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DICTIONARY
[IN ITALIAN]

N.B. - Some terms (generally those more explained) have been taken by Internet, from different sites, having ascertained the perfect correspondence with Sanmartinese dialect. Then not properly flour of my mnemonic sack.
  It needs to consider that in the Center-South there are many words common to its different dialects (of Molise, of Abruzzo, of Lazio, of Puglia, of Campania, of Lucania) which at times they have meaning, writing and similar pronunciation, other times they have light or consistent different nuances instead. The dialect in effects is more contaminable and contaminated of an any official language.

Preliminary notes for the consultation and pronunciation

1) If not specified the accent always falls on the penultimate syllable and therefore the word is always paroxytone.
2) The e atonic has a very weak sound. In the international phonetic alphabet it is represented by one upside-down e. Here it is transcribed simply with e. See schwa.
3) The contracted a [â] sounds about as the second vowel in German words Mutter, Hitler, Vater, Wasser... It is represented in the international phonetic alphabet as an upside-down a.
4) The unvoiced z is specified with the digraph ts, the soft z with dz.
5) Semivowels i and u are respectively transcribed with j and w.
6) The guttural c has two sounds as in Italian: k of casa (it.) and ch of chiesa (it.).
7) The digraph gn is always palatal as in Italian.
8) The digraph qu is pronounced as in Italian
9) The Italian palatal digraph gl doesn't exist in dialect whose derivative is constituted by the double j [jj]
10) The digraph sc is always palatal.
11) The digraphs and trigraphs are marked in boldface: ts, ds, ch, scj, chj, sc, cj, gj, etc...
12) The reinforcement of the initial syllable can be realized in three different ways:
    a - making to precede the initial syllable from the apostrophe.
    b - doubling the initial consonant.
    c - both apostrophizing that doubling the initial syllable. In this case it properly concerns apheresis.
13)
The digraphs and the trigraphs are pure graphic signs and they correspond to an only sound. This way we have the following correspondences:

CORRESPONDENCES EXAMPLES
 
ts corresponds to the z of zappa (it.) zemàrre [tse-màr-re]      zizì [tsi-tsì]
ds corresponds to the z of zona (it.) sperànze [spe-ràn-dse] 
chj corresponds to the chi of chiesa (it.) [1] chiare [chjâ-re], chiane [chjâ-ne], 
ghj corresponds to the ghi of ghiera (it.) [1] 'nghiemmate [nghjem-mâ-te] 
sc, ski or scj it corresponds to the sc of scena (it.) scemenìte [sce-me-nî-te],  
gn corresponds to the gn of gnomo (it.) 'gnorànte [gno-ràn-te],  chiàgne [chjà-gne]
qu corresponds to the qu of quadro (it.) sqqueqquelàte [squeq-que-lâ-te] 
gu corresponds to the gu of guerra (it.) sangue [san-gue]
gi or gj corresponds to the g of  gesso (it.) [1] gialle [gjàl-le], ggiostre [ggjò-stre]
ci or cj corresponds to the c of cena (it.) [1] ciucce [cjuc-ce], savecicce [sa-ve-cic-ce]
 
š is the sc of scena (it.) followed by consonant [2] šquoppe [šquòppe],  šchéfà [škéfa]. 
ž - between the French j of jour and š [3] žghiequelateghje-que-lâ-te]. 
jj or jji is the double semiconsonant j. [4] pajjie [pàj-je]
qur(-e) is the Italian qu + r [5] qurellate [qurel-lâ-te]
gur(-e) is the Italian gu + r [5] 'ngureqquà [ngureq-quâ]
 
[1] -Digraphs cj, gj and trigraphs chj, ghj, in the phonetic transcription are marked in boldface because in the equivalent word the following i is a pure graphic sign, as in Italian syllables chia, chiâ, chiè, chié, chiê chji, chiò, chió, chiô, chiu, chiû, .ghia, ghiâ, ghiè, ghié, ghiê, ghji, ghiò, ghió, ghiô.ghiu, ghiû, gia, giâ, giè, gié, giê, giò, gió, giô, giu, giû, cia, ciâ ,ciè, cié, ciê,  ciò, ció, ciô, ciu, ciû. Then for ex. the ci and ce of savecicce [sa-ve-cìc-ce] they not marked in boldface.

