Chapter VI: Part 6

(b) _Provencal_ (see _La Lettura_ i. 716-717, _Romanische Forschungen_
xxiii. 525-539).--Farther south, but still in the same western
extremity of Piedmont, phenomena continuous with those of the Maritime
Alps supply the means of passing from the Franco-Provencal to the
Provencal proper, precisely as the same transition takes place beyond
the Cottian Alps in Dauphine almost in the same latitude. On the
Italian side of the Cottian and the Maritime Alps the Franco-Provencal
and the Provencal are connected with each other by the continuity of
the phenomenon _c_ (a pure explosive) from the Latin _c_ before _a_.
At OULX (sources of the Dora Riparia), which seems, however, to have a
rather mixed dialect, there also occurs the important Franco-Provencal
phenomenon of the surd interdental (English _th_ in _thief_) instead
of the surd sibilant (for example _ithi_ = Fr. ici). At the same time
_agu_ = avuto, takes us to the Provencal. [If, in addition to the
Provencal characteristic of which _agu_ is an example, we consider
those characteristics also Provencal, such as the _o_ for _a_ final
unaccented, the preservation of the Latin diphthong _au_, _p_ between
vowels preserved as _b_, we shall find that they occur, together or
separately, in all the Alpine varieties of Piedmont, from the upper
valleys of the Dora Riparia and Clusone to the Colle di Tenda. Thus at
FENESTRELLE (upper valley of the Clusone): _agu_, _vengu_, Ital.
venuto; _pauc_, Lat. _paucu_, Ital. poco; _ariba_ (Lat. _ripa)_, Ital.
arrivare; _truba_, Ital. trovare; _ciabrin_, Ital. capretto; at OULX
(source of the Dora Riparia): _agu_, _vengu_; _uno gran famino e
venuo_, Ital. una gran fame e venuta; at GIAGLIONE: _auvou_, Ital. odo
(Lat. _audio_); _arriba_, _resebu_, Ital. ricevuto (Lat. _recipere_);
at ONCINO (source of the Po): _agu_, _vengu_; _ero en campagno_, Ital.
"era in campagna"; _donavo_, Ital. dava; _paure_, Lat. _pauper_, Ital.
povero; _truba_, _ciabri_; at SANPEYRE (valley of the Varaita): _agu_,
_volgu_, Ital. voluto; _pressioso_, Ital. preziosa; _fasio_, Ital.
faceva; _trobar_; at ACCEGLIO (valley of the Macra): _venghess_, Ital.
venisse; _virro_, Ital. ghiera; _chesto allegrio_, Ital. questa
allegria; _ero_, Ital. era; _troba_; at CASTELMAGNO (valley of the
Grana): _gu_, _vengu_; _rabbio_, Ital. rabbia; _trubar_; at VINADIO
(valley of the southern Stura); _agu_, _beigu_, Ital. bevuto;
_cadeno_, Ital. catena; _manggo_, Ital. manica; _canto_, Ital. canta;
_pau_, _auvi_, Ital. udito; _sabe_, Ital. sapete; _trobar_; at
VALDIERI and ROASCHIA (valley of the Gesso): _purgu_, Ital. potuto;
_pjagu_, Ital. piaciuto; _corrogu_, Ital. corso; _pau_; _arriba_,
_ciabri_; at LIMONE (Colle di Tenda): _agu_, _vengu_; _saber_, Ital.
sapere; _aruba_, _trubava_. Provencal also, though of a character
rather Transalpine (like that of Dauphine) than native, are the
dialects of the Vaudois population above Pinerolo (_v._ Morosi, _Arch.
glott._ xi. 309-416), and their colonies of Guardia in Calabria (ib.
xi. 381-393) and of Neu-Hengstett and Pinache-Serres in Wurttemberg
(ib. xi. 393-398). The Vaudois literary language, in which is written
the _Nobla Leyczon_, has, however, no direct connexion with any of the
spoken dialects; it is a literary language, and is connected with
literary Provencal, the language of the _troubadours_; see W.
Foerster, _Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen_ (1888) Nos. 20-21.]

2. _Ladin Dialects_ (Ascoli, _Arch. glott._ i., iv. 342 sqq., vii. 406
sqq.; Gartner, _Ratoromanische Grammatik_ (Heilbronn, 1883), and in
_Grundriss der romanischen Philologie_, 2nd ed., i. 608 sqq.;
Salvioni, _Arch. glott._ xvi. 219 sqq.).--The purest of the Ladin
dialects occur on the northern versant of the Alps in the Grisons
(Switzerland), and they form the western section of the system. To
this section also belongs both politically and in the matter of
dialect the valley of Munster (Monastero); it sends its waters to the
Adige, and might indeed consequently be geographically considered
Italian, but it slopes towards the north. In the central section of
the Ladin zone there are two other valleys which likewise drain into
tributaries of the Adige, but are also turned towards the north,--the
valleys of the Gardena and Gadera, in which occurs the purest Ladin
now extant in the central section. The valleys of Munster, the Gardena
and the Gadera may thus be regarded as inter-Alpine, and the question
may be left open whether or not they should be included even
geographically in Italy. There remain, however, within what are
strictly Italian limits, the valleys of the Noce, the Avisio, the
Cordevole, and the Boite, and the upper basin of the Piave (Comelico),
in which are preserved Ladin dialects, more or less pure, belonging to
the central section of the Ladin zone or belt. To Italy belongs,
further, the whole eastern section of the zone composed of the
Friulian territories. It is by far the most populous, containing about
500,000 inhabitants. The Friulian region is bounded on the north by
the Carnic Alps, south by the Adriatic, and west by the eastern rim of
the upper basin of the Piave and the Livenza; while on the east it
stretches into the eastern versant of the basin of the Isonzo, and,
further the ancient dialect of Trieste was itself Ladin (_Arch.
