Difference between Sicilians and Italians?

I know sicilians are Italians. My family is from Sicily for the most part. What's are the differences between Sicilians and the mainlanders? I've seen differences between northerners and southerners but never much of a notable difference between Sicilians and other southern Italians such as people who are of calabrese descent. Is Sicily mainly differentiated sometimes because they are autonomous? I have many friends who are southern italian. Most of my friends growing up were of sicilian, neapolitan or calabrese descent. I am an italian American so the friends I grew up with were also italian American who were born and raised in America. Except for one of them who was born in calabria. Him and his family lived next door to me. But my parents who spoke fluent italian never had a problem communicating with them and they cooked the same way as us also. His parents reminded me of people in my family. And they looked like people in my family too because they had dark hair, brown eyes and dark skin. I'm sure actually in Italy there's more of a difference but I've been there before and I've still never seen a huge difference that some people speak of. This is just from my personal experience of course. Obviously there's regional dialects, but there are regional dialects in every country. Also, do you know what "Blutze" is? My grandma said that growing up some of her friends were that. Idk how to spell it but she pronounced it "Blute-Zay".
Thank you

For one, Sicily has a much different history than the mainland characterized by a vast array of invaders.

As far as Blutz-zay goes: I think she was probably saying Abruzzese which applies to someone from Abruzzi province which is east of Lazio province which is where Rome is located. My grandfather was from Compobosso in Abruzzi.

There are Sicilians and there are those who wish they were lucky enough to have been born Sicilians. That's the only difference.

And then there are those who thank the almighty that they weren't born Sicilian and, instead, were born Napolitan!

Yea but, Sicilians rule!!!!!! I mean everybody loves a Sicilian.



TIS

As far as I'm concerned italian is italian no matter what specific type of italian you are. There definitely is a pretty big difference between southern Italians and northern Italians.

I know sicilians are Italians. My family is from Sicily for the most part. What's are the differences between Sicilians and the mainlanders? I've seen differences between northerners and southerners but never much of a notable difference between Sicilians and other southern Italians such as people who are of calabrese descent. Is Sicily mainly differentiated sometimes because they are autonomous? I have many friends who are southern italian. Most of my friends growing up were of sicilian, neapolitan or calabrese descent. I am an italian American so the friends I grew up with were also italian American who were born and raised in America. Except for one of them who was born in calabria. Him and his family lived next door to me. But my parents who spoke fluent italian never had a problem communicating with them and they cooked the same way as us also. His parents reminded me of people in my family. And they looked like people in my family too because they had dark hair, brown eyes and dark skin. I'm sure actually in Italy there's more of a difference but I've been there before and I've still never seen a huge difference that some people speak of. This is just from my personal experience of course. Obviously there's regional dialects, but there are regional dialects in every country. Also, do you know what "Blutze" is? My grandma said that growing up some of her friends were that. Idk how to spell it but she pronounced it "Blute-Zay".
I actually put this exact thread in a different forum but it was dead. I barely got any replies. More people can see it if I put it on this forum.
Thank you.

That doesn't determine in which forum this should be posted. This subject has nothing to do with organized crime and it is being moved to the General Discussion forum.

Keep in mind that "Italy" was not officially a country until the mid 1800's. That is why the people in Milano and Torino look and speak differently than people in Napoli. Presently there is a move on for these northern areas to secede from Italy because their industrial wealth subzidizes the South.

Sicily, as someone noted was invaded over and over by the Spanish, the Arabs, and even the Normans, and because it is an island the people there took on characteristics distinct from those on the mainland. Even their dialect is different. The most pronounced difference is that vowels at the end of works gets dropped, hence "prosciutto" becomes "prozhut" and "mozzerella" becomes "mozzerell."

That's interesting because my family pronounces prosciutto and mozzarella exactly that way even though we're primarily Napolitan. I wish I could ask my Dad about any Sicilian influence in our neighborhood.

All of my relation (Sicilian both sides) definitely do NOT drop vowels at the end of words. I thought it was more an "Italy" (rather than Sicilian) thing. I'll hear someone say Provolone and to me it's pronounced "Provolonie".



TIS

I love Old World Sicilian Pizza made by JoJo's Italian Grill in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. Square, thin crust, sauce, sausage, red onion and spices; NO CHEESE. Fabuloso. And I love you too TIS.

