What is "wife" in Italian?

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deidre
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What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by deidre »

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
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Poipuo4
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by Poipuo4 »

Yes, moglie is the correct word. The "ie" has more of an "ay" sound when spoken.
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by peggymckee »

"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
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misbris
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by misbris »

Moglie is definitely wife. There may be another word in Sicilian that you are more familiar with.
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NOLA
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by NOLA »

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.
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misbris
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by misbris »

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.
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deidre
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by deidre »

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
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misbris
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by misbris »

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.
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BrooklynGene
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by BrooklynGene »

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.
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Re: What is "wife" in Italian?

Post by mariothegreat »

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
Hi, if you are checking old microfilms a word for wife could be "consorte", or "con'te"
Cheers
Mario
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