This time we’re talking about the word Abbàscio.
In Italian it means giù (Down There). In the neapolitan language it comes from many languages like Spanish, Catalan, French and Portuguese. Abbascio is the product of the words abajo, a baix and en bas.
In Napoli Abbascio is a word that can be used in different contexts. It mainly means down, that down to the building where you live. “Corri, ce sta ‘o pustino abbascio (run, there is the postman down)”. This is the typical phrase that your mother yells at you when the postman arrives at your house and you must also go down in your pajamas to go and sign a letter.
But abbascio also means the place of an appointment. “Ce vedimm abbascio addu te domani (see you down to your place tomorrow)”. Abbascio is therefore also that typical place, the usual place where you meet with friends. And it can be either the door of the palace of a friend, or a square, a street, a wall where everyone passes and it is easy to be able to make an appointment.
Naples is a city divided by neighborhoods, by traditions and ways of living. It contains many cities within one city. Citizens of the upper part of the city usually say the word abbascio when they want to talk about the neighborhoods that are located in the flat area. I’m talking about the neighborhoods of the historic center, the most famous ones. A citizen of the upper districts of Naples often says “vaco abbascio Napoli” to say that he is traveling (by funicular or subway) to the districts of the historic center of Naples. Sometimes abbascio can also be used in a derogatory way since the neighborhoods of the historic center are among the poorest in the city. And so an inhabitant of Vomero (the richest and highest Neighborhood of Naples) quietly says “Sto andando abbascio Napoli” to say: “I’m going to that area that I despise but where I am forced to go for work”.
We have seen in previous articles that the Neapolitan language is able to transform the meaning of a foreign word. Now we have been able to observe that a word that derives from different European languages takes on multiple meanings in the same Neapolitan dialect.
The culture and the freedom of speech of the Neapolitan are still evolving. They constantly change, defying time and traditions, the canons of language and the barriers of perception.
Neapolitan Dialect Of The World 