I looked up "wife" in an online eng->italian dictionary and it gave me the word "moglie". This doesn't look right to me - my mom's family spoke Italian (Sicilian) and I've picked up some, but I've never heard an Italian word end in "ie".
Thank you,
Deidre
What is "wife" in Italian?
Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
Yes, moglie is the correct word. The "ie" has more of an "ay" sound when spoken.
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- Elite
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
"Sposa" is another choice. "Marito e moglie", husband and wife, seems to be quite a common expression. I'm not a native speaker, however. All the best, Peg M
Surnames: Bertellotti - Ridolfi - Marchi
Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
Moglie is definitely wife. There may be another word in Sicilian that you are more familiar with.
Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
In dialect sometimes you'll see this mugliere which means moglie. It is pronounced "mool yr e". I remember hearing this many times when my parents spoke in Neopolitan, and I've heard this used in Sicily.
Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
You are right Nola. My grandparents were from Benevento province and used that word also. I didn't ever remember that until you mentioned it.
Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
Thank you all for your replies. Mugliere does sound right to me, but as you say, my experience is in hearing it pronounced, not written.
The context of the word was a ships passenger list. I noticed that the wives' first names were all "Maglia" (that's what the handwritten word looked like) Then I noticed there were also many "figlio" and "figlia" under the "maglia"s, so I figured the first name must be the man's, and the rest were the words for wife, son and daughter, not their actual names.
Thanks again,
Deidre
The context of the word was a ships passenger list. I noticed that the wives' first names were all "Maglia" (that's what the handwritten word looked like) Then I noticed there were also many "figlio" and "figlia" under the "maglia"s, so I figured the first name must be the man's, and the rest were the words for wife, son and daughter, not their actual names.
Thanks again,
Deidre
Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
You are absolutely correct. The handwriting on some of these records is hard to read. Most times the wives traveled under their maiden names and the children were listed sometimes under her name, but most times under the father's name.
- BrooklynGene
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
In Sicilian dialect the word for wife is probably written mugghiere but pronouced as someone else said as "mool yer ei." Of course, figlio and figla are son and daughter respectively.
- mariothegreat
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?
Hi, if you are checking old microfilms a word for wife could be "consorte", or "con'te"deidre wrote:I looked up "wife" in an online eng->italian dictionary and it gave me the word "moglie". This doesn't look right to me - my mom's family spoke Italian (Sicilian) and I've picked up some, but I've never heard an Italian word end in "ie".
Thank you,
Deidre
Cheers
Mario