Sicilian
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Cursu di lingua siciliana
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Sicilian (Sicilianu) is a Romance language of Italy, mostly spoken in Sicily. Sicilian dialects (or dialects comprising the Italiano meridionale-estremo language group) are spoken on the island of Sicily (and all of its satellite islands), as well as in the southern and central sections of Calabria ("southern Calabro") and Puglia ("Salentino") on the Italian mainland. Ethnologue (see section below) describes Sicilian as being "distinct enough from Standard Italian to be considered a separate language".
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The Alphabet
[edit | edit source]| a | b | c | d | ḍ | e | f | g | h | i | j | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | z |
Doubled consonants
[edit | edit source]Sicilian has a lot of words that begin with doubled consonants but the ones that are written are:
| cci | nni | cchiù | dda | ddi | ddu | ssa | ssi | ssu | ccà | ḍḍòcu | ḍḍà |
S'attròvanu puru ddi paroli chi pirderu la vucali, lassannu cunzunanti duppricati ô principiu di na palora, p'asempiu: mmeci; mmernu; nnuccenti; mmàggini; llustrari; ecc.
Articles
[edit | edit source]Definite:
| lu | la | li | (l') | with elision of l, they become: |
| u | a | i | (l') | (in the spoken language) |
Indefinite:
| un o nu | nu | na | (n') |
| un cavaddu | nu zìu/nu scantu | na fìmmina | n’abbitùdini |
Unu (masculine) and una (feminine) are used as cardinal numbers and as articles.
Simple prepositions
[edit | edit source]| a | cu | 'n | di | tra | pi | nna | nni | nta | ntra | senza | supra | sutta |
These prepositions may be joined with the definite article:
| Prepositions: | + Article: lu = | + Article: la = | + Article: li = | + Article: un = |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | ô | â | ê | ôn |
| cu | cû | câ | chî | c'un |
| di | dû | dâ | dî | d'un |
| pi | pû | pâ | pî | p'un |
| nni | nnû | nnâ | nnî | nn'un |
| nna/nta | nnô/ntô | nnâ/ntâ | nnê/ntê | nn'un/nt'un |
| ntra | ntrô | ntrâ | ntrê | ntr'un |
Adverbs
[edit | edit source]Of place:
| sutta | supra | ccà | ddà | unni | ntunnu | dintra | avanti | vicinu | versu | allatu |
Of time:
| doppu | ora | aieri | oi | dumani | quannu | mai | mentri | nzinu |
Of quantity:
| abbastanza | picca | assai | menu | cchiù | tantu | anticchia |
Of manner:
| comu | beni | accussì | nùtili | ammucciuni | diversamenti |
Other adverbs:
| siccomu | dunca | macari | avanti | prìmisi | mmenzu | mmeci |
Conjunctions
[edit | edit source]| e | puru | sparti | però | mancu | ancora | anchi | ma | pirchì | sippuru | mmeci |
The apostrophe
[edit | edit source]The apostrophe is a graphic sign that is used when two vowels meet. Nna lu casu di eliminazzioni naturali di na vucali chi si trova a principiu di parola, nun è nicissariu usari l'apòstrufu, picchì, secunnu Giorgiu Piccittu anchi senza l'apòstrufu la parola si capisci lu stissu e livannu l'apòstrufu, quannu si pò, si elìminanu tutti sti signali nni la lingua scritta. Pi la stissa raggiuni, sempri secunnu Piccittu, l'apòstrofu nun s'havi mai a usari mancu nni la cuntrazzioni di l'artìculu nditerminativu picchì lu senzu è chiaru:
na nu
Words that begin with i, where the i is lost, as said before, the apostrophe isn't used to demonstrate the loss of the vowel:
Mpurtanti; Nnuccenti; Nzignanti; Ntattu; Ntisu; Mparari.
So, we can say that the articles la, lu, li and pronouns la, lu, li, take the apostrophe as demonstrative adjectives ddu, dda, ddi, stu, sta, sti, ssa, ssu, ssi. The personal pronouns ti, nni, vi, and reflexives si and cci may take apostrophe too. If cci meets a, o, u it doesn't take the apostrophe.
Other phrases where the apostrophe may be used:
- C'avem'a fari = chi avemu a fari
- C'avem'a diri = chi avemu a diri
Verbs
[edit | edit source]The verb is the most important part of speech. The verbs are divided in: regulars, irregulars, transitives, intransitives, reflexives, defectives and modals. Sicilian has one verb that is auxiliary.
See also:
[edit | edit source]Other links:
[edit | edit source]Sites where you can find good examples of sicilian standard:
- Arba Sicula - a sicilian-american organization for sicilian literature
- Pruverbi siciliani scritti pi sicilianu e ngrisi
- Na discrizzioni dâ grammàtica siciliana di Sergio Giorgi
- Tanti puemi, cunti e saggìstichi, scritti o traduciuti di Ninu Russu
- Linguasiciliana.org - nn'havi tanti matiriali diversi a rispettu dâ lingua scritta
Common phrases
[edit | edit source]| English | Sicilian |
|---|---|
| Yes | Sé |
| No | No |
| Thank you | Grazzî |
| Please | Pi favuri |
| What is your name? | Comu ti chiami? |
| What time is it? | Chi ura sunnu? |
| I don’t know | Nun lu sacciu |
| Goodbye | Nni videmu |