Lesson 6: Sicilian adjectives
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Adjectives
Adjective is a modifier, that is it modifies the noun and it agrees with the noun in number and gender. Generally, for the masculine and feminine, they follow the same rules as the nouns. The adjective in Sicilian usually follows the noun, as in:
La casa bedda The beautiful house
Lu muru autu The tall wall
La vucca china The full mouth
L’àrvulu nicu The small tree
Avèmu un cavàddu beddu We have a beautiful horse
Acchianò la scala auta He climbed a tall ladder
Mê frati avia un cani nicu My brother had a small dog
A iddu ci dèttiru na palla russa They gave him a red ball
Sometimes the adjective precedes the noun it modifies to give a greater emphasis to the quality of the noun. The most common adjectives that follow this rule are:
Beddu beautiful
Bravu good
Caru dear
Gran big, great
Bruttu bad
Bon good
Chidda è na bedda picciòtta
That one is (really) a beautiful young lady
Iddu avi nu gran cavàddu He (really) has a great horse
Lu patri avi n’àvutru cani
The father has an other (different) dog
La iena è un bruttu armàlu
The hyena is (truly) an ugly (bad) animal
Iddu è un caru picciòttu He is a dear young man
Here too we have exceptions in the endings. Some adjectives end in i, and they can follow a masculine or feminine noun and have the same ending in the plural form, as in:
Masculine Feminine
Lu bordu diagunàli La lìnia diagunàli The diagonal line, edge
Lu suli lucènti La stidda lucènti The shining star, sun
Lu violu cumùni La strata cumùni The common street, pathway
Assìra vitti na stidda lucènti Last night I saw a brilliant star
Iu nni vitti quàttru stiddi lucènti I saw four brilliant stars
Mi truvàva nta la trazzèra cumùni I was in the commn pathway
Ddu omu è gnurànti That man is ignorant
Some adjectives form adverbs by adding menti to the ending:
Adjective Adverb
Umànu umanamènti humanly
Veru veramènti truly
Sicuru sicuramènti certainly
Stanu stranamènti strangely
Un èssiri umànu l’ài a trattàri cchiù umanamènti pussìbili.
You have to treat a human being as humanly as possible
Quànnu parràva cu mia sicuramènti dicèva fissarì.
When he was talking to me he was lying (saying nonsense)
Anchi si lu fattu era veru un signìfica ca era veramènti bonu.
Even if what happened was true it does not mean that it was truly good
Diminutive, Augmentative
In Sicilian we find two ways of altering the quality or quantity of a noun or an adjective: a diminutive to denote quantity or quality, someone or something small or to denote endearment, in the noun or adjective, as in:
Sèggia siggitèdda chair, little chair, cute chair
Màsculu masculìddu lad, little lad, cute lad
Soru surùzza sister, little sister, cute sister
Mischìnu mischinèddu poor thing, poorest thing (someone)
Porta purticèdda door, little door, cute door
Piru pirìddu pear, little pear, cute pear
Surdàtu surdatèddu soldier, small, cute soldier
Avìa un màsculu e ci fici na surùzza
I had a boy and I made him a little sister
Mê ziu avi un masculìddu My uncle has a little boy
Dda casa avi na bedda purticèdda that house has a pretty little door
Ddu surdatèddu, mischìnu, e` firùtu
That little soldier, poor thing, is wounded
An augmentative, to denote quantity; to make an augmentative, the ending uni is added to the noun or adjective, as in:
Casa casùni house, big house
Vecchiu vicchiùni old man, very old man
Manu manùni hand, big hand
Fossu fussùni ditch, big ditch
Paredda pariddùni skillet, big skillet
Gaddina gaddinùni chicken, big chicken
A pejorative, to denote quality. To make a pejorative the suffix azzu (mascul.) or azza (femin.) is added to the noun or adjective:
Casa casàzza house, ugly big house
Vècchiu vicchiàzzu old, ugly, bad old man
Manu manàzza hand, ugly big hand
Fossu fussàzzu ditch, ugly big ditch
Parèdda pariddàzza skillet, ugly big skillet Gaddìna gaddinàzza chicken, ugly big chicken
Iddu stava nta na casàzza He lived in an ugly house
Chista nun è casa, chista è casùni This is not a house, it is a big house
Lu piccirìddu avia dui manùna The baby had two big hands
Frièva l'ovu nta nu pariddùni She was frying the egg in a big skillet
Era un fussàzzu chinu di fangu It was an ugly ditch full of mud
Comparative and Absolute
The comparative in Sicilian is made in two ways. Comparison by equality by adding the adverbs, comu, tantu e quàntu (as), as in:
Ddu libbru è comu lu miu That book is like mine
Iu àiu tantu pani quàntu nn’ài tu I have as much bread as you
La mê casa è bedda comu la tua My house is as beautiful as your
