Lesson 4: Sicilian adverbs, conjunctions, the apostrophe

n Sicilian we have adverbs of place:

sutta (under), supra (above,on), ccà (here), ddà (there), unni (where( etc.

 

Mi mìsiru sutta lu ponti          They put me under the bridge

Iu ddà nun ci iava                  I was not going to go there

Mi mannàru unni c’era pirìculu  

They sent me where it was dangerous

Of time:

doppu (after), ora, (now), aeri (yesterday) oi or oggi (today), dumàni (tomorrow), quànnu (when), mai (never)etc.

 

Iu cci ivi doppu d’iddu           I went after to him

Mê soru arrìva dumàni          My sister will arrive tomorrow

Iddu vinni ora di la casa        He came now from the house

La casa e` già pulìta              The house is already clean

Of quantity: 

abbastànza (enough, plenty), picca (little, few), assai (a lot, many), menu (less) cchiu` (more), tantu (so much), etc.

Aiu picca sordi, nun mi ncuitàri     

I heve little money, don’t bother me

Nn’ài abbastànza manciàri?               

Do you have enough food?

Ài tanti cavàddi e nun li fai cùrriri        

You have so many horses and you don’t race them

Of manner: 

comu (like, as), beni (well), accussì (so, this way), nùtili (uselessly), ammucciùni (secretly), etc.

Tu travagghiavi ammucciùni, picchì?   

You were working in secret, why?

Fa comu fazzu iu                        Do as I do

Vogghiu chilu fai accussì            I want you to do it this way

Other adverbs are: ntunnu (around), siccòmu (since), dintra (in), dunca (then, so), macàri (even), avànti (ahead, in front), mentri (while), vicìnu (near), prìmisi (first of all), mmenzu (by means of), versu (toward), nveci (instead) allàtu (near, beside), nzinu (until), etc.

Ci firriàva ntunnu ma nu lu truvàva                 

He was going around it but could not find it

Era allàtu l’arbulu                    He was besides the tree

T’accumpàgnu nzinu a la casa 

I will accompany you until your house

Mentri sugnu ccà cci vegnu puru                   

as long as I am here I’ll come too

The compound prepositions are formed by an adverb and a preposition

Ntunnu a                    around the

Sutta di                      under the

Ammucciùni di           in the secret of

Vicinu a                      near the

Doppu di                    after the

Supra di                     over, above the

nzinu a                        until

Diversamènti di         differently from

Pi mmenzu di              By means of

Allàtu a                      near, beside the

Cchiù picca di            less than

 Menu di                    less than

A favùri di                  in favor of

 

Avia cchiù picca sordi di sô patri  

He had less money than his father

Era vicinu a sô nannu               He was near his grandfather

Iddu lu fici a favùri di sô matri                        

He did it in favor of his mother

Diversamènti di chistu nu si putèva fari          

It could not be done differently from this

Pi mancànza di tempu mancu manciài  

For lack of time I did not even eat

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are those parts of speech that tie two sentences, two subjects, two parts of a sentence together:

Iu e tu                                               You and I

Cci vai tu e ci vaiu puru iu               I will go too

Iddu vinni però idda no                   He came but she did not

Si nun cci vai tu mancu cci vaiu iu     

If you do not go, I will not go either

Cci ivi iu sparti d’iddu                         I went too besides him

The apostrophe

The apostrophe is a graphic sign that is used in the encounter of two vowels.

L’anèddu                    the ring

L’azzàru                     the steel

L’ebbrèu                    the Jew

L’idìa                          the idea

L’òcchiu                     the eye

L’ugnu                        the fingernail

Chistu e` l’agnèddu di Pasqua         This is the Easter lamb

L’òcchiu dû patrùni ngrassa lu cavàddu          

The owner’s eye fattens the horse

Cci tagghiàva l’ugna a sô fìgghiu                    

He was trimming his son’s nails

In the case of a natural elimination of a vowel at the beginning of a word, it is not necessary to use the apostrophe. In fact, according to G. Piccitto, it should never be used for that reason, as in the indefinite article:

na                                a, an

nu                               a, an                                                                                           

Duna na manu a tô frati             Give a hand to your brother

Mê matri era cu nu ziu miu       

My mother was with an uncle of mine

and in the preposition n (in, to)

Iddu si nn;iu n Sicilia                 He went to Sicily

And in the words that start with an i, where the word loses the i the apostrophe is not used anymore to show the loss of the vowel, so we have:

Mpurtànti                  important

Nnuccènti                  innocent

Nzignànti                    teacher

Nchinàri                     to bow

Ncignùsu                    ingenious

Nzivàtu                      greased

Ntattu                        whole

Ntuppàri                    to stop, to close

Ntisu                          heard, obeyed

Mparàri                     to learn

Mpiccicàtu                 glued, slow

Nun ncurpàri a mia                 Do not give the fault to me

Sta canzùna mancu l’aiu ntisu   I never heard this song

Ra ncatinàtu all’àrbulu              He was chained to the tree

Archimèdi fu n’omu ncignùsu    Archimedes was a genius

Then we can say that the articles la, lu, li  and the pronouns la, lu, li can take the apostrophe and so can the demonstrative adjectives: ddu, dda (that one), ddi (those ones), stu (this one), sti (these ones), ssa, ssu (that one), ssi (those ones).  The personal pronouns ti (to you), nni (to us), vi (to you plural), and the reflective si (self action) and cci (to, by him, to, by them) can also take the apostrophe:

Iu vitti l’ecclìssi                                  I saw the eclipse

Iddu nun l’abbruciò                            He did not burn it

Chiàma add’abbàti                            Call that abbot

            Pìgghiati ss’abbitu                              Take that suit

St’abbìsu è laidu                                This notice is bad

T’aiu a dari na manu                      I have to give you a hand

V’aiu a pulizziàri la casa              I want to clean your house

Nn’ati a dari li sordi          You have to give the money to us

S’innamurò di idda                        He fell in love with her

Cc’era sô matri       

His, her mother was there (with him, her, them)

Iddu l’avia ma nun dissi nenti 

He had it but did not say anything

If cci meets a, o, u does not take the apostrophe:

Idda cci avìa iutu a scola                  She had gone to school

Cci iuncìvi ògghiu nta lampa            I added oil to the lamp

But they are pronounced very close, as if they had an apostrophe.

Other cases where the apostrophe can be used are in phrases like:

C’avèm’a fari = chi avèmu a fari     What can we do?

C’avèm’a diri = chi avèmu a diri      what can we say?                    

C’avèm’a fari si nun voli vèniri  

What can we do if he does not want to come

C’avem’a diri si la matri nun voli?

What can we say if the mother does not want

In some cases where the word starts with an i, the apostrophe is not used:

Nun lu vògghiu fari ddu iocu        I do not want to do that play

Sta iena è laida                             This hyena is ugly (or bad)

Ssa idìa nun mi piaci                     I don’t like that idea

Ssu iardìnu è beddu ciurutu     That garden is really in blossom

Ddu iacìntu è veru beddu         That hyacinth is really beautiful

Ddu ièncu è grossu                            That bull is big

But the following can take the apostrophe;

Si nn’§u = si nni §u                          He, she went away

Cc’§u = cci §u                                  He, she went there

Sô frati si nn’§u n cità                      His brother went to the city

A casa cc’§u cu sô patri                   He went home with his father

unu (masculine) and una (feminine), are not used as indefinite articles, but they are used numerically: one.

Quàntu cani c’eranu?  Unu.                             How many dogs were there? One (only one)

Quàntu fìmmini arristàru? Sulu una.                How many women were arrested? Only one