glott._ x. 447 et seq.). The Ladin element is further found in greater
or less degree throughout an altogether Cis-Alpine "amphizone," which
begins at the western slopes of Monte Rosa, and is to be noticed more
particularly in the upper valley of the Ticino and the upper valley of
the Liro and of the Mera on the Lombardy versant, and in the Val
Fiorentina and central Cadore on the Venetian versant. The Ladin
element is clearly observable in the most ancient examples of the
dialects of the Venetian estuary (_Arch._ i. 448-473). The main
characteristics by which the Ladin type is determined may be
summarized as follows: (1) the guttural of the formulae _c_ + _a_ and
_g_ + _a_ passes into a palatal; (2) the _l_ of the formulae _pl_,
_cl_, &c., is preserved; (3) the _s_ of the ancient terminations is
preserved; (4) the accented _e_ in position breaks into a diphthong;
(5) the accented _o_ in position breaks into a diphthong; (6) the form
of the diphthong which comes from short accented _o_ or from the _o_
of position is _ue_ (whence _ue_, _o_); (7) long accented _e_ and
short accented _i_ break into a diphthong, the purest form of which is
sounded _ei_; (8) the accented _a_ tends, within certain limits, to
change into _e_, especially if preceded by a palatal sound; (9) the
long accented _u_ is represented by _u_. These characteristics are all
foreign to true and genuine Italian. _Carn_, carne; _spelunca_,
spelunca; _clefs_, claves; _fuormas_, formae; _infiern_, infernu;
_ordi_, hordeu; _mod_, modu; _plain_, plenu; _pail_, pilu; _quael_,
quale; _pur_, puru--may be taken as examples from the Upper Engadine
(western section of the zone). The following are examples from the
central and eastern sections on the Italian versant:--

a. _Central Section_.--BASIN OF THE NOCE: examples of the dialect of
Fondo: _cavel_, capillu; _pescador_, piscatore; _pluevia_, pluvia
(plovia); _pluma_ (dial. of Val de Rumo: _plovia_, _plumo_); _vecla_,
vetula; _cantes_, cantas. The dialects of this basin are
disappearing.--BASIN OF THE AVISIO: examples of the dialect of the Val
di Fassa: _carn_, carne; _cezer_, cadere (cad-jere); _vaca_, vacca;
_forca_, furca; _glezia_ (_gezia_), ecclesia; _oeglje_ (_oeje_),
oculi; _cans_, canes; _rames_, rami; _teila_, tela; _neif_, nive;
_coessa_, coxa. The dialects of this basin which are farther west than
Fassa are gradually being merged in the Veneto-Tridentine
dialects.--BASIN OF THE CORDEVOLE: here the district of Livinal-Lungo
(Buchenstein) is Austrian politically, and that of Rocca d' Agordo and
Laste is Italian. Examples of the dialect of Livinal-Lungo: _carie_,
Ital. caricare; _cante_, cantatus; _ogle_, oculu; _cans_, canes;
_caveis_, capilli; _vierm_, verme; _fuoc_, focu; _avei_, habere;
_nei_, nive.--BASIN OF THE BOITE: here the district of Ampezzo
(Heiden) is politically Austrian, that of Oltrechiusa Italian.
Examples of the dialect of Ampezzo are _casa_, casa; _candera_,
candela; _forces_, furcae, pl.; _sentes_, sentis. It is a decadent
form.--UPPER BASIN OF THE PIAVE: dialect of the Comelico: _cesa_,
casa; _cen_ (can), cane; _calje_, caligariu; _bos_, boves; _noevo_,
novu; _loego_, locu.

b. _Eastern Section or Friulian Region_.--Here there still exists a
flourishing "Ladinity," but at the same time it tends towards Italian,
particularly in the want both of the _e_ from _a_ and of the _u_ (and
consequently of the _o_). Examples of the Udine variety: _carr_,
carro; _caval_, caballu; _castiel_, castellu; _force_, furca; _clar_,
claru; _glac_, glacie; _plan_, planu; _colors_, colores; _lungs_,
longi, pl.; _devis_, debes; _vidiel_, vitello; _fieste_, festa;
_puess_, possum; _cuett_, coctu; _uardi_, hordeu.--The most ancient
specimens of the Friulian dialect belong to the 14th century (see
_Arch._ iv. 188 sqq.).

B. _Dialects which are detached from the true and proper Italian system, but form no integral part of any foreign Neo-Latin system. _

1. Here first of all is the extensive system of the dialects usually
called _Gallo-Italian_, although that designation cannot be considered
sufficiently distinctive, since it would be equally applicable to the
Franco-Provencal (A. 1) and the Ladin (A. 2). The system is subdivided
into four great groups--(a) the _Ligurian_, (b) the _Piedmontese_, (c)
the _Lombard_ and (d) the _Emilian_--the name furnishing on the whole
sufficient indication of the localization and limits.--These groups,
considered more particularly in their more pronounced varieties,
differ greatly from each other; and, in regard to the Ligurian, it was
even denied that it belongs to this system at all (see _Arch._ ii. III
sqq.).--Characteristic of the Piedmontese, the Lombard and the Emilian
is the continual elision of the unaccented final vowels except _a_
(e.g. Turinese _oj_, oculu; Milanese _voc_, voce; Bolognese _vid_,
Ital. vite), but the Ligurian does not keep them company (e.g. Genoese
_oggu_, oculu; _voze_, voce). In the Piedmontese and Emilian there is
further a tendency to eliminate the protonic vowels--a tendency much
more pronounced in the second of these groups than in the first (e.g.
Pied, _dne_, danaro; _vsin_, vicino; _fnoc_, finocchio; Bolognese
_cpra_, disperato). This phenomenon involves in large measure that of
the prothesis of _a_; as, e.g. in Piedmontese and Emilian _armor_,
rumore; Emilian _alvar_, levare, &c. U for the long accented Latin _u_
and _o_ for the short accented Latin _o_ (and even within certain
limits the short Latin _o_ of position) are common to the Piedmontese,
the Ligurian, the Lombard and the northernmost section of the Emilian:
e.g., Turinese, Milanese and Piacentine _dur_, and Genoese _duu_,
duro; Turinese and Genoese _move_, Parmigiane _mover_, and Milanese
_mof_, muovere; Piedmontese _dorm_, dorme; Milanese _volta_, volta.
_Ei_ for the long accented Latin _e_ and for the short accented Latin
_i_ is common to the Piedmontese and the Ligurian, and even extends
over a large part of Emilia: e.g. Turinese and Genoese _avei_, habere,
Bolognese _aveir_; Turinese and Genoese _beive_, bibere, Bolognese
_neiv_, neve. In Emilia and part of Piedmont _ei_ occurs also in the
formulae _en_, _ent_, _emp_; e.g. Bolognese and Modenese _bein_,
_solameint_. In connexion with these examples, there is also the
Bolognese _fein_, Ital. fine, representing the series in which _e_ is
derived from an _i_ followed by _n_, a phenomenon which occurs, to a
greater or less extent throughout the Emilian dialects; in them also
is found, parallel with the _ei_ from _e_, the _ou_ from _o_:
Bolognese _udour_, Ital. odore; _famous_, Ital. famoso; _louv_, lupu.
