Parrot Time Magazine

Proverbs from the World:
Italian

The world is full of languages, which in turn are full of proverbs and proverbial phrases. Some of them are very culture related, some instead very universal. The language of choice this time is Italian. In Italian, the language is called italiano.

Italian is the main language spoken in Italy, and an official language there, in Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, Istria County in Croatia, and Slovene Istria in Slovenia. It is also a recognized minority language in many countries also outside Europe, for example in Somalia and Libya due to the Italian colonial period. Italian is the native language of the majority of Italians. There are also four co-official minority languages in the northern parts of Italy, namely German, French, Slovene and Ladin. This is just the official part: there are over thirty living spoken languages and dialects in Italy, mostly Romance languages. There hasn’t been uniformity along the history whether they are languages or dialects, and the concept of dialect in Italy means big differences compared to standard Italian. The number of native speakers of Italian is about 90 million.

Italian belongs to the Romance branch of the Indo-European language family, alongside Spanish, French and Portuguese, and more specifically, to the Italo-Dalmatian language sub-group. The alphabet is Latin. Italian has two grammatical genders, feminine and masculine, and nouns have singular and plural forms. Indefinite and definite articles are used, and verbs are conjugated in six persons.

Being an Indo-European language with Christian history, many of the proverbs (proverbio), are of international heritage. This does not apply to all of them, of course. Here are some selected ones from a famous novel by Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia, first published in 1881. The novel tells about a Sicilian family of fishermen that faces many misfortunes, and it's exceptionally rich in proverbs. The book has been translated by Mary A. Craig into English under the name The House by the Medlar-Tree in 1890, and the following translations into English are Craig's. The proverbs selected this time suit life as a fisherman.

1. Fa il mestiere che sai, che se non arricchisci camperai.
Translation:
Stick to the trade you know, somehow you'll manage to go.

2. Per menare il remo bisogna che le cinque dita s'aiutino l'un l'altro.
Translation:
To pull a good oar all the five fingers must help each other. Cooperation is important.

3. Scirocco chiaro e tramontana scura, mettiti in mare senza paura.
Translation:
Clear south wind and dark north, go fearlessly forth.

4. Mare crespo, vento fresco.
Translation:
Curly is the sea, a fresh wind there'll be.

5. Le acciughe sentono il grecale ventiquattro ore prima di arrivare.
Translation:
Anchovies feel the north-east wind twenty-four hours before it comes.

6. Triste quella casa dove c'è la visita pel marito.
Translation:
Sad is the house where there is the "visit" for the husband. Sea is, unfortunately, the tomb of many fishermen.

7. Il mare è amaro, ed il marinaio muore in mare.
Translation:
The sea is salt, and the sailor dies in the sea.

8. Col mare fresco non se ne piglia pesci.
Translation:
In this fresh breeze there's no chance of fish.

9. I pesci grossi stanno sott'acqua durante la maretta.
Translation:
The big fish stayed under water while the waves ran high.

10. A nave rotta ogni vento è contrario.
Translation:
To the sinking ship all winds blow contrary.

11. Il buon pilota si conosce alle burrasche.
Translation:
In the storm one knows the good pilot.

12. Mare bianco, scirocco in campo.
Translation:
White sea, sirocco there'll be.

13. Quando la luna è rossa fa vento, quando è chiara vuol dire sereno, quando è pallida, pioverà.
Translation:
When the moon is red it means wind ; when it is clear, fine weather ; when it is pale it means rain.

14. Acqua di cielo, e sardelle alle reti.
Translation:
Water from the sky, sardines in the net.

15. Chi ha roba in mare non ha nulla.
Not translated in the English edition of the novel, but the literal meaning is clear:
Who has goods at sea has nothing. Those goods do not materialize until returning home.

16. Per un pescatore si perde la barca.
Translation:
For one fisherman the boat was lost. One who does not do things right may ruin everything.

As the eldest of the family, padron 'Ntoni says, il motto degli antichi mai mentì – the saying of the old never lied. The proverbs above are rooted in the reality of the fishermen's daily life, weather and the aspect of the sea, and they are very much popular wisdom instead of witty phrases that rhyme nicely. One must use the strength of the young and the experience of the old - forza di giovane e consiglio di vecchio.