05.05.06
Dialects
I may have mentioned before something that I find fascinating about the Italian language: dialects. In recent years, a “standard” version of the language has become more popular, but many people, particularly older Italians or those living outside of large cities, speak only dialect. And the dialects can be so different from each other that people with different dialects won’t be able to understand each other.
On our trip to Sicily last week we asked a taxi driver to help us learn a little Sicilian dialect. Sicily is in some ways more Arab than Italian, so when he started speaking dialect I didn’t understand a single syllable that came out of his mouth. There was barely even a hint of the sound of Italian.
I’ve also noticed that many people consider dialect to be uneducated and maybe something along the lines of a “country-bumpkin” thing to do. But if you take the time to learn a little dialect, you earn a ton of respect in many Italians’ eyes.
Ryan said,
05.05.06 at 4:41 pm
Sometimes I have a heard time understanding people from Texas.
Amy M. said,
05.05.06 at 7:21 pm
we just saw mission impossible 3 and there’s a scene in a street outside the vatican wall where people are all yelling at each other in italian…I thought of you guys and whether or not you would be able to understand them