Calabrian dialects

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The primary languages of the Calabria region are Standard Italian and many regional dialects of the Italo-Dalmatian group collectively known as Calabrian (Italian: calabrese). In addition, there is a significant Calabrian version of the Griko language and pockets of Occitan and Arbëresh.

Contents 1 Calabrian (Calabrese) 1.1 Central and Southern Calabrian 1.2 Conjugations 1.2.1 Êssiri (to be) 1.2.2 Aìri (to have) 1.3 Dialects 1.3.1 Comparison of the Central and Southern Calabrian Dialects 1.4 Northern Calabrian (Cosentino) 1.5 Conjugations 1.5.1 Êsse (to be) 1.5.2 Avì (to have) 1.5.3 Comparison of Northern and Southern Calabrian 1.6 Bibliography 2 Other Languages in Calabria 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Calabrian (Calabrese)

Calabrian (it: Calabrese) is the name given to a number of dialects spoken in the Calabria region of Italy. The various dialects of Calabria are part of a strong continuum that are generally recognizable as Calabrian, but that are usually divided into two different language groups. In the northern one-third of the region, the Calabrian dialects are often classified typologically with Neapolitan language (it: Napoletano-Calabrese) and are called Northern Calabrian or just Cosentino^[1]. In the southern two-thirds of the region, the Calabrian dialects are more closely related to Sicilian, grouped as Central and Southern Calabrian or simply Calabro, and are usually classified as part of Extreme Southern Italian (Italiano meridionale-estremo) language group^[2]. The Amantea-Cirò line is generally considered an approximate demarcation between the Neapolitan and Sicilian language groups.

The linguistic division roughly corresponds with the historic administrative division already in place since medieval times: Calabria Citeriore (or Latin Calabria) and Calabria Ulteriore (or Greek Calabria). It must be noted this is a broad generalization and many communities in the more central parts of the region exhibit features of both language groups.

The dialects of Calabria have been extensively studied, catalogued and commented upon by German philologist Gerhard Rohlfs. From the mid-1920s to the mid-1970s, he traveled the region extensively and assembled a very extensive, multi-volume dictionary.

English	Southern Calabrian	Northern Calabrian	Italian
tomorrow	rumàni	crai / dumàni	domani
in the meantime	asciatàntu / shramènti	interimme	frattanto
the day before last	avantèri	nustierzu	ieri l'altro
to yawn	sbadigghjàri	alare	sbadigliare

[edit] Central and Southern Calabrian

The areas where Central- Southern Calabrian (calabbrìsi or calavrìsi, in Sicilian) is spoken corresponds generally to the provinces of Reggio Calabria, Vibo Valentia, Catanzaro and the southern part of Crotone (Crotone, Isola di Capo Rizzuto, Cutro and vicinity). The term Sicilian-Calabrian is also used to distinguish the group from the Northern Calabrian group.

The primary roots of the dialects are the two ancient classical languages: Greek and Latin.^[3] Southern and Central Calabrian dialects are strongly influenced by a Greek substratum and ensuing levels of Latin influence and other external Southern Italian superstrata, in part hindered by geography, resulted in the many local variations found between the idioms of Calabria.^[4] Nonetheless, the dialects have a rich and varied influence from other languages, thanks to the domination and influx of different cultures. As a result French, and, to a lesser extent, Spanish have left a strong imprint.

Central-Southern Calabrian	Phonetic Greek	Italian	French	English
batràci	vátrakhos	ranocchio	grenouille	frog
zinnapòtamu	kynopotamus	lontra	loutre
bampurìddha / lampurìdda / vampurìddha	lampurida	lucciola	ver luisant
purtuàllu	portocâli	arancia	orange	orange
'nnàca	nàke	culla	berceau
tuppitiàri	typto	battere	battre

French vocabulary entered the region via the kingdoms of the Normans and the Angevins in Calabria.

Central-Southern Calabrian	French	Italian	English
'ccattàri	acheter	comprare	to buy
'nduja	andouille	salsicciotto
buccirìa	boucherie	macelleria	butcher's
arrocculàri	reculer	rotolare
ràggia	rage	rabbia	rabies
sciarabàllu	carriole (char à bancs)	veicolo sbatacchiato
travagghiàri	travailler	lavorare	to work

Other words derived from Spanish, au Catalan and Occitan :

• capezza : cabeza (Spanish) : head
• cucchiàra : cuchara (Spanish) : spoon
• palumba : paloma (Spanish) : dove
• scupetta : escopeta (Spanish) : rifle
• muccatùri : mocador (Catalan) : tissue
• prèscia : pressa (Catalan) : precipitation
• timpa : timba (Catalan) : abrupt
• addhumàri : allumar (Occitan, Provençal) : allumer

