NEAPOLITAN - A Language of Southern ITALY

This video is all Neapolitan ('O Nnapulitano), a regional language of Italy, spoken by millions of people in the southern part of the country. In this video I examine its features that are similar to Italian and other Romance languages, as well as its own features that make it different.

Special thanks to Mara Mautone for her suggestions and Neapolitan audio samples!

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Вайзефакнот

Creative Commons images in this video:

Author: Antonio Ciccolella
License: CC SA 4.0 International license

Author: Dbachmann
License: CC SA 3.0 Unported license

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:57 Samples of Neapolitan and Standard Italian
01:47 General info about Neapolitan
02:34 Shared features with other Romance languages
03:51 Video sponsor: Ground News
05:37 Distinct features - pronunciation
07:24 Distinct features - grammar
09:13 Distinct features - vocabulary
11:10 Basic phrases in Neapolitan
18:06 Final thoughts
18:37 A question for the audience

[guilhermegnipper]

My grandads family is from Naples, and came to Brazil in the 30s. My grandad always thought he spoke Italian, until he went to Italy in the 70s and realized he couldn’t understand anyone in Rome. Then he went to Naples and suddenly everyone thought he was local. That’s when he realized that his parents spoke napolitan and not Italian

[francescobcasali]

My happiness as a Neapolitan after finally seeing your video is absurd, I'm extremely happy to see it gaining recognition, and now answering your question. I use Neapolitan in my everyday life when talking to friends or family that I know will understand me, Neapolitan has been repressed as a language for decades and it's seen as a street language and often avoided in polite conversations, hence why I avoid using it with strangers most of the times. (It be relevant to mention that I do not live in Naples nor Italy anymore so that also affect my behavior towards it)

[TheMyth]

Considering the fact that modern Neapolitan has no standard since it's not an official language and therefore is neither taught in schools nor used in any institution, you did an amazing job, I am blown away (I just disagree on minor details, but on the other hand you taught me things I didn't even know, and I'm neapolitan!). Of course this also means that there is no standard spelling, and various different choices can be made as to how to write it.
As per your question for neapolitan speakers, I'd personally say that it's very difficult to quantify how much we use neapolitan or standard italian. Think of standard italian and neapolitan as the two ends of a spectrum: depending on the context, they can and do get mixed :)

[sgiovangelo]

As an American with Italian grandparents from Naples (and Abruzzo), I was delighted to hear some of the Neapolitan expressions I remember hearing as a boy, used by the generation of immigrants to Chicago who were born in and around Naples in the 1890s and1900s, the era of my grandparents and other relatives. I haven't heard the Neapolitan dialect in 60 years since all our old family members are now gone; hearing these familiar expressions brought back wonderful memories of my grandparents and great aunts and uncles. I realize now at age 75, that I really never heard standard Italian in our "Little Italy" neighborhood in Chicago; it was the dialects of Campania. Grazie per i bellissimi recordi!

[emanuelebucolo]

I'm Sicilian, we speak a regional dialect/language quite distinct from Neapolitan especially in terms of phonology but at the same time we have many similarities in terms of vocabulary, so in general we can understand it quite well

[MrJoebrooklyn]

This was your best one yet!! I'm Italian-American from Naples!!! I was raised speaking Napolitano. I had to take a Latin language in College for 3 semesters and took Italian because I thought it'd be easy, it wasn't!
I love Napolitano!!!

[anothersquid]

I took classes in Italian before going to Italy. I speak French. The classes were easy.

I end up in Naples with my Italian-speaking wife, and we were both left wondering if we'd had some kind of brain lapse. Neapolitan kind of *sounds* like Italian, but for a 3rd-language speaker, it definitely is not mutually intelligible.

All these years, I assumed it was just us. until now. Immediately on the first clip I recognized it.

So, I suppose we did have a brain lapse, in that it didn't occur to us that they might not be speaking Italian.

