Dialects have always been an important part of the Italian linguistic repertoire and an effective means of communication among people of the same area. However, compared with two or three decades ago, the attitude of Italian people towards dialects is deeply changed. Thanks to the general social spread of education at school and Italian as the national language, nowadays dialects are not perceived anymore as the language of lower classes, or as symbol of ignorance and illiteracy which leads to disadvantage and social exclusion. Understanding and mastering a dialects is now an extra communicative source to be used and switched with Italian depending on the situation. Dialects are an enrichment, not an obstacle. In fact, as Arturo Benvenuto states:
“Italy has been a unified country only in the last 150 years, and has always been a crossroads of peoples and different cultures. The history of this country has led to an extraordinary linguistic richness.” (Thepolyglotdream.com, 2013)
As an Italian native speaker, coming particularly from a sub-region of Apulia called Salento, I will focus my essay on the analysis of the dialect spoken in this area: the Salentino dialect. Firstly, I will provide some information about the history of Salento and its dialect. Secondly, I will consider some linguistic features regarding, amongst others, the difference with the other dialects spoken in Apulia and the lexicon deriving from ancient dominations. Finally, I will analyse the current situation of this dialect in what concerns the speakers, particularly children, and its artistic expression like literature, theatre and music.
Salento has been inhabited since the Bronze Age by Indo-European populations, who arrived there through the Alps. A good p...
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... reforms to abolish feudalism and to distribute public lands in a better way. In 1861, Salento was finally annexed to the Reign of Italy, and in 1865 it obtained administrative authority with the creation of the Province of Lecce, which followed the borders of the ancient Terra d’Otranto.
The first written traces of Salentino date back to the 11th century. They are about 154 glosses, written in Hebrew characters, found in a manuscript in Parma dated 1072, coming from a Talmud academy in Otranto. The Salentino used in these glosses is still a mixture of Latin and Vulgar Italian, with a lot of words from Greek. Some of them refer to plants (lenticla nigra: “black lentil”, cucuzza longa: “long courgette”, cucuzza rotunda: “round courgette”) others to farming (pulìgane: “they cut the protrusions from the trees”, sepàrane: “they pluck the dry leaves from the trees”).
In the book, Giovanni and Lusanna, by Gene Bucker, he discusses the scandalous actions of a Florentine woman taking a wealthy high status man to court over the legality of their marriage. Published in 1988, the book explains the legal action taken for and against Lusanna and Giovanni, the social affects placed on both persons throughout their trial, and the roles of both men and women during the time. From the long and complicated trial, it can be inferred that women’s places within Florentine society were limited compared to their male counterparts and that women’s affairs should remain in the home. In this paper, I will examine the legal and societal place of women in Florentine society during the Renaissance. Here, I will argue that women were the “merchandise” of humanity and their main objective was to produce sons.
It is interesting for Lisa Kanae to use three different voices in her book, Sista Tongue. The structure of Sista Tongue is different from standard books as if to make her words flow and become active. Her message still holds truth in today’s society. In many homes, younger generations face the inadequacy of being unable to understand their mother tongues while their parents struggle with learning English. Code-switching is natural for bilingual people and those that speak to other sub-cultures. Lisa Kanae’s different voices are similar to
“I’ll be out of here and away from all you knaves for one time anyway, as not a month will pass before you’ll see whether I’m nobody or a somebody.” The story of Bianco Alfani reflected the nature of 14th century Florentine society where, as Alfani remarked, the election to public office could make or destroy a person. In late 14th century and early 15th century Florence, decreased population and expanding commerce provided a favorable environment for ambitious individuals. The real life examples of Buonaccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati demonstrated the positive role of ambition in Florence. Pitti, a nobleman had an extremely successful career, partaking in military campaigns, holding public office in Florence and being an ambassador to foreign courts. Gregorio Dati, the grandson of purse venders, engaged in commerce, rising in social standing which culminated with his election to public office. Holding office was a definitive sign of success and recognition in Florence. In contrast was the tale Bianco Alfani, a deemed man unworthy of office. As told by Piero Veneziano, Alfani was the chief jailor in Florence who was duped into believing he had been named captain of the town of Norcia. Alfani publicly made a fool of himself, spending all his money and creating a great fanfare over his supposed appointment. Comparing the lives of Pitti and Dati to the story of Bianco Alfani illustrates how economic and social change in 14th century Florence produced a culture centered on reputation and commerce. For men like Pitti and Dati, who flourished within the constraints of Florentine society, their reward was election to office, a public mark of acceptance and social standing. Those who were ambitious but failed to abide by the values o...
Antonio Manetti, a Florentine Humanist and holder of several high offices in Florence, was the author of the delightful novella known as the Fat Woodworker. This novella, first published in its final refined form in the 1470’s, tells the story of a rather complex and slightly malicious trick created by a genius architect known as Filippo Brunelleschi. While the trick is mean at times, the reader tends to not notice because of the comedic way that the fat woodworker reacts. The prank that unfolds can in some ways closely parallel the many tricks that occur in Boccaccio’s Decameron, though there are some large differences.
