THE DOUBLING OF CONSONANTS

The sound of roman dialect is stronger than the standard Italian one: a word that begins with a consonant + vowel, following another vowel, often emphasizes the consonant by strengthening its sound.
Some examples:

something and then if really with great effort a good man

qualche cosa e poi se proprio con tanta fatica un uomo buono

quarche ccosa e ppoi si ppropio co ttanta fatica un omo bbono

The rules followed by the doubling are very complex, being based on the combination of phonetics and grammar.

• The doubling does not occur if the vowel before the consonant belongs to articles, adjectives, personal and demonstrative pronouns, numerals:

  the house; the houses nice house; nice houses my house; your house this house; these houses one house; two houses (note the difference in roman) at home it's my house

  la casa; le case bella casa; belle case la mia casa; la tua casa questa casa; queste case una casa; due case a casa è casa mia

  la casa; le case bella casa; belle case la mi' casa; la tu' casa sta casa; ste case 'na casa; du' case a ccasa è ccasa mia

  
  
• Consonant "b" makes an exception, and is doubled in any case:

  the boat; the boats nice boat; nice boats my boat; your boat this boat; these boats one boat; two boats

  la barca; le barche bella barca; belle barche la mia barca; la tua barca questa barca; queste barche una barca; due barche

  la bbarca; le bbarche bella bbarca; belle bbarche la mi' bbarca; la tu' bbarca sta bbarca; ste bbarche 'na bbarca; du' bbarche

  
  
• The doubling usually occurs when the vowel before the consonant belongs to a preposition or to a conjunction:

  at home around the house what a house! gardens and houses

  a casa per casa che casa! giardini e case

  a ccasa pe ccasa che ccasa! giardini e ccase

  
  
• The doubling, though, does not take place after prepositions da (from) and di (of); note that in roman the latter turns into de:

  from house to house of the house

  da casa a casa di casa

  da casa a ccasa de casa

  
  
• When before the first consonant comes a vowel belonging to a verb, if the latter carries a stress the consonant will be doubled.
  In the following examples, the syllables that carry a stress are marked in blue, for an easier reference:

  it's my house it was my house it will be my house it has been my house to buy a house to clean the house to sell the house

  è casa mia era casa mia sarà casa mia è stata casa mia comprare casa pulire casa vendere casa

  è ccasa mia era casa mia  (no doubling) sarà ccasa mia è stata casa mia  (no doubling) comprà ccasa pulì ccasa vénne casa  (no doubling)

  
  
  

The doubling of some consonants is graphically obtained in a particular way:

• If letter "q" is strengthened, most authors spell this cq... (as it is in Italian, as well), or they may even prefer to omit the doubling rather than spelling it qq...:

  if somebody among you so, when are we leaving?

  se qualcuno di voi ma quando si parte?

  si cquarcuno de voi  or  si quarcuno... ma cquanno se parte?  or  ma quanno...

  
  
• If the letter "s" is strengthened, it may turn into "z" when a consonant comes before it (see also CHANGE OF S INTO Z), but this is not a strict rule:

  sleep a penny in the sauce with the gentleman

  il sonno un soldo nel sugo col signore

  er zònno  (also  er sònno) un zòrdo  (also  un sòrdo) ner zugo  (also  ner sugo) cor ziggnore  (also  cor siggnore)

  
  
• If the "s" is followed by a vowel, it is doubled as any other consonant:

  it is possible to know if I hear from somebody four and seven, eleven

  si può sapere se sento qualcuno quattro e sette, undici

  se pò ssapé si ssento quarcuno quattr'e ssette, undici

  
  This rule is not strict at all, and the use of avoiding the ss... spelling at the beginning of such words has become more and more common. However, the sound is still pronounced as if the "s" was actually double.
  
  
• Also the cluster gn may be doubled, and its sound is graphically rendered as ggn, although the combination vowel + gn... in roman dialect occurs very seldom:

  potato dumplings

  gli gnocchi

  li ggnocchi

  
  

The doubling of consonants may often occur also in other parts of the word:

dictionary stuff accelerated Michael each one multiplied number

vocabolario roba accelerato Michele ognuno moltiplicato numero

vocabbolario robba accellerato Micchele oggnuno moltipplicato nummero

For some clusters the doubling occurs constantly, at least their pronounciation is always stronger.

• In cluster gn, the "g" is doubled (as previously said):

  spider countryside; campain pine-cone Agnes

  ragno campagna pigna Agnese

  raggno campaggna piggna Aggnese

  
  
• All words ending with ...izio, ...izia, ...izie, ...izi, double the "z":

  exercise friendship vices cleanliness; cleaning

  esercizio amicizia vizi pulizia

  esercizzio amicizzia vizzi pulizzia

  
  Instead, this does not occur if the "z" follows a consonant (usually "n"): mercanzia (merchandise), dolenzia (pain), etc. remain unchaged.

