Neapolitan

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Neapolitan

Neapolitan ( Napulitano [ ˌnnapulɪˈtaˑnə ] in Neapolitan and Napoletano in Italian ) is a Romance language as spoken in the city of Naples (Neapolitan: Napule , Italian: Napoli ). Neapolitan is the mother of the Campanian dialects , which differ from city to city. There are many similarities to the dialects of the surrounding regions of central and southern Italy such as Latium , Abruzzo , Molises , Apulia , Basilicata and Calabria . In the mid-1970s there were around seven million native speakers . The Neapolitan language is predominantly spoken in the Campania region and in the provinces of Foggia and Bari (Apulia). By legislative decree on October 14, 2008, Neapolitan was officially recognized as a language by the Campania region.

classification

Neapolitan is commonly viewed as a Western Romance language , although a classification as Southern Romance is occasionally suggested. Although they are all understandable to each other, there are some differences between the individual dialects. However, there are clear grammatical differences between standardized Italian and Neapolitan, such as the gender category neuter or the plural form. Like Italian, Neapolitan developed from Vulgar Latin. Here, however, Neapolitan is differentiated from Italian by some differences in its sound structure, which may be based on a pre-Latin influence of Oscar .

For example, the vulgar Latin [d] at the beginning of the word or between vowels is realized as [r] (for example doje , or duje ("two"), pronounced and often also written as roje / ruje ; vedé ("see") pronounced and often written as veré ). However, the view is also expressed that this Rhotazism may have appeared more recently. Other assumed influences of Oscar on Neapolitan include the pronunciation of the consonant group / nd / as / nn / (for example munno (cf. Italian 'mondo', "world") and quanno ( Italian 'quando', " when “)) and / mb / as / mm / (for example tamuro (“ drum ”, Italian 'tamburo')). Furthermore, influences of Greek are noticeable, which was the language of Naples until the ninth century. So far, all attempts to standardize the language have been unsuccessful.

Although the Neapolitan can look back on a rich tradition in literature, music and theater (for example Giambattista Basile , Eduardo De Filippo and Totò ), the language does not enjoy official recognition in Italy and therefore cannot be taught in state schools. In 2003 the proposal to set up Neapolitan as a subject was rejected on the grounds that it was only a language of the lower classes. Furthermore, there are legislative efforts at national level for recognition as an official minority language in Italy.

For comparison, the Our Father is reproduced here in the Neapolitan dialects of Naples and Northern Calabria, as well as in standard Italian .

Neapolitan (Napoli) North Calabrian North Apulian Apulian (Taranto) Standard Italian
Godfather nuoste Patre nuorru Patre nostre Patre nostre Padre Nostro,
ca staje ncielo, chi sta ntru cielu, ca staje nciele, ca sì 'jndr'a le ciele, che sei nei cieli,
santificammo 'o nomme tujo chi sia santificatu u nume tuoio, santificammo 'u nume tuje cu ssía sandefecáte 'u nome tuje, sia santificato il tuo nome.
faje vení 'o regno tujo, venisse u riegnu tuoio, venge 'u règne tuje cu avéne 'u règne tuje, Venga il tuo regno,
sempe c '' a vuluntà toja, se facisse a vuluntà tuoia, sempe c '' a vuluntà toje, cu ssía fatte 'a vulundáte toje, sia fatta la tua volontà,
accussí ncielo e nterra. sia ntru cielu ca nterra. accussí ncièle e nterre. accume 'nciéle accussi' 'ndèrre. come in cielo, so in terra.
Fance avè 'o ppane tutt' 'e juorne Ranne oje u pane nuorro e tutti i juorni, dàcce ogge 'u ppane tutt' 'e juorne, dàcce ôsce 'u páne nuostre sciurnalére, Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano,
lèvece 'e rièbbete perdunacce i rebita nuorri, e rimètte a nuje i nustre dèbbiti, dà a nnu 'le rascce nuostre, e rimetti a noi i nostri debiti,
comme nuje 'e llevamme cumu nue perdunammu cumme nuje 'e llevamme accume nu 'le dáme come noi li rimettiamo
all'ate, i rebituri nuorri. all'ate. a lle debbettúre nuostre, ai nostri debitori.
now nce fa spantecà, Un ce mannare ntra tentazione, e now nce indurre 'ntentazione, e nno'nge annùscere 'ndendazzióne, E non ci indurre in tentazione,
e llevace 'o male' a tuorno. ma liberacce e ru male. ma liberacce 'o male. ma lìbberece d'ô mále. ma liberaci dal male.
Amen. Ammèn. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Phonetic properties of Neapolitan

( Phonetic transcription according to the International Phonetic Association )

Vowels at the end of a word

Unstressed vowels at the end of words in general about / ⁠ ə ⁠ / ( schwa ), often unstressed vowels within a word.

Palatalization

The group "S + bilabial or velar occlusive" ( s impura ) is palatalized:

Nota bene: “S + alveolar plosive” is not palatalised!

This also applies analogously to the (rarer) voiced variants of the three groups.

Diphthongization and metaphony

The diphthongization and metaphony ( affection ) are important characteristics of the Neapolitan.

