Tag: francese

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Italian Napoli Neapolitan Teacher

Canzo from French Chance

Damme ‘o canzo(dammi il tempo), means Give me timeand it’s a phrase that Neapolitans almost always say when they are angry. Because in Naples almost nobody bears to do things quickly and if someone puts pressure on another then this will be the answer you will hear.

Canzo almost certainly derives from the French chance which in the French language has the same meaning as English and that is “opportunity”.

We have talked several times about the ability of the Neapolitan language to carry out semantic translations on the words that the dialect has taken from other languages, especially from those belonging to the peoples who dominated the city of Parthenope. The Neapolitan translation takes on the meaning of that word, transforming it according to the needs of the Neapolitan citizen.

The word opportunity, in fact, would not have been very appropriate to the Neapolitan language, while binding time to the possibility of doing something makes the idea of something better that must be accomplished with appropriate conditions.

Let’s see when canzo is used by the Neapolitans. We are in a typical Neapolitan family, husband and wife are arguing about the arrangement of new furniture in their living room. The wife is hurrying her husband, telling him every five minutes that she doesn’t like the way he is arranging the furniture. Here then that the Neapolitan husband, after enduring the wife complaining all day, will explode in an ironic controversy by saying to his wife Damme ‘o canzo, that is give me at least time to do what I’m doing and after you will have all the right to complain about my job.

Or canzo can also be used in a hypothetical way. We are in a workplace, the boss is telling his employees to do more things at the same time and to do them as quickly as possible. One of the hardworkers can’t do it all together quickly and then starts to get angry and says to his boss “se me dai ‘o canzo…”that is if you give me the opportunity to do my job calmly I will do whatever you want and I will get my job done.

And finally, the ironic and hypothetical phrase (suspended here as a warning, an admonition) can also be accompanied by the phrase ‘na vrenzola’ ‘e parola (a simple word) when, in a discussion, one person is taking over the other without giving him the opportunity to reply. “If you give the canzo’ to say ‘na vrenzola ‘e parola …”, I will explain everything and I will know how to justify what you are accusing me.

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Italian Napoletano Senza categoria

Appriesso from French Après

“Vieni appriesso a me”, it’s a phrase of sincere friendship in Naples. It means: come with me, follow me. Whoever tells you this is asking you to trust him while he promises brotherhood and welcome.

The Neapolitan word “appriesso” has two main origins. The first is French and comes from the words apres which means “afterwards, then ..”, the second comes from the late ancient Latin pressum which means “close”. And in fact also in the Italian language, the regional one, below contains these meanings. But in Naples no.

Appriesso it is used for different meanings and situations. It mainly means follow me, that is, walk behind me so that I can show you the way to go. Both metaphorically and literally. If, for example, we get lost in an alley in Naples and ask for information from a stranger, this stranger is likely to tell us: “Vieni appriesso a me (follow me), I’m going in your same direction”. Or if we are in trouble because of an event in our life and we don’t know what to do, it happens that a dear friend of ours tells us: “Vieni appriesso a me, that is, trust me. Do what I tell you and you will see that everything will work out”.

It also has a geographical meaning. If we are in Naples and we have to go to a new place, it may happen that we ask the salesman of a shop for directions because we do not find the house number of the building in which we are headed. And so he will say to us: “Sta ‘cca, ‘o palazzo appriesso. It is there, in the adjacent building (or following this one here)”.

But the most beautiful and romantic meaning of this word is in its meaning of love. When in Naples a girl is courted by a boy it is said that that boy “va appriesso a lei”, that is, follows her with the mind. He lives behind her because he tries to reach her heart.

And finally it can also be a word often used by mothers who have to take care of very young children. Mothers in Naples “vanno appriesso” to their children because they are trying to keep them safe. Safe means first of all that they don’t get hurt but above all that they don’t follow a bad path.

