Nonantum (from
Massachusett
The Massachusett were a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills ...
"I bless it"),
also known as Silver Lake or The Lake, is one of the thirteen
villages
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
within the city of
Newton in
Middlesex County,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, located along the
Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...
at the site of a former lake. The village is one of the centers of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
population in Newton. The commercial area has numerous restaurants and food establishments featuring
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with wave ...
.
History
in the 1600s, Nonantum was a
Native American settlement and an early site of missionary work by
John Eliot at the home of
Waban
Waban (16041685) was a Native American of the Nipmuc group and was thought to be the first Native American convert to Christianity in Massachusetts.
Life
Waban was born about 1604 at Musketaquid, near the present town of Concord. While there i ...
, often identified as the first
Massachusett
The Massachusett were a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills ...
to convert to Christianity. Nonantum was the first village of "
praying Indian
Praying Indian is a 17th-century term referring to Native Americans of New England, New York, Ontario, and Quebec who converted to Christianity either voluntarily or involuntarily. Many groups are referred to by the term, but it is more commonly ...
s" gathered by Eliot,
for which it was given the name "I bless it." European settlers later claimed ownership of this land and divided it into small farms,
eventually supplanting Native Americans at this site through disease, migration, and
King Philip's War
King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
.
Starting in 1778, when a paper mill was established by David Bemis on the Charles River at Bridge Street, industrial uses replaced farming, and Nonantum became a site for production of cottons, woolens, and rope. Industrial work brought Irish, French Canadian, Italian, and Jewish immigrants to the village.
Silver Lake was a site of winter recreation for neighborhood children, who cleared the snow each winter and played
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
on it through the 1950s. It was filled with construction rubble and built over from the 1930s until its total demise in 1971.
Lake Talk
Lake Talk is a
cryptolect
A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...
spoken particularly among older Italian-American residents. The origins of Lake Talk are unclear. A 2001 article in the ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' speculated that it is a blend of Italian and some World War II code, but others have seen similarities to
Angloromani
Angloromani or Anglo-Romani (literally "English Romani"; also known as Angloromany, Rummaness, or Pogadi Chib) is a mixed language of Indo European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants of ...
or Italian
Romany slang. In the late 1800s and early 1900s natives of
Castelvenere, a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the
Province of Benevento
The Province of Benevento ( it, Provincia di Benevento) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Benevento.
Geography
The province has an area of 2,071 km2, and, , a total population of 279,308. There are 78 ...
,
Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
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region, Italy, settled in Nonantum, the first Italian immigrants. Many people in the village now who claim they were the first to discover the "Lake" are descendants of natives of
San Donato Val di Comino
San Donato Val di Comino (locally ''Sande Denate'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located in the Comino Valley about east of Rome and about east of Frosinone.
San Donato Val di Comino bo ...
in the
Province of Frosinone
The Province of Frosinone ( it, Provincia di Frosinone) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy, with 91 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune''; see Comuni of the Province of Frosinone). Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of ...
,
Lazio
it, Laziale
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, population_blank1 =
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, demographics1_title2 ...
, Italy.
According to the article, examples of words and phrases in Lake Talk include:
*''mush'' (pronounced to rhyme with ''push'') -- "guy" or "man", can be positive or negative depending on context
*''wicked pissa, mush!'' -- "extremely awesome, man"
*''chabby'' -- "boy child", possibly related to the
Romany word ''chavvie'' = "boy"
*''chor'd'' -- "stolen", possibly related to the Romany word ''choro'' = "thief"
*''chuccuo'' -- (chu-co, also pronounced as "chew-ch") -- "donkey", "horse's ass"
*''cuya moi'' -- "shut up" or "go to hell"
*''divia'' (div-ya) -- "crazy", "jerk, screw-up, or harmless screwball," can be used as a noun or an adjective: "The mush is a real divya," or "This mush is divya"
*''inga'' -- "unattractive" or "bad-tempered person" or "junk" or "crap"
*''jival'' -- "chick" or "woman", female version of mush
*''mush has a cormunga in his cover'' -- "guy is hiding a gun"
*''mush is the earie'' -- "the guy is listening"
*''over-chay'' or ''overchay'' (ova-chay) -- "it's a lie" or "he's an actor." Directly translates as "overkill." Better defined as exaggeration or equivocation
*''oy'' -- "eat"
*''pissa'' -- "awesome"
*''pukka to the mush'' -- "tell the guy"
*''quister jival'' (quest-ah jival) -- "pretty woman"
*''quister'' (also pronounced as "quish-ta") meaning awesome, good, beautiful
*''quister mush'' (quest-ah mush) -- "good, standup guy"
*''shapdude'' (shup-dude) -- "how's it going?"
*''wonga'' -- "money," "That mush has a lotta' wonga"
*''geech'' -- "go away"
*''gash'' -- "feminine man"
*''jawl'' -- "steal" or "look at"
*''dikki ki dotti'' -- "unreal or unbelievable"
*''minje'' -- "dirty or unattractive woman"
*''suv'' -- "to have sexual relations"
*''corey"-- "the male sexual organ"
*''chooch'' -- "friend", "buddy"
*''24-911"-- "Meet me in the Store 24 parking lot immediately"
Former Massachusetts State Auditor
Joe DeNucci, a Nonantum native, told the ''Globe'':
:You talk the Lake language and only people from there can understand you. An awful lot of what it means is how you say it and how you use it. You improvise a lot, mixing it with carnival talk and bebop.
:"Mush is the earie." That means "The guy is listening."
Lake talk is not confined to the neighborhood. Nonantum students have spread it to
Newton North High School
Newton North High School, formerly Newton High School, is the larger and longer-established of two public high schools in Newton, Massachusetts, the other being Newton South High School. It is located in the village of Newtonville. The school f ...
, which serves the area.
[ ]
Notable residents
*
Marianne Leone Cooper, actress
*
A. Joseph DeNucci
A. Joseph DeNucci (August 30, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was a middleweight boxer and the Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Early life and career
DeNucci started working at 10 in a bowling alley, picking up and racking pins. DeNuc ...
, politician and former professional boxer
*
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc r ...
, actor
See also
*
List of Registered Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts
References
External links
* http://www.thelakelingo.com
{{authority control
Villages in Newton, Massachusetts
Villages in Massachusetts