The system shows a repugnance throughout to _ie_ for the short
accented Latin _e_ (as it occurs in Italian _piede_, &c.); in other
words, this diphthong has died out, but in various fashions;
Piedmontese and Lombard _dec_, dieci; Genoese _deze_ (in some corners
of Liguria, however, occurs _dieze_); Bolognese _dic_, old Bolognese,
_diese_. The greater part of the phenomena indicated above have
"Gallic" counterparts too evident to require to be specially pointed
out. One of the most important traces of Gallic or Celtic reaction is
the reduction of the Latin accented _a_ into _e_ (_a_, &c.), of which
phenomenon, however, no certain indications have as yet been found in
the Ligurian group. On the other hand it remains, in the case of very
many of the Piedmontese dialects, in the _e_ of the infinitives of the
first conjugation: _porte_, portare, &c.; and numerous vestiges of it
are still found in Lombardy (e.g. in Bassa Brianza: _andae_, andato;
_guardae_, guardato; _sae_, sale; see _Arch._ i. 296-298, 536). Emilia
also preserves it in very extensive use: Modenese _ander_, andare;
_ariveda_, arrivata; _pec_, pace; Faenzan _parle_, parlare and
parlato; _parleda_, parlata; _ches_, caso; &c. The phenomenon, in
company with other Gallo-Italian and more specially Emilian
characteristics extends to the valley of the Metauro, and even passes
to the opposite side of the Apennines, spreading on both banks of the
head stream of the Tiber and through the valley of the Chiane: hence
the types _artrover_, ritrovare, _porteto_, portato, &c., of the
Perugian and Aretine dialects (see _infra_ C. 3, b). In the phenomenon
of _a_ passing into _e_ (as indeed, the Gallo-Italic evolution of
other Latin vowels) special distinctions would require to be drawn
between bases in which a (not standing in position) precedes a
non-nasal consonant (e.g. _amato_), and those which have a before a
nasal: and in the latter case there would be a non-positional
subdivision (e.g. _fame_, _pane_) and a positional one (e.g. _quanto_,
_amando_, _campo_); see _Arch._ i. 293 sqq. This leads us to the
nasals, a category of sounds comprising other Gallo-Italic
characteristics. There occurs more or less widely, throughout all the
sections of the system, and in different gradations, that "velar"
nasal in the end of a syllable (_pan, man_; _canta, mont_)[4] which
may be weakened into a simple nasalizing of a vowel (_pa_, &c.) or
even grow completely inaudible (Bergamese _pa_, pane; _padru_,
padrone; _tep_, tempo; _met_, mente; _mut_, monte; _put_, ponte;
_puca_, punta, i.e. "puncta"), where Celtic and especially Irish
analogies and even the frequent use of _t_ for _nt_, &c., in ancient
Umbrian orthography occur to the mind. Then we have the faucal n by
which the Ligurian and the Piedmontese (_lana luna_, &c.) are
connected with the group which we call Franco-Provencal (A. 1).--We
pass on to the "Gallic" resolution of the nexus ct (e.g. _facto_,
fajto, fajtjo. _fait, fac_; _tecto_, tejto, tejtjo, _teit_, _tec_)
which invariably occurs in the Piedmontese, the Ligurian and the
Lombard: Pied, _fait_, Lig. _fajtu_, _faetu_, Lombard _fac_; Pied.
_teit_, Lig. _teitu_, Lom. _tec_; &c. Here it is to be observed that
besides the Celtic analogy the Umbrian also helps us (_adveitu_ =
ad-vecto; &c.). The Piedmontese and Ligurian come close to each other,
more especially by a curious resolution of the secondary hiatus (Gen.
_reize_, Piedm. _rejs_ = _*ra-ice_, Ital. radice) by the regular
dropping of the d both primary and secondary, a phenomenon common in
French (as Piedmontese and Ligurian _rie_, ridere; Piedmontese _pue_,
potare; Genoese _naeghe_ = naighe. natiche, &c.). The Lombard type, or
more correctly the type which has become the dominant one in Lombardy
(_Arch._ i. 305-306, 310-311), is more sparing in this respect; and
still more so is the Emilian. In the Piedmontese and in the Alpine
dialects of Lombardy is also found that other purely Gallic resolution
of the guttural between two vowels by which we have the types _braja_,
_mania_, over against the Ligurian _braga_, _manega_, braca, manica.
Among the phonetic phenomena peculiar to the Ligurian is a continual
reduction (as also in Lombardy and part of Piedmont) of _l_ between
vowels into _r_ and the subsequent dropping of this _r_ at the end of
words in the modern Genoese; just as happens also with the primary
_r_: thus _du_ = durur = dolore, &c. Characteristic of the Ligurian,
but not without analogies in Upper Italy even (_Arch._, ii. 157-158,
ix. 209, 255), is the resolution of _pj_, _bj_, _fj_ into _c, g, s_:
_cu_, piu, plus; _ragga_, rabbia, rabies; _su_, fiore. Finally, the
sounds _s_ and _z_ have a very wide range in Ligurian (_Arch._ ii.
158-159), but are, however, etymologically, of different origin from
the sounds _s_ and _z_ in Lombard. The reduction of _s_ into _h_
occurs in the Bergamo dialects: _hira_, sera; _groh_, grosso;
_cahtel_, castello (see also B.2).--A general phenomenon in
Gallo-Italic phonetics which also comes to have an inflexional
importance is that by which the unaccented final _i_ has an influence
on the accented vowel. This enters into a series of phenomena which
even extends into southern Italy; but in the Gallo-Italic there are
particular resolutions which agree well with the general connexions of
this system. [We may briefly recall the following forms in the plural
and 2nd person singular: old Piedmontese _drayp_ pl. of _drap_, Ital.
drappo; _man_, _meyn_, Ital. mano, -i; _long_, _loyng_, Ital. lungo,
-ghi; Genoese, _kan_, _ken_, Ital. cane, -i; _bun_, _buin_, Ital.
buono, -i; Bolognese, _far_, _fir_, Ital. ferro, -i; _peir_, _pir_,
Ital. pero, -i. _zop_, _zup_, Ital. zoppo, -i; _louv_, _luv_, Ital.
lupo, -i; _vedd_, _vi_, Ital. io vedo, tu vedi; _vojj_, _vu_, Ital. io
voglio, tu vuoi; Milanese _quest_, _quist_, Ital. questo, -i, and, in
the Alps of Lombardy, _pal_, _pel_, Ital. palo, -i; _red_, _rid_,
Ital. rete, -i; _cor_, _cor_, Ital. cuore, -i; _ors_, _urs_, Ital.
orso, -i; _law_, _lew_, Ital. io lavo, tu lavi; _met_, _mit_, Ital. io
metto, tu metti; _mow mow_, Ital. io muovo, tu muovi; _cor_, _cur_,
Ital. io corro, tu corri. [Vicentine _pomo_, _pumi_, Ital. pomo, -i;
_pero_, _pieri = *piri_, Ital. pero, -i; v. _Arch._ i. 540-541; ix.
