Hi, I am new here. Seems like a wonderful site. Thank you in advance to all of the volunteers that make it work.

My mother's parents were from Calabria. They came to this country in the early 1900's. My mother doesn't speak any Italian. But, her mother spoke only in Italian. I find this puzzling but it's true. Lately I have been asking my mother to try to remember some of the Italian words that her mother spoke. We have looked up many words together in my Italian-English dictionary and more and more of the Italian is coming back to my mother. It has been fun.

There are a few words that we cannot find in the dictionary and I assume that I am either spelling them wrong or they are dialect. I was wondering if I could get some help from some of you here that are familiar with Italian and the Calabrese dialect.

The first word is pronounced "nusca" and my grandmother used it to describe someone who was acting snobbish.

The second word is pronounced "vorba" and my grandmother would use it to describe someone who wouldn't tell her anything.

And the third word is pronounced "tee noo sah" and it seems to describe someone who is in a bad mood.

Is anyone familiar with these terms? Are they Italian words that I can't spell? Or are they dialect?

Thank you!

casamia

casamia wrote:

The first word is pronounced "nusca" and my grandmother used it to describe someone who was acting snobbish. The second word is pronounced "vorba" and my grandmother would use it to describe someone who wouldn't tell her anything. I think VOLPE And the third word is pronounced "tee noo sah" and it seems to describe someone who is in a bad mood. Maybe TIGNOSA, that is a mushroom but is used in the familiar slang with the meaning of "obstinate"

Ciao
Luca

Well here is my opinion..

Vorbe sounds like furba (which means sly, cunning, crafty)

Tee noo sah..could be "who knows" or "who knows why" - or you don't know why?

This is the closest I can come up with. My spelling of Calabrian words is about as good as my writing Italian. I can use the words, and thats about it. What part of Calabria was your family from? This would make a difference. My Cosenza slang mom uses is different from the slang my dad uses (who is from Reggio province).

Volpe is used with the meaning of "furbo" (or furba, obviously).

Luca

Hi,
at the beginning of 1900 dialects were more known and used than Italian so, I suppose, your grandmother spoke Calabrian rather than Italian. Dialects vary a lot from region to region, town to town and hamlet to hamlet.

Here is an interesting description of Calabrese

Dialetto Calabrese

and this is a dictionary

calabrese/italiano

Ada

I think those are some good possibilities. Thanks to everyone!