Your opinion of italians

[Mars]

Just a question since we are on the topic of Genoa -- how closely related are people in Liguria and in Corsica? It has been suggested that their languages are very close, and that a lot of the surnames are shared. How true is this, and also, do they look similar?

Pax Augustea answered absolutely well and precisely to your question. I can only add that a friend of mine used to spend his summer holidays is Corsica, he didn't speak french but often spoke ligurian to the people there, who always understood him.

 

[oreo_cookie]

Yes, the answer was helpful, thank you.

 

[truth_seeker]

I have a high opinion of Italians, and so I married one 48 years ago. And we remain married. She is aging gracefully, as have most of her relatives in the US and in Italy. Her mother, an immigrant from Italy to the US in 1946-47 turns 89 next month.

 

[MOESAN]

Corsican is phonetically very lenitive (softening of hard stops, breathing of soft stops or pure disparition); someones placed Corsican dialects into Toscan ones, but the phonetic is very different.
Theorically I suppose it is easier to a Corsican to understand a Genoan speaking his own dialect than the reverse.

 

[Angela]

Corsican is phonetically very lenitive (softening of hard stops, breathing of soft stops or pure disparition); someones placed Corsican dialects into Toscan ones, but the phonetic is very different.
Theorically I suppose it is easier to a Corsican to understand a Genoan speaking his own dialect than the reverse.

I love Corsican polyphonic singing, and Corsican music in general, but to understand the meaning I have to resort to the written text. The following song is an example. Reading it, I pick up almost all the meaning, but just listening to it, less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlHoqpFyrK4

 

[MOESAN]

Thanks Angela, I red this message a bit lately because i don't come too often on this anthropology part, a little tired by some void discussions in some threads. Very beautiful song.
Concerning stops between vowels, corsican is almost identical with iberian romance dialects.
the originality is that this phenomenon impacts also the consonnants at the beginings of words, evocating partly the modern celtic lenition phenomenon. A close enough evolution is seen among all sardinian dialects, with variants, roughly said. An ancient atlantic-west-mediterranean heritage having modified celtic? (let's see the *W- to GW- thing among brittonic Celts and ancient territories of continental Celts (Iberia, France, Northern Italy, not southern ???)

 

[Azzurro]

The voting options are pretty funny, not because I am Italian, but we are definitely one of the unique peoples of Europe, Do we look more Central European or Middle Eastern, well its a mix there is a wide variety, there is a difference between North and South with the Central having both, Northern Italians have there unique look which I find is shared with neighbouring countries Southern France and Swiss, Southern Italians (I am Southern Italian) have more the Mediterranean look, nice olive skin, but there is also pale Southern Italians. Central Italians get and look more less like Southern Italians especially Southern Tuscany (Livorno, Siena and Grosseto) and Le Marche (generally). There is a general look through out the peninsula, but differences Northern Italians look more like Northwestern and Central Europeans, Central and South look more like neighbouring Southern European countries (Spain, Greece, Portugal, Albania) but also not to far off from Lebanese, Cypriots, Turks and Jewish People and there are even some that have North African look. Same could be said in the Northeast where people will get the Eastern European look.

 

[Pax Augusta]

The voting options are pretty funny, not because I am Italian, but we are definitely one of the unique peoples of Europe, Do we look more Central European or Middle Eastern, well its a mix there is a wide variety, there is a difference between North and South with the Central having both, Northern Italians have there unique look which I find is shared with neighbouring countries Southern France and Swiss, Southern Italians (I am Southern Italian) have more the Mediterranean look, nice olive skin, but there is also pale Southern Italians. Central Italians get and look more less like Southern Italians especially Southern Tuscany (Livorno, Siena and Grosseto) and Le Marche (generally). There is a general look through out the peninsula, but differences Northern Italians look more like Northwestern and Central Europeans, Central and South look more like neighbouring Southern European countries (Spain, Greece, Portugal, Albania) but also not to far off from Lebanese, Cypriots, Turks and Jewish People and there are even some that have North African look. Same could be said in the Northeast where people will get the Eastern European look.

