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2014 John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
Notes and Documents
Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
languageALESSANDRO ORFANO
Introduction
Despiteor some might argue because ofItalys relative lack of
political power during the period from the sixteenth century to the
second half of the nineteenth century, the Italian language during
this period was pres-tigious and thriving in the Levant and North
Africa, spoken and written by colonial communities, and employed in
diplomatic and bureaucratic affairs (Bruni 2000, 230). After going
through major cultural and political-economic changes, these
regions continued to be home to Italian speakers, though the
language they spoke was a submerged Italian (Bruni 2000, 219);
today, the future of this language as a spoken tongue depends on
institutional education, media outlets, and the linguistic
proficiency of emigrants who return to their motherlands from
Italy.
This article will examine preliminary results from linguistic
fieldwork carried out in 2012 among the last remaining descendants
of the historic Italian community in Tunis, although this topic
will no doubt be the subject of continued investigation and
documentation. During the study, particular attention was paid to
Sephardic Jewish groups from Livorno, the Tuscan free port city
redeveloped by the Medici family at the end of the sixteenth
century.1 Over the course of more than four centuries, Jewish
groups from Livorno settled in Tunis, Djerba, and Soussa in
Tunisia; Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt; Tripoli in Libya; Aleppo in
Syria; Beirut in Lebanon; Thessaloniki in Greece; and Istanbul and
Izmir in Turkey.
The Trail of the Grana of Tunis
While scholars have noted that merchants, sailors, doctors,
laborers, as well as Italian and Corsican slaves lived in Tunis
from at least the tenth century, the first significant interactions
of the city with Livorno date back to the beginning of the
seventeenth century (Frattarelli Fisher 2008, 143, 179; zlitni
2006, 349371). Tunis was the first North African port where Jews
from Livorno and other Tuscan cities, as well as from Ancona and
Genoa,
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126 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
managed commerce between the Muslim Maghreb and the Christian
world. These Livorno natives, known by the Arabic name Grana,2 are
char-acterized by a high level of mobility, as demonstrated by the
existence of a permanent population of 300 Livornese in Tunis as
early as 1685 (Frattarelli Fisher, 2008, 179).
After more than three centuries, the fieldwork findings on the
last descendants of the Grana and their linguistic particularities
will be well illustrated by the example3 of an italophone Tunisian
merchant of Arab-Jewish origins, here designated by the initials
JM: 4
JM: Allora, qui eh qui stato oosp ospitato, no?
I: S.JM: Ospitato Giuseppe Garibaldi. E
un ricordo magnifico perch . . .I: Certo.JM: Siamo i primi ad
entrare qua,
penso, no? [ . . . ]JM: Si chiama in arabo la Medina.
Qui siamo davanti a una porta che esiste eh nel millenovecento,
mille, ottocento [ . . . ]
JM: Vedi le altre case. Perch eh a un momento eh li ebrei e le
arabi vivevano eeh . . .
I: Insieme!JM: Insieme tranquillamente, senza,
senza problemi. E ognuno faceva vedere le sue origine e ognuno
stato fiero del sua apparte-nenza; e in questepoca non non avevano
problemi di xenofobia o problemi di etnia.
JM: So, here we hosted . . . right? 5
I: Yes.JM: We hosted Giuseppe Garibaldi.
This is a wonderful memory because . . .
I: Sure.JM: We were the first to come here,
I think, no? [ . . . ]JM: Its called the Medina, in Arabic.
Here we are in front of a door that dates back to the twentieth,
nineteenth century [ . . . ]
JM: See those other houses. There was a time in which Jews and
Arabians lived . . .
I: Together!JM: Together, peacefully, without
conflicts. Every one used to display their origins, everyone was
proud of their own belonging. At that time they did not have
xenophobic or ethnic issues.
This interview was conducted inside the Tunis Medina, one of the
largest in the Arab world. In this place, site of the principal and
oldest mosque and the heart of trade, the old Grana community
gained such importance that it was given its own souk, called
Suk-el-Grana, that is, the Market of Livornesi.
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
language 127
The first migrants from Livorno were mainly Spanish and
Portuguese Jews, members of highly placed Sephardic families; these
newcomers mostly worked as autonomous professionals and were very
proud of their origins and their language. These people called
themselves the Portuguese Nation; having held a powerful grip on
the government of the Jewish community in Livorno, when they
eventually came to Tunis (where there was already an established
Jewish community, the Twansa), the settle-ment took the official
name of the Portuguese community as a result of this privileged
status. From early on the bey, or lord of Tunis, selected his
personal counselors and doctors from among this community.
The arrival of these new Jews caused friction with the North
African Twansa Jews, mainly due to differences in social status:
With few excep-tions, the majority of indigenous Jews lived in
poverty in the ghetto of Hara, where they practiced traditional
crafts (Petrucci 2008, 174), whereas the Jews from Livorno who
settled nearby had more economic clout thanks to their close
relations with their home port city (174). They represented the
precursors of an international banking system founded on
paper-based financial transactions (Sebag, 1998, 163) and were
generally better-educated, enjoying privileges including permission
to dress according to contempo-rary European style (Petrucci 2008,
175). In 1710, the two communities split and founded autonomous
administrative and religious institutions, each with its own
cemetery (175).
Eminent scholar Lionel Levy dates the abandonment of the Spanish
language to the end of the eighteenth century, taking as evidence
several contracts from 1780 between Tunisians and Livorno Jews
written in Spanish (Levy 1996, 1999). The first Grana of Tunis
continued to speak Spanish or Portuguese at home, but they probably
chose to speak Italian with fellow Jews of Livorno and Arabic or
Judeo-Arabic with other Tunisians (Boccara, 2000, 4043).
memories from the Nineteenth Century: The Second Wave of
migrants from livorno
Starting around 1820 and continuing sporadically throughout the
nine-teenth century, a second wave of migration from Livorno
significantly changed the old community. The new migrants from
Livorno had Iberian origins, as we understand by their surnames
(Moreno, Soria, Cardoso, etc.), but they were complete italophones,
and their culture and customs were wholly European. Compared to the
local Arabic-Jewish community, they considered themselves an elite
group because of their Hispanic or Portuguese lineage, and they had
such a strong social and
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128 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
cultural influence that even the wealthy Tunisian Jews began to
speak and write Italian correctly.