In a fewer number of cases, a double consonant of an Italian word turns into a single one in its roman equivalent:

bird really money

uccello davvero quattrini

ucello  (see also HOW TO PRONOUNCE CE AND CI) davero quatrini  (or  quadrini)

MODERN DIALECT

The double consonants at the beginning of words are no longer spelt, but they are anyway pronounced stronger, with emphasis. Some of the emphatic double consonants spelt inside the word have been abandoned, as well, but also in this case their sound has remained unchanged.
Conversely, a curious change that took place in modern roman is the reduction of the double "r", found in many words:

the earth the war the carter the terrace the mistake to run

la terra la guerra il carrettiere il terrazzo l'errore correre

CLASSIC la terra la guerra er carrettiere er terrazzo l'errore córre

changes into → changes into → changes into → changes into → changes into → changes into →

MODERN 'a tera 'a guera er carettiere er terazzo l'erore córe  (not to be mistaken with còre,  i.e. "heart")

Also many roman people wrongly believe this single "r" pronounciation to be the dialect's original sound. Actually, it was only born by the turn of the 20th century, since no such pronounciation is found in G.G.Belli's Sonnets (dating from the early previous century), while some traces appear in Trilussa's works, and it is clearly present in Ettore Petrolini's monologues.

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ELISIONS AND SHORTENINGS

Many words drop their last letter, usually a vowel, when they are followed by a further sound. Others, instead, lose their first letter by elision. In any case, the purpose of such changes is to make the sound of these words be more consistent with the roman pronounciation, or to drop some consonant clusters that the romans are not too confident with (see also CHANGE OF LETTERS AND CLUSTERS).

• The preposition per (for) is always shortened into pe (eventually strengthened as ppe): per mangiare e per bere (for eating and for drinking) turns into pe mmaggnà e ppe bbeve, and so on.
  
  
• The possessive adjectives mio (my/mine), tuo (your/yours) and suo (his/her/hers) always undergo an elision, turning into mi', tu', su', if they come before the object or the person they are referred to:

  my book your sisters his / her garden

  il mio libro le tue sorelle il suo giardino

  er mi' libbro le tu' sorelle er su' ggiardino (su' is never changed into zu' )

  
  
  
• The pronouns questo (this), questa (this, feminine), questi (these), queste (these, feminine), very often lose their first syllable (apheresis) and turn into 'sto, 'sta, 'sti, 'ste :

  these facts this house and this garden

  questi fatti questa casa e questo giardino

  'sti fatti 'sta casa e 'sto giardino

  
  
  
  
• Several words, especially the verb inflections, receive an elision when they are followed by the preposition a (at, to) or any of its compounds al, allo, alla, etc. (see also THE VERBS):

  they are at home I come and have lunch when in the evening it turns dark we went to school thanks god I found them I told my mother-in-law they were at the seaside

  stanno a casa vengo a mangiare quando alla sera fa buio andavamo a scuola grazie al cielo li ho trovati l'ho detto a mia suocera stavano al mare

  stann'a ccasa veng'a mmaggnà quann'a la sera fa bbuio annavam'a scola grazzi'ar cèlo l'ho ttrovati l'ho dett'a mmi sòcera staven'ar mare

  
  However, not all inflections follow this rule: in particular, the ones whose word only contains one syllable skip this elision:

  come to bed he is in Viterbo I give it to your brother

  vieni a dormire sta a Viterbo lo do' a tuo fratello

  viè a ddormì sta a Vviterbo  (only one "a" is pronounced) lo do' a ttu' fratello

  
  The elision is not applied also whenever the words would be difficult or impossible to understand after an elision:

  I'll eat at home he'll talk to him/her later he is no longer going to school

  mangerò a casa gli parlerà dopo non va più a scuola

  maggnerò a ccasa je parlerà ddopo nun va ppiù a scola

  
  Furthermore, if a pronoun particle is attached to the verb, the preposition a causes the latter to drop its vowel and form an elision:

  take it home let's go and have fun let's push it in turns listen to her come and look for me

  portalo a casa andiamoci a divertire spingiamolo a turno stalla a sentire vienimi a cercare

  portel'a ccasa annames'a ddivertì spiggnémel'a tturno stall'a ssentì viemm'a ccercà

  
  Such elision is not always applied to the written dialect, but in the spoken language the pronounciation is the aforesaid one.
  
