Discussioni:boia
ref boja[cancia]
The Wonderful Life of Angelo Massari
I ignored how far America was from Sicily, for I had no geographical knowledge of any sort. As far as my recollections go, I had not been out of Santo Stefano farther than six or seven miles. My father had taken me to the fair of Prizzi, to Cammarata and Lercara, and alone I had gone to Bivona and Alessandria della Rocca, all small places like Santo Stefano, but I had never been in Palermo.
One of them told me that the language was English, and I asked him how to say one word or another in that language. I got these wonderful samples of a Sicilian-American English from him: tu sei un boja, gad, gad morni, olraiti, giachese, kors, misti, sciusi, bred, iessi, bud. I also learned how to say men, sciarappi, Gianna, monii, alo', vischio, strirta, como. He told me also that in order to ask for work, one had to say, "Se misti gari giobba fo mi?"
Fonti: http://www.antinori.us/website/massari.htm
Ref boia[cancia]
Angelo Massari, who immigrated to Tampa, Florida, in 1902, described preparations in his Sicilian village prior to leaving it: "I used to interview people who had returned from America. I asked them thousands of questions, how America was, what they did in Tampa, what kind of work was to be had.... One of them told me the language was English, and I asked him how to say one word or another in that language. I got these wonderful samples of a Sicilian-American English from him: tu sei un boia, gud morni, olraiti, giachese, misti, sciusi, bred, iessi, bud [you are a boy, good morning, alright, jacket, mister, excuse me, bread, yes, but]. He told me also that in order to ask for work, one had to say, `Se misti gari giobbi fo mi?' [Say, mister got a job for me?]." (Angelo Massari, The Wonderful Life of Angelo Massari, translated by Arthur Massolo. New York: Exposition Press, 1965; pp. 46-47.)
Ranchio (ranch) was commonplace among Italians on the West Coast but unknown on the East. Similarly, livetta, referring to the elevated train was limited to the cities of the East Coast, although variations in usage existed even within the same geographical area depending on the region of origin in Italy.
It included Italianized English loan words (carro for "car", marchetta for "market").
Even in cases where equivalents were certainly known, the ubiquity of certain English words -stritto (street), boia (boy)- ensured that they would be incorporated into the immigrant dialect. The word "fight", which was first changed into "faiti", can be seen in such unrecognizable forms as faitare, faitato, faitava, faito, faitasse, and many more.
Thus one Sicilian might use abburdatu for boarder but another would say bburdatu.
The influence of Neapolitan, the dialect that was the most readily understood by southerners throughout the peninsula, was evident in all versions of the Italo-American dialects, but especially that spoken in New York.
vorche for work, ticcia for teacher
Sociologist Michael La Sorte describes the phrase azzorrait (that's alright) ... Azzorrait could mean yes; don't mention it; no harm has been done; good;
giobbista (jobber), mascine (machines)
- banchisto: banker
barratenda: bartender
Batteria: Battery (New York)
- bisiniss: business
blacco enze: black-hand
- boia: boy
- boifrendo: boyfriend
ref naisaboia[cancia]
Generally, code-mixing was common among Italian-Americans regardless of their proficiency across languages. They incorporated words from their American experience: e.g.: baca-ausa 'backhouse or outside toilet', l'asciuranza 'insurance', aisabocsa 'icebox', naisaboia 'nice boy"