Conor: Good morning, today I am with 2 italian friends of mine, Luca and Arturo.
Since I am in Paris, we took advantage and decided to make a video about the different accents and dialects in Italian
and now the guys are going to give a demonstration of these accents.
Luca: thanks for the lovely introduction.
Luca: so Artù ("Artù is an abbreviation typical of some dialects of Italy) - I actually call him "Arturone" cause he is big -
Luca: (roman accent): listen Artù, why do you like languages so much? Tell me the whole story.
Arturo: I have been loving languages since I was a little kid
and I started learning...
Luca: what did you start learning?
Arturo:I started learning Hebrew, I was 7
Luca: Hebrew?! Damn!
Arturo: but I gave up because it was too difficult.
Luca: well, if you start with Hebrew..
Luca: couldn't you start with an easier language?
Arturo: well I moved on to easier stuff, like Spanish and Portuguese..
..and then I picked up Japanese..
at university.
Luca: and where did you study it?
Arturo (roman accent): in Rome
Luca (roman accent): oh, did you? Wow, fantastic!
Luca: so..where are you from?
Arturo: I come from Grisolia
Luca (calabrese accent): oh, that's in Calabria! So you are calabrese!
Luca: I didn't know that and I have been talking to you for days!
Luca: I don't understand how it is possible to switch from an accent to the other the way you do, you really did confuse me a bit
Luca: I remember that the first time he recognized me on the street he talked to me in Barese (accent from Bari, Puglia)
Luca: I really hadn't understood anything!
Arturo (barese accent): so I saw this guy on the street and I asked him:
"Are you Luca, the guy who makes videos on YouTube? I know this guy"
Arturo: so now..what about you Luca, where are you from? From Rome?
Luca (accent from Tuscany): look, not exactly, I was actually born in Pistoia...ehm, na, it is not true that I was born in Pistoia, but
sometimes when I speak with Italians from other reasons they often ask me: "where are you from?
Cause they don't understand where I am from exactly, and sometimes it is a bit funny when they are so confused
So I answer "well look, to tell you the truth I am from Rome but my dad is from Pistoia..or I say he is from Pisa
and stuff like that. They are indeed surprised. You do these things as well?
Arturo (accent from Campania): well I normally tell them that I am from Caserta
and I learned to speak wih this accent because a colleague of mine
spoke exactly like that. She kept asking me: "Arturo, do I really sound like I am from Campania?"
Luca: well, not that much but a bit yeah
Arturo (accent from Campania): but I am from Casterta, from Maria Capua Vetere
Luca (slight accent from Naples): so you do agree with me that the beauty of Italy and Italian are not just accents
There is a certain degree of "parochialism", every region...for example when we were talking to Conor..or "Conòr" (this is how some people in Campania would distort a name, either Italian or foreign)
Conor: thank you guys!
Luca: you see, there is even a napolitean version of your name Conor
Luca: so the fact is that in Italy there is a ton of different accents but even within the same region there are rivalries and big differences.
For example you are from Calabria, and there are things you like and dislike from other cities within your own region.
My grandparents for example are from Soverato.
Arturo: nooooo, not Soverato please!
Luca: you see? Sometimes I get this "noo, Soverato no", even if it is not meant in a bad way.
Arturo (calabrese accent from Cosenza): well, in Calabria it works this way: you have Cosenza on one side, and the rest of Calabria on the other.
Luca (accent from Calabria): yes, there is Soverato and there is Cosenza, and sometimes they dislike each other.
Luca: and this happens in Sicily (and in other regions) as well.
Luca (accent from Veneto): even in the North these things happen, you go there and they tell you:
"oh you got an accent from Padua". So there is this parochialism across the "boot". In the region of Lazio there are also differences
that are rather big from one place to the other.
Arturo (imitating a typical way of speaking of people from Lazio's hinterland): "u know there are people who talk like this".
Luca (accent from Campania): well, those from Cassino (a city south of Rome) speak in a certain way, and so do Romans, and people from Naples..
by the way there is a huge rivarly from Rome and Naples.
Luca: it is a mess, but it is a beautiful mess.
Arturo: our country is simply beautiful.
Luca: and Italian is a incredible language..
...with a lot of accents and such a huge linguistical and historical diversity.
Luca (accent from Campania): well, sometimes we get pissed off at each other, that's true..
..but in the in end we are all Italians.
Arturo: but we are abroad we Italians tend to "gang up".
Luca (accent from Campania): exactly, this guy here..
Arturo: yeah, doesn't matter if you are from Cosenza or Catanzaro,
the important thing is that yu are Italian.
Luca: this is the final message, and by the way we are in an Italian restaurant here in Paris, with Italian music.
Luca: ok that is all. We just wanted to give you a short demonstration of the beauty of our language and the diversity of its accents.
Luca: well, the problem is..and it is not a problem anyway,
.. is that when I speak in different accent I have a slightly different personality, so
for example when I speak with a tuscan accent I think about Chianti - well it is not the first thing I thin about, otherwise you might think that I am a alcoholic -
Arturo: and you start making different gestures..
Luca: yes, that too. But your way of thinking also changes a bit. This variety of accent and sounds is also a reflection of how we change when we speak different languages,
because sounds not only convey meaning, but life experiences and a way of living.
Luca: so once again we decided to give you a demonstration cause we both love accents.
I hope you liked it. A big hug to everyone! Take care, ciao.