Piero Gozlan (PG in interview below), notwithstanding his
Arabic-Jewish surname, is a Sephardic Italo-Tunisian whose family
hailed originally from Livorno, and he speaks a clear Italian. His
forefathers migration to Tunisia offers evidence of the cultural
and political traits of subsequent genera-tions of Livornese
Tunisians.6
PG: Il eeh nonno di mio padre, che era capitano deel italiano,
si chiamava mmh Tulipano Cesare Giuseppe Disegni. [ . . . ] Quindi
loro sono arrivati qui, su una barca, su un gommone, come stanno
facendo i tunisini in senso opposto. [ . . . ] Eeh dunque loro
avevano partecipato a una carbonara; non so se era . . .
I: Ah!PG: Prima del milleottocen-
tosessantuno o dopo il milleottocentosessantuno.
I: Alla Carboneria, eh?PG: No alla carboneria proprio
detto, per era mmh diciamo, un problema che politico co di lotta
contro gli austriaci che erano, che avevano il dominio l a, in
Toscana, no?
I: Esatto.PG: E qui, quindi, perseguitati
dai dai soldati austriaci, sono arrivati a Napoli e a Napoli l
la comunit ebraica dice: No! Qui non va bene perch ci sono delle
spie dellAustria un po dappertutto! Quindi sono scesi a Trapani, a
Trapani i siciliani hanno detto: No! S!
PG: My great grandfather was an Italian captain, his name was
Tulipano Cesare Giuseppe Disegni [ . . . ] So, they arrived here on
a boat, a dinghy, as Tunisians do now, but in the opposite
direction. [ . . . ] So, they were part of a Carbonara. I dont
remember if it was . . .
I: Ah!PG: If this happened before 1861
or after 1861.I: In the Carboneria, right?PG: Not the Carboneria
exactly,
but there was lets call it a political issue arising from the
struggle against the Austrians, who ruled Tuscany, you know?
I: Exactly.PG: So, persecuted by Austrian
soldiers, they arrived in Naples and in Naples the Jewish
community there told them, No, its not good here because there are
Austrian spies all over! So they went down to Trapani, and at
Trapani the Sicilians told them, No! Yes!
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Qui va bene perch eeh lAust eeh i sol soldati austriaci non
hanno possibilit di raggi-ungervi, per qui non c lavoro. E dunque
loro dicono ai siciliani: Ma come fate voi per mantenervi? Et donc
ha eh noi andiamo in Tunisia sui gommoni destate e andiamo
arriviamo l, e a quanto pare c un quartiere, il ghetto cattolico
italiano eeh siciliano che era la Rue de lEglise adesso Rue moaa
Jamaa Ezzitouna, no? Ecco. E andiamo l e cerchiamo di lavorare,
magari anche in altri posti come Sousse, che era un grosso
villaggio, non era neanche un citt in quel momento, e non so se
sono sbarcati a Klibia o qualcosa del genere.
Its fine here because the Austrian soldiers wont be able to
catch up with you, but here theres no work. So they asked the
Sicilians, How do you support yourselves? [They answered:] In the
summer we go to Tunisia on the dinghies, and we arrive there, and
there seems to be a neighborhood, the catholic Italian . . . well,
Sicilian, ghetto . . . that was in Rue de lEglise, which today is
Rue Jamaa Ezzitouna, right? Right. We go there and we look for
work. We also look in other places, like Sousse, for example, which
at that time it was only a big village, not a city yet, and I dont
know if they landed in Klibia, or something like that.
Recent studies of anti-Semitism in the literary works of
Giovanni Guarducci have focused on the political and cultural
interrelationships between the Jews of Livorno and some of the
greatest figures of the Risorgimento (Franceschini 2013). The
nineteenth century was a crucial time for the fate of the Nazione
Ebrea di Livorno (Livornos Jews) and for the evolution (or perhaps
something more like the involution) of the Bagtto,7 their local
dialect. Starting in the second half of the century, emerging
sectors of the enlightened Jewish bourgeoisie were given access to
freemason lodges, the revolutionary societies of the Carboneria,
and other democratic and progressive organizations that eventually
opened to non-Christians. These Jews soon came to occupy leadership
roles and to express radical political positions similar to those
espoused by Giuseppe Mazzini and that clashed with the political
ideas of the Risorgimentos Livornese leaders such as Domenico
Guerrazzi and Giovanni Guarducci (Franceschini 2013, 212216). Many
politically active Jews from Livorno were subject to repression (by
the House of Bourbon andto a lesser extentby Lorena of Austria),
forcing them to leave the peninsula and
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130 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
move to North Africa, especially to Tunisia, where they had
long-standing bonds. These Livorno natives considered themselves
Italian even before the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, and they all
assumed Italian nationality with the unification of the country
(Audenino, 2005, 265).
