Words Indicating Location?

[rp76226]

The maternal side of my family came from the province of Bari (Altamura and Grumo appula) though one uncle came from Sicily. They sometimes talked using two words that I assumed meant where people were from. I do not know how to spell those words, but phonetically they sounded like this:

"Bod-aise" and "Nap -lee -tan"

Does anyone know the meaning of those two words?

Ron

[AngelaGrace56]

"Nap-lee-tan"

I'd say this would be the word Napoletano –
basically a person from Naples; the dialect spoken by people in and around Naples, the culture, food etc.

Angela

[darkerhorse]

I agree about Napolitan.

I'd guess Bod-aise is Bariese, with the "r" sounding a bit like a "d", meaning from Bari.

How far back have you traced your family in Bari?

[rp76226]

To the early 1700s.

[Biff83]

Another one to add to the mix here.

My paternal grandparents were Calabres'; my maternal grandparents were "Foo-jon" from the province of Foggia.

[rp76226]

I thought that Nap - lee-tan referred to Naples due to the similarity of the sound/letters. However, we had no family from Naples.

[darkerhorse]

I believe Naples is the dominant city near the region where Bari is located, and that the Bari dialect is an offshoot of the Naples dialect. So, your ancestors might not have come from Naples but they were likely influenced by Naples.

[darkerhorse]

To the early 1700s.

Do you know of any ancestors from that era who migrated from Bari to Sicily?

[darkerhorse]

Select translate from Italian to English, type in "Barese" and click on audio.

In local dialect they likely didn't pronounce the final vowel. If the "r" was rolled it might have sounded more like a "d".

https://www.freetranslations.org/voice-translator.html#

Maybe someone who speaks the Napoletan dialect can help.

[rp76226]

I know of no ancestors who migrated from Bari to Sicily. However, there was an uncle (technically husband of my aunt) who was born in Sicily and when he played Brisque (a card game) with my father, (born here, father from Sicily),maternal grandfather (born in Altmaura, Bari) and other uncle (Polish), the two words would sometimes come up in their conversation with an over emphasis on pronouncing them that I took as meant to be little "insults" but in a nice, friendly teasing way. These words never came up on my paternal side where all ancestors were from Sicily. Nor did they play Brisque. Instead they played pinochle.

[PippoM]

I agree with "Barese" and "Napoletano". Maybe what they meant when saying "You are "Napulitan"", while playing cards, was some kind of "insult" for someone who used to make tricks (as Neapolitans are popularly known as cheaters)

[rp76226]

My wife's 91 year old cousin, who is also into Genealogy, called me to explain. Just as I did in the 1950s and 1960s, she heard it often as the men in her family played cards when she was growing up in the 1930s and 1940s. According to her (and she speaks and understands Italian), it was said as a friendly "slur" when someone made a stupid card play. They were then "mocked" but no one took offense - "You must be a stupid person from Naples" or "You must be a stupid person from Bodi".