After reading this your message it's pretty clear that you have never lived in Italy and you don't even know what you're talking about.

 

[Pax Augusta]

Corsican is phonetically very lenitive (softening of hard stops, breathing of soft stops or pure disparition); someones placed Corsican dialects into Toscan ones, but the phonetic is very different. Theorically I suppose it is easier to a Corsican to understand a Genoan speaking his own dialect than the reverse.

Corsican is like a Central Italian dialect from Umbria or north-east Lazio spoken by a far southern Italian. The best definition of Corsican according to me.

 

[Azzurro]

After reading this your message it's pretty clear that you have never lived in Italy and you don't even know what you're talking about.

You don't even know me? I really don't get how you can come up with assumptions like this, I stated that I am Italian who lives in Canada in another thread, and by the way I spent an entire month in Italy this summer and this is the observation I made from my visit and I also live in area where we are all of 100% Italian descent, you don't have to agree with my statements, and stop suggesting that I am not Italian or no nothing about Italy, because I am very proud to be Italian and know a lot about our History and Culture. Remember I always say some, not all so read carefully.

 

[Pax Augusta]

You don't even know me? I really don't get how you can come up with assumptions like this, I stated that I am Italian who lives in Canada in another thread, and by the way I spent an entire month in Italy this summer and this is the observation I made from my visit and I also live in area where we are all of 100% Italian descent, you don't have to agree with my statements, and stop suggesting that I am not Italian or no nothing about Italy, because I am very proud to be Italian.

Some of your posts were enough to understand that you're not Italian. Surely not an Italian from Italy. Your style is very similar to some users from Apricity.

 

[Angela]

I am losing my patience, "Azzuro". The people you would come into contact with in Montreal, if that is indeed your home, would not be from central or northern Italy or southern France or Switzerland or any of the other places you mentioned, so you indeed have no basis of comparison for your statements.

Something is starting to smell around here. You and Patrizio share a very similar supposed yDna, mtDna and supposed autosomal profile, and use the same language, only he is posting mostly on anthrogenica recently.

I am going to check all his posts. If I find any evidence you two are the same person or playing some game, you'll be permanently banned. Comprende?

 

[Azzurro]

Some of your posts were enough to understand that you're not Italian. Surely not an Italian from Italy. Your style is very similar to some users from Apricity.

I am Italian and even have an Italian Citizenship, I am not on Apricity, I am in titled to my own opinion and I get that you dislike it, and just letting you know I still have family in Italy, and made friends there, I am very aware of Italians from Italy's opinions, we differ of course since most of us still have the Italian mentality of the 1950's here in North America.

And us 'Americani' Italians might be even more qualified to answer questions like this since we live in highly cosmopolitain cities and have daily contact with people from different ethnicities and cultures.

 

[Pax Augusta]

And us 'Americani' Italians might be even more qualified to answer questions like this since we live in highly cosmopolitain cities and have daily contact with people from different ethnicities and cultures.

Europe is not less cosmopolitain than USA, including Italy. Anyway you must decide, you're an Italian-American or an Italian-Canadian? Weren't you from Canada? I notice there is some confusion.

Except those who were born and raised in Italy, Italian-Americans are more qualified to answer questions about Italian-Americans only.

 

[Azzurro]

I am losing my patience, "Azzuro". The people you would come into contact with in Montreal, if that is indeed your home, would not be from central or northern Italy or southern France or Switzerland or any of the other places you mentioned, so you indeed have no basis of comparison for your statements.

Something is starting to smell around here. You and Patrizio share a very similar supposed yDna, mtDna and supposed autosomal profile, and use the same language, only he is posting mostly on anthrogenica recently.

I am going to check all his posts. If I find any evidence you two are the same person or playing some game, you'll be permanently banned. Comprende?

No most of the people I have been in contact with in Montreal, yes this is my home, are from Southern Italy (Sicilians, Lucani, Napolitans, Campobassans, Abruzzese, Calabrese, Pugliese, and some from Frosinone) there are only Padovans from Northern Italy and Marchigiani from Central. I have been to Switzerland so have been and Southern France of course as Nizza used to be part of Italy and the area around it.