Italianness and Civil Commitment: The Finzis and Il Corriere di
Tunisi
These new Italians were among the founders of the first Italian
school in Tunis; they also helped establish hospitals. During the
course of this research I met the patriarch of one of the most
important of these notable Italian Jewish families, the Finzi. The
following excerpt is from a long interview with Elia Finzi (EF),
recorded a few months before his death in 2012. He talks about his
cultural roots and the linguistic practices of his family.8
EF: Mah, io sono Elia Finzi, sono nato a Tunisi il ventitr
dicembre millenovecentoventitr. La nostra famiglia qui da dal
milleottocentoventinove, mio bisnonno venuto qui come profugo da
Livorno come carbonaro, stato accolto qui e faceva parte dei gruppi
mazziniani, e hanno fatto part seguito tutte le le vicende della
del Risorgimento [ . . . ] e poi qui la nostra famiglia qui sempre
rimasta eh e ha sempre lavorato nellambito della nella le legatoria
una una una un primo hanno creato la prima tipografia privata in
Tunisia con prima ancora del protettorato francese [ . . . ] eh
stato eh mio padre e mio no hanno fondato il primo quotidiano
italiano di Tunisiae c stato un intenso lavoro eh abbiamo, poi nel
cinquanta, nel cinquantasei con lindipendenza
EF: Im Elia Finzi and I was born in Tunis the 23rd of December,
1923. My family has been here since 1829. My great- grandfather
came here from Livorno as a political refugee. He was a member of
the Carboneria and Mazzinis groups, and he was welcomed here. My
family participated in all the principal events of the Risorgimento
[ . . . ] They have lived here ever since then and have always
worked in book binding, and we founded the first private typography
business in Tunisia before the French protectorate period [ . . . ]
My father and my grandfather founded the first Italian daily
newspaper in Tunisia. After years of intensive activity, in 1956,
the year of national independence,
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
language 131
abbiamo uscito Il Corriere di Tunisi e ancora continua aad oggi
a essere pubblicato regular regolarmente [ . . . ] in genere mio
padre parlava un ottimo italiano ed era a dir la verit che con mia
madre parlavo francese, con mio padre parlavo italiano. Io sono,
poi ho fatto scuole italiane e scuole francesi, dunque siamo
totalmente bilingui e abbiamo due madrilingui, di fatto litaliano e
il francese. Larabo mio padre lo parlava perfettamente, mio nonno
eccetera, e lo scriveva, ma io, come facevo parte de della
generazione che nata nel periodo in cui i francesi impo-nevano
lassimilazione totale, dunque, praticamente, larabo lo parlo
piuttosto maluccio [ . . . ] E e in famiglia parlavano un dialetto
eeh quando andavano alluniversit perch vo per capirsi [ . . . ] So
che mio padre conosceva parecchi dialetti for e forse anche [ . . .
] per non essere capiti dagli altri [ . . . ] glielho detto la sola
la sola locuzione che mi ricordo ai [hamorim] non piacciono i
confetti [ . . . ] Noi non, soprattutto mio padre non accettava che
si parlasse i dialetti, soprattutto qui in Tunisia dove i dialetti
siciliani erano molto stretti e ognuno parlava il calabrese ecetera
ognuno parlava il proprio dialetto molto stretto e pap non voleva
assolutamente
the newspaper Il Corriere di Tunisi came out and it still
continues to be published regularly now [ . . . ] Generally, my
father spoke excellent Italian. But actually to tell the truth I
spoke French with my mother and Italian with my father. I attended
Italian and French schools, so my family and I are completely
bilingual and we have two mother tongues: Italian and French. My
father and my grandfa-ther spoke and wrote Arabic perfectly, but I
belong to the generation that suffered the total assimilation
imposed by French, and so I speak Arabic pretty badly [ . . . ]
They spoke a common dialect among relatives and university
classmates [ . . . ] Im sure that my father knew other different
dialects; maybe he used them so others couldnt understand him, too
[ . . . ] The only expression I remember is ai hamorim non
piacciono i confetti [donkeys dont like candies] [ . . . ] My
father in particular didnt allow us to speak dialects, especially
here in Tunis where Sicilian dialects were really marked and people
spoke Calabrese dialect, etc. Everyone spoke his own very marked
dialect and my dad absolutely wanted
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132 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
Elia Finzi was the editor of Il Corriere di Tunisi, the only
magazine on the entire continent of Africa written exclusively in
Italian (Finzi was probably the most eminent figure in the old
Livornese community and in the tradi-tional Italo-Tunisian
community as a whole).9 His father, Giulio Finzi, who was
affiliated with the Carboneria, founded the first typography
business in Tunis (which is still in existence to this day) in
1829. For people like the Finzi family, speaking and teaching the
Italian language held both ideolog-ical and political significance.
The national language of the motherland was associated with the
ideas of progress and civilization, whereas dialects and even
Hebrew were considered signs of backwardness that represented the
clumsy and shameful past, an era riddled with internal strife and
saturated with superstition.
The bagto of Tunis: The last Traces
Nevertheless, in some situations Tuscan dialect was also an
integral part of the language of the Grana (Lakhdar 2006, 381).
Giacomo Nunez (GN), born in Tunis but currently living in
Washington, D.C., is one of the few descen-dants of this ancient
Sephardic group who retains as part of his linguistic memory
Jewish-Italian expressions and terms from the vernacular variety
Bagtto, which was widespread in Livorno until World War II. The
following
che noi cadessimo in queste trappole, anche perch voleva
assolutamente che, essendo noi profondamente agnostici, eh non
voleva eh la regola che avevamo come mio padre mio nonno che
avevano imposto in famiglia, se hai da fare con un un antisemita,
un antiebreo diventi ebreo, un antimusulmano diventi musulmano, un
anti-cristiano diventi cristiano, un antiateo diventi ateo, dunque
dovevi sempre prendere la posizione di quello contro il quale si
agiva.
to keep us from falling into these traps. Also because he
absolutely wanted that, us being deeply agnostic, he didnt want,
well the family rule imposed by my father and my grandfather was:
If you are talking to an anti-Semite you must become a Jew; if you
are talking to an anti-Islamic, you must become Muslim; if you are
talking to an anti-Christian, you must become a Christian; if you
are talking to an anti-atheist, you must become an atheist.
Therefore you always had to take the position of those who were
under attack.
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
language 133
interview selections10 illustrate his Judeo-Italian repertoire,
with many terms and expressions derived from the original Jewish
dialect of Livorno.11
GN: [Bajo] si chiamava bagio, dunque il bagto la lingua che si
parla a voce bassa [ . . . ] Noi parlavamo bagto, a casa. Tant
vero, veda un po ehm mi ricordo trenta quaranta espres-sioni [ . .
. ] Erano, non era una lingua veramente segreta, ma almeno era la
lingua per ricon-oscersi: bisogna sapere a Tunisi se eravamo
tunisini, francesi e quindi bastava dire: ma non fare lhafasciaio e
immediata-mente si sapeva chi chi era fron di fronte [ . . . ] E
poi anche una lingua di di piacere, la famiglia si era in famiglia
[ . . . ]
GN: Nel nostro italiano erano inserite parole di bagto [ . . . ]
rimasta, io io il mio italiano cambiato anche, la mia pronunzia da
bambino cambiata, perch col tempo son ho studiato litaliano a
scuola, quindi. Ho studiato sette anni litaliano a scuola. Questo
son le parole che credo son pi son pi livornesi [ . . . ] Quando
beevo quando facevo lo stupido mi chiamavan bbo o [ . . . ] non
fare tante hanifut, non fare hafasciaio, senn ti mando una hizzata
[ . . . ] non fare tante hacaranze! Stai tranquillo! Hola fre hola
behor si frusta l hamor: quando la scuola comincia si frusta
lasinello.
