by Martin Solly
“There are still a good many Italians who speak a local dialect, and a number of Italians who have no language other than their dialect.”
In addition, local dialect is both structurally and lexically very different from Italian. There are still a good many Italians who speak a dialect, and a number of Italians who have no language other than their dialect. It is possible therefore to believe the following tale. A man from the southern region of Puglia, who has lived in Piedmont for 20 years, has a Piedmontese neighbour who greets him every day as he leaves for work. The Pugliese man speaks Italian, and the Piedmontese man understands him. But, because the Piedmontese man doesn’t speak Italian and the Pugliese has never bothered to learn Piedmontese, their conversation forever remains one-sided.
About the Author
Brought up in England, Martin Solly first became enamoured of Italy as a student, staying with his amici in a superb farmhouse complete with swimming pool. The red-earthed landscapes of Tuscany, Renaissance culture, Chianti and mouthwatering tortellini and zucchini convinced him that the Italians enjoyed the ultimate in sybaritic living.
After working on farms, and in bars, restaurants, bookstores and schools, he settled in Piedmont with the intention of improving his knowledge of things Italian. He little realised this would include a local girl and, ignoring the old Italian saying Moglie e buoi dei paesi tuoi (‘Choose your wife and your cattle from your own backyard’), he married her and stayed.
Still happily ensconced in the area and the author of a dozen books on English language and literature, Solly has never lost the habit of looking around for the queue. He does, however, admit to a distinct penchant for the Alfa-Romeo, and to only ever wearing Italian ties.