My name isn't Patrizio, my name is Anthony, understood there shouldn't be a problem I am only on this site and ftdna.

 

[Azzurro]

Europe is not less cosmopolitain than USA, including Italy. Anyway you must decide, you're an Italian-American or an Italian-Canadian? Weren't you from Canada? I notice there is some confusion.

Except those who were born and raised in Italy, Italian-Americans are more qualified to answer questions about Italian-Americans only.

I am Italian-Canadian, Europe yes I get is Cosmopolitain as well but more in the big cities than little towns and villages we can agree on this. Italian Americans and Italian Canadians are Italians as well since we would be full blooded Italians.

 

[Angela]

I am beyond tired of Americans and/or Canadians telling me that they know what Italians look like and whom they resemble based on what some Italian Americans or Italian Canadians from the south they happen to have come into contact with look like, or based on one vacation there, or even worse on some Mafia movie where they deliberately are looking for "odd" looking people. Italians still living full time in Italy post here, I was born there and spent my childhood there and am there numerous times a year. We know what Italians look like; you don't. End of story.

Where do you people get off? I wouldn't go to Great Britain and tell them what Scots look like compared to the Welsh or to people from Brittany.

Plus, excuse me, but people tell me they're "Italian" all the time once they hear my surname. Sometimes it's correct, and sometimes it's nonsense. I mean, I think it's nice that some half Italian, half something else person so identifies with their Italian side, but they're not Italian.

It gets even worse. A recent example was the painter who came to my house. The owner of the company told me he was half Italian. He wasn't, as I soon discovered when I started to talk to him about it. He was half Hispanic. I guess he thought half Italian sounded better.

Plus, pardon me, but Italian-Americans, including my husband and his whole family, are not "Italian". If you don't understand the language, or know the history and the culture, you're not Italian.

 

[Pax Augusta]

I am Italian-Canadian, Europe yes I get is Cosmopolitain as well but more in the big cities than little towns and villages we can agree on this. Italian Americans and Italian Canadians are Italians as well since we would be full blooded Italians.

I got it, so you're a Canadian who claims to be full blooded Italian. Do you speak Italian?

 

[Azzurro]

Si Securo, not as good I want it to be, but I get by, I am not Canadian, my ethnicity is Italian, I was born in Canada but am of full Italian descent.

 

[Azzurro]

I am beyond tired of Americans and/or Canadians telling me that they know what Italians look like and whom they resemble based on what some Italian Americans or Italian Canadians from the south they happen to have come into contact with look like, or based on one vacation there, or even worse on some Mafia movie where they deliberately are looking for "odd" looking people. Italians still living full time in Italy post here, I was born there and spent my childhood there and am there numerous times a year. We know what Italians look like; you don't. End of story.

Where do you people get off? I wouldn't go to Great Britain and tell them what Scots look like compared to the Welsh or to people from Brittany.

Plus, excuse me, but people tell me they're "Italian" all the time once they hear my surname. Sometimes it's correct, and sometimes it's nonsense. I mean, I think it's nice that some half Italian, half something else person so identifies with their Italian side, but they're not Italian.

It gets even worse. A recent example was the painter who came to my house. The owner of the company told me he was half Italian. He wasn't, as I soon discovered when I started to talk to him about it. He was half Hispanic. I guess he thought half Italian sounded better.

Plus, pardon me, but Italian-Americans, including my husband and his whole family, are not "Italian". If you don't understand the language, or know the history and the culture, you're not Italian.

I get what your saying, most people in those Mafia films aren't even Italian two good examples from the Godfather Marlon Brando and James Caan. I guess that's fair what you and Pax are saying since I don't live there, but I am still titled to an opinion, but will get this reception. In terms of not being Italian it depends some are more knowledged than others, in terms of culture it depends your definition, history I 100% agree not enough North American Italians know anything about Italian history and language it depends if you were raised with your Nonna's or Zia's, unfortunately some don't even speak a word or know which village they came from (this drives me crazy), at least putting an effort is a good start.