Accents used
Cedilla
Circumflex
Diaeresis / Umlaut
Before You Read
I know that I'm only supposed to include the above-listed info, but I figured I can include more about the dialect, so that way people can have a better understanding of it when they leave this page.
Introduction
This dialect hails from the village of Pizzone (Province of Isernia | Region of Molise), in Southern Italy. It derives from Neapolitan, a language that is closely related to Italian. Though I know you've never heard of this language, that's why I've created this page. I will include the orthography, alphabet, pronunciation, grammar, some phrases/words, and sample texts. Thank you for taking the time to visit this page. >> Please don't delete this page without my express permission. Do also know that this page has been recently made, on Saturday 19 August 2008, so the full page is coming soon!
Orthography
Before you read this section, do know that this dialect's orthography is constantly being modified, and so information will most probably not be the same for a very long time. The orthography looks highly unrelated to that of other Romance languages/dialects, let alone Neapolitan or Tuscan (Standard Italian) themselves. But this is in order to accomodate the different sounds heard in the dialect, and also because they make the dialect look "attractive" in a way.
The following letters are used in Pizzonese:
<< a â b c ç d e ê æ f g h i î ï k l ł m n o ô ö ø p q r s t u û ü v x y z >>
Use of Accents
Use of Cedilla
The cedilla is placed below c to signify the zh sound as in measure.
Use of Circumflex Accent
The circumflex is used to mark stress on many polysyllabic words, mainly to mark stress at the penultimate (last) syllable, ie: 'menî' (to come) but also to mark stress when:
• the initial syllable of a tri-syllabled word, for example, 'dâłłele' (give it to him/her)
• to mark stress within anywhere except the initial syllable of a four-syllabled word and within anywhere except the third syllable of a five-syllabled word
• to distinguish words, ie, 'fâcc' (will do) vs. 'facc' (face)
Use of Umlaut
There is a special sound that is very rare. It is a very soft 'uh' sound heard right after a vowel, or more precisely, a pause after the vowel on which it was marked, causing another syllable. For example, the word "bün" (good) wouldn't be pronounced as 'boon', but as 'boo-uhn' or 'boo-n'. This sound will be very confusing, so it is best to try to master it as good as possible.
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