GN: We said bajo for baho, so Bagto is a language to be spoken
softly [ . . . ] We spoke Bagto at home. In fact I still remember
3040 idiomatic expressions [ . . . ] It wasnt really a secret
language, but a language we used to recognize each other: In Tunis
we had to know if someone was Tunisian, French, etc., and therefore
all you needed to say was: Dont be hafasciio and we knew
immediately who the interlocutor was [ . . . ] And then it was also
a language for pleasure, among the family. The language of living
with the family [ . . . ]
GN: Words from Bagto were included in our Italian [ . . . ] It
has remained, but over time my Italian and my childhood
pronunciation have changed, because I studied Italian at school. I
studied Italian at school for seven years. These are the main words
from Livorno [ . . . ] When I acted silly, they called me bobo or [
. . . ] Dont flatter me so much, dont be pedantic or Ill tell you
something unpleasant [ . . . ] dont stand on ceremony! Calm down!
Hola fre hola behor si frusta l hamor: When the school starts, we
whip the donkey.
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134 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
Poi ci sono ai hamorim non piacciono i confetti [ . . . ] E la l
mangiare che andato a male [ . . . ] tutto inhighidito, tutto
andato moscio [ . . . ] inhalamponito [ . . . ] che diventato
piccino [ . . . ] poi c anche cazar ee donzellas [ . . . ] anche
maritar donzellas con la zeta e laltro con la c [ . . . ]
GN: I Nunez erano i massari di Livorno [ . . . ] manzr vol diree
figliastro insomma eem bastardo . . .
I: Figlio bastardo . . .GN: Ma da noi si, era utilizato per
dire a un ragazzo un birichino e per un adulto era utilizato per
dire che sa fare, che sa sbrogliarsi [ . . . ]
GN: Hai paura: sei pahato. Un piccolo un piccola paura, mi viene
la paharella eh eh! [ . . . ]
GN: Quelle come fare il nescio: far quello che non sa, ecco no
sa. Fare finta di non sapere [ . . . ]
GN: Eh te sei picino ma non fare il chetanello [ . . . ]
GN: Ieri labbiamo mangiato il cuscus, fatto con salsa di
pomodoro [ . . . ] la nostra specialit! Le roschette, dolci salate!
[ . . . ] che son di Livorno. C c le scodelline [ . . . ] La
prossima volta che viene le faccio il bollo [ . . . ] bacche rosse
che si mangiano a kippr: giuleppe [ . . . ] basta far cos, guardi:
le orecchi dAman basta far cos, e poi si fanno friggere.
And donkeys dont like candies [ . . . ] Referring to food gone
bad [ . . . ] its very inhighidto! It means: Its very limp [ . . .
] Inhalamponto [ . . . ] It means: to become very small [ . . . ]
There are casar donelas [ . . . ] and maritar donzelas with a z and
the other with a [ . . . ]
GN: The Nunez were the Jewish community leaders of Livorno [ . .
. ] Manzer means illegiti-mate child, a bastard . . .
I: Bastard child . . .GN: But we use it to refer to a
misbehaving boy or a smart, resourceful person [ . . . ]
GN: You are afraid, you are pahado. We use it for a mild fear:
What a paharlla! [ . . . ]
GN: To do the nescio: act like you dont know anything about it [
. . . ]
GN: Youre a child, but dont be a baby! [ . . . ]
GN: Yesterday I ate cous cous, cooked with tomato sauce [ . . .
] Our specialty, the little donuts, sweet and salty! [ . . . ] They
are from Livorno. There are the little bowls [ . . . ] Next time
you come, Ill prepare cupcake for you [ . . . ] The red berries
that we eat for Kippur: jujubes [ . . . ] Just do like this, look:
Thats how you make Amans ears and then you have to fry them.
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
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The Nunez family, an ancient dynasty of Livornese Judeo-Iberian
converted Christians, remained in Tunis for 150 years, until
Tunisia gained independence in the 1950s. Following political and
economic transforma-tions in North Africa after World War II, many
Italian-Tunisian groups migrated to Europe, especially to France.
Sometimes their destination was the United States, in particular
New York City and Washington, D.C., as in the case of Nunezs family
who moved to the United States after many years of living in
Paris.
Giacomo Nunez is more than merely a member of this particular
minority: He is an expert on this subject and author of two family
biogra-phies (Nunez 2011, 2013). Some years ago he came back to
Livorno on the occasion of his first book presentation, since it
was published there. During the journey, he rediscovered the Bagtto
heritage, which would become the subject of his second publication.
The Judeo-Italian dialectal elements provided by Nunez constitute a
tool of comparison for studying the language of Livorno Sephardim
in Tunis. A statement from him will serve as an introduction to a
complex scenario as yet unpacked: In Tunis, until World War II, the
Jews from Livorno preserved not only Italian nationality, but also
the Italian language, their everyday language (Nunez 2011, 108).
This assertion is valid even for Tuscan dialects and Bagtto, to a
certain degree and limited to the cases of some Italo-Tunisian
Sephardic families.
The Sicilian-Tunisian Group and Their language: A Contribution
by Fausto Giudice
In addition to the Grana, another historically relevant group
among the Italian community in Tunis were the Sicilian-Tunisians.
The example of Fausto Giudice (FG), a Sicilian born in Tunis, can
be taken as representative. Some samples of the original dialect of
this group surfaced during the interview:12
FG: Cio litaliano si parlava unicamente nella mia famiglia,
famiglia siciliana [ . . . ]
FG: Quelli che non avevano fatto st studi parlavano il dialetto
siculo arabo, no? Dunque io ho creduto fino allet di quindici anni
che zbbola era una parola italiana. Che mi zia mi diceva:
FG: Italian was only spoken by my family, Sicilian family [ . .