235 et seq., xiv. 329-330].--Among morphological peculiarities the
first place may be given to the Bolognese _sipa (seppa)_, because,
thanks to Dante and others, it has acquired great literary celebrity.
It really signifies "sia" (sim, sit), and is an analogical form
fashioned on _aepa_, a legitimate continuation of the corresponding
forms of the other auxiliary (habeam, habeat), which is still heard in
_ch'me aepa purtae, ch'lu aepa purtae_, ch'io abbia portato, ch'egli
abbia portato. Next may be noted the 3rd person singular in _-p_ of
the perfect of _esse_ and of the first conjugation in the Forli
dialect (_fop_, fu; _mandep_, mando; &c.). This also must be
analogical, and due to a legitimate _ep_, ebbe (see _Arch._ ii. 401;
and compare _fobbe_, fu, in the dialect of Camerino, in the province
of Macerata, as well as the Spanish analogy of _tuve estuve_ formed
after _hube_). Characteristic of the Lombard dialect is the ending
_-i_ in the 1st person sing. pres. indic. (_mi a porti_, Ital. io
porto); and of Piedmontese, the _-ejca_, as indicating the subjunctive
imperfect (_portejca_, Ital. portassi) the origin of which is to be
sought in imperfects of the type _staesse_, _faesse_ reduced normally
to _stejc_-, _fejc_-. Lastly, in the domain of syntax, may be added
the tendency to repeat the pronoun (e.g. _ti te cantet_ of the
Milanese, which really is _tu tu cantas-tu_, equivalent merely to
"cantas"), a tendency at work in the Emilian and Lombard, but more
particularly pronounced in the Piedmontese. With this the
corresponding tendency of the Celtic languages has been more than once
and with justice compared; here it may be added that the Milanese
_nun_, apparently a single form for "noi," is really a compound or
reduplication in the manner of the _ni-ni_, its exact counterpart in
the Celtic tongues. [From Lombardy, or more precisely, from the
Lombardo-Alpine region extending from the western slopes of Monte Rosa
to the St Gotthard, are derived the Gallo-Italian dialects, now
largely, though not all to the same extent, Sicilianized, from the
Sicilian communes of Sanfratello, Piazza-Armerina, Nicosia, Aidone,
Novara and Sperlinga (v. _Arch. glott._ viii. 304-316, 406-422, xiv.
436-452; _Romania_, xxviii. 409-420; _Memorie dell' Istituto
lombardo_, xxi. 255 et seq.). The dialects of Gombitelli and Sillano
in the Tuscan Apennines are connected with Emilia (_Arch. glott._ xii.
309-354). And from Liguria come those of Carloforte in Sardinia, as
also those of Monaco, and of Mons, Escragnolles and Biot in the French
departments of Var and Alpes Maritimes (_Revue de linguistique_, xiii.
308)]. The literary records for this group go back as far as the 12th
century, if we are right in considering as Piedmontese the
Gallo-Italian Sermons published and annotated by Foerster (_Romanische
Studien_, iv. 1-92). But the documents published by A. Gaudenzi
(_Dial. di Bologna_, 168-172) are certainly Piedmontese, or more
precisely Canavese, and seem to belong to the 13th century. The Chieri
texts date from 1321 (_Miscellanea di filol. e linguistica_, 345-355),
and to the 14th century also belongs the _Grisostomo_ (_Arch. glott._
vii. 1-120), which represents the old Piedmontese dialect of Pavia
(_Bollett. della Soc. pav. di Storia Patria_, ii. 193 et seq.). The
oldest Ligurian texts, if we except the "contrasto" in two languages
of Rambaud de Vaqueiras (12th century _v._ Crescini, _Manualetto
provenzale_, 2nd ed., 287-291), belong to the first decades of the
14th century (_Arch. glott._ xiv. 22 et seq., ii. 161-312, x. 109-140,
viii. 1-97). Emilia has manuscripts going back to the first or second
half of the 13th century, the _Parlamenti_ of Guido Fava (see
Gaudenzi, _op. cit._ 127-160) and the _Regola dei servi_ published by
G. Ferraro (Leghorn, 1875). An important Emilian text, published only
in part, is the Mantuan version of the _De proprietatibus rerum_ of
Bartol. Anglico, made by Vivaldo Belcalzer in the early years of the
14th century (v. Cian. _Giorn. stor. della letteratura italiana_,
supplement, No. 5, and cf. _Rendiconti Istituto Lombardo_, series ii.
vol. xxxv. p. 957 et seq.). For Modena also there are numerous
documents, starting from 1327. For western Lombardy the most ancient
texts (13th century, second half) are the poetical compositions of
Bonvesin de la Riva and Pietro da Bescape, which have reached us only
in the 14th-century copies. For eastern Lombardy we have, preserved in
Venetian or Tuscan versions, and in MSS. of a later date, the works of
Gerardo Patecchio, who lived at Cremona in the first half of the 13th
century. Bergamasc literature is plentiful, but not before the 14th
century (_v. Studi medievali_, i. 281-292; _Giorn. stor. della lett.
ital._ xlvi. 351 et seq.).

2. _Sardinian Dialects._[5]--These are three--the Logudorese or
central, the Campidanese or southern and the Gallurese or northern.
The third certainly indicates a Sardinian basis, but is strangely
disturbed by the intrusion of other elements, among which the Southern
Corsican (Sartene) is by far the most copious. The other two are
homogeneous, and have great affinity with each other; the Logudorese
comes more particularly under consideration here.--The pure Sardinian
vocalism has this peculiarity that each accented vowel of the Latin
appears to be retained without alteration. Consequently there are no
diphthongs representing simple Latin vowels; nor does the rule hold
good which is true for so great a proportion of the Romance languages,
that the representatives of the _e_ and the _i_ on the one hand and
those of the _o_ and the _u_ on the other are normally coincident.
Hence _plenu_ (_e_); _deghe_, decem (_e_); _binu_, vino (_i_); _pilu_
(_i_); _flore_ (_o_); _roda_, rota (_o_); _duru_ (_u_); _nughe_, nuce
(_u_). The unaccented vowels keep their ground well, as has already
been seen in the case of the finals by the examples adduced.--The _s_
and _t_ of the ancient termination are preserved, though not
constantly: _tres_, _onus_, _passados annos_, _plantas_, _faghes_,
facis, _tenemus_; _mulghet_, _mulghent_.--The formulae _ce_, _ci_,
_ge_, _gi_ may be represented by _che_ (_ke_), &c.; but this
appearance of special antiquity is really illusory (see _Arch._ ii.
143-144). The nexus _cl_, &c., may be maintained in the beginning of
words (_claru_, _plus_); but if they are in the body of the word they
usually undergo resolutions which, closely related though they be to
those of Italian, sometimes bring about very singular results (e.g.