Aww thanks MC. Love you too.

Speaking of pizza, when I was young my mom always made her own pizza (and bread) from scratch. It wasn't until high school at some point that I had take-out pizza while at a friends house. I was shocked at how thin the crust was. What, and nobody wanted anchovies on it? WTF. We always had anchovies on pizza. LOL

Don't know if thick crust/thin crust is a a Northern/Southern Italy tradition OR more an American thing.


TIS

I never saw Sicily as a whole different country like some people did and still do today. And some people say you can tell what part of Italy their ancestors come from by their last name but that's not 100% true whatsoever. Someone can have the last name Angelo and can be from Florence or Sicily.

Nobody in Sicily drops the vowels at the end of words, and I'm there all the time, around them all the time. Dropping vowels at the end of words is the way Italian-Americans speak when they think they're speaking Sicilian, but actually have no idea what they're saying.

And today, all the new generations are brought up speaking Italian proper.

There have been some that actually consider Sicilian a whole different language rather than a dialect. It has the influence of so many different cultures, Norman, Arab, Greek, and so on, that it can be very different than what it spoken in Rome, for example.

As carmela has correctly pointed out, however, the more recent generations have been losing that and been mainstreamed. It's sort of sad, IMO.

I think that DeNiro's Sicilian in GF2 was probably as close as we're ever going to hear on the big screen, especially here in the US.

Thank you for your input. You're a credible source being that you go there a lot apparently. I've been there 5 times. I love it. Italy that is. I've been to Sicily 3 times. What a beautiful country. USA is #1 though.

I read about that online about the Normans invading most of southern Italy. But like I said, personally I haven't seen that much of a difference at all when comparing most southern italian regions. There aren't many regional dialects anymore because everyone is speaking proper italian now like Carm said.

There's not such huge differences in the south. From the north to the south, you had big differences in education, where the northerners were better educated and willing to move with the times, and sicilians were/are old souls refusing to change for as long as they can. With sicilians, if it's black and they think it's white, it's white. Save your breath.
The dialects... if you speak sicilian dialect, you'll never understand neapolitan dialect. They're not even close. But calabrian is pretty close to sicilian. The food...south is by the ports so you'll have a lot more fish as a food staple obviously, not so in the north. They cook very differently, a lot of cream based sauces and such in the north; usually you can tell what region one is from just by what they like as far as food goes.

As far as the language, when we're there, it's not like we're touring around, so it's just us and family and more family and more family, so it's pretty much: the beach, conversation, and food. So there's nothing else to do but converse, and listen to how people talk. Don't get me wrong, they are still speaking dialect. Us and all the cousins in the 20's, 30's and 40's, still speak dialect with the older generations and between one another. But all the kids being born now, the parents are sure to speak proper to them, so they hear Italian growing up in the house just as much as sicilian. It also makes a big difference that kids in Sicily are staying in school, where they do learn proper Italian, and carrying on schooling, up into college. When years ago, girls dropped out in 5th grade to stay home and help the mothers, and boys dropped out to help work...nobody was learning much of anything, except what was taught to them by their parents in the home.

I can't speak proper, only dialect, but when I go there now, they tell me I should learn and get away from the dialect. Yeah. That's gonna happen. When we visit there, they say, "you speaky EEEtaly." When they come to the US to visit, they say, "you speaky EEEtaly." Either way, they never have to "speaky american". Hard headed stubborn sicilians...lose/lose. lol

My father still owns property in Lauropoli, Cosenza, Calabria. And being that I've spent a great deal of time there, that's how I self-identify when it comes to my ancestry (not my nationality; I'm clearly American). But we've visited my mother's side in Basilicata many times and I've never had a problem understanding the regional dialect. But then again, Basilicata is just north of Calabria, soooo....

Oh, and when we visit Sicily, we get by just fine. Especially in the coastal region on the western ports. The language differences there are minimal when compared to Calabrese. Messina ain't all that far from Reggio .

well whatever one says, there is no question it is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and the food is to die for.

Ironically, my family still has a place in Plati, Reggio, Calabria. And my one uncle still has a home in a small village in the Abruzzi region. Been there twice, loved the Amalfi Coast and Northern Italy around San Marino (where my paternal grandma was born and my dad). Never been down to Sicily as it is on my bucket list as well as Sardinia. Dialect is somewhat different and the cuisine varies tremendously in the different regions. Small world.