. ]
FG: Sicilian-Arabic was the dialect of those who lacked formal
education, right? Until I was 15 years old I thought that zibbola
was an Italian word, because my aunt used to say to me:
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136 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
After Italys unification, serious social and economic
difficulties led many southern Italians to leave the country to
find work. Coming mainly from Calabria, Sardinia, and Sicily, these
poor and illiterate migrants swelled the ranks of the North African
Italian community, which grew to 10,000 in 1860. By the end of the
1930s, there were almost 100,000 Italians there. In contrast to
their earlier immigrant compatriots, the southern Italians who made
up about 75 percent of this community at the beginning of the 1900s
were a proletarian mass occupying the same socioeconomic positions
as native Tunisians, with whom they created close relations of
solidarity and sociality. The Sicilians among them, however, were
mostly illiterate and did not know the national language because
they left Italy at a time when compulsory public schooling lasted
only two years. They thus
dai Faustino scendi la zbbola. La zbbola la pattumiera e larabo
[zebla] e ehm i francesi hanno espulso quindici milioni di italiani
nel dopoguerra [ . . . ]
FG: Dunque mio padre, uno dei suoi fratelli si son ritrovati
espulsi e sono arrivati a Roma eeh loro due avevano studiato a
scuola italiana, dunque sapevano litaliano nazionale ufficiale
bene, no? Ma cera uno scherzo su sul siciliano di Tunisi che
entrava da un tabaccaio per comprare i fiamiferi che diceva:
attinni una butta de fiammiferi
FG: ma da quel che sappia, eh cio non ho mai visto trace di di
di di scritti in siculo arabo. Ho scoperto negli Stati Uniti una
rivista che si chiama Sicula, credo, che pubblica testi in siculo
americano, no? Universitari o altro. Ma qui non non saprei.
Faustino, take out the zibbola! zibbola means garbage can, from
the Arabic word zebla. The French expelled 15,000 Italians during
the postwar period [ . . . ]
FG: My father and one of his brothers were expelled, and they
took shelter in Rome. They studied in Rome, so they knew the real
national official Italian language, right? There was a joke about
Sicilian-Tunisian people: One of them steps into a tobacco shop to
buy some matches and he asks, Attnni una butta di fiammiferi!
FG: As far as I know, Ive never seen any Sicilian-Arabic written
documents here. But in the United States I discovered a magazine
called Sicula, I think, that publishes texts in Sicilian-American
dialect, right? Academic and non-academic. But Im not aware of
anything similar here.
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
language 137
spoke exclusively Sicilian dialects from their provinces of
origin, particu-larly Trapani and Palermo.
The language of Tuniss Sicilians has undergone many changes
compared to the language originally spoken by Sicilians at home.
This confirms Marinette Pendolas hypothesis (2000a, 84) (repeated
by Meriem zlitni [2006]) that le diffrents parlers locaux (de lEst
et de lOust de lile) se seraient unifis pour donner naissance une
varit dialectale commune ou koin (the different local dialects
[from the east and the west of the island] merged to create a new
variant or even a common dialectal koine [translation mine])
(zlitni 2006, 255). zlitni goes on to say that Tunisian was used to
standardize the language of the Sicilian community: When two unique
Sicilian terms indicated the same object, both were abandoned in
favor of a single word from the Tunisian Arabic dialect (zlitni
2006, 355). The Sicilian-Tunisian mixed speech, therefore, is made
up of code mixing among Sicilian, Italian, and Arabic dialects (as
well as French).
The Italian-Tunisian Community through the Twentieth Century:
lived experiences and historical and Demographic elements
After the occupation of Tunis in 1881, the country passed from
Ottoman rule to French, and the two groups of Jews, the Italian and
the native, supported the colonial government that was the first to
grant full citizenship to Jews. In 1911 the Jewish community in
Tunisia was estimated to number between 35,000 and 50,000 people.
While the majority of the inhabitants of the Hara neighborhood
remained in poverty, the old Italian bourgeoisie was joined by an
emerging middle class that adopted a French style, as well as by an
embryonic working class.
A descendant of this middle-class group, Adolfo Disegni (AD), is
currently one of the oldest Livorno Sephardic Jews who still
resides in Tunis. This interview extract offers multiple starting
points for thinking about the political-cultural dynamics as well
as the sociolinguistic traits I have described.13
AD: Io sono nato in gennaio milenovecentoventisei. A Tunisi, la
quarta generazione [ . . . ] Il bisnonno si chiamava Lieto Disegni,
il mio nonno Adolfo Disegni, mio padre Giorgio Disegni [ . . .
]
AD: I was born in January 1926 in Tunis. Im from the fourth
generation of my family in the city [ . . . ] Lieto Disegni was my
great-grandfather, Adolfo Disegni was my grandfather, and Giorgio
Disegni was my father [ . . . ]
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138 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
I: E litaliano? Lha imparato a scuola?
AD: Lho imparato a scuola, poi in famiglia, lho imparato in
famiglia [ . . . ]
AD: A casa di mio padre parlavamo francese, ma da mio nonno,
quando eravamo in famiglia parlavamo soltanto in italiano [ . . . ]
miei cugini hanno fatto gli studi a la allasilo italiano poi alla
scuola italiana, invece io lho fatto alla scuola francese perch la
mia madre era francese [ . . . ]
AD: I livornesi per la patria avevano una grande . . .
I: Senso di appartenenza?AD S. A lepoca mia famiglia era
anche fascista! [ . . . ] quando stata la guerra [ . . . ] il
governo italiano [ . . . ] ha fatto le le leggi antiebraiche, in
quel momento eeh c stata una rottura [ . . . ]
AD: Qui in Tunisia avevamo, come avevamo eeh de degli amici o
delle dei clienti arabomusul-mani con loro parlavamo un po ooh
larabo per farci capire ee con quelli chee parlavano francese [ . .
. ] [protetorat] francese qua dunque bisognava parlare il francese
[ . . . ] talvolta in una frase eeh parole italiane mescolate con
le paro parole arabe o pa parole tunisine o le parole eeh francesi
ma non mi ricordo propio dun, che ci sia stato un una lingua
speciale, una un dialetto speciale [ . . . ]
I: And Italian? Did you learn it at school?
