“Na ƚengua soƚa no ƚa xé mai bastansa.”
One language is never enough.
Italy is divided up into many, many dialects, one of which is the noble and awesome Venetian dialect. The Florentines will tell you that Venetian is among the ugliest dialects, but this is simply not true. It is the language of a globetrotting, cosmopolitan seafaring people who adopted words and concepts from everywhere they went. Below are some things I’ve gleaned from various websites and dictionaries. This is a work in progress.
Vocabulary Separate from Vernacular Italian
| Venetian | English | Italian | Venetian word origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| uncò, ‘ncò, incò, ancò, ancùo, incoi | today | oggi | from Latin hunc + hodie |
| apotèca | pharmacy | farmacia | from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē) |
| trincàr | to drink | bere | from German trinken “to drink” |
| armelìn | apricot | albicocca | from Latin armenīnus |
| astiàr | to bore | dare noia, seccare | from Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄, haifsts meaning “contest” |
| bagìgi | peanuts | arachidi | from Arabic habb-ajiz |
| becàr | to be spicy hot | essere piccante | from Italian beccare, literally “to peck” |
| bìgolo | spaghetti | vermicello, spaghetti | from Latin (bom)byculus |
| bisàto, bisàta | eel | anguilla | from Latin bestia “beast”, compare also Italian biscia, a kind of snake |
| bìssa, bìsso | snake | serpente | from Latin bestia “beast”, compare also Ital. biscia, a kind of snake |
| bìsi | peas | piselli | related to the Italian word |
| isarda, risardola | lizard | lucertola | from Latin lacertus, same origin as English lizard |
| trar via | to throw | tirare | local cognate of Italian tirare |
| calìgo | fog | nebbia foschia | from Latin caligo |
| cantón | corner/side | angolo/parte | from Latin cantus |
| catàr | find + take | trovare + prendere | from Latin adcaptare |
| caréga, trón | chair | sedia | from Latin cathedra and thronus (borrowings from Greek) |
| ciao | hello, goodbye | ciao | from Venetian s-ciao “slave”, from Medieval Latin sclavus |
| ciapàr | to catch, to take | prendere | from Latin capere |
| co | when (non-interr.) | quando | from Latin cum |
| copàr | to kill | uccidere | from Old Italian accoppare, originally “to behead” |
| carpéta | miniskirt | minigonna | compare English carpet |
| còtoła | skirt | sottana | from Latin cotta, “coat, dress” |
| fanèla | T-shirt | maglietta | borrowing from Greek |
| gòto, bicèr | drinking glass | bicchiere | from Latin guttus, “cruet” |
| insìa | exit | uscita | from Latin in + exita |
| mi | I | io | from Latin me (“me”, accusative case); Italian io is derived from the Latin nominative form ego |
| massa | too much | troppo | from Greek μᾶζα (mâza) |
| morsegàr, smorsegàr | to bite | mordere | derverbal derivative, from Latin morsus “bitten”, compare Italian morsicare |
| mustaci, mostaci | moustaches | baffi | from Greek μουστάκι (moustaki) |
| munìn, gato, gatìn | cat | gatto | perhaps onomatopoeic, from the sound of a cat’s meow |
| meda | big sheaf | grosso covone | from messe, mietere, compare English meadow |
| musso | donkey | asino | from Latin almutia “horses eye binders (cap)” (compare Provençal almussa, French aumusse) |
| nòtoła, notol, barbastrìo, signàpoła | bat | pipistrello | derived from not “night” (compare Italian notte) |
| pantegàna | rat | ratto | from Slovene podgana |
| pinciàr | beat, cheat, sexual intercourse | imbrogliare, superare in gara, amplesso | from French pincer (compare English pinch) |
| pirón | fork | forchetta | from Greek πιρούνι (piroúni) |
| pisalet | dandelion | tarassaco | from French pissenlit |
| plao far | truant | marinare scuola | from German blau machen |
| pomo/pón | apple | mela | from Latin pomus |
| sbregàr | to break, to shred | strappare | from Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan), related to English to break and German brechen |
| schèi | money | denaro soldi | from German Scheidemünze |
| saltapaiusc | grasshopper | cavalletta | from salta “hop” + paiusc “grass” (Italian paglia) |
| sghiràt, schirata, skirata | squirrel | scoiattolo | Related to Italian word, probably from Greek σκίουρος (skíouros) |