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French Italian

Sciuè Sciuè from French ‘Echouè

The French domination has released many traces of its memory in the Neapolitan dialect. One of these traces is the way to say“sciuè sciuè”.

According to some linguists, the expression derives from the French past participle ‘Echouè which means “to fail, not to succeed”. And in fact in Neapolitan Sciuè Sciuè means precisely “to do something in a hurry”, “to do something superficially”. But this play on words does not have a negative meaning, on the contrary, it replaces negative thinking with a smile.

If in Naples you say Sciuè Sciuè surely you are not talking about something unfinished, but you are saying that something has been completed, in an approximate way. The positive side of the expression lies precisely in the fact that the work was carried out to the end, even if the smallest details were not taken care of.

Life runs fast and we all know that it’s impossible to take care of all the things we would like to do. Here, therefore, that the Neapolitan promises himself to do what he set out to do and also superficially, in order to obtain a result. The negativity of the French verb is therefore overcome on the positive side. From an optimistic point of view.

Was it impossible to do that thing? Well, I did it quickly, but I still did it. And perhaps it has done even better than planning actions.

Because things done quickly can be better than those done in time.

The will to achieve a goal make everything more special.

When is it that Neapolitans use sciuè sciuè? Let’s make 3 examples…

First of all when they have to cook. Sciuè sciuè is mainly used when cooking spaghetti with garlic and oil “aggio fatto ‘e spaghetti aglio e uoglio sciuè sciuè”. Or when we are late and have to get dressed quickly. The Neapolitan says: Don’t look at my clothing ‘cause this morning I dressed sciuè sciuè. And even when we have an important appointment, but first we have to clean at home, then we Neapolitans say “Aggio fatto ‘na passata ‘nterra e ‘ngopp ‘mobili sciùe sciuè ” : I washed the floor and the furniture quickly.

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Nacchennella from French ‘N’a qu’un oeil

Sometimes words replace images, becoming the phonetic representation of a symbol.

There are many words of the Neapolitan dialect that are expressed in a symbolic way. Words that you can see as you hear them, that evoke imaginative figures.

The onomatopoeia of these words is so representative that it stimulates the attention of the listeners.

One of these symbolic words is Nacchennella. The origin of the etymology of nacchennella is found both in a French phrase and in a Neapolitan expression.

It is therefore a sort of fusion of the two ways of saying that has made the meaning of this word stronger.

In French the ‘N’a qu’un oeil it is that person who belongs to high society, a nobleman we could say, who used the monocle, that is the single-lens glasses. The use of this type of glasses is related to a lifestyle, a real fashion. It was in fact a type of glasses not necessary for the eyes, but only suitable on certain occasions. In short, they were an accessory, an object that completed the snobbish gestures of some members of society. Obviously, single-lens glasses were not only used in France, they were also fashionable in other European salons and also appeared on the streets of Naples.

Nacchennella it also comes from a Neapolitan word. The buttocks, in Neapolitan language, are called nacche. A word that is above all an image. With the nacche, in fact, it is possible to paddle, walking with a waving gait that, in excessive cases, could become the object of derision. The Nacchennela, therefore, in Naples is not only a character of high society but is also the one who acts as if he belonged to high society.

Pretending to be a snob, in fact, can lead to derision. In this case, the irony of the Neapolitan language affects those people, above all men who behave as if they were socially superior to others, acting as snobs. The nacchennella by origin are people of high society, but the nacchennella by emulation are comparable to strange people, whose gestures become funny.

A male nacchennella, in fact, is made fun of just for how he dresses, for how he walks and talks, for how he sways with his hips. And this becomes a funny thing in Naples. One should not think, however, that this can be a topic of homophobia, on the contrary, it is a Neapolitan expression that goes precisely against homophobia.

Here we can understand how, in his irony, the Neapolitan language is also very sarcastic, punitive and cutting.

