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Greek Italy cntd...
Language
With many areas
of Southern Italy speaking Greek for many years, (Naples was
Greek speaking until the 9th century) it's no surprise that
there is some Greek influence to be found in some accents or
dialects in the South. Admittedly the Greek language on the
whole is very different, but there are a few words that
still remain. With the Romans also having occupied Greece,
some words also may have been brought into the Greek
language by the Romans.....below are some examples. (The
right hand Greek column isn't in Greek script-the words are
written how they are pronounced.)
English
Italian
Greek
aubergine melanzane
meleetzana
arm braccia bratso
baker fornaio foornos
bathroom bagno bayno
beans fasul' (Neapolitan)
fasolee
blanket coperta
kooverta
boat barca varca
brakes frene frena
kitchen cucina
koozeena
dark scuro
skooro
plate piatto
pyato
door porta porta
Interestingly
there are also two Italian-Greek languages that are still
spoken in South Italy:
Griko
is the name of the language spoken by the Italians that live
in the
Grecia Salentina Apulia
region, and
Graecanic is the language spoken by
the Italians living in the Bovesia Calabria region. These
languages are dying out, and there has been a law brought in
to protect them, although some believe it may be too late.
learn more...
Learn some Griko!
Examples of Griko
and Graecanic language and in which towns it is spoken
.
Griko - English
dictionary
Greek given names
from Naples
How did Greek come
to be the vernacular in parts of Southern Italy?
Grika Milume! - site dedicated
to Griko & Grecia Salentina
Italian-Greek dictionary
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