Siculish
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Siculish is the
macaronic Macaronic language uses a mixture of languages, particularly bilingual puns or situations in which the languages are otherwise used in the same context (rather than simply discrete segments of a text being in different languages). Hybrid words ...
" Sicilianization" of
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
words and phrases by immigrants from
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
(
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
) to the
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 territorie ...
in the early 20th century. The term ''Siculish'' is, however, rather recent, being first recorded in 2005.Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity. ''English World-wide'', 39(1): 30. Siculish was used to Sicilianize the names of American places among immigrant communities, such as
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
becoming nicknamed ''Bensinosti'' and
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
becoming ''Brucculinu'' or ''Broccolino''. Indeed, New York itself became known as ''Nu Iorca''. Forms of Siculish are also to be found in other Sicilian immigrant communities of English-speaking countries, namely Canada and Australia. A surprising similarity can often be found between these forms, through either coincidence, trans-national movements of Sicilian immigrants, or more likely, through the logical adaptation of
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
using linguistic norms from the
Sicilian language Sicilian ( scn, sicilianu, link=no, ; it, siciliano) is a Romance language that is spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. A variant, ''Calabro-Sicilian'', is spoken in southern Calabria, where it is called Southern Calabro ...
. Some common Siculish terms and an explanation of their derivation (not necessarily common to all Anglo-speaking countries): * ''baccausu'' - Sicilianisation of English words "back" and "house", as in the euphemistic term " backhouse", which is synonymous with "
outhouse An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry toilet, dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may als ...
"; referring to the original location of toilet facilities, usually located in the backyard or rear of the home, at the turn of the 20th century before the advent of indoor plumbing; even used today to refer to any functioning bathroom. * ''bissinissa'' - Sicilianisation of English word "business", either referring to a commercial enterprise or family-run shop, or to the personal affairs of an individual, sometimes used jokingly (also found as ''bissinissi'' in both singular and plural forms). * ''bossu'' - addition of masculine ''u'' ending to English word "boss" * ''carru'' - marriage of English "car" with Sicilian ''carru'' meaning "cart", modern use of existing Sicilian word to suit new environment * ''brucculinu'' - Sicilianisation of the New York City borough of "Brooklyn"; can also refer to any Sicilian (or Italian) who has made it across the ocean to New York, or any of the other surrounding areas heavily populated by Italian immigrants in the northeastern United States. * ''fenza'' - sicilianisation of English word "fence", as in the backyard fence; marriage with Sicilian ''frinza'' meaning "fringe" or "border" * ''giobbu'' - addition of masculine ''u'' ending to English word "job", ''gi-'' being the sicilian form of English "j", with the doubling of the "b" a common Sicilian linguistic trait (may also be found as ''giobba'', i.e. feminine ending) * ''iarda'' - sicilianisation of English "yard", as in "backyard" or "garden", but also Sicilian ''iardinu'' means "garden" * ''stritta'' - Sicilianisation of English word "street" - pronounced ''s''-treeh-tah" (its pronunciation is the same of the word that in Sicilian language means "narrow") * ''tupicu'' - sicilianisation of English word "toothpick" - pronounced ''too''-pee-koo" Many children of Sicilian immigrants will often confuse actual Sicilian words for Siculish. This will especially occur where both the Sicilian and English languages have basically the same word derived from
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
. For example, the following are Sicilian words that could be mistaken for being Siculish: ''anciòva'' means "anchovy", ''trubbulu'' means "trouble", ''damaggiu'' means "damage", ''raggia'' means "rage", ''tastari'' means "to taste" and ''truppicari'' means "to trip" - but they are examples of Sicilian and English words with the same Norman derivation.


See also

*
Itanglese Itanglese, which is also known as Anglitaliano or (in the United Kingdom) Britalian, refers to multiple hybrid types of language based on Italian and English. There are numerous portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend o ...
, a macaronic combination of English and the standardized Italian language


References


External links

* {{Interlanguage varieties Macaronic forms of English Sicilian language Sicilian-American culture Italian language in the United States Italian-American culture in New York City Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Gravesend, Brooklyn