Sicilian language

Western Sicilian (Palermitano in , Trapanese in Trapani, Central-Western Agrigentino in Agrigento)

Palermo

Central Metafonetic (in the central part of Sicily that includes some areas of the provinces of , Messina, Enna, Palermo and Agrigento)

Caltanissetta

Southeast Metafonetic (in the and the adjoining area within the Province of Syracuse)

Province of Ragusa

Ennese (in the )

Province of Enna

Eastern Non-Metafonetic (in the area including the , the second largest city in Sicily, as Catanese, and the adjoining area within the Province of Syracuse)

Metropolitan City of Catania

Messinese (in the , the third largest city in Sicily)

Metropolitan City of Messina

Eoliano (in the )

Aeolian Islands

(on the island of Pantelleria)

Pantesco

Reggino (in the ,^[33][34] especially on the Scilla–Bova line,^[35] and excluding the areas of Locri and Rosarno, which represent the first isogloss that divide Sicilian from the continental varieties).^[4]

Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria

alastra – "" (a thorny, prickly plant native to the Mediterranean region; but also Greek kélastron and may in fact have penetrated Sicilian via one of the Gaulish languages)^[41][45]

spiny broom

ammarrari – "to dam or block a canal or running water" (but also Spanish embarrar "to muddy")

[45]

calancuni – "ripples caused by a fast running river"

calanna – "landslide of rocks" (cf. Greek χαλάω (khaláō) "loosen, drop", verb borrowed into Latin, widespread in Romance languages)

racioppu – "stalk or stem of a fruit etc." (ancient Mediterranean word rak)

[45]

timpa – "crag, cliff" (but also Greek týmba, Latin tumba and Catalan timba).

[45]

ḌḌ/DD — The retroflex phoneme // (usually geminated or long [ɖː]) is normally the result of the evolution of Latin -ll-.^[87][88] This sound is rare but present among Romance languages, including Sardinian, Southern Corsican, and some dialects of Calabria.^[88] Similar but not identical sounds are also found in the rest of the Extreme Southern Italian dialect group.^[88] The older [lː] sequence is retained in some dialects,^[87] while the pronunciation of this phoneme as dental [dː] is increasingly common.^[86] Traditionally in Sicilian, the sound was written as -đđ-, and in more contemporary usage -dd- has been used. It is also often found written -ddh- or -ddr- (both of which are often considered confusing, as they may also represent [dː] and [ɖːɽ], respectively). In the Cademia Siciliana orthographical proposal as well as the Vocabolario siciliano descriptive orthography, the digraph -ḍḍ- is used.^[86][89] For example, the counterpart to Italian bello in Sicilian is beḍḍu.^[85]

ɖ

DR and TR — The Sicilian pronunciation of the digraphs -dr- and -tr- is [ɖɽ] and [ʈɽ], or even [ɖʐ], [ʈʂ]. If they are preceded by a nasal consonant, n is then a retroflex nasal sound [ɳ].

[86]

GHI and CHI — The two digraphs -gh- and -ch-, when occurring before front vowel sounds i or e or a semivowel j, can be pronounced as palatal stops [] and [c]. From Italian, in place of -gl-, a geminated trigraph -ggh(i)- is used and is pronounced as [ɟː]. When -ch(j)- is geminated, -cch(j)- it can be pronounced as [cː].

ɟ

RR — The digraph -rr-, depending on the variety of Sicilian, can be a long trill [] (hereafter transcribed without the length mark)^[86] or a voiced retroflex sibilant [ʐː].^[85] This innovation is also found under slightly different circumstances in Polish, where it is spelled -rz-, and in some Northern Norwegian dialects, where speakers vary between [ʐ] and [ɹ̝]. At the beginning of a word, the single letter r is similarly always pronounced double, though this is not indicated orthographically. This phenomenon, however, does not include words that start with a single r resulting from rhotacism or apheresis (see below), which should not be indicated orthographically to avoid confusion with regular double r.

rː

Voiced S and Z— The // and /ts/ sounds are voiced as [z] and [dz] when after /n/ or other voiced sounds. In the Sicilian digraphs -sb- and -sv-, /s/ becomes voiced and palatalized as a voiced post-alveolar fricative [ʒ] along with the voiced sounds /b, v/.