I keep telling you that .

I'm mostly sicilian and I have a little bit of I think naepolitan or calabrese in me. I don't remember which one exactly I'll have to ask my father.

Madonne! PB. You're calabrese? Not only that, but you're in Throggs Neck. What's the third strike?

No, I'm American. But unlike you, I don't have an identity crisis which leads me to get sentimental about a country that I've never even seen (I'm just assuming that, like most "Italian Americans," you've never even set foot in the country. And even if you did, it was probably on a Perillo Tour).

Furthermore, I've been there a dozen times, and one of those times was for eighteen straight months. But I'm still not delusional enough to think that the Italians over there thought of me as a fellow Italian. I was the American cousin then, and I'm the American cousin now. But keep throwing out the word "Madonne!" every third post you make. Maybe they'll think you're one of their own .


I have an unusually large penis. But Mrs. Pizzaboy has learned to live with it.

Olivant, Pizzaboy sounds like something disagreeable landed on his abeetz tonight, or is it my imagination??

Marone and doozy bots. But you're right!

Marone! Pizzaboy got a bad anchovy or something. Perillo Tour???

Guys,

Pizzaboy is right IMO. I'm a first generation Italian American and I know for a fact that when we have gone over to Calabria (where my family is from) our cousins look at me as the "Americana." My parents were born there and came to America and some of the family did not look favorable on that. Especially in southern Italy, they will laugh at us American cousins and make fun of Italian American cuisine, style of clothes etc. A lot of their beliefs and ideologies are still very antiquated over there. My two cents...from experience.

My family is from Reggio, Calabria and I know that when I have gone over there and when my parents travel there every year, many of the Calabrians and Abbruzese look at Sicilians as peasants and untrustworthy people. The southern Italians also still have nothing good to say about Northern Italians (as my dad was born in San Marino-his dad from Calabria, his mom from from Bologna). And vice versa, Northern Italians look at Southern Italians as peasants and uneducated.

Similar to how in the U.S, there are labels for all the different parts of the country. The south has rednecks, the northerners have money, the Midwest is wholesome and full of nice people, the west coast are liberal hippies etc...most likely the same in every country.

Then I assume JCB that you can speak the language, no?

Menza menz...I understand it very well when my parents speak it, but for the most part, they tried to adopt the American language immediately as well as America values...my dad is more antiquated, my mom is more in tune with the times.

Oli's my pal. I was just busting his onions and he knows it. But for the record, he started it with that Calabrese crack .

Thank you for clarifying that and using the United States as an Example. I could care less what part you come from. I just can't stand Italians that try and act or promote that there SUPER ITALIAN!!

I mean bumper stickers, T-shirts.. " It's Gravy not sauce" my great grand mudda always said gravvy gtfoh Fucking bunch of wannabe reality tv stars certain places you go.

Exactly. If your family got here a hundred years ago, and you still feel the need to act and sound like Vinnie Barbarino, then something's missing.

All kidding aside, they did a geat job of depicting that on "The Sopranos." Those assholes talked and talked about "what part a da boot are u from," and "we're goin to de udda side on business." Yet when they finally got there, the REAL Italians made fun of them. I'm reminded of Paulie asking for "regular macaroni and gravy" at the restaurant. Fuckin moron .

PB a lot of women and I guess some men to picked up the whole OO Maddone bolshit from the sopranos too My wife ever says that shit she knows she has a beating coming you know what I'm saying PB Old World Style

Reminds me of Paulie in "The Pope of Greenwich Village."

I mean, you don’t abuse ‘em once in a while they’ll shit all over you. I don’t mean you walk around morning to night whackin’ ‘em upside the head like someone from the other side, but you terrorize ‘em once in a while just to keep ‘em in line. Know what I mean? Like sometimes, when they embarrass you in front of your friends, you whack ‘em with a backhand. You’re not in the middle of the road like some fucking animal, but nice, in the bedroom. Ba-boom! “What am I? Some kind of fucking asshole? Get your coat on fast and you don’t say goodnight to nobody! You understand me?” That’s to keep them humble. When you don’t let them say goodnight to nobody, they walk out looking at the fucking floor.

One of my all time favorite movies...and scenes!!

I'm from the Youngstown, OH area, so I don't have anything close to a Jersey accent.