_usare_, which by the intermediate forms _uscare_, _usjare_ leads back
to _usclare_ = _ustlare_ = _ustulare_). _Nz_ is the representative of
_nj_ (_testimonzu_, &c.); and _lj_ is reduced to _z_ alone (e.g.
_mezus_, melius; Campidanese _mellus_). For _ll_ a frequent substitute
is _dd_: _massidda_, maxilla, &c. Quite characteristic is the
continual labialization of the formulae _qua_, _gua_, _cu_, _gu_, &c.;
e.g. _ebba_, equa; _sambene_, sanguine (see _Arch._ ii. 143). The
dropping of the primary d (_roere_, rodere, &c.) but not of the
secondary (_finidu_, _sanidade_, _maduru_) is frequent. Characteristic
also is the Logudorese prothesis of _i_ before the initial _s_
followed by a consonant (_iscamnu_, _istella_, _ispada_), like the
prothesis of _e_ in Spain and in France (see _Arch._ iii. 447
sqq.).--In the order of the present discussion it is in connexion with
this territory that we are for the first time led to consider those
phonetic changes in words of which the cause is merely syntactical of
transitory, and chiefly those passing accidents which occur to the
initial consonant through the historically legitimate or the merely
analogical action of the final sound that precedes it. The general
explanation of such phenomena reduces itself to this, that, given the
intimate syntactic relation of two words, the initial consonant of the
second retains or modifies its character as it would retain or modify
it if the two words were one. The Celtic languages are especially
distinguished by this peculiarity; and among the dialects of Upper
Italy the Bergamasc offers a clear example. This dialect is accustomed
to drop the _v_, whether primary or secondary, between vowels in the
individual vocables (_caa_, cavare; _faa_, fava, &c.), but to preserve
it if it is preceded by a consonant (_serva_, &c.).--And similarly in
syntactic combination we have, for example, _de i_, di vino; but _ol
vi_, il vino. Insular, southern and central Italy furnish a large
number of such phenomena; for Sardinia we shall simply cite a single
class, which is at once obvious and easily explained, viz. that
represented by _su oe_, il bove, alongside of _sos boes_, i. buoi (cf.
_biere_, bibere; _erba_).--The article is derived from _ipse_ instead
of from _ille_: _su sos_, _sa sas_,--again a geographical anticipation
of Spain, which in the Catalan of the Balearic islands still preserves
the article from _ipse_.--A special connexion with Spain exists
besides in the _nomine_ type of inflexion, which is constant among the
Sardinians (Span. _nomne_, &c., whence _nombre_, &c.), _nomen_,
_nomene_, _ramine_, aeramine, _legumene_, &c. (see _Arch._ ii. 429
sqq.).--Especially noteworthy in the conjugation of the verb is the
paradigm _cantere_, _canteres_, &c., _timere_, _timeres_, &c.,
precisely in the sense of the imperfect subjunctive (cf. A. 1; cf. C.
3 b). Next comes the analogical and almost corrupt diffusion of the
-_si_ of the ancient strong perfects (such as _posi_, _rosi_) by
which _cantesi_, _timesi_ (cantavi, timui), _dolfesi_, dolui, are
reached. Proof of the use and even the abuse of the strong perfects is
afforded, however, by the participles and the infinitives of the
category to which belong the following examples: _tennidu_, tenuto;
_parfidu_, parso; _balfidu_, valso; _tennere_, _balere_, &c. (_Arch._
ii. 432-433). The future, finally, shows the unagglutinated
periphrasis: _hapo a mandigare_ (ho a mangiare = manger-o); as indeed
the unagglutinated forms of the future and the conditional occur in
ancient vernacular texts of other Italian districts. [The Campidanese
manuscript, in Greek characters, published by Blancard and Wescher
(_Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Chartes_, xxxv. 256-257), goes back as
far as the last years of the 11th century. Next come the Cagliari MSS.
published by Solmi (_Le Carte volgari dell' Archivio arcivescovile di
Cagliari_, Florence, 1905; cf. Guarnerio in _Studi romanzi_, fascicolo
iv. 189 et seq.), the most ancient of which in its original form dates
from 1114-1120. For Logoduro, the _Condaghe di S. Pietro di Silchi_
(SS xii.-xiii.), published by G. Bonazzi (Sassari-Cagliari, 1900; cf.
Meyer-Lubke, _Zur Kenntnis des Altlogudoresischen_, Vienna, 1902), is
of the highest importance.]

[3. _Vegliote_ (_Veglioto_).--Perhaps we may not be considered to be
departing from Ascoli's original plan if we insert here as a third
member of the group B the neo-Latin dialect which found its last
refuge in the island of Veglia (Gulf of Quarnero), where it came
definitively to an end in 1898. The Vegliote dialect is the last
remnant of a language which some long time ago extended from thence
along the Dalmatian coast, whence it gained the name of _Dalmatico_, a
language which should be carefully distinguished from the Venetian
dialect spoken to this day in the towns of the Dalmatian littoral. Its
character reminds us in many ways of Rumanian, and of that type of
Romano-Balkan dialect which is represented by the Latin elements of
Albanian, but to a certain extent also, and especially with regard to
the vowel sounds, of the south-eastern dialects of Italy, while it has
also affinities with Friuli, Istria and Venetia. These characteristics
taken altogether seem to suggest that _Dalmatico_ differs as much as
does Sardinian from the purely Italian type. It rejects the -s, it is
true, retaining instead the nominative form in the plural; but here
these facts are no longer a criterion, since in this point Italian and
Rumanian are in agreement. A tendency which we have already noted, and
shall have further cause to note hereafter, and which connects in a
striking way the Vegliote and Abruzzo-Apulian dialects, consists in
reducing the accented vowels to diphthongs: examples of this are:
spuota, Ital. spada; _buarka_, Ital. barca; _fiar_, Ital. ferro;
_nuat_, Ital. notte; _kataina_, Ital. catena; _paira_, Ital. pero;
Lat. _piru_; _jaura_, Ital. ora; _nauk_, Ital. noce; Lat. _nuce_;
_ortaika_, Ital. ortica; _joiva_, Ital. uova. Other vowel phenomena
should also be noted, for example those exemplified in _prut_, Ital.
prato; _dik_, Ital. dieci, Lat. _decem_; _luk_, Ital. luogo, Lat.
