Utenti:Michiluzzu Scalisi/Gemination causing words
Gemination-causing Words
[cancia | cancia la surgenti]The gemination-causing words in the Unified Sicilian Language are words that cause a gemination, or reenforcement, of the pronunciation of the initial letter of the following word. There are many such words, but they are mostly words with one syllable or with a truncated ending. Among these gemination-causing words, described in the page above, are e, a, di, cu, ma, pi, chi, etc.
First Manner
[cancia | cancia la surgenti]The first mannner in which these words cause gemination is, they reenforce the initial consonant of the following word:
| Example | Pronunciation | Significato italiano | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chi dici? | /ki d'diʃɪ/ | Che cosa dici? | What are you talking about? |
| a Palermu | /a ppɐ'lɛɾmʊ/ | a Palermo | to Palermo |
| Chi beddu! | /ki b'bɛɖɖʊ/ | Che bello! | How nice! |
Second Manner
[cancia | cancia la surgenti]The second manner in which these words cause gemination is, they reenforce the initial consonants weak c and v so that they change to weak cc and b, although this change is not written.
| Example | Pronunciation | Significato italiano | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| e cincu | /ɛ t'tʃiŋkʊ/ | e cinque | and five |
| A vui! | /a b'buɪ/ | Te! | Hey you! |
Examples
[cancia | cancia la surgenti]There is no certain way to determine which words cause gemination, but it may help to remember that the majority of these words are monosyllabic. Below are a few examples of such words::
| Example | Significato italiano | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| e | e | and |
| a | a | to, at |
| di | di, da | of, from, by |
| cu | con | with |
| ma | ma | but |
| pi | per | for, by, through |
| chi | che (cosa) | what |