s

STR and SDR— The Sicilian -str- and -sdr- are [ʂːɽ] or [ʂː], and [ʐːɽ] or [ʐː].^[86] The t is not pronounced at all and there is a faint whistle between the s and the r, producing a similar sound to the shr of English shred, or how some English speakers pronounce "frustrated". The voiced equivalent is almost similar to how some English speakers might pronounce the phrase "was driving".

trigraphs

Latin FL — The other unique Sicilian sound is found in those words that have been derived from Latin words containing -fl-. In standard literary Sicilian, the sound is rendered as -ci- (representing the voiceless palatal fricative //), e.g. ciumi ("river", from Latin flūmen), but can also be found in written forms such as -hi-, -x(h)-, -çi-, or erroneously -sci-.^[90]

ç

Consonantal — A further range of consonantal sound shifts occurred between the Vulgar Latin introduced to the island following Norman rule and the subsequent development of the Sicilian language. These sound shifts include: Latin -nd- to Sicilian -nn-; Latin -mb- to Sicilian -mm-; Latin -pl- to Sicilian -chi-; and Latin -li- to Sicilian -gghi-.^[91]

lenition

Rhotacism and apheresis — This transformation is characterized by the substitution of single d by r. In Sicilian this is produced by a single flap of the tongue against the upper alveolar ridge []. This phenomenon is known as rhotacism, that is, the substitution of r for another consonant; it is commonly found both in Eastern and Western Sicilian, and elsewhere in Southern Italy, especially in Neapolitan. It can occur internally, or it can affect initial d, in which case it should not be represented orthographically to avoid confusion with the regular r (see above). Examples : pedi ("foot") is pronounced [ˈpɛːɾi]; Madonna ("Virgin Mary") is pronounced [maˈɾɔnna]; lu diri ("to say it") is pronounced [lʊ ˈɾiːɾi]. Similarly, apheresis of some clusters may occur in certain dialects, producing instances such as 'ranni [ˈɾanni] for granni "big".^[86]

ɾ

(from arancinu): a Sicilian cuisine specialty;

arancino

(from ncannistratu): a cheese typical of Sicily;

canestrato

(from cannolu): a Sicilian pastry;

cannolo

cannolicchio (from cannulicchiu): ;

razor clam

carnezzeria (from carnizzaria): butcher's shop;

caruso (from carusu): boy, especially a Sicilian one;

: a Sicilian pastry;

cassata

(from cirnecu): a small breed of dogs common in Sicily;

cirneco

: a small group of criminals affiliated to the Sicilian mafia;

cosca

curatolo (from curàtulu): watchman in a farm, with a yearly contract;

dammuso (from dammusu): stony habitation typical of the island of ;

Pantelleria

intrallazzo (from ntrallazzu): illegal exchange of goods or favours, but in a wider sense also cheat, intrigue;

marranzano (from marranzanu): ;

Jew's harp

marrobbio (from marrubbiu): quick variation of sea level produced by a store of water in the coasts as a consequence of either wind action or an atmospheric depression;

minchia: penis in its original meaning, but also stupid person; is also widely used as interjection to show either astonishment or rage;

picciotto (from picciottu): young man, but also the lowest grade in the Mafia hierarchy;

(from pizzinu): small piece of paper, especially used for secret criminal communications;

pizzino

(from pizzu, literally meaning "beak", from the saying fari vagnari a pizzu "to wet one's beak"): protection money paid to the Mafia;

pizzo

quaquaraquà (onomatopoeia?; "the duck wants a say"): person devoid of value, nonentity;

scasare (from scasari, literally "to move home"): to leave en masse;

(equivalent to Italian stella): lower Mafia organization.

stidda

Arba Sicula

Baccagghju

Cademia Siciliana

Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani

Griko

Magna Graecia

Sicilian School

Siculo-Arabic

Theme of Sicily

– a non-profit organization that promotes education, research and activism regarding the Sicilian language, as well as an orthographic standard

Cademia Siciliana

– a non-profit organization that promotes the language and culture of Sicily

Arba Sicula

– Dictionary of the Sicilian Language

Napizia

Sicilian Translator

(in Sicilian)

www.linguasiciliana.org

– Sicilian body language, learn the meaning of 81 gestures of Sicily with an app (free and no ads)

siciliangestures.net