[2] - In the dialect the sound of sc followed by an occlusive consonant (unvoiced velar or semivelar) [k, qu], in the phonetic transcription we write it š but they exist at least other two ways: sh or sck. This problem doesn't exist in Italian because it lacks the specific consonantal sequence.

[3] - The sound ž is harder than the French j, an alternative between the French j and the unvoiced palatal fricative sc of Italian. The sound ž (rare) is followed by to sonorous velar g [gh] or (only case) from the palatal gn [in the expression žgnisce e žgnasce]. It is a rare sound in the Sanmartinese, probably it has been taken by the Albanian neighborhood that it make of it a discreet use. The letters š and ž are takings for a loan from the Latin-Slavic alphabet.

[4] - The sound jj or jji corresponds to the derivative of the palatal liquid gl of Italian and the sonorous palatal occlusive gh of the Calabrian-Sicilian.
Es.:
mejje < meglio > megghiu.

[5] - The qu in the dialect is used a lot more than in Italian because the groups co and cu (in Sanmartinese) are very often resolved in qu. Ex.:
- curato > querâte
- coltello >quertelle
- accontentare > aqquendendà
- etc...

[6] - The consonantal sequence qur and gur it is extraneous to Italian. Qurellà, Qurellâte, 'ngureqquà, they are rare examples of the digraphs qu and gu directly followed by the liquid vibrating consonant r.
   At times, in the actual dialect, he has the tendency to confuse the sequence qur and gur with cr or gr. Perhaps for a contamination from Italian, screqquete and 'ngreqquà... they seem respectively derive from squreqquétte and 'ngureqquà (more archaic pronunciation) therefore the number of words with the sequence qur should slightly be increased.

 

 

EXAMPLES

Sàcche [sàk-ke] - | n. m. sing. e pl. | • sacco. - § dim. - sacchitte, sacchetelle, saccucce. - accr. sacconne. § - || Scarecà 'i sacche du' grane || - [N.B. - esiste anche la forma diminuitiva al f. sacchette - 'Na sacchette de cemende]

Zambegnàre [tsam-be-gna-re] o zampegnare  - | n. m. sing e pl. | • zampognaro. - || detto anche in modo spreg di chi è trasandato nel vestire. - Che chisse scarpe e 'ssu cavezone,  me simbre pruopeje 'nu zambegnare ||

Among the square brackets there is the phonetic transcription with the syllabic division.
1) - The (atonic) e without accent  always corresponds only to the sound schwa
2) - The digraphs (and trigraphs) are countermarked in bold type (ds, ts, gn, ch, chj, ds, etc...).
3) - The a in atonic position (even if not marked by the accent) it is considered contracted (in this case the first a of zampegnare has the contracted sound of â. Also the a in tonic position it is often contracted in â. All vowels of zampegnâre (a, e, a, e) they are contracted (â, ê, â, ê).

Grammatical functions

Fasciuòle [fa-scjwò-le] o faciuòle - | n. m. sing. e pl. | • fagiolo. - § dim. fascelitte §

The grammatical function is contained among vertical bars in this case it is | n. m. sing. e pl. | 

FUNCTIONS EXPLANATION EXAMPLES [in it. and sm.]
 
agg. e agg. sost. common gender (both adjective and noun) vecchio, viecchia, vecchi, vecchie
agg. sing. e pl.   common gender bello, bella, belli, belle
n. m. sing. e pl.  marito, mariti
n. f. sing. e pl. casa, case
n. m. sing. (it exists, or it is used, only the sing.) tempo (atmospheric)
n. f. sing. (it exists, or it is used, only the sing.) verdà
n. f. pl.  (it exists, or it is used, only the pl.) detélle
n. m. pl.  (it exists, it is used, only the pl.)
-  n. sing. e pl. common gender oliva, olivo, olive, olivi.
-  agg. e avvsing. e pl. common gender tutta, tutta, tutti, tutti


Chiamà-rce [chjà-mâ] - | v. tr. - pp. chiamate | • chiamare, chiamarsi. 

The suffix -rce indicates the possibility that the verb can also be used as pronominal or reflexive.

Chiànde [chjan-de] o chiante - | n. f. sing. e pl. | • pianta. - § dim. chiandarelle, chiandecelle, chiandarellucce. - accr. chiandône (impr.) §

Between the signs § there are the possible alterations of nouns.