_locu_; _krask_, Ital. crescere; _cenk_, Ital. cinque, Lat. _quinque_;
_buka_, Ital. bocca, Lat. _bcca_. With regard to the consonants, we
should first notice the invariable persistence of the explosive surds
(as in Rumanian and the southern dialects) for which several of the
words just cited will serve as examples, with the addition of _kuosa_,
Ital. casa; _praiza_, Ital. presa; _struota_, Ital. strada; _rosuota_,
Ital. rugiada; _latri_, Ital. ladro; _raipa_, Ital. riva. The _c_ in
the formula _ce_, whether primary or secondary, is represented by _k_:
_kaina_, Ital. cena; _kanaisa_, Ital. cinigia; _akait_, Ital. aceto;
_plakar_, Ital. piacere; _dik_, Ital. dieci; _mukna_, Ital. macina;
_dotko_, Ital. dodici; and similarly the _g_ in the formula _ge_ is
represented by the corresponding guttural: _ghelut_, Ital. gelato;
_jongar_, Ital. giungere; _plungre_, Ital. piangere, &c. On the
contrary, the guttural of the primitive formula _cu_ becomes _c_
(_col_, Ital. culo); this phenomenon is also noteworthy as seeming to
justify the inference that the _u_ was pronounced _u_. _Pt_ is
preserved, as in Rumanian (_sapto_, Lat. _septem_), and often, again
as in Rumanian, _ct_ is also reduced to _pt_ (_guapto_, Lat. _octo_).
As to morphology, a characteristic point is the preservation of the
Lat. _cantavero_, Ital. avro cantato, in the function of a simple
future. _Cantaverum_ also occurs as a conditional. For Vegliote and
Dalmatico in general, see M. G. Bartoli's fundamental work, _Das
Dalmatische_ (2 vols., Vienna, 1906), and _Zeitschrift fur roman.
Philologie_, xxxii. 1 sqq.; Merlo, _Rivista di filologia e
d'istruzione class_, xxxv. 472 sqq. A short document written about
1280 in the Dalmatic dialect of Ragusa is to be found in _Archeografo
Triestino_, new series, vol. i. pp. 85-86.]

C. _Dialects which diverge more or less from the genuine Italian or Tuscan type, but which at the same time can be conjoined with the Tuscan as forming part of a special system of Neo-Latin dialects_.

1. _Venetian._--Between "Venetian" and "Venetic" several distinctions
must be drawn (_Arch._ i. 391 sqq.). At the present day the population
of the Venetian cities is "Venetian" in language, but the country
districts are in various ways Venetic.[6] The ancient language of
Venice itself and of its estuary was not a little different from that
of the present time; and the Ladin vein was particularly evident (see
A. 2). A more purely Italian vein--the historical explanation of which
presents an attractive problem--has ultimately gained the mastery and
determined the "Venetian" type which has since diffused itself so
vigorously.--In the Venetian, then, we do not find the most
distinctive characteristics of the dialects of Upper Italy comprised
under the denomination Gallo-Italic (see B. 1),--neither the _u_ nor
the _o_, nor the velar[7] and faucal nasals, nor the Gallic resolution
of the _ct_, nor the frequent elision of unaccented vowels, nor the
great redundancy of pronouns. On the contrary, the pure Italian
diphthong of _o_ (e.g. _cuor_) is heard, and the diphthong of _e_ is
in full currency (_diese_, dieci, &c.). Nevertheless the Venetian
approaches the type of Northern Italy, or diverges notably from that
of Central Italy, by the following phonetic phenomena: the ready
elision of primary or secondary _d_ (_cruo_, crudo; _sea_, seta, &c.);
the regular reduction of the surd into the sonant guttural (e.g.
_cuogo_, Ital. cuoco, coquus); the pure _c_ in the resolution of _cl_
(e.g. _cave_, clave; _oreca_, auricula); the _s_ for _g_ (_sovene_,
Ital. giovane); _c_ for _s_ and _c_ (_pece_, Ital. pesce; _ciel_,
Ital. cielo). _Lj_ preceded by any vowel, primary or secondary, except
_i_, gives _g_: _famega_, familia. No Italian dialect is more averse
than the Venetian to the doubling of consonants.--In the morphology
the use of the 3rd singular for the 3rd plural also, the analogical
participle in _esto_ (_tasesto_, Ital. taciuto, &c.; see _Arch._ iv.
393, sqq.) and _se_, Lat. _est_, are particularly noteworthy. A
curious double relic of Ladin influence is the interrogative type
represented by the example _credis-tu_, credis tu,--where apart from
the interrogation _ti credi_ would be used. For other ancient sources
relating to Venice, the estuary of Venice, Verona and Padua, see
_Arch._ i. 448, 465, 421-422; iii. 245-247. [Closely akin to Venetian,
though differing from it in about the same degree that the various
Gallo-Italian dialects differ among one another, is the indigenous
dialect of ISTRIA, now almost entirely ousted by Venetian, and found
in a few localities only (Rovigno, Dignano). The most salient
characteristics of Istrian can be recognized in the treatment of the
accented vowels, and are of a character which recalls, to a certain
extent at least, the Vegliote dialect. Thus we have in Istrian _i_ for
_e_ (_bivi_, Ital. bevi, Lat. _bibis_; _tila_, Ital. tela; _viro_,
Ital. vero and vetro, Lat. _veru_, _vitru_; _nito_, Ital. netto, Lat.
_nitidu_, &c.) and analogously _u_ for _o_ (_fiur_, Ital. fiore, Lat.
_flore_; _bus_, Ital. voce, Lat. _voce_, &c.); _ei_ and _ou_ from the
Lat. _i_ and _u_ respectively (_ameigo_, Lat. _amicu_, _feil_, Lat.
_filu_, &c.; _mour_, Lat. _muru_; _noudu_, Lat. _nudu_; _frouto_,
Ital. frutto, Lat. _fructu_, &c.); _ie_ and _uo_ from _e_ and _o_
respectively in position (_piel_, Lat. _pelle_, _mierlo_, Ital. merlo,
Lat. _merula_; _kuorno_, Lat. _cornu_; _puorta_, Lat. _porta_), a
phenomenon in which Istrian resembles not only Vegliote but also
Friulian. The resemblance with Verona, in the reduction of final
unaccented -_e_ to _o_ should also be noted (_nuoto_, Ital. notte,
&c., _bivo_, Ital. _beve_; _malamentro_, Ital. malamente, &c.), and
that with Belluno and Treviso in the treatment of -_oni_, -_ani_
(_barboi_, -_oin_, Ital. barboni), though it is peculiar to Istrian
that -_ain_ should give -_en_ (_kan_, _ken_, Ital. cane -i). With
regard to consonants, we should point out the _n_ for _gn_ (_lino_,
Ital. legno); and as to morphology, we should note certain survivals
of the inflexional type, _amita_, -_anis_ (sing. _sia_, Ital. zia, pl.