[edit] Conjugations

[edit] Êssiri (to be)

	Present	Imperfect	Past simple	Subjunctive present	Subjunctive imperfect
(J)èu	sugnu	êra	fùja	chi fùssi	fùssi
Tu(ni)	sì	êri	fùsti	chi fùssi	fùssi
Iddhu, Iddha	êsti	êra	fu'	chi fùssi	fùssi
Nu(i)	símu	êrumu	fùmmu	chi fùssimu	fùssimu
Vu(i)	síti	êru	fùstu	chi fùstu	fùssivu
Iddhi	sunnu	êrunu	fúru	chi fùssiru	fùssiru

[edit] Aìri (to have)

	Present	Imperfect	Past simple	Subjunctive present	Subjunctive imperfect
(J)èu	haju	aìva	èppi	chi aìssi	aìssi
Tu(ni)	hai	aívi	aìsti	chi aìssi	aìssi
Iddhu, Iddha	havi	aìva	èppi	chi aìssi	aìssi
Nui	aìmu	aìvumu	èppimu	chi aìssimu	aìssimu
Vui	aíti	aìvu	aistu	chi aìssivu	aìssivu
Iddhi	hannu	aìvunu	èppiru	chi aìssiru	aìssiru

[edit] Dialects

• Reggino dialect (u 'rriggitànu, in Reggino) is the dialect with the most speakers^[5], and cites Reggio Calabria as its cultural centre. This dialect is very similar to the dialect of Messina in Sicily.
• Dialects of the Chjàna spoken in the plains of Gioia Tauro, a micro-region situated north of Aspromonte.
• Locride dialects, spoken on the east coast of the Province of Reggio Calabria.
• Catanzaro dialect.
• dialects of the Alto-Jonica, used in the area of the Gulf of Squillace, similar to the dialect spoken in Catanzaro

[edit] Comparison of the Central and Southern Calabrian Dialects

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

• Standard Italian:

Tutti gli esseri umani nascono liberi ed eguali in dignità e diritti. Essi sono dotati di ragione e di coscienza e devono agire gli uni verso gli altri in spirito di fratellanza.

Reggino	Piana di Gioia Tauro	Locride	Catanzaro	Alto Jonica
"Tutti i cristiàni	"Tutti l'omani	"Tutti i perzùni	"Tutti l'omini	"Tutti l'uamini
nàsciunu libberi	nascinu libbèri	nèsciunu lìbberi	nescianu libberi	nascianu libberi
e ntâ stessa manèra	e â stessa manera	e ntâ stessa manèra	e sunnu	e su
ill'authri	dil'atri	dill'atti	i stessi	i stessi
pi dignità e diritti.	pe dignità e diritti.	pe dignità e diritti.	pe' dignità e diritti.	pe' dignità e diritti.
Iddhi ndànnu	Tutti ndànnu	Iji ndànnu	Ognunu ava u cerveddhu	Ognunu tena u cerivìaddru
ognunu u so ciriveddhu	ognunu u so cervèllu	ognunu u cervèju	soi e a raggiuna	sue e a raggiune sua
mi 'rraggiùnunu	pemmu reggiùnanu	soi pemmu raggiùnanu	e a cuscenza sua	e a cuscìanza sua
e 'ndannu mi càmpunu	e ndànnu pemmu càmpanu	e ndànnu u càmpanu	e ava ma si cumporta	e s'ha de comportare
unu cull'authru	unu cu l'atru	unu cull'attu	cull'atri propriu	cull'atri propriu
comu mi sùnnu fràti	comu frati figgji	comu frati figgji	comu si fhussèranu	cùamu si fòranu
râ stessa matri."	dâ stessa mamma."	dâ stessa matri."	i frati soi."	frati sui."

[edit] Northern Calabrian (Cosentino)

The Northern Calabrian dialects (calabbrìse or calavrìse, in Neapolitan) are similar to other Southern Italian dialects and are significantly different from the dialects of southern Calabria. Linguistically, they are considered part of the Neapolitan group^[6]. The dialects of the northern fringes of the Province of Cosenza give way to Campanian and Lucanian dialects; however, the majority of the province speaks the Cosentino dialect (u cusindinu). It is also spoken in the northern portion of the Province of Crotone and extreme north-western Province of Catanzaro.

