quite modestly I might add. LOL!


At any rate how different are the following words from other languages or so called dialects of standard Italian?

sempre- always, mai- never, (my) oggi- today, domani- tomorrow, ieri- yesterday, (YEER-ree)adesso- now, ora-now, allora- then, poi-then, (owl-OH-rah)

dopo- after, prima(di)- before, ancora- still,yet, non ancora-not yet (an-CORE-rah) spesso(frequentemente)- often, stasera- tonight,

presto- early,soon, tardi- late, a tempo- on time, gia- already, subito & immediatamente- immediately, (SUE-be-toe)di quando in quando- from time to time,

di solito- usually, fa-ago, tre giorni fa- 3 days ago, fino a- until, frattanto- meanwhile, raramente- rarely,seldom, ecentemente- recently, (ray-chin-tay-MINT-tay)

ultimo- last, una volta- once,

Adverbs of Place:

Dove?-Where?,
lontano-far,
vicino-near, (vee-CHEE-no)
dietro-behind, (dee-EH-tro)
davanti-in front of,
avanti-forward, (ah-VAHN-tee)
indietro-backward,
dentro-inside,
fuori-outside,
qua,qui-here,
li,la-there
giu-down (jew)
laggiu-down there (lah-jew)
lassu-up there (lah-sue)
accanto a - beside
sopra-above
sotto-below
tra,fra-between
via-away (vada via!-get out of here!)
attraverso- through
intorno,attorno - around
da nessuna parte - nowhere
da qualche parte - somewhere
dappertutto- everywhere
a destra - to the right
a sinistra to the left

Adverbs of quantity:

Quanto?- How much?
molto-much
troppo-too much
poco-little
tanto-so much
abbastanza-enough
quasi-almost
piu-more
meno-less
circa-nearly, about
soltanto, solo, solamente-only
assai-much
piuttosto- rather Piuttosto caro. - Rather expensive.
probabilmente- probably
piu o meno- more or less
veramente- indeed, really
purtroppo- unfortunately

Le Domande - Questions

Come?- How
Quanto? How much
Quanti? Quante? How many?
Come mai?- How come?
Che? What?
Che cosa? What?
Quale? Which?
Chi?(key) Who?
Perche? Why?
Perche -because
Che tipo di...? What kind of...?
Dove? Where
Dove ci vediamo? Where shall we meet?

Aggettivi importante

buono- good
buffo- funny
caldo- hot
fredo- cold
caro- costly
cattivo- bad
celibe (CHAY-lee-bay) single male
aperto- open
chniuso- closed
corto- short
debole- weak
forte- strong
difficile- difficult
facile- easy
gentile- nice
giovane- young
grande- big
piccolo- little
grasso- fat
magro- skinny
innocente
lento- slow
libero- free, availiable
malato- sick
meschio- mean
morbido- soft
nubile- single female
nuovo- new
occupato- busy
pesante- heavy
piacevole- pleasant
piccante- spicy hot
pieno- full
pigro- lazy
primo - first
profondo- deep
sbagliato- mistaken
scuro- dark
secco- dry
sordo- deaf
sporco- dirty
pulito- clean
umido- humid
vecchio- old
vivace- active
vuoto- empty
zitto- quiet

Dove?-Where? Ndò (Roman) Addò (Neapolitan) Unne (Sicilian)
dietro-behind Aretro (Neapolitan)
davanti-in front of, Innanz (Neapolitan)
avanti-forward, (ah-VAHN-tee) Annanz (Neapolitan)
indietro-backward, Ndietro (Roman) Aretr' (Neapolitan)
fuori-outside, fòri (Roman) fòra (Neapolitan)
qua,qui-here, Accà (Neapolitan - used almost in all Southern Italy) A'ecco (Western Latium/ Abrutium)

giu-down (jew) Abbàss' (Neapolitan) - Iune (Abrutium/ Western Latium)
laggiu-down there (lah-jew) Loco Iune (Western Latium)
lassu-up there (lah-sue) Lassù 'ngoppa (Neapolitan)
sopra-above 'ngoppa (Neapolitan)
via-away (vada via!-get out of here!) Vattìnn' or Vatténn' (Neapolitan & South Italy)

intorno,attorno - around Attuorn' (Neapolitan)
da nessuna parte - nowhere Nisciuna parte (Neapolitan and used in many other cental southern areas of Italy)
dappertutto- everywhere Da tutte 'e parti (Roman) ogn'e part (Neapolitan)

Adverbs of quantity:

piu-more 'cchiu (Neapolitan)
molto-much assai (Neapolitan)

