Central Marchigiano dialect

For the Italian wine grape that is also known as Marchigiano, see Verdicchio.

Marchigiano
Marchiscià
Native to	Italy
Region	central Marche (provinces of Ancona, Macerata and Fermo)
Native speakers	(undated figure of 900,000[ citation needed ])
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Latin Romance Italo-Western Italo-Dalmatian Italo-Romance Central Italian Marchigiano
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Linguist List	ita-cen
Glottolog	None
Linguasphere	& 51-AAA-rba 51-AAA-okl & 51-AAA-rba
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Central Marchigiano refers to a group of Romance varieties spoken in the central part of the Marche region of Italy, in an area that includes the provinces of Ancona, Macerata and Fermo. It is one of the Central Italian dialects and forms part of a continuum that also encompasses Umbrian and Tuscan. There are notable grammatical, lexical and idiomatic differences between Marchigiano and standard Italian, but it is considered, along with the rest of Central Italian dialects, to be fairly intelligible to a speaker of Standard Italian.

According to internal variation, Marchigiano is divided into two main areas:

• The dialect of Ancona (Anconitano), to which the dialects of Osimo, Jesi and Fabriano also belong.
• The dialect of Macerata and Fermo (Fermano-Maceratese) and that of Camerino.

Common features

Features that distinguish Marchigiano in general from Italian include:

• Apocope in words stressed on a penultimate syllable followed by /-nV/. The equivalents of Italian contadino, piccioni, and cane ('farmer, pigeons, dog') are contadì, picció, and cà. ^[1]
• The presence of the ending -aro or -aru (from Latin -ārium) where Italian instead has -aio. ^[1]
• The fact that the general masculine singular ending in nouns and adjectives may be /u/, rather than the /o/ found in Italian.
• The vocalization of older /ʎʎ/. The equivalent to Italian figlio may be fiio, fiiu, or fio[ˈfi.o].
• The loss of /-re/ in infinitives (also found in Tuscan). The equivalents of Italian amare, mettere, and morire ('love, put, die) are amà, mette, and morì. ^[2]
• The change of older /ndʒ/ to /ɲɲ/, such that magnemo 'we eat' corresponds to Italian mangiamo. ^[2]
• Isomorphism of certain third-person plural and first-person singular verb endings, such that ama may mean either 'he/she/it loves' or 'they love'. ^[2]

The verbs meaning 'be' and 'have' inflect as follows in the present indicative:

Anconitano	Maceratese	Italian	Translation
so	so	sono	I am
sei (sai)	ssi	sei	you are
è	adè	è	he/she/it is
semo	simo	siamo	we are
sé	sete	siete	you (plural) are
è(-ne)	adè	sono	they are

Anconitano	Maceratese	Italian	Translation
ciò	ciò	ho	I have
ciài	ci(ài)	hai	you have
cià	cià	ha	he/she/it has
ciavémo	ciaìmo	abbiamo	we have
ciavé	ciaéte	avete	you (plural) have
cià(-ne)	cià	hanno	they have

Features of the three areas

Ancona dialect

The Ancona dialect is spoken only in Ancona and has only recently spread its influence elsewhere (Falconara, Osimo, Jesi, Chiaravalle, Porto Recanati, Loreto and Senigallia). Of the Marchigiano varieties, it is the one that shows the most Gallo-Italic traits. For instance, the masculine singular definite article is always el, without anything comparable to the Italian variation, according to phonetic context, between il and lo. Only the speakers from towns which are closer to Macerata (Osimo, Castelfidardo, Loreto, Porto Recanati) use the form lo as in Italian. ^[1] These cities also undergo other influences from the Macerata dialect, due to proximity. ^[1]

Fabriano dialect

The Fabriano dialect is spoken in Fabriano (closer to Umbria) and nearby towns. Rhotacism of /l/ occurs in this dialect, such that the local equivalents of Italian calza 'sock' and fulmine 'lightning' are carza and furmine.

Macerata dialect

The Macerata dialect is spoken in the provinces of Macerata and Fermo. Its speakers use lu (masculine singular) and lo (neuter singular) as definite articles. Notable features are rhotacism of /l/ and various assimilations that are absent from Italian:

Sound change	Maceratese word	Italian counterpart	Translation
/nd/ > /nn/	mettenno	mettendo	putting
/mb/ > /mm/	gamma	gamba	leg
/nt/ > /nd/	pianda	pianta	plant
/mp/ > /mb/	cambu	campo	field
/ld/ > /ll/	callu	caldo	hot

Vocabulary

The following is a list of Marchigian words; note that the Anconitan forms do not show gemination ^[3] (babu,ciambòtu,nèrtu, etc.)

• ammò (adv. by this time; now); Anconitano: adè
• babbu (n. dad; father)
• bardasciu or vardasciu (n. boy; child); Anconitano: fiòlo
• bedollu or bidullu (n. poplar)
• brenciu or vrenciu (adj. bitter; sour)
• ciambottu or ciammottu (n. toad/clumsy)
• cuscì (adv. in this way)
• grannola (n. hail)
• (a)lluccà (vb. to shout; to scream); Anconitano: sgagià
• nnertu (adj. thick)
• rosciu or rusciu (adj. red)
• sbisgià or sbiscià (vb. to slide)
• scì (adv. yes)
• jèmmete (n. cliff)
• mata (n. mud)

See also

• Central Italian dialects
• Tuscan
• Umbria
• Sabino dialect
• Marche

External links

• A website about the dialect of Ancona
• A blog about the dialect of Macerata

Notes

1. Massimo Morroni, Vocabolario del dialetto osimano
2. Carlo Grillantini, Saggi e studi sul dialetto osimano
3. Loporcaro, Michele (1997). "Lengthening and "raddoppiamento fonosintattico"". The Dialects of Italy. Edited by Martin Maiden, Mair Parry. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN   0-415-11104-8. Ancona, as claimed by Rohlfs (1966: 322) is the southernmost outcrop on the Adriatic coast - south of Wartburg's La Spezia-Rimini (or Pellegrini's Carrara-Fano) Line - of Western Romance degemination