_sianne_).] The most ancient Venetian documents take us back to the
first half of the 13th century (v. E. Bertanza and V. Lazzarini, _Il
Dialetto veneziano fino alla morte di Dante Alighieri_, Venice, 1891),
and to the second half of the same century seems to belong the
Saibante MS. For Verona we have also documents of the 13th century (v.
Cipolla, in _Archivio storico italiano_, 1881 and 1882); and to the
end of the same century perhaps belongs the MS. which has preserved
for us the writings of Giacomino da Verona. See also _Archivio
glottologico_, i. 448, 465, 421-422, iii. 245-247.

2. _Corsican_[8]--If the "Venetian," in spite of its peculiar
"Italianity," has naturally special points of contact with the other
dialects of Upper Italy (B. 1), the Corsican in like manner,
particularly in its southern varieties, has special points of contact
with Sardinian proper (B. 2). In general, it is in the southern
section of the island, which, geographically even, is farthest removed
from Tuscany, that the most characteristic forms of speech are found.
The unaccented vowels are undisturbed; but _u_ for the Tuscan _o_ is
common to almost all the island,--an insular phenomenon _par
excellence_ which connects Corsica with Sardinia and with Sicily, and
indeed with Liguria also. So also -_i_ for the Tuscan -_e_ (_latti_,
latte; _li cateni_, le catene), which prevails chiefly in the southern
section, is also found in Northern and Southern Sardinian, and is
common to Sicily. It is needless to add that this tendency to _u_ and
_i_ manifests itself, more or less decidedly, also within the words.
Corsican, too, avoids the diphthongs of _e_ and _o_ (_pe_, _eri_;
_cori_, _fora_): but, unlike Sardinian, it treats _i_ and _u_ in the
Italian fashion: _beju_, bibo; _peveru_, piper; _pesci_; _noci_,
nuces.[9]--It is one of its characteristics to reduce a to e in the
formula _ar_ + a consonant (_cherne_, _berba_, &c.), which should be
compared particularly with the Piedmontese examples of the same
phenomenon (_Arch._ ii. 133, 144-150). But the gerund in _-endu_ of
the first conjugation (_turnendu_, _lagrimendu_, &c.) must on the
contrary be considered as a phenomenon of analogy, as it is especially
recognized in the Sardinian dialects, to all of which it is common
(see _Arch._ ii. 133). And the same is most probably the case with
forms of the present participle like _merchente_, mercante, in spite
of _enzi_ and _innenzi_ (anzi, innanzi), in which latter forms there
may probably be traced the effect of the Neo-Latin _i_ which availed
to reduce the _t_ of the Latin _ante_; alongside of them we find also
_anzi_ and _nantu_. But cf. also, _grendi_, Ital. grande. In Southern
Corsican _dr_ for _ll_ is conspicuous--a phenomenon which also
connects Corsica with Sardinia, Sicily and a good part of Southern
Italy (see C. 2; and _Arch._ ii. 135, &c.), also with the northern
coast of Tuscany, since examples such as _beddu_ belong also to
Carrara and Montignoso. In the Ultramontane variety occur besides, the
phenomena of _rn_ changed to r (= _rr_) and of _nd_ becoming _nn_
(_furu_, Ital. forno; _koru_, Ital. corno; _kuannu_, Ital. quando;
_vidennu_, Ital. vedendo). The former of these would connect Corsican
with Sardinian (_corru_, cornu; _carre_, carne, &c.); the latter more
especially with Sicily, &c. A particular connexion with the central
dialects is given by the change of _ld_ into _ll_ (_kallu_, Ital.
caldo).--As to phonetic phenomena connected with syntax, already
noticed in B. 2, space admits the following examples only: Cors, _na
vella_, una bella, _e bella_ (_ebbella_, et bella); _lu jallu_, lo
gallo, _gran ghiallu_; cf. _Arch._ ii. 136 (135, 150), xiv. 185. As
Tommaseo has already noted, _-one_ is for the Corsicans not less than
for the Sicilians, Calabrians and the French a termination of
diminution: e.g. _fratedronu_, fratellino.--In the first person of the
conditional the _b_ is maintained (e.g. _farebe_, farei), as even at
Rome and elsewhere. Lastly, the series of Corsican verbs of the
derivative order which run alongside of the Italian series of the
original order, and may be represented by the example _dissipeghja_,
dissipa (Falcucci), is to be compared with the Sicilian series
represented by _cuadiari_, riscaldare, _curpiari_, colpire (_Arch._
ii. 151).

3. _Dialects of Sicily and of the Neapolitan Provinces._--Here the
territories on both sides of the Strait of Messina will first be
treated together, chiefly with the view of noting their common
linguistic peculiarities.--Characteristic then of these parts, as
compared with Upper Italy and even with Sardinia, is, generally
speaking, the tenacity of the explosive elements of the Latin bases
(cf. _Arch._ ii. 154, &c.). Not that these consonants are constantly
preserved uninjured; their degradations, and especially the Neapolitan
degradation of the surd into the sonant, are even more frequent than
is shown by the dialect as written, but their disappearance is
comparatively rather rare; and even the degradations, whether regard
be had to the conjunctures in which they occur or to their specific
quality, are very different from those of the dialects of Upper Italy.
Thus, the t between vowels ordinarily remains intact in Sicilian and
Neapolitan (e.g. Sicil. _sita_, Neap. _seta_, seta, where in the
dialects of Upper Italy we should have _seda_, _sea_); and in the
Neapolitan dialects it is reduced to _d_ when it is preceded by _n_ or
_r_ (e.g._ viende_, vento), which is precisely a collocation in which
the _t_ would be maintained intact in Upper Italy. The _d_, on the
other hand, is not resolved by elision, but by its reduction to _r_
(e.g. Sicil. _viriri_, Neap. dialects _vere_, vedere), a phenomenon
which has been frequently compared, perhaps with too little caution,
with the _d_ passing into _rs_ (_d_) in the Umbrian inscriptions. The
Neapolitan reduction of _nt_ into _nd_ has its analogies in the
reduction of _nc_ (_nk_) into _ng_, and of _mp_ into _mb_, which is
also a feature of the Neapolitan dialects, and in that of _ns_ into
_nz_; and here and there we even find a reduction of _nf_ into _mb_
(_nf_, _nv_, _nb_, _mb_), both in Sicilian and Neapolitan (e.g. at
Casteltermini in Sicily _'mbiernu_, inferno, and in the Abruzzi
_cumbonn'_, _'mbonn'_, confondere, infondere). Here we find ourselves
in a series of phenomena to which it may seem that some special
contributions were furnished by Oscan and Umbrian (_nt_, _mp_, _nc_
into _nd_, &c.), but for which more secure and general, and so to say
"isothermal," analogies are found in modern Greek and Albanian. The
Sicilian does not appear to fit in here as far as the formulae _nt_
and _mp_ are concerned; and it may even be said to go counter to this
tendency by reducing _ng_ and _nz_ to _nc_, _nz_ (e.g. _punciri_,
pungere; _menzu_, Ital. mezzo; _sponza_, Ital. spugna, Ven.