AD: I learned it at school, then at home, I learned with my
family [ . . . ]
AD: At my fathers house we spoke French, but at my grandfathers
when we were with family we spoke only Italian [ . . . ] My cousins
attended the Italian kindergarten and the Italian school, while I
went to the French school instead because my mother was French [ .
. . ]
AD: People from Livorno for their homeland they had a strong . .
.
I: Sense of belonging? AD: Yes. At that time my family
was even fascist! [ . . . ] They only changed their minds when
the Italian government issued the racial laws against the Jews
during the war [ . . . ]
AD: Here in Tunisia we had Arabic Muslim friends and clients
with whom we spoke a bit of Arabic so we could understand one
another. This was a French protectorate, so we had to speak French
[ . . . ] Sometimes we mixed Italian, Arabic, Tunisian, and French
words in a single sentence, but I really dont remember us having a
special language or dialect [ . . . ]
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
language 139
In 1941, the Italian Jews of Tunisia numbered slightly more than
3,000, almost all of whom lived in the capital city. They were
employed in commerce, navigation, and as independent professionals,
and many sent their children to study in Italy. A large number had
fought in World War I, and some even enrolled in the National
Fascist Party in an effort to reaffirm their Italianness, as Adolfo
Disegni mentioned. However, sincere patriots saw the racial laws as
an unthinkable betrayal. Tunis was one of the most active centers
of anti-Fascism outside of Italy and was home to a large group of
Communist Jews from Livorno who supported the struggle against
Fascism, including Maurizio Valenzi, who became a senator
(19531968) and later the mayor of Naples (19751983).
The Fascist regime, though officially anti-Semitic, for reasons
of conve-nience implemented a policy of light protection regarding
Italian Jews in Tunisia. Paradoxically, the situation worsened
after the capitulation of the German-Italian front, when many Jews,
who were citizens of a country that was still an enemy of France,
were constrained to do forced labor and were even interned.
In 1944, this difficult situation effectively resulted in the
dissolution of the Portuguese Jewish community. Within a few years,
the number of remaining Italians was drastically reduced also,
primarily by a rise in French naturalization. By the time Tunisia
gained national indepen-dence in 1956, there were 66,500 Italians
living in the country, although subsequently a major exodus to
France and Italy occurred, due mostly to increased measures against
foreign workers and the nationalization of agricultural land. By
1962, the community had been halved.
It is perhaps no surprise that the director of the La Fayette
Synagogue, a Twansa, stated that, in his opinion, there are no more
Grana living in Tunis today:14
AD: Chi aveva aa attorno gli amici ciciliani o altri ogni tanto
buttavano una paroletta in siciliana ma no, non propio nel nella
nel nel parlare, propio una de la una conversazione in famiglia o o
tra amici.
AD: The people whose friends included some Sicilians, sometimes
they tried to say a few words in the Sicilian dialect. This never
happened during public conversations, though, only among relatives
or friends.
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140 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
According to data from 2004, about 3,000 Italians currently live
in Tunisia, 900 of whom live in the historical Jewish district.
During the postwar period of migration, most Sicilian-Tunisians
chose to move to France because of its greater employment
opportunities; also their knowledge of Arabic and French put them
in a privileged position to direct Algerian laborers. As a result,
even the dialect of mixed Sicilian-Tunisian suddenly stopped
evolving: Pendola considers it at this point a language of memory
(Pendola 2000b, 16). In this regard, Lakhdar affirms: Le ultime
testimonianze di questa variet mista cos complessa [ . . . ]
soprav-vivono ancora nella parlata degli anziani (soprattutto in
quelli residenti in Francia). Un lavoro di rilevazione e
dinventario simpone urgentemente per questa parlata condannata a
scomparire (The last evidence of this very complex mixed variety [
. . . ] still survives in the speech of the elderly people
[especially those residing in France]. A program of survey and
inventory becomes urgently necessary for this speech that is doomed
to disappear [translation mine]) (Lakhdar 2006, 380).
However, spoken Italian is not associated just with minorities
of Italian origins. Schools, newspapers, and associations founded
and directed by Jewish Italians have had a great influence in
Tunis. An example of this can be observed in notes from a
conversation with this middle-aged Tunisian Arabic Jew from La
Fayette. He reveals some partial skills in Italian, gained during
his childhood in school, probably in the 1950s:15
SF: Le juifs italiens cst pas.I: Des juifs italiens dorigine
italienne
que? SF: Dorigine italienne oui, les
livournais . . .I: Les Grana, les livournes . . .SF: Oui, je les
ai pas connus . . .I: Ah!SF: a fait longtemps qui qui setait
en Tunisie a fait longtemps, mais dans ce moment il ny a plus
personne. Il y plus personne en ce moment.
SF: There arent Italian Jews.I: Do you know any Jews of
Italian
origins? SF: The Jews of Italian origin, the
Livornese, yes . . . I: The Grana, Jews from Livorno . . .SF:
Yes, but Ive never met
them.I: Ah!SF: They lived in Tunisia for
a long time, but nobody lives here now, there are none of them
now.
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
language 141
Temporary Conclusions
By way of conclusion, I would like to break down the complicated
linguistic repertoire of the traditional Italian community in
Tunisia as follows: It consisted of two principal groups, the
descendants of Italian Sephardic Jews, Grana, hailing mainly from
Livorno, and the descendants of southern Italian migrant laborers,
mainly from Sicily, known as Sicilian-Tunisians. The
Sicilian-Tunisians speak (with varying levels of skill) French,
Tunisian Arabic, Italian, and the Sicilian-Tunisian dialect formed
out of their own original dialects combined with other Sicilian
dialects and Tunisian Arabic.
The Grana group speaks standard Italian (with a perceptible
French accent) and standard French. The majority of them show some
skills in Arabic and Tunisian dialects and, in rare cases, some
lexical remnants of a Judeo-Italian vernacular from Livorno. This
is particularly significant because the examined sources never
mention Bagtto or Judeo-Italian as a linguistic variety of the
repertoire of Italian-Tunisian from Livorno.16 It is linguistic
fieldwork that has thus far made it possible to record original
oral data that testify to the trajectory of this particular Judaic
Italo-Romance dialect.