And comparison by inequality, by adding the adverb cchiù (more), or menu, (less)
Mê frati è cchiù granni d’iddu My brother is older than he
Sô soru è cchiù bedda di mia His sister is more beautiful than I
Iu sordi nn’aiu menu d’iddu I have less money than he
Certain comparatives, made up by mègghiu (better), pèggiu (worse), do not take the adverb cchiù (more), as in:
Mègghiu di chiddu Better than that
Pèggiu di l’àvutru Worse than the other
Lu sàcciu fari mègghiu d’iddu I know how to do it better than he does
Pi travagghiàri è pèggiu di mia In order of work he is worse than I am
The relative superlative is formed by adding the article lu, la, li, as in:
Li cchiù nichi the youngest
Lu cchiù forti the strongest
Li cchiù chini the fullest
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Lu cchiù autu the tallest
Mê fìgghia è la cchiù bedda di tutti My daughter is the most beautiful of all
Ddu muru è lu cchiù ghiàvutu di chidd’àvutri
That wall is the highest of those others
Sta corda è la cchiù forti di l’àvutri dui This rope is the strongest of the others
Ddi ciràsi sunnu li cchiù duci di tutti Those cherries are the sweetest of all
The superlative absolute is made by adding the suffix issimu, issima, for the singular, and issimi for the plural. It also can be formed with the adverbs assai, veru or the suffix uni, as in:
Benìssimu very well
Carìssimu dearest
Veru laidu truly ugly (ugliest)
Assai lentu truly slow (slowest)
Veru duci truly sweet (sweetest)
Riccùni very rich
Veru longu truly long (longest)
Lu conti è riccùni The count is very rich
Dda fìmmina è veru laida That woman is truly ugly
Carìssimu amicu, vui siti assai lentu
My dearest friend, you are very slow
Sta strata è veru longa This road is very long
Possessive adjectives
The adjectives of possession are;
Masculine Singular Feminine
Miu mia mine
Tou tua yours
Sou sua his, hers
Plural
Nostru nostru ours
Vostru vostru yours
Soi soi theirs
These adjectives, in the singular, applied to a noun contract to mê, tô, sô, and the plural soi also contract to sô, as in:
Mê frati my brother
Tô soru your sister
Sô patri his, her father
Sô figghiu their son
Mê ziu vinni cu sô nannu My uncle came with his grandfather
Tô fìgghiu §u a sô casa Your son went to his house
Ci dettiru li sordi a sô fìgghiu They gave money to their son
These adjectives are also used with a simple or compound preposition, as in:
Stu gattu lu truvài vicìnu la mê casa I found this cat near my house
Iddu ioca cu la tô palla He plays with your ball
Dda casa é di sô matri That house belongs to his mother
Ssu cani nun é di mê cucìnu That dog is not my cousin’s
L’àrbuli sunnu di tô patri The trees belong to your father
Lu cavàddu lu dugnu a sô nipùti I will give the horse to his nephew
Luntànu di la mê casa Far from my house
allàtu a mê patri Besides my father
The preposition di denotes possession:
La casa di Maria Mary’s house
Lu cani di Petru Peter’s dog
Lu cavàddu di Marcu Marc’s horse
Di cui? Di Marcu. Whose? Marc’s
Quantitative Adjective
The adjective quantitative indicates quantity, as in:
Quàntu sunnu? How many are there?
Quàntu acchiàni tantu scinni
As much you go up so much you will come down
Quàntu surdàti c’eranu? How many soldiers were there?
The numerals, sometimes indicate an approximate quantity, as in:
Na dicìna about ten
Na cinchìna about five
Un cintinàru about a hundred
Na cinquantìna about fifty
C’eranu na cinquantìna d’armàli There were about fifty animals
Quàsi na vintina About twenty
Dammi na chilata di pasta Give me about a kilo of pasta
Dammìnni dû fila di spaghètti
Give me a couple (a few strands) of spaghetti
Demostrative Adjectives
The demonstrative adjectives are those that indicate of which object we are talking about. They are:
Masculine Feminine
Chistu chista this
Chissu chissa that
Chiddu chidda that
Chistu è mê patri This is my father
Chissu e chissa sunnu li mê ziiThat one and that one are my aunt and uncle
For clarification the adverbs here, there, further often are used, as in:
Chistu ccà chista ccà This one here (near me)
Chissu ddocu chissa ddocu That one there (near you)
Chiddu ddà chidda ddà That one there (away from both of us)
Chistu ccà mi piaci mègghiu I like better this one here
Chissu ddocu e cchiu` sapurìtu That one (near you) is prettier
Chiddu ddà nun e miu That one there is not mine
These adjectives are often used in a contracted way, as in:
Stu sta this
Ssu ssa that
Ddu dda that
Stu ballùni è russu This balloon is red
Ssu àrvulu è ghiàvutu That tree is tall
Ddu gaddu canta ogni matìna That rooster crows every morning