_sponza_).[10] Nay, even in the passing of the sonant into the surd,
the Neapolitan dialects would yield special and important
contributions (nor is even the Sicilian limited to the case just
specified), among which we will only mention the change of _d_ between
vowels into _t_ in the last syllable of proparoxytones (e.g. _ummeto_,
Sicil. _umitu_, umido), and in the formula _dr_ (Sicil. and Neap.
_quatro_, Ital. quadro, &c.). From these series of sonants changing
into surds comes a peculiar feature of the southern dialects.--A
pretty common characteristic is the regular progressive assimilation
by which _nd_ is reduced to _nn_, _ng_ to _nn_, _mb_ to _mm_, and even
_nv_ also to _mm_ (_nv_, _nb_, _mb_, _mm_), e.g. Sicil. _sinniri_,
Neap. _sennere_, scendere; Sicil. _chiummu_, Neap. _chiumme_, piombo;
Sicil. and Neap. _'mmidia_, invidia; Sicil. _sannu_, sangue. As
belonging to this class of phenomena the Palaeo-Italic analogy (_nd_
into _nn_, _n_), of which the Umbrian furnishes special evidence,
readily suggests itself. Another important common characteristic is
the reduction of secondary _pj fj_ into _kj_ (_chianu_ -_e_, Sicil.,
Neap., &c., Ital. piano), _s_ (Sicil. _sumi_, Neap. _summe_, fiume),
of secondary _bj_ to _j_ (which may be strengthened to _ghj_) if
initial (Sicil. _jancu_, Neap. _janche_, bianco; Sicil.
_agghianchiari_, imbiancare), to _l_ if between vowels (Neap.
_neglia_, nebbia, Sicil. _nigliu_, nibbio); of primary _pj_ and _bj_
into _c_ (Sicil. _sicca_, Neap. _secca_, seppia) or _g_ respectively
(Sicil. _ragga_, Neap. _arragga_, rabbia), for which phenomena see
also Genoese (B. 1). Further is to be noted the tendency to the
sibilation of _cj_, for which Sicil. _jazzu_, ghiaccio, may serve as
an example (_Arch._ ii. 149),--a tendency more particularly betrayed
in Upper Italy, but Abruzzan departs from it (cf. Abr. _jacce_,
ghiaccio, _vracce_, braccio, &c.). There is a common inclination also
to elide the initial unaccented palatal vowel, and to prefix _a_,
especially before _r_ (this second tendency is found likewise in
Southern Sardinian, &c.; see _Arch._ ii. 138); e.g. Sicil.
_'ntenniri_, Neap. _'ndennere_, intendere; Sicil. _arriccamari_, Neap.
_arragamare_, ricamare (see _Arch._ ii. 150). Throughout the whole
district, and the adjacent territories in Central Italy, a tendency
also prevails towards resolving certain combinations of consonants by
the insertion of a vowel; thus combinations in which occur _r_ or _l_,
_w_ or _j_ (Sicil. _kiruci_, Ital. croce, _filagutu_, Ital. flauto,
_salivari_, salvare, _variva_, Ital. barba; Abr. _calechene_, Ital.
ganghero, _Salevestre_, Silvestro, _feulemenande_, fulminante,
_jereve_, Ital. erba, &c.; Avellinese _garamegna_, gramigna; Neap.
_avotro_ = _*awtro_, Ital. altro, _cevoza_ = _*cewza_, Ital. gelso,
_ajeta_ side by side with _ajta_, Ital. eta, _odejo_ = _odjo_, Ital.
odio, &c.; Abr. _'nniveje_, indiva, _nebbeje_, nebbia, &c.);
_cattajeve_ = _cattajve_, cattivo, _gouele_ = _*gowle_, gola, &c. &c.,
are examples from Molfetta, where is also normal the resolution of
_sk_ by _sek_ (_mesekere_, maschera, _sekatele_, scatola, &c.); cf.
_seddegno_, sdegno, in some dialects of the province of Avellino. In
complete contrast to the tendency to get rid of double consonants
which has been particularly noted in Venetian (C. 1), we here come to
the great division of Italy where the tendency grows strong to
gemination (or the doubling of consonants), especially in
proparoxytones; and the Neapolitan in this respect goes farther than
the Sicilian (e.g. Sicil. _soggiru_, suocero, _cinniri_, cenere,
_doppu_, dopo; _'nsemmula_, insieme, in-simul; Neap. _dellecato_,
dilicato; _ummeto_, umido; _debbole_).--As to the phonetic phenomena
connected with the syntax (see B. 2), it is sufficient to cite such
Sicilian examples as _nisuna ronna_, nesuna donna, alongside of _c' e
donni_, c' e donne; _cincu jorna_, cinque giorni, alongside of _chiu
ghiorna_, piu giorni; and the Neapolitan _la vocca_, la bocca,
alongside of _a bocca_, ad buccam, &c.

We now proceed to the special consideration, first, of the Sicilian
and, secondly, of the dialects of the mainland.

(a) _Sicilian._--The Sicilian vocalism is conspicuously etymological.
Though differing in colour from the Tuscan, it is not less noble, and
between the two there are remarkable points of contact. The dominant
variety, represented in the literary dialect, ignores the diphthongs
of _e_ and of _o_, as it has been seen that they are ignored in
Sardinia (B. 2), and here also the _i_ and the _u_ appear intact; but
the _e_ and the _o_ are fittingly represented by _i_ and _u_; and with
equal symmetry unaccented _e_ and _o_ are reproduced by _i_ and _u_.
Examples: _teni_, tiene; _novu_, nuovo; _pilu_, pelo; _minnitta_,
Ital. vendetta; _jugu_, giogo; _agustu_, Ital. agosto; _cridiri_,
credere; _vinniri_, Ital. vendere; _sira_, sera; _vina_, vena; _suli_,
Ital. sole; _ura_, ora; _furma_, Ital. forma. In the evolution of the
consonants it is enough to add here the change of _lj_ into _ghj_
(e.g. _figghiu_, Ital. figlio) and of _ll_ into _dd_ (e.g. _gaddu_,
Ital. gallo). As to morphology, we will confine ourselves to pointing
out the masculine plurals of neuter form (_li pastura_, _li
marinara_). For the Sicilian dialect we have a few fragments going
back to the 13th century, but the documents are scanty until we come
to the 14th century.