This collection of life stories comes directly from the last
living witnesses of this peculiar linguistic circumstance and
exceeds the bound-aries of linguistics. Without filter or
mediation, this firsthand evidence expresses the will to preserve
and continue the historical and cultural memory of this ancient
cross-cultural Italian community.
Glossary of Giacomo Nunezs Interview
During the interview Giacomo Nunez used twenty-four
Judeo-Italian words and expressions, which are listed in the
Glossary at the end of this article.17 A comparison of lexical
sources shows that thirteen of them have been
T1: Io non sono, sono tunisino. Ehm non sono livornese. [Donc]
non so [quelle reinsegnments] posso darti [ . . . ]
T1: Ahh . . .I: Ma come ha eeh . . .T1: Imparato? A a scuola . .
.I: A scuola? Litaliano?T1: Ji . . .
T1: Im Tunisian, Im not Livornese, so I dont know if I can be of
any use to you [ . . . ]
T1: Ahh . . .I: How do you . . .T1: Learn it? At school.I: Did
you learn Italian at school? T1: Yes.
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142 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
found exclusively in the Judeo-Livornese dialect and two in
Judeo-Tuscan dialects only. Nine of them originate in Iberian
etymology, consistent with the principal distinctive of the lexicon
of the Judeo-Italian dialect featured in Livorno (Franceschini
2008, 198). All the definitions in the Glossary express the meaning
personally given by Nunez. In respect to common meanings in
Judeo-Livornese speech, Nunezs dialectal lexicon underwent
significa-tive semantic alterations in at least three cases,
following dynamics already observed in some varieties of
Judeo-Italian (Aprile 2012, 7480). The first instance is the word
h. acarnza: According to Nunez it means ceremony, warm welcome, in
the sense of showing delight and pleasure at the arrival of
someone. However, according to other documentary sources, in
Judeo-Livornese and Judeo-Florentine speech the same lexeme means
strong friendship, intimacy or clique, clan. In the Judeo-Venetian
dialect hacarnsa means exclusive clique, or putting on airs or
getting haughty, while in the Judeo-Roman dialect fare chakkeranza
means to bond, become acquainted (Aprile 2012, 209). Comparing the
semantic evolution of this term with other Judeo-Livornese
attestations, Nunez seems to keep in mind an acceptation that
expresses a greater semantic movement from abstract to concrete
(Aprile 2012, 77), and a strong intention (Aprile 2012, 7879) with
respect to the original meaning.
The second case is inhighidto: According to Nunez this word
expresses the condition of a person or a thing having become
flabby, limp, or shriveled. The etymology of this term is
uncertain, although many scholars propose the Spanish hgado (liver)
(Aprile 2012, 26). Nunez supplies an unusual form composed by the
Italian prefix in and the Italian suffix -ito applied to this
supposed Iberian basis. The Judeo-Livornese sources report only the
first-conjugation verb higadeare with the meaning of to bore; the
adjective hgedo, hghedo, or chghedo (boring, annoying, fussy
person); and the abstract noun hghedanza (excessive meticulousness)
(Aprile 2012, 203). If the proposed etymology is correct, all these
Bagtto meanings are evidently metaphorical, referring to
psycho-somatic disorders caused by bilious secretions of a person
who overthinks and ponders too much, according to the model of
Spanish locutions such as echar los higados (to urge somebody
nervously with fussiness). However, Nunez seems to get close to the
etymological meaning with a semantic extension based on the
material attributes of the liver as physical object and biological
organ. Nevertheless, we cannot exclude the possibility of an error
due to lack of familiarity with the spoken language, which may have
led to a mistaken memory that was influenced by the model of other
Judeo-Italian terms, such as the Judeo-Roman ntisito (shriveled and
stiff food; numb person).
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
language 143
We find a similar case in the last term: inhalamponto. Again,
the etymology is controversial: The Spanish hampon (braggart) seems
logical for semantic and phonetic reasons, but we cannot exclude
the Hebrew halam (dream), from which comes the Ferrara
Judeo-Italian expression che halom! (what a stupid! what a
senile!). According to Nunez, this adjective has two different
meanings: a person who becomes stupid or something that becomes
little. In Judeo-Tuscan and Judeo-Roman speech this term means
boaster (Aprile 2012, 211), with no semantic sliding of the
etymological meaning. If the Iberian etymology is correct, Nunezs
first acceptation reflects a clear semantic sliding and widening
(Aprile 2012, 76, 70, 80), because in the common sense every
boaster is considered stupid. The second acceptation, become
little, could be explained with an antiph-rasis: If a boaster is
notoriously a person who tries to make himself greater with respect
to reality, the Judeo-Livornese speakers of Tunis could be
over-turning this sense because of negative judgment about this
behavior.18 19
Glossary
bAGTo (nms): 1. quietly spoken language, 2. Livornese Jewish
language, Sp. hablando bajito (to speak quietly).
bbo (nms): stupid, Sp. bobo (stupid).
bllo (nms): typical Jewish cake of Livorno, Jud. Sp. bollo
(cupcake).
CASR DoNSlAS (prnfs): charitable institute for orphans and
unmarried girls of Jewish community of Livorno, Jud. Port. and Jud.
Sp. Hebr de casar orfas e donzelas (association for the settlement
of orphans and unmarried girls).
CATANllo (nms): kid, Hebr. qatan (little).
CuSCuSS (nms): typical Livornese Jewish cous cous, Ar. Tun.
cuscuss (cous cous).
GIulPPe (nms): Kippurs red berries, It. giulebbe (aromatic sweet
syrup).
hACARNzA (nfs): ceremony, warm welcome, Hebr. hakkara
(knowledge) or Sp. Jcara (high-spirited band of friends playing
music and singing by night).
hAFASCIIo (nms): presumptious, pedantic person, Hebr. hfas
(investigator) and It. cafaggiaio (meddler).
hANIFT (nfpl): flattery, pandering, Med. Hebr. h. anefut
(flattery, hypocrisy).
hIzzTA (nfs): unpleasant thing to say, uncertain, perhaps Jud.
Ven. harizada (uncertain meaning).
hlA behR SI FRuSTA l hAmR (idiom): when the school starts, we
whip the donkey, Hebr. kol habeh. or (every firstborn), It. si
frusta il (we whip the) and Hebr. h. amor (donkey).
