We have already talked several times about the most used Sicilian words in the Sicilian language (you can find one of our articles here), those words that in one way or another could be useful to you in case you are visiting our fabulous island. But for a useful top 10, you need to create an equally useless one – you know, just to find the right balance.
Sicilian is a language with a rich history, which has received contributions from many different cultures (many words are reminiscent of their counterparts in Spanish or French, rather than their translation into Italian). The vocabulary of the Sicilian language (yes, we have repeatedly stressed the fact that is a language, not a dialect!) is particularly vast and being it a language in disuse today, it is not at all difficult to come across a multitude of rare terms, often forgotten and practically unused and almost always belonging to distant eras.
In today’s top 10, we are going to look for terms that very few know. If you know them, let us know in the comments and tell us where and how you heard them!
Let’s have a look at these 10 Sicilian terms that you probably never heard of, or at least, it’s very unlikely you did!
1)Strapilatu: sweaty.
2)Acqua d’aduri: Perfume.
3)Strabbuliari: to talk out of turn.
4)Scaniari: To knead.
5)Bazzarijari: to sell.
6)Ngazzusatu: Fanatic.
7)Fastuchi: Pistachios, of Arab origin.
8)Ritimegnu: modesty.
9)Abbentu: Rest / Truce.
10)Sartania: Frying pan.
Did you know any of these Sicilian Words? Let us know in the comments!
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I do know a couple if those words..we did use them in our house.
no, never heard any of these. My mom’s side of the family was from Palermo. Could you possibly provide pronunciation so we know how the word is spoken? Thanks.
I did not know any of them, but thank you for all of this wonderful information.
Never heard of any of these words. Family comes Trapani area
Sartania. That is what my parents called the frying pan. But they were not from Sicily they were from a village in Abruzzes (Teramo) so this is very interesting
My mother used to call me Ahbediana(?). I wish I knew what it meant.
Brought up by Sicilian grandparents and none of these words sound familiar. I could understand them but I had limited vocabulary, enough to get our messages across (I’m sure a lot of the words they spoke were bastardized English variations (like bacousu=bathroom). I know the word they used for child (picciriḍḍu) was not Italian.