Based on the vulgar Latin form, I and U lead to a diphthongization
Example. The vulgar Latin PORTUM becomes puorto [ ˈpwortə ], but PORTARE becomes portare (or apocopied : portà )

Open vowels are diphthongized:

  • è [⁠ ɛ ⁠] is diphthongised to [ ever ], for example 'tu leggi'> tu lieggi
  • ò [⁠ ɔ ⁠] becomes [ where ], for example 'tu porti'> tu puorti

Closed vowels are changed:

  • ó [⁠ o ⁠] will [⁠ u ⁠] , for example 'tu Corri'> tu curri
  • é [⁠ e ⁠] is umlauted to [⁠ i ⁠] , for example: 'tu metti'> tu mitti

Apocopying

The infinitive endings are apocopied ("cut off") at the stressed syllable :

  • -ARE> -à: for example 'cantare'> cantà
  • -ERE> -é: for example 'cadere'> cadé
  • -IRE> -ì: for example 'sentire'> sentì

Development from the vulgar Latin form: consonant + L

  • PL becomes / kj / for example PLUS becomes [ kju ] or PLENA becomes [ ˈkjenə ]
  • FL will / ⁠ ʃ ⁠ / to [for example FLOREM ʃoːrə ] (today hardly still in use) or AFFLARE to [ aʃʃa ]
  • BL to / ⁠ j ⁠ / z. B. BLANCUS to [ ˈjaŋk̬ə ]

Development from the vulgar Latin form: C + e, i and G + e, i

In Neapolitan C + e, i and SC + e were i Sharped , G + e, i [⁠ j ⁠]
[⁠ tʃ ⁠] > [⁠ ʃ ⁠] , [⁠ dʒ ⁠ ] > [⁠ j ⁠]

  • C + e, i: for example the Italian 'dieci' [ ˈdjeːtʃi ] becomes [ ˈdjeːʃi ]
  • G + e, i: for example the Italian 'giornata' to [ jurˈnaːtə ]
  • SC + e, i: for example the vulgärlat. PISCIS to [ ˈpiʃʃə ], SCIENCIA to [ ˈʃjenzə ]
  • I-: - e.g. B. IOCUM becomes ['iuo: co]

Double consonants

/ d /, / b / and / g / are usually doubled in loan words from Italian,
for example 'sabato' becomes sabbato [ ˈsabbətə ] or 'ragione' becomes raggione [ radˈdʒonə ]

Many duplications arise from assimilation :

  • / nd / in an Italian word often becomes / nn / in Neapolitan,
    for example 'tondo' to tunno or 'quando' to quanno
  • / mb /> / mm /,
    for example 'tamburo'> tammuro

The phonosyntactic doubling ( raddoppiamento fonosintattico ) is also very pronounced.

Extreme assimilation and metathesis are also common in lower social classes .

  • 'arbitro'> abbitro
  • 'sorbetto'> sobbretto (with metathesis)
  • 'delfino'> deffino

Lenization (sonorization)

The Neapolitan tends to lenize (sonorize) the consonants P, T, C from Vulgar Latin.

  • -P-> bb: for example 'sepellire' becomes obbellire (?)
  • -T-> dd: for example 'adorare' to addurà
  • -C-> k (> g) for example the vulgärlat. BOSCO to [ ˈβwoʃk̬ə ]

So the consonants tend to be doubled at the same time.

Spirantization

Voiced Occlusive ( plosives ) from the vulgar Latin form will fricatives ( fricatives ) in Neapolitan. This process is also called spiralization . Furthermore, the vulgar Latin D a [r] or is Flap [⁠ ɾ ⁠] ( rhotacism ).

  • -B-> [ vv ]: ROBA> rovva [ ˈrɔββə ]
  • D-> [⁠ ð ⁠] (dental fricative) [⁠ r ⁠] , [⁠ ɾ ⁠] : Cadere> Caré [ kaɾe ] MADONNA> Maronna
  • G-> [⁠ ɣ ⁠] (uvular fricative) [⁠ j ⁠] , Ø: GALLO> [ jallə ]
  • -V-> [⁠ beta ⁠] 'vacca'> bacca

The -G- has the tendency to disappear completely.

Velarization

In part, the / l / velarisiert: This sound [⁠ ɫ ⁠] sounds like the 'dark l' of English (such as in all )

/ a / is often velarisiert from many speakers of lower social classes: [⁠ ɑ ⁠] .
This sound is ultimately between / ⁠ a ⁠ / and / ⁠ ɔ ⁠ / .

Grammatical properties of Neapolitan

possessive pronouns

The possessive pronoun is generally placed after:

for example 'o libbro mio (cf. it.' il mio libro ', "my book") or [ ˈmammətə ] (it.' tua madre ', "your mother")

subject

There are no subject pronouns in Neapolitan (as in Italian : 'io', 'tu' etc.)

Lexicons

Neapolitan is rich in words that are completely different from the Italian vocabulary.

The most common are:

Internal borrowings from the Neapolitan dialect, which most standard Italian dictionaries call; are:

  • aglianico
  • ammanicarsi
  • bratto
  • Calzone
  • camorra
  • carosello
  • carrozzella
  • cavallo di ritorno
  • citrullo
  • fesso
  • fetente
  • fumarola
  • gliommero
  • inciucio
  • inguacchio / inguacchiato
  • lava
  • lazzaro or lazzarone
  • magliaro
  • Mozzarella
  • Mozzarella in Carrozza
  • pacchianata
  • pastiera
  • pernacchio
  • pezzullo
  • Pizza
  • pollanca
  • pummarola
  • scassare
  • scippo
  • scugnizzo
  • sfarzo
  • sfuso
  • sommozzare / sommozzatore
  • struffolo
  • vongola

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