Scî [scî] o scîne o scije - | avv. | • sì. - || T'è ditte de scî! - Scîne, ca ce vajje. - Scîne ca scîne ma pu tanta tante ||

Between the double vertical bars they are some explanatory examples

Sciate [scjâ-te] - | n. m . sing. | • fiato, respiro. - [lat. flatu(m), da flare ‘soffiare, spirare’] 

Between final square brackets can be there the etymon of the word or some clarifications.

Uardà-rce [wàr-dâ] o guardà - | v. tr. - pp. uardate | • guardare, guardarsi. - || Loche de casa mije Di' ce uarde! || 

The voice with faded color (greyish) can be:
1) - less archaic (therefore less dialectal) or, more often...
2) - it doesn't coincide with the pronunciation being for the more used only in the writing.

RULES

Gnerally they are worth the following rules:

1) - Vowels, except that of the tonic syllable (where the accent falls), they are all contracted. Ex.: cane, pèquere, terlenzàcche, fìquere, próvele, vedé, uardà, 'ssegnerì, etc... or almost all words.

 

words phonetic transcription
 
nde pronunciation [sàn-de] [*]
nte writing [sàn-de] [*]
 
mbe pronunciation [càm-be] [*]
mpe writing [càm-be] [*]
 
nge pronunciation [gàn-ge] [*]
gance writing [gàn-ge] [*]
 
nghe pronunciation [bàn-ghe] [*]
nche writing [bàn-ghe] [*]
 
quenzèrve         pronunciation          [quen-dsèr-ve] [*]
quensèrve writing [quen-dsèr-ve] [*]
 
mmejjìne [mmej-jî-ne]
uadagnà [wâ-dâ-gnâ]
pìqquele [pìq-que-le] 
sertàneje [ser-tà-n(e)je]
levàte [le-vâ-te]
gnàqquele [gnàq-que-le]
velé [ve-lé]
pescà [pe-skà]
quendànne [quen-dàn-ne]
larehe [la-rehe] [**]
larghe [lar-ghe] [**]

 

[*] - The couples of words sande and sante, cambe and campe, gange and gance, banghe and banche, they are the same word, the first one as it is pronounced, the second as it is often written.

[**] - The word larehe is more archaic than larghe. The h (not preceded by c or g) it is pronounced with a light aspiration.

2) - The accented and free vowel a (followed by only one consonant or semiconsonant) in the paroxytone words it is always contracted (â). Ex.: malâte, velâte, ualâne, dammeggiâne, pâne, mâne, etc... - but it is equal to Italian a if it is follow by double consonant or double semiconsonant. Ex.: quendànne, dànne, pàtte, làtte, šcàtte, stàtte, etc...

3) - The same discourse is worth for the free vowel u or i (followed by only one consonant or semiconsonant) in accented syllable, in the  paroxytone words. Ex.: stûfe, nûde, mûre, segnûre, ûne, addûne, lûce, Lûche, etc... but it is equal to Italian u if it is follow by double consonant or double semiconsonant. Ex.: stùcche, stùjje, mammalùcche, jùtte, strùtte, etc...
    Therefore also paroxyton words ending with -îne, -îte, -îme, îje, etc... (with only one consonant or semiconsonant between two vowel î and e) they are always the î contracted. Ex.: pecîne, queggîne, melîne, Questandîne, cretîne, patîte, quendîte, perîte, quengîme, mangîme, ecc... but it is equal to Italian i if it is follow by double consonant or double semiconsonant. Ex.: fìjje, gìjje, pìcche, fìtte, mìtte, etc... 

4) - The accented vowels a, i and u, in the proparoxytone words (and the words that having the accent on the fourth-last syllable) they sound as in Italian. Ex.: màmmete, càgnete, àneme, àvete, àlbere, làvemelu, etc... and ccùrete, vùmmete, cciùcchete, 'ccùngemelu, etc... pìjjelu, nìnnele, cìtele, etc...

5) - The accented and free vowel e (not forming diphthong) (followed by an only consonant or semiconsonant) generally in paroxyton words it is always closed. Ex.: néve, péde, séde, créde, céde, féde, quéngede, prevvéde, veléne, caténe, etc...