| sgnapa | spirit from grapes, brandy | grappa acquavite | from German Schnaps |
| sgorlàr, scorlàr | to shake | scuotere | from Latin ex + crollare |
| sina | rail | rotaia | from German Schiene |
| straco | tired | stanco | from Lombard strak |
| strica | line, streak, stroke, strip | linea, striscia | from the proto-Germanic root *strik, related to English streak, and stroke (of a pen). Example: Tirar na strica “to draw a line”. |
| strucàr | to press | premere, schiacciare | from proto-Germanic *þrukjaną (‘to press, crowd’) through the Gothic or Langobardic language, related to Middle English thrucchen (“to push, rush”), German drücken (‘to press’), Swedish trycka. Example: Struca un tasto / boton “Strike any key / Press any button”. |
| supiàr, subiàr, sficiàr, sifolàr | to whistle | fischiare | from Latin sub + flare, compare French siffler |
| tòr su | to pick up | raccogliere | from Latin tollere |
| técia, téia, tegia | pan | pentola | from Latin tecula |
| tosàt(o) (toxato), fio | lad, boy | ragazzo | from Italian tosare, “to cut someone’s hair” |
| puto, putèło, putełeto, butèl | lad, boy | ragazzo | from Latin puer, putus |
| matelot | lad, boy | ragazzo | perhaps from French matelot, “sailor” |
| vaca | cow | mucca, vacca | from Latin vacca |
| s-ciop, s-ciòpo, s-ciopàr, s-ciopón | gun | fucile-scoppiare | from Latin scloppum (onomatopoeic) |
| troi | track path | sentiero | from Latin trahere, “to draw, pull”, compare English track |
| zavariàr | to worry | preoccuparsi, vaneggiare | from Latin variare |
Words from Venetian to English
| Venetian source | English loanword | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| arsenàl | arsenal | via Italian; from Arabic دار الصناعة dār al-ṣināʻah “house of manufacture, factory” |
| artichioco / articiòco | artichoke | from Arabic الخرشوف al-kharshūf |
| balòta | ballot | ball used in Venetian elections; cf. English to “black-ball” |
| casìn | casino | “little house”; adopted in Italianized form |
| s’ciào | ciao | cognate with Italian schiavo “slave”; used originally in Venetian to mean “your servant”, “at your service” |
| contrabando | contraband | |
| gazéta | gazette | a small Venetian coin; from the phrase gazeta de la novità “a pennysworth of news” |
| g(h)èto | ghetto | hypothesized as from either (bor)ghetto “little city”, or from the Venetian term for “foundry” |
| ziro | giro | “circle, turn, spin”; adopted in Italianized form; from the name of the bank Banco del Ziro |
| gnòco, -chi | gnocchi | lump, bump, gnocchi; from Germanic *knokk– ‘knuckle, joint’ |
| góndoła | gondola | possibly related to dondolare “to rock” |
| laguna | lagoon | from Latin lacus “lake” |
| lazaréto | Lazaretto, lazaret | a quarantine station for maritime travellers, ultimately from the Biblical Lazarus of Bethany, who was raised from the dead |
| Lido | lido | from Latin litus “shore” |
| lò(t)to | lotto | from Germanic *lot– “destiny, fate” |
| malvasìa | malmsey | ultimately from the name Monemvasia, a small Greek island off the Peloponnese once owned by the Venetian Republic and a source of strong, sweet white wine from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean |
| marzapàn | marzipan | from the name for the porcelain container in which marzipan was transported, from Arabic موثبان mawthabān, or from Mataban in the Bay of Bengal where these were made (these are some of several proposed etymologies for the English word) |
| Negropónte | Negroponte | Greek island called Euboea or Evvia in the Aegean Sea |
| Montenégro | Montenegro | “black mountain”; country on the Eastern side of the Adriatic Sea |
| Pantalón | pantaloon | a character in the Commedia dell’arte |
| pestàcio / pistàcio | pistachio | ultimately from Middle Persian *pistak |
| quaranténa | quarantine | “forty”, referring to the number of days a ship with plague victims must remain isolated |
| regata | regatta | originally “fight, contest” |
| scampo, -i | scampi | from Greek κάμπη “caterpillar”, lit. “curved (animal)” |
| zechìn | sequin | Venetian gold ducat; from Arabic سكّة sikkah “coin, minting die” |
| Zanni | zany |
Categories: Language, Uncategorized, Venice
Evander Price 