[Ennio]

I find Neapolitan has very similar phonetics to Catalan. Not because of influence, just because it seems to be a common dychotomy, a romance language with few vowels and full voiced endings (like Spanish or Italian, mundo/mondo) surrounded by languages which are much more free with their phonetic development and much "lazier" (Catalan or Neapolitan, món/munno)

[petonchiospataponchio]

I'm Italian and I absolutely would consider Neapolitan a separate language.
As some have already said, Italian and Neapolitan are used by southerners as two ends of a spectrum, with one being used more or alongside the other depending on context.
If one were to speak to me using strictly Neapolitan phonology, vocabulary, syntax etc. then I may well have an easier time understanding Spanish.
And as a side note, given that its status as a language is debated and not officially recognised, there is no standardised written form, let alone courses on it.
Because of this, I learned something new from this video: I had no idea Neapolitan had a neuter gender until just now!

[dionysus]

Thank you Paul for once again shedding light on another language that has had its rich heritage and culture repressed by linguistic nationalism, Nnapulitano is a sibling language to Italian just as all other Romance languages in Italy.

[askadia]

As an Italian, I feel like Neapolitan has the right to be called a language, just as Sardinian is.

[jhonnyrock]

PLEASE @Langfocus, make a similar video on Sicilian! You would make a lot of us in New York very happy! It's a very beautiful language with Latin (of course) but also Greek, Arabic, Spanish, and French influence! I look forward to seeing this video sometime in the future because you are awesome!

[carmineferrara]

Thank You Paul for this video. As Neapolitan speaker I felt proud of it. I speak Neapolitan with everyone from Frosinone to Sicily because they understand me most of the time. From Rome to the north, I speak Italian because they won't understand me. For the Neapolitan speakers, let's always speak Neapolitan to not let it die. We are proud to be Italians but also and mostly proud to be Neapolitans

[antonioposa]

Beautiful, beautiful video.
As an Italian from one of those light blue areas on the east, I find your work very detailed and culturally respectful.
I was moved by hearing such a detailed analysis and especially if coming from someone who's not Italian and not from Southern Italy, attributing full dignity to this language.
In fact in Italy speaking Neapolitan or one of its dialects is considered unpleasant, uneducated and generally frowned upon (if not in theatre or music).
Even talking with a southern Italian accent is considered weird, cheap or funny at best.

Thanks for shining a spotlight on "us"!

[GetOffMyLog]

Wow Neapolitan is quite beautiful! To my ear it has a bit of a European Portuguese and Italian sound, but with a distinct and quite beautiful rhythm.

[shitpostazzi]

Thank you so much for covering our beautiful language! As someone who lives there I can testify that it's still quite commonly spoken but not by the middle/upper class since it's considered "too vulgar", although most neapolitans (me included) use it the most when angry or cussing at others

[eldeion]

Correction: “capello” means “hair” in Italian, not hat. “Cappello” (with a double p) is “hat”

[pasqualestriano]

I am from Naples and I hve to say your description is very much accurate and detailed indeed. I am 50 years old and have been living in the north of italy for many years alreay and this may have an influence, in any case I use it with my close families (that is brothers, sisters, ma and pa, cousins) childhood’s friends and sometimes at home but jus for fun (my wife is not neapolitan). I consider both neapolitan and standard italian mother languages for me, with no distinction as i can think and use them both indifferently.
Congratulations Paul, great job. Brav’!

[custodecimiteriale]

Thanks once again for undelining that what we call "dialects" are regional languages structurally separate from Italian. A fact that most Italians ignore.
However, since I'm from the North of Italy and my regional language is Emilian (or better, a peripheral Emilian variety sharing some features with Lombard, Ligurian and Piedmontese) I generally don't understand Neapolitan except those words or sentences that became popular through tv shows.

[asinglebraincell]

This is awesome!!! I'm so happy! We grew up with Sicilian but even just seeing Neapolitan mentioned and given a chance to become known to people is so awesome! Very Beautiful language also...