Yeah, I remember when Boom-Boom Mancini went on "Who's the Boss?" and tried to sound like he was from Brooklyn. It was tragic .

My grandpa and Boom Boom's dad Ray Sr were very close friends, great family

How about when Paulie and Pussy were in the coffee shop and Paulie wanted an "Exspresso". (madonne)

What's bad about being from throgs neck and being calabrese exactly if I may ask? And I agree with pizza boy, being American is first and foremost for me also.

I agree so much. The jersey shore cast members and everything. Personally I enjoyed that show because I felt it was entertaining but in reality it was sickening. These guys were American not italian. If you were raised italian you know what being italian is. Those who try to boast seem to not know what being italian really is.

jersey shore cast is NOT from New Jersey...just wanted to put that ut there.....

as for the rest of this conversation......"Jimmy and I had to sit back and take it....it was among the Italians"

but EVERYTHING discussed in this thread......regional internal prejudices and stereotypes, people being SUPER-ethnic on a surface level,actual residents of your "mother country" openly laughing at you for claiming to be/act like you are from there....applies to every ethnic or immigrant group.....trust me.

blot out "sicilian" and "italian" and I could swear that this thread was a transcript of conversations I've had with friends.

I always found that part at 1:35 hilarious. How he does a total 180 and starts asking about the apartment. "What the hell happened here?"

Me too, Ivy. Me too .

so what your telling me is that these guys wont fit in if they go to Italy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAmRlcZ_-QU

I was talking with my Italian brother-in-law and this topic came up. I asked him the difference between Italians and Sicilians and he answered, "The amount of facial hair on the women."

I didn't ask him which had more.

Lol^

haha that reminds me of how a local cafe here had a chalkboard advertising their coffee drinks, etc. and they wrote 'expresso'

Sicilians

Sicilians were raped by black people and northern Italians weren't?

I don't think they were raped, if anything it was consensual

That's a myth based on racism.

People from North Africa such as the Moors and Berbers are Caucasian.

The people in Europe who have the most North African DNA or heritage, are not Italians or Sicilians but are people from Southern Spain and Portugal.

^^^ Exactly.
I would quibble about all Moors or Berbers being "Caucasian" because that term is more social than biologically descriptive but as pointed out the European people with the most genetic African inheritance are from Iberia, not Sicily.

Some of this heritage is thought to go back to prehistoric times (i.e more than 10,000 years prior) The rest might have come via Roman conquest, Vandal conquests, Atlantic Slave trade, migrations, Moorish conquest, and of course people just getting together to do the do as they've always done.

Some of the latest science suggests that "white" skin, as Americans would understand it anyway is a relatively recent development in Europe (6-7000 yrs ago)

Population groups always shade (pun definitely intended) into each other. It's difficult to draw hard and fast lines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_admixture_in_Europe

i've never heard of any white moors but that's beside the point

is it a coincidence that sicilians have dark skin after being invaded by africans?

i highly doubt it....sounds like somebody was getting slam danced

Berbers are Caucasian, and many do identify as being such.

These guys definitely aren't Black

Read the post below yours. The Moors and people from North Africa are Caucasian.

Actually they're imitating, or sometimes speaking the Neapolitan dialect.

Even 100 years ago people learned to speak/read/write actual Italian in southern Italy if they were educated, or had intelligence.

Where did they learn to speak/read/write Italian proper? Who taught them? They spoke what their families were speaking in the house. Dialect. They barely made it thru elementary school, so no...they weren't being taught proper because many left school very early on and it wasn't necessary to learn Italian like it is today. Don't mistake being ignorant for being stupid, though.

They learned it in school where it was taught. My friends and relatives who are very older some of who are no longer alive said how they just learned actual Italian. I know that one relative of mine learned Italian in school, and learned more of it because his parents wanted him to become a priest but instead of doing that he went to the United States after being sponsored by his brother. The older Calabrians I know who are in their early 80s said how they did not learn dialect and just learned how to speak/read/write Italian, and how most people did not go beyond what we would call late elementary school or early jr. highschool.

The Sicilians I know who are older in their 60s and 70s said how they would speak dialect at home; but at school they wrote/read/spoke actual Italian. They were in parochial schools though, so maybe that has something to do with it?

But these people did not stay in Italy some moved when they were 10, 16, or when they were married and in their 20s.