Le Domande - Questions

Come?- How Cumme (Neapolitan)
Come mai?- How come? Cumme mai (Neapolitan)
Che? What? Ca' (Calabrian)
Che cosa? What? Ca' 'ccosa (Calabrian)
Quale? Which? Qua' (Roman)
Perche? Why? Pecché (Neapolitan) Picché (Sicilian)
Perche -because In Italian is the same as above
Dove? Where 'Ndo (Roman) Addò (Neapolitan)
Addù (Calabrian) Ou (Lombardia)
Dove ci vediamo? Where shall we meet? Addò se veddimm' (Neapolitan) 'Ndò se vedemo ? (Roman)

Aggettivi importante

buono- good Bbòno (Roman) Bbuuono (Neapolitan) Bòno (Venetian)
caldo- hot Callo (Roman)
fredo- cold Friddo (Neapolitan) Friddu (Calabrian)
Frio (Venetian)
corto- short Curto (Neapolitan)
forte- strong Fuorte (Neapolitan)
giovane- young Giovine (Roman) Giuovane (Neapolitan)
Ciovène (Calabrian) Yòven (Venetian)
grande- big Granne (Roman) Gruoss' (Neapolitan) Gràn (Venetian and Lombardia)
piccolo- little Peccerillo (Neapolitan) Picciòl (Venetian)
grasso- fat Chiatto (Neapolitan) Grà (Norhern Italy)
magro- skinny Secco (Roman) Sìck (Neapolitan and Calabrian)
Sèc (Northern Italy)
malato- sick Malado (Venetian)
meschio- mean Masculo (Sicilian) Masq (Lombardia)
nubile- single female Zitella (Roman) Zaitiella (Neapolitan)
nuovo- new Nòvo (Roman) Neuf (Northern Italy)
pesante- heavy Pisante (Sicilian)
pieno- full Chieno (Neapolitan) Chienu (Sicilian) Pièn (Lombardia)
primo - first Primmo (Neapolitan)
sbagliato- mistaken Sbayato (Roman)
secco- dry (as above 'skinny')
sordo- deaf Suord (Sicilian)
sporco- dirty Shpuòrk (Neapolitan)
vecchio- old Viecchio (Neapolitan) Vècio (Venetian)
vuoto- empty Vòto (Roman)
zitto- quiet Sitt' (Neapolitan) in other dialects in depends on the pronunciation of Z...

Dio mio Max! Complimenti! Tu sei il man!! Grazie mille!!!!

Examples of different dialects:

HE'S A GOOD BOY

E' nù bravo guaglione (Neapolitan)
E' 'n bravo regazzo (Roman)
Xé un bravo jovène (Venetian)

WHERE ARE YOU GOING ?

Addò vai ? (Neapolitan)
Unne vai ? (Sicilian)
'Ndo st'annà ? (Roman)

WE ARE GOING TO WORK:

Iamm'a fatigà (pron. Yam ah phut-eegah) (Neapolitan)
Namo a lavorà (pron. Num-ah-luv-orah) (Roman)
Ghiamm a fatigari (pron. Gee-hum-ah-phut-eegaree) (Sicilian)
Andiam'a laurà (pron. Un-dee-hum-ah-lah-oohrah) (Lombardian)
Andemu a laurà (pron. Un-deh-moo-ah-lah-oohrah) (Venetian)

I hope it'll be helpful to you to get a approximate idea of different Italian dialects.

No wonder I could never understand the Napolitans!!

You're right Danno, Neapolitan dialect is really difficult also for Italians, almost impossible for strangers

Made friends in Perugia with some people from
Napoli. When I first heard them speaking Neopolitano
it sounded like they were from some strange country
far out of Italy. Funny how Spanish is so much closer
to standard Italian than Neopolitano is.

Funny how Spanish is so much closer
to standard Italian than Neopolitano is.

Actually Neapolitan is closer to French because of the French domination in the Middle Age. Ex.:

Bottiglia (Bottle) = Buteilla (Neapolitan) Bouteille (French)
(Neap. pron. bow-teyah)
Vieni giù (Come downstairs) = Scenn'a bas (Neapolitan) Descends au bas (Franch)

Donne (women) = Femmene (Neapolitan) Femmes (French)
tasca (pocket)= Sacca (Neapolitan) Sac (meaning 'bag') (French)
sedia (chair) = Seggia (Neapolitan) Siège (French)
Siediti (sit down !) = Assettate (Neapolitan) Assis-toi (French)