In a scene from the second season of the tv series L’Amica Geniale (My Brilliant Friend) the protagonist Lila, a girl who belongs to the poor and peripheral neighborhoods of Naples, is invited at a house party of people who live in a high-class neighborhood of the city. Lila feels isolated all the night and the anger grows in her for having been almost ignored by those people. During the party the girl suffers from this condition, realizing that due to some social elements that she misses, she risks being excluded from the most cultured environments of the city of Naples. Full of anger and contempt, she returns home and during the car trip she vents with her husband. Lila, in fact, says: “I have never been bored so much since I was born. It was better if we went to the cinema tonight. It was also better to watch television than to be with those nacchennella (In English it is translated with snobs) “. The verbal power of the word nacchennella, full of indignation and anger towards those people, is associated with the facial expression of the actress who shows excessive annoyance and contempt for the way those people have treated her.

A scene from My Brilliant Friend that express one of the meaning for the word nacchennella.

There are words of the Neapolitan language that should never be translated. Sometimes it seems necessary to learn Neapolitan in order to better understand the meaning of things.

It is really reductive to lose the chance to understand the expressive power of some words of the Neapolitan. They can become sometimes an investigative, judgmental and demonizing linguistic form.

A Court that first condemns, then acquits and finally derides you.

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'nciarmare create English Familiarity food French History Intimacy Italian Language Latin managing Napoletano Napoli Neapolitan Neighbourhood organize party Senza categoria Teacher Translation

‘Nciarmà from French (En)Charmer

There are many words of the Neapolitan dialect that derive from other languages and that, once they have entered the Neapolitan, lose or transform their meaning. One of them is ‘Nciarmare. Inciarmare or ‘nciarmare comes from the French verb (En)charmer that in French means to enchant, to amaze. But in Neapolitan it doesn’t mean just that. ‘Nciarmare is a more articulated sort of “arrangiare”. In Naples they say ‘Nciarmà when someone wants to organize something clandestinely or when he wants to organize a plan behind someone’s back.

This verb is also used to indicate gossiping. If two neighbors are on the landing or look out from adjacent balconies, they are sure (if they are gossips) that they will start talking about someone, that is, they will start to ‘nciarmà.

But, we said, that ‘nciarmà is also a more extensive form of “arrangiare”. ‘Nciarmare in fact also refers to the ability of a Neapolitan to organize something, a lunch with friends, or simply the construction of an object, with few tools available but achieving a record goal.

If I am able to ‘nciarmare, I am truly the King of all the genius.

As we have said several times, some words that derive from other languages become in the Neapolitan expression of irony but also of contempt, of pungent criticism. If, for example, a woman is unable to dress well or to match the colors of her clothes, it is certain that the other women (especially the gossips) will tell her that when she dresses, “lei si ‘nciarma”. That is, the woman in question does not know how to dress and that she leaves the house with a style completely inappropriate for the common taste.

Let’s move on to the irony of the male gender. You know, the men in the house are not cookery magicians. And so if a wife who comes home late from work asks her husband to prepare dinner, it is possible that on returning home the woman finds food that she does not think is cooked well. Undercooked, too seasoned, inappropriate on the palate. The Neapolitan wife will then say to her husband: “Cosa hai inciarmato? (What the hell have you did)?”, That is, Cosa hai fatto? Dovremmo mangiare questa schifezza stasera? (Should we eat this junk food tonight?).

And finally we come to an example of pure irony. Two boys who are usually lazy and do nothing from morning to night are surprised by their friends or their parents at home cleaning or building something. A more unique than rare event. Spontaneously then those who discover them will ask with surprise: “What are you doing?” And they will promptly reply: “Stamm ‘nciarmann!”, that is, “we are doing something new and different for us, aware of the fact that it will not be good because we are not used to dealing with household chores. So before criticizing us, know that we ourselves are not appreciating the quality and result of what we are doing.

It therefore seems almost impossible to contrast the dialectic and the genius of the Neapolitan dialect. A language capable of having the answer ready for every single occasion and full of words and topics for every situation.

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