Sicilian dialect

[Bigben]

I want to thank BethW for posting my website which is how I found this forum. Here are a couple of websites that might be helpful for learning Sicilian grammar.

Sicilian Language Course Online:
http://www.linguasiciliana.org/grammati ... course.htm

and

Brief Course of Sicilian Language:
http://home.att.net/~ilsiciliano/images ... nguage.htm

Most online language courses only give you enough information to get you started with a language. I always encourage people to explore learning a language as the best way to fully experience a culture.

Best Regards,

Bennett (Bigben)
Owner and Developer
Word2Word Language Resources
http://www.word2word.com[/url]

[ptimber]

Thank you very much for sharing this with us. Peter

[OmertaSiciliana]

I've been studying Sicilian for awhile now. I find it's helpful to read Sicilian poetry with English translations. I pick up the words pretty quickly.

Also, I just realized something. AgrigentoSicula --- lol, I'm Keri [gmasterdisaster]. Tell me something though. Is bedda pronounced that way in all dialects, or just some? On my grandpa's Sicilian CDs they pronounce it as written. *head spins in confusion*

[ptimber]

Bedda feminine and Beddu masculine. Peter

[ptimber]

There is only one way to pronounce Bedda or Beddu in any language and thatis the way it is written since this is what you asked about. Peter

[mystictyger18]

that sounds like a good idea...do you know any good places to get sicilian poetry with an english translation?

[ptimber]

I believe it is mentioned in this inquiry in earlier responses. You may alsowish to contact Bigben who is also above your inquiry. Start st the beginning on page 1 since you are not at page 4 in responses. Peter

[agrigentosicula]

I've been studying Sicilian for awhile now. I find it's helpful to read Sicilian poetry with English translations. I pick up the words pretty quickly.

Also, I just realized something. AgrigentoSicula --- lol, I'm Keri [gmasterdisaster]. Tell me something though. Is bedda pronounced that way in all dialects, or just some? On my grandpa's Sicilian CDs they pronounce it as written. *head spins in confusion*

Ciau Keri! Comu stai? Sempri speru bonu. Bedda is a tricky word. It can be pronounced in a whole bunch of ways. The most common is the BED-gia pronounciation.. kind of like a rapid flap against the back of the top teeth with the tip of your tongue. Some alternate pronounciations: just bedda, beddra, bayda, bedgia, bejah.. there's a lot of them! Pretty much, you could pronounce it any way (within reason) and no one would ever know. There are so many Sicilian dialects and without specifying what town your family is from you could probably get away with a lot. You might be from Catania and talk like a Missinisi however!

Stay well

[ptimber]

You left out BEDDU which is masculine for word beautiful and referring to a son you would say FIG-YU BED-DOO in english Phonetic. Of course Figya Bedda is the feminine for a daughter or whatever. peter

[agrigentosicula]

You left out BEDDU which is masculine for word beautiful and referring to a son you would say FIG-YU BED-DOO in english Phonetic. Of course Figya Bedda is the feminine for a daughter or whatever. peter

Either way the pronounciation is interchangable. Figghiu beddu means beautiful son and figghia bedda beautiful daughter. The word beddu/a has nothing to do with just the word daughter/son and is only used to say something is beautiful or pretty.

[ptimber]

It conveys feminine or masculine adjective describing the gender of the subject. Peter

[OmertaSiciliana]

Ciau Audra! Bona sugnu iu, comu stai tu? Argh. Nun pozzu parràri siciliànu. Haha. Actually I was wondering something. I was going to write to some people in Sicily who I think are relatives. I figure I'd write to them just to see if we're related. I suppose it would make logical sense to write in Italian. If I write in Sicilian will they ridicule me? Everyone I've spoken to says they got made fun of for speaking Sicilian in Sicily, since it's "outdated". Of course if I even make an attempt at Italian they'll realllyyy have something to laugh about.

Also in response to someone else's post, just go to google and type in "sicilian poetry" or "poesia siciliana". A lot of things come up, with translations. One really good site is http://dieli.net/SicilyPage/Poetry/Poetry.html . The majority of those have translations and are really nice.

What do you think about Calabrese though? Language or dialect? 8O

Addiu!

[OmertaSiciliana]

Actually the bedda thing makes sense. In Spanish most often we pronounce "bella" like "BAY-gia", kind of like a J. Both languages have some similarities, so ... I get it.

[ptimber]

WWW.CIRCOLOCALABRESE.ORG discusses spoken Calabrian as not an italian dialect but rather a "sister" language to Italian spoken in a manner known as Toscana. Peter

[agrigentosicula]

Ciau cumpà, sugnu cuntenta ca bona sì tu!

You could always write in Sicilian. Never be ashamed of writing Sicilian. Sicilian is not outdated.. I say this because almost all Sicilians speak Sicilian with one another and Italian in school or to tourists. They say it's outdated because really all it's used in writing today is poetry.. Also, it's outdated because reading/writing Sicilian was never taught on a widespread level. At the time where standard Italian wasn't spoken in Sicily, everyone was illiterate anyway.. so it's only logical they can read and write Italian save for the very older Sicilians.. Am I making sense? lol

You could be on the safe side and write Italian, but that has no flavor! Who wants to read Italian when they're Sicilian and they speak it? Don't get me wrong, Italian is a beautiful language but it's not Sicilian. Sicilian is not something to be ashamed of and I wish they knew how wonderful it is before they lose it! Show them how well you write Sicilian. U parrari e scriviri sicilianu unn'è na cosa vrigognusa, lu sai..