You were never just Italian in the Burg if you were Italian. You also
proudly identified with the region of Italy where your family lived.
You were Calabrese, Sicilian, Roman, Napolitan, etc.
Mrs Gianetti's Italian class which I had 2 semesters of in Trenton
High was taught in proper Italian. According to my classmates
few people in Italy actually spoke that. I have added a link
to the bloglist called The Regions of Italy in case you want
further information about them.
2 comments:
HI MAC...OUR FAMILY WERE CONSIDERED NEOPOLITAN, COMING FROM CASANDRINO, JUST A FEW MILES FROM NAPLES. WE SPOKE ITALIAN IN A SLANG MANNER, FOR INSTAMNCE. WE CALLED THE OUTSIDE BATHROOMS "BUCALSIAL" MEANING IT WAS IN THE BACK OF THE HOUSE. WE MADE UP THESE WORDS FROM THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. WHEN WE SPOKE ITALIAN TO THE PEOPLE OF CASANDRINO THEY DID'NT UNDERSTAND. OF COURSE, THIS IS JUST MY VERSION OF THE NAPOLITANS. REGARDS
Hi Ralph:)
In the late 1970s I took Italian
Language as a class both at Junior Four and Trenton High. Both taught
by Mrs Gianetti. Even at that time, to show you how strongly Italian the Burg still was, most people in the class spoke and understood Italian. But they all spoke in the dialects of their region....Naples,Sicily,Calabria, etc. I remember my classmates saying Mrs Gianetti taught "proper"
Italian that few people actually spoke:)
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