Siculish

Siculish is the macaronic " Sicilianization" of English language words and phrases by immigrants from Sicily (Italy) to the United States 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, New York becoming nicknamed ''Bensinosti'' and Brooklyn 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 using linguistic norms from the Sicilian language.
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"; 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. 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, a macaronic combination of English and the standardized Italian language

References

External links

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{{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