The archetypal tragedy of two star-crossed lovers, separated by familial hate, is a recurring theme, which never fails to capture the minds of the audience. It is only at great cost, through the death of the central characters that these feuding families finally find peace. This is an intriguing idea, one antithetical. I have chosen to analyze both Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet and Laurent 's West Side Story. The purpose of this essay is showing how the spoken language is utilized in these different plays to meet differing objectives. The chosen scenes to further aid comparison and contrast are the balcony scenes.
On this day, I tried to observe the conversations that buzzed around me even though I decided not to use “naturally occurring conversations” as part as my methodology. Since it was a weekend the Italian strip was busier than ever. In this part of my research, I positioned myself on College street, between Euclid Ave and Manning Ave. Since it was a weekend the Italian strip was busier than ever. There were children running up and down sidewalks, Italian music blasting from each restaurant and people outside enjoying a glass of wine on the patios. I first started my research by walking up and down the small section of Little Italy that I chose. I walked up and down this small section to be sure I would not miss any written texts, pictures, or historical artefacts that would be beneficial to my research. By walking around each small area I paid close attention to the conversations that surrounded me. I simply wanted to see how many people spoke fluent Italian in the area. This gave me an idea how Italian this area still was. I was stunned to find that the area was more Portuguese and Japanese than I thought. Around me I heard all types of language in conversations, including Japanese as the more dominant language. I found that fluent Italian was not commonly spoken. I could easily tell who seemed Italian due to their heavy accent, although I only briefly caught one couple speaking Italian throughout this
Ginsborg P (1990). ‘A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1980’ Published by Penguin; Reprint edition (27 Sep 1990).
This chapter focused mainly on misconceptions and attempting to clarify those misconceptions about accents. In the opinion of linguists, accent is a difficult word to define. This is due to the fact that language has variation therefore when it comes to a person having an accent or not, there is no true technical distinction because every person has different phonological aspects to their way of speaking. However, when forced to define this word, it is described as “a way of speaking” (Lippi-Green, 2012, p.44). Although Lippi- Green identified the difficulty linguists have in distinguishing between accent, dialect, and another language entirely, they were able to construct a loose way of distinguishing. Lippi- Green states that an accent can be determined by difference in phonological features alone, dialect can be determined by difference in syntax, lexicon, and semantics alone, and when all of these aspects are different from the original language it is considered another language entirely (Lippi-Green, 2012).
Italians are a group of people who share the same culture, country and speak the Italian as their first language. Italy is a native country to many Italians all around the world. Then, many Italians started migrating to different countries in 1876-1976. This beautiful country is in Southern Europe and include a similar boot shaped Peninsula. The borders of the Italians are France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. Rome is the largest and the capital of Italy, and this city is known for many of its religious attractions. The majority of people live in Italy are Roman Catholics, but there are other people of religions live there too such as Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist, and Protestant Italians. Italians are described as a hard worker, self-sacrificing ready to work for a better future for themselves and their families and also educated thinkers. When the Italian migration began numerous people came to the U.S. and its neighboring country Canada. Today in Canada there are over 1.45 million Italians, including well-known artists and actors.
The majority language spoken in Italy is Italian, however, there are a few minor languages spoken in different regions of Italy such as German, or French (Commisceo Global, 2016). Unlike Italy, the United States has different accents depending on the region of the United States we are from, but there is only one language that is spoken and understood by all people.
Spiegel, Frances. "Trier and the Porta Nigra: Roma Secunda – the Romans’ Second Home | Suite101.com." Frances Spiegel | Suite101.com. 11 May 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2012.
Last but not least, the Italian-American’s contributed greatly to America’s past and left quite an imprint on our ‘melting pot’ culture. The Italian-Americans came to America following a dream; whether it be temporarily ‘escaping’ South Italy or a lifelong aspirations toward music. There perseverance and bravery left an impact stronger than words can express which assisted our future successes. Slowly yet steadily, Italians rose up the social ladder, opening up like a blossoming flower to their fellow Americans. Establishing their roots, then blossoming into a beautiful flower, revealing all beyond everyone’s expectations. Today, Italians have surpassed all the other ethnic groups in average job income and job prestigious, a true example of hard work paying off. As for, “Chi la dura la vince,”-He who perseveres wins at last...
Analyzing dialects can be difficult due to the fact that is it hard to transcribe the pronunciation of an individual dialect because English is not spelled the same way it is pronounced. Furthermore, one person’s interpretation of spelling a dialect might not match up with another’s, so the reader might not “hear” the dialect properly. Regardless, written versions of dialects are essential to discussing dialectical differences.
"Life in Italy During the Renaissance." Italy. Life in Italy, 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
When Italian immigrants came to America, many were not welcomed in the communities of the Germans and Irish. The neighborhoods that the Itali...