One great aspect of Northern Calabrian is that the use of the preterite is almost absent, in great contrast to the Sicilian type dialects of the south. In Cosentino, the norm is he (or haju) pigliatu or signu jutu (literally "I took" and "I went"); whereas the preterite (distant remote tense) pigghiai or ivi would be more common in the rest of Calabria. Other aspects are the phonetic modifications similar to other Neapolitan dialects, such as where -nt is pronounced -nd (praticamente becomes praticamende), and v is usually pronounced b. In addition, spoken Cosentino is noted for its "soft" truncation of end syllables at the termination of sentences, and for the typical T/C sound in words such as ccjù (more) or cjanu (slow). As a transitional dialect between Sicilian and Neapolitan, Cosentino shares many sounds, words and features unique to each of the Sicilian and Neapolitan groups.

Like Central-Southern Calabrian, the vocabulary owes greatly to Arabic, French and especially Spanish:

• tavùtu : tambùtu (Central and Southern Calabrian): tabut (Arab)
• accattàre : 'ccattàri (Central and Southern Calabrian): acheter (French): to purchase
• abbuscà : buscar (Spanish) : to seek
• buttija: bouteille (French): bottle
• sparagno: éparagne (French): savings
• relogge: reloj (Spanish): clock

[edit] Conjugations

[edit] Êsse (to be)

	Present	Imperfect	Past simple	Subjunctive present	Subjunctive imperfect
Iu	signu	êra	signu statu	fossa
Tu(ni)	sì	êri	sì statu	fossi
Iddru, Iddra	è	êra	è statu	fossa
Nua	símu	êramu	simu stati	fossimu
Vua	síti	êrati	siti stati	fossati
Iddri(o Loro)	sù	êranu	sù stati	fòssaru

[edit] Avì (to have)

	Present	Imperfect	Past simple	Subjunctive present	Subjunctive imperfect
Iu	haju	avìa	he (haju) avutu	avissa
Tu(ni)	ha'	avii	ha' avutu	avissi
Iddru, Iddra	hà	avìa	hà avutu	avissa
Nua	avìmu	avìamu	hamu avutu	avìssamu
Vua	avíti	avìati	hat'avutu or avít' avutu	avvissati
Iddri	hannu	avìanu	hannu avutu	avissaru

[edit] Comparison of Northern and Southern Calabrian

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

• Standard Italian:

Tutti gli esseri umani nascono liberi ed eguali in dignità e diritti. Essi sono dotati di ragione e di coscienza e devono agire gli uni verso gli altri in spirito di fratellanza.

Reggino	Cosentino
"Tutti i cristiàni	"Tutti i ggìenti
nàsciunu libberi	nascianu libberi
e ntâ stessa manèra	e 'gguali
ill'authri	all'àtri
pi dignità e diritti.	ppì ddignità e diritti.
Iddhi ndànnu	Ognunu
ognunu u so ciriveddhu	tena cirbìeddru
mi 'rraggiùnunu	raggiune e cuscìenza
e 'ndannu mi càmpunu	e s'ha de cumbortà
unu cull'authru	cull'atri
comu mi sùnnu fràti	cumu si li fòssaru
râ stessa matri."	frati."

[edit] Bibliography

• Gerhard Rohlfs, Nuovo Dizionario Dialettale della Calabria, Longo, Ravenna, 1990;
• Gerhard Rohlfs, Dizionario dei Cognomi e Soprannomi in Calabria, Longo, Ravenna, 1979;
• Gerhard Rohlfs, Dizionario toponomastico ed Onomastico della Calabria, Longo, Ravenna, 1990;
• Giuseppe Pensabene, Cognomi e Toponimi in Calabria, Gangemi, Reggio Calabria, 1987;
• G. Amiotti - M. Vittoria Antico Gallina - L. Giardino, I Greci nel sud dell'Italia, Amilcare Pizzi, Milano, 1995;

[edit] Other Languages in Calabria

• Greek-Calabrian dialect, a version of Italian-Greek used in Calabria, which is a subdivision of Griko language (Grecanic language), a general classification for the Italian-Greek languages in Italy. The Greek of Italy and that of Corsica are probably separate languages (R. Zamponi 1992).^[7]
• Occitan language, a local variety of the Occitan language spoken in certain communities (such as Guardia Piemontese). ^[8]
• Arbëresh language, a dialect of the Albanian language. ^[9]

[edit] See also

• List of Languages of Italy
• Calabria

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 330 Calabrian verbs cross-referenced into English and Italian
• Calabrian phrasing (page in Italian)
• "Siciliano: Lingua o dialetto?" in Italian;

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