6) - The accented vowel e (not forming diphthong) followed by a double consonant (or double semiconsonant or consonantal group) in paroxyton words generally it is opened (or closed) but never contracted). Ex.:
- sètte , lètte, recètte, bèlle, lènde, chemmènde, jenèstre, lèste, lèvete, etc...
- céste, sajétte, bbejjétte, sapenétte, etc...

7) - The accented and free vowel e (not forming diphthong) in proparoxytone words generally is always open. Ex.: lèvete, prèvete, cèveze, jènnere, jèttelu, cèfele, Tèrmele, cèrquele, etc... but lémmete.

8) - The accented and free vowel o (not forming diphthong, followed by only one consonant or semiconsonant) in the paroxytone words it is always generally close or contracted (never open). Ex.:
- nóve, cóve, tróve, próve, lóche, precóche, fóche, bbóne, cóce (cuocere), nóme, etc...
- côce (cucire), vôle, côde, dottôre, pemmedôre, cannône, sôle, zôche, nône, etc...

9) - The accented vowel o (not forming diphthong, followed by a double consonant or double semiconsonant or consonantal group) in paroxytone words can be closed or open (never contracted). Ex.:
- vótte, cóve, sótte, spójje, mójje, etc...
- còtte , lòtte, nòtte, pasqualòtte, còlle, scòlle, bòtte, etc...

10) - The accented vowels e and o forming diphthong are always opened. Ex.: pejède, relle, caccavejèlle, etc... and mmere, cche, nve, vve, sre, mvete, etc... We remember that vowels in the syllables chie, chia, chiu, chio, gia, gio, gie giu, cia, cio, cie, ciu, scia, scio, scie, sciu, etc... they don't form diphthong because the i is a pure graphic sign.

11) - Words però, sennò, pecciò, pecché, etc... they trace the pronunciation of the accented final vowel of Italian language.
Oxyton
words ending in o and a have some particularities.
If after the apocopation they end for o (that is contracted in the original word), this vowel doesn't remain contracted. Ex.:
- uajjo' [waj-jó] from uajjône [waj-jô-ne] 
If after the apocopation they end for a (that is contracted in the original word), this vowel will become indefinite (it can remain â or to change in à). Ex.:
- [à < â] - cumba' [kum-bà] from cumbâre [kum-bâ-re]
- [â < â] - chemma' [kem-mâ] from chemmâre [kem-mâ-re]
- [â < â] - pajesa' [pa-je-sâ] from pajesâne [pa-je-sâ-ne]

This is often due to paralinguistic phenomenons 

See vowel indeterminateness >>>

12) - There are few words, locutions and anomalous interjections that they don't follow any of the aforementioned rules as: nonnò [nòn-nò], zizì [tsi-tsì], tè tè [tè tè], to [tò tò], etc...

13) - We remember that in dialect the digraph gn is double and therefore the vowel that precedes it is never contracted. Ex.:
- [ó] cógne, rógne
- [ò] catalògne, 
- [à] sàgne, castàgne, tràgne, selàgne
- [ì] tìgne, sìgne, strìgne
- [é] Cégne, velégne, ségne
- [è] dialect words that contain the group ègne are not been found.

14) - The digraph sc (follow by vowels  i or e) in dialect can be double or single. However we mark the consonantic reinforcement by apostrophe. Ex.: 'scéme, pà'sce, cà'sce, pì'sce, ecc... trâsce, câsce, cûsce. ecc...

see phonology

Suggestions

At times certain consonants, as we have seen, they are written in a way but they are pronounced in another; certain consonants in front of m and n they tend to become voiced. They has so the following transformations:

== == == == == == == == == == =

Generally in the dictionary both the voices are reported (that writing and that pronounced). The problem is often due (especially for who doesn't speak in dialect) to the terminological understanding. Ex.: tendà is less intuitable of tentà [to try], as vènde, pónde, cande... are less recognizable than vènte [wind], ponte [bridge], cante [I or he sing]

N. B. - Pay attention to the voicing of above-mentioned consonants, not only in the morphono-logy [sic] but also in the morphono-syntax [sic]. Ex.:

- You can be write Quille nen ce vo jî 
- but it is pronounced
Quille nen ge vo jî

Not only in the single words but also between word and word it is worth the rule of the consonantal voicing

- the palatal c after the n it is pronounced as palatal
Ex.: - nen ci'u dice  > nen gi'u dice

- the unvoiced c after the n it is pronounced as hevy g.
Ex.: - l'é remaste 'n cape  > l'é remaste 'n gape

- s after n it is pronounced as sonorous z [ds]
Ex.: - Nen sapé fà nejente  > nen zapé fà nejende.