INhAlAmPoNTo (adjms): 1. become stupid, 2. become little,
uncertain, perhaps Sp. harampon, hampon (braggart).
INhIGhIDTo (adjms): become flabby, limp, shriveled (person or
thing), uncertain, perhaps Sp. hgado (liver).
mANzR (adjinv): 1. mischievious, 2. smart and resourceful
person, Hebr. mamzer (bastard son).
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144 Italian American Review 4.2 Summer 2014
mARITR DoNSlAS (prnfs): charitable institute for orphans and
unmarried girls of Jewish community of Livorno, It. maritare (give
in marriage), Jud. Port. donzelas (unmarried girls).
mASSRo (nms): leader of the Jewish Community of Livorno, It.
massaio (estate manager).
NSCIo (nms): ignorant, unwise, It. nscio (ignorant), Sp. necio
(ignorant, imprudent, stubborn), Port. nscio (ignoramus,
stupid).
oRCChIe DAmN (idiom, fpl): typical Jewish cake of Livorno, It.
orecchie (ears) and Hebr. Amn (Haman, biblical character).
PAhARllA (nfs): mild fear, Hebr. pahad (fear).
PAhTo (adjms): fearful, Hebr. pahad (fear).
RoSChTTA (nfs): typical little donut of Livorno, sweet or salty,
Sp. rosquete (big donut) and Port. rosquilla (spiral-shaped sweet
dough).
SCoDellNA (nfs): typical Jewish cake of Livorno, It. scodellina
(little bowl).
Notes
1. Issued in 1591 and 1593, the Medici Lettere Patenti (commonly
known as Costituzioni Livornine or Leggi Livornine) included
incentives encouraging the settlement of Spanish-Portuguese Jews
expelled from the Iberian Peninsula from 1492 onward by edict of
the Catholic monarchs. These rules were enacted in the belief that
the activi-ties of Jewish merchants and practitioners would be
useful for the development of the city, and indeed they fully
succeeded in their goal, as Livorno quickly became one of the main
ports in the Mediterranean. The Grand Ducal government had granted
the Livorno community the privileged status of free port in order
to promote trading activi-ties among the ports of the Levant, the
city squares of Italy, and northern Europe. The Jews of Livorno
played a fundamental role in this system, and their community,
called the Nazione Ebrea, came to represent about 10 percent of the
total population.
2. This word originates from Qurna, the Arabic name for Livorno
(with the separation of the first syllable, assimilated to the
Arabic article: Livorno = Al-Qurna). The Jews of Livorno in Tunis
were therefore called Qurni or Gorni in the singular and Qrana or
Grana in the plural (Franceschini, 2013, 194).
3. The original video interview is available at:
http://videobam.com/LSYot.4. The transcription of interview
extracts is speech appropriated by adopting the modern
Italian alphabet complemented with some markers to indicate
relevant phonetic or lexical features. For the consonants, the
occurrences of the aphonic velar fricative depend on the sounds of
the Hebrew language heyt, he, or kap (possibly aspirated in the
Judeo-Italian variety of Livorno); in all cases, this sound is
always made with h, regardless of the degree of spirantization. The
frequent halving of double consonants on Italian words due to the
influence of French pronunciation has not been indicated
graph-ically. Tonic vowels are graphically accented in all the
Judeo-Italian or Sicilian-Tunisian words. Foreign words from
French, Arabic, or Hebrew are indicated by Roman font and
transcribed according to contemporary writing conventions of the
foreign language. I have also used a comma to indicate all short
breaks in enunciation, thus extending the meaning of this
punctuation beyond its common use in written Italian. In all other
cases the standard conventions of written Italian have been used.
The sign [ . . . ] indicates sections removed from the full
original interview. All interview translations are mine.
5. To better specify the meaning of the sentence, the English
translation sometimes departs from a literal rendering.
6. The original video interview is available at:
http://videobam.com/Ejple.
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Submerged Italian in Tunis: Italian and Its Dialects as heritage
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7. Bagtto (or bagto, the form nearer to the Spanish) is the
original Judeo-Italian dialect of Livorno, which was widespread
between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and spoken in Tunis
as well. This dialect was characterized by a varied lexical
repertoire, derived especially from Hebrew and the Iberic languages
but also composed of loan words from French, Greek, Turkish,
Arabic, and other languages of the Mediterranean area, including
jargons.
8. The original video interview is available at:
http://videobam.com/VOHoh.9. The publication is presently directed
by his daughter Prof. Silvia Finzi.
10. The original video interview is available at:
http://videobam.com/jmXbK.11. Etymology and semantics of singular
words are illustrated in the Glossary. 12. The original video
interview is available at: http://videobam.com/OcdDW.13. The
original video interview is available at:
http://videobam.com/TXVyS.14. The original video interview is
available at: http://videobam.com/ixSbp. I was unable
to obtain this persons name.15. The original video interview is
available at: http://videobam.com/FemlX. I met this
person casually and did not record his name.16. Amira Lakadhar
is the only one who makes a passing reference to this aspect:
Anche litaliano era presente principalmente nella variet dei
dialetti siciliani, ma anche nella variet toscana degli Ebrei
livornesi, i cosiddetti Grana (Italian, too, was present
principally in the variety of Sicilian dialects, but also in the
Tuscan variety of the Livornese Jews, the so-called Grana [editors
translation]) (Lakhdar 2006, 381).
17. Abbreviations key: n = nounprn = proper nounadj =
adjectiveidiom = idiomatic expressionm = masculinef = feminines =
singularpl = pluralinv = invariableHebr = HebrewMed. Hebr. =
Medieval HebrewSp. = SpanishJud. Sp. = Judeo-SpanishPort. =
PortugueseJud. Port. = Judeo-PortugueseIt. = ItalianAr. Tun. =
Arabic Tunisian dialect
18. This unprecedented meaning is explained by Nunez with a
wrong etymological root in the Italian word lampone (raspberry),
that is to say little as a raspberry.
19. The examined lexicographic sources are Bedarida (1956),
Fortis (2006), Del Monte (2007), Orfano (2010), Aprile (2012), and
Franceschini (2013).
Works Cited
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