- t after n it is pronounced as
Ex.: - Nen t'a pejjà  > Nen d'a pejjà

- p after m it is pronounced as
Ex.: - [***]

- s after r it is pronounced z [ts].
Ex.: - [***]

[***] - These two last missed examples are hypothetical only, because they don't exist, in Sanmartinese dialect, words that end in m or r.

 

 

***********************

Verbs, especially those of the first conjugation -à, in Sanmartinese, as also in many other dialects of the Center-South, it has an unusual capacity. If they don't begin for vowel, these verbs also have often the form that is gotten adding the prefix a-. Ex.: 'nnazzecà > annazzecà - 'ccattà > accattà - sciacquà > asciacquà - etc... After the addition of the prefix, the initial free consonant doubles.
  Generally these verbs with the prefix in a- they are used with the addition of a pronominal enclitic particle : me, te, ce, ve, le, etc.... 
Ex.:
- accattet 'u cappote!  
- asciacquet 'i mâne!  
- alluongheli 'nu poche!  
- ajjùtem' a 'nghianà  
- arrangiàte-ve! 
- ecc... 

As in Italian, the augmentative's in -ône of the feminine nouns change gender and they become masculine. Ex.:

- 'na case > 'nu casône
- 'na spase > 'nu spasône
- 'na tavele > 'nu tavelône
- 'na spade > 'nu spadône


ABBREVIATIONS

ABBREVIATIONS ITALIAN ENGLISH
 
abr. abruzzese abruzzese
accr. accrescitivo accrescitivo
ad. adattamento adaptation
agg. aggettivo adjective
agg. sost. aggettivo sostantivato substantivized adjective
al. albanese Albanian
ar. arabo Arab
art. articolo article
artic. articolata articulated
attrav. attraverso through
avv. avverbio adverb
cal. calabro, calabrese Calabrian
camp. campano from Campania
comp. composto composed
ctr. contrario contrary
cfr. confronta compare
cong. congiunzione conjunction
det. determinativo determinative or definite
dif. difettivo defective
dim. diminutivo diminutive
dispr. dispregiativo depreciative
f. femminile female
fig. figurativo figurative
fr. francese French
gen. generale, generalmente general, generally
gerg. gergale slangy
germ. germanico Germanic
got. gotico Gothic
gr. greco Greek
impers. impersonale impersonal
impr. improprio, impropriamente improper, improperly
ind. indicativo indicative
indet. indeterminativo indeterminate
inf. infantile childish
ing. inglese English
int. interiezione interjection
interr. interrogativo question
intr. intransitivo intransitive
inv. invariantivo invariantive
irreg. irregolare irregular
lat. latino Latin
laz. laziale of Lazio
lett. letterariamente literarily
loc. locuzione locution
longob. longobardo longobard
luc. lucano of Lucania
m. maschile masculine
merid. meridionale southern
mol. molisano of Molise
n. nome name
nap. napoletano Neapolitan
numer. numerale numeral
orig. origine, originariamente origin, originally
pegg. peggiorativo pejorative
pers. persona, personale person, personal
pp. participio passato past participle
pr. pronuncia, pronunciato pronunciation, pronounced
pref. prefisso prefix
pres. presente present
pron. pronome pronoun
pronom pronominale pronominal
provenz. provenzale Provenzal
pugl. pugliese of Puglia
raff. rafforzativo reinforcement
rar raro rare
rif. riferito reported
rifl. riflessivo reflexive
sal. salentino of Salento
scherz. scherzoso joky
sett. settentrionale northern
sing. singolare singular
sost. sostantivo, sostantivato substantive, substantivized
sovrab. sovrabbondante superabundant
sp. spagnolo Spanish
spec. specifico, specificamente specific, specifically
spr. spregiativo, spregiativamente pejorative, pejoratively
suff. suffisso suffix
td. tedesco German
tr. transitivo transitive
v. verbo verb
vezz. vezzeggiativo diminutive form of noun
volg. volgare vulgar

 

 

Authors of cited works

(D.Z.) - Domenico Zurro
(D. Sassi) - Domenico Sassi
(D.B) - Domenico Bielli


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