  
  
• The adverb dove (where) receives an elision, but only after having been "lengthened", thus existing in two different forms:
  
  
  • indove (i.e. the result of in + dove) is the most classic form without an elision, generally used alone or followed by the emphatic particle ahó, which has the meaning of an exclamation (see also THE VOCATIVE):

    where? where?

    dove? dove?

    indove? indove, ahò? (more emphatic)

    
    
  • andove, a corruption of the previous form, used in more recent times:

    where? where?

    dove? dove?

    andove? andove, ahò? (more emphatic)

    
    
  • When any of the two aforeasaid forms stand between two words, they undergo an elision, so that what remains of the original adverb andove is 'ndo'.
    This form is so common that it is also used when no sound at all comes before it (i.e. when the first elision would not be required).
    Although this word contains two actual elisions, thus requiring two apostrophes (one at each end of the word), it is commonly spelt 'ndò, or also 'ndo.
    If after 'ndo comes a vowel, it is further clipped into 'nd', a sound that due to its short duration is difficult to hear very clearly in the spoken language, yet easy to understand by a native speaker.

    where are those (people) going? where are they? where are they? where are we going? where are we going?

    quelli dove vanno? dove stanno? dove stanno? dove andiamo? dove andiamo?

    quelli 'ndò vanno? indo' stanno?   or  ando' stanno?   or   'ndo' stanno? ahò, 'ndo' stanno?  (emphatic) and'annamo?   or  'nd'annamo? ahò, 'nd'annamo?  (emphatic)

  
  
  
• The word che (that), either used as a conjunction or as pronoun, takes the elision when followed by a verb that begins with a vowel. The result is ch', even when the following vowel is "a", or "o", or "u":

  I know that you'll open a shop the one that comes out I think that it will do what inn is this one? he / she says that it is this one

  so che apri una bottega quello che esce penso che andrà bene che osteria è? dice che è questo

  so ch'apri 'na bottega quello ch'esce penzo ch'anderà bbene ch'osteria è? dice ch'è questo

  
  
  
• When a word ends with a vowel and is followed by the article er, sometimes either the last vowel or the "e" are dropped, forming an elision.
  More often, the article's "e" is the one dropped:

  the wife and the husband the cat and the dog

  la moglie e il marito il cane e il gatto

  la moje e 'r marito er cane e 'r gatto

  
  (in fact, the conjunction e cannot be dropped).
  
  Sometimes no vowel is dropped, and no special change takes place: volete il sale o il pepe? (do you want salt or pepper?) may turn into volete er zale o 'r pepe?, but it may also remain as: volete er zale o er pepe? (the single words change in any case).
  
  
  
• The article er may lose it's "r" when the following noun begins with the same consonant:

  the king the hook the noise

  il re il rampino il rumore

  e' re,  but also  er re e' rampino,  but also  er rampino e' rumore,  but also  er rumore

  
  This rule is particularly true in the modern dialect.
  
  
  
• When words that begin with "i" follow another vowel, they often drop their opening sound and form an elision. This is always true if an "e" comes before the "i" (because their sound is not too different).
  Sometimes this happen also when and "...e" meets an "e...", but not as a rule.
  Obviously, this occurs when the combination "...e i..." or "...e e..." take place in the dialect version.

  here one learns a job when we stay together you splashed your clothes I slipped a hand in my pocket for entering his house

  qui si impara il mestiere quando stiamo insieme ti sei inzaccherato il vestito mi infilai una mano in tasca per entrargli in casa

  qui sse 'mpara er mestiere quanno stamo 'nzieme te sei 'nzaccherato er vestito me 'nfilai 'na mano 'n tasca p'entraje 'n casa,   or  pe entraje 'n casa

  
  
  
• The adverb non, which in roman sounds nun, often undergoes a phonetic elision when it is followed by the consonants "l", "m", "n" and "r", turning into nu'. In this case, "m" and "n" double their sound (e.g. nun + m... becomes nu' mm..., and nun + n... becomes nu' nn...):

  I don't like it don't touch me! I don't know anything about it I don't know don't look at her! I don't know him don't laugh!

  non mi piace non mi toccare! non ne so niente non lo so non la guardare! non lo conosco non ridere!

  nu' mme piace nu' mme toccà! nu' nne so ggnente nu' lo so nu' la guardà! nu' lo conosco nu' ride!

  
  Some authors prefer to maintain the spelling nun me, nun lo, nun la, ecc., relying on the knowledge of the reader that the actual pronounciation is the aforesaid one.
  Such changes of non will be dealt with again in the paragraph about the verbs, discussing the imperative.
  
  
  
• The numeral due (two) drops its "e" before any other noun, as the pronoun mio (my / mine) does:

  two men two barrels two hens

  due uomini due botti due galline

  du' ommini du' botti du' galline

  
  The other numerals too drop their last vowel, but only when they are followed by another vowel:

  five years and five days eight and a half eight hats

  cinque anni e cinque giorni otto e mezzo otto cappelli

  cinqu'anni e cinque giorni ott'e mmezzo otto cappelli  (without the elision)

  
  Also note how in the aforesaid examples the form du' stays separated from the following name, while all other numerals graphically join the following word after an elision.
  
  In the old dialect, when the same word due is not followed by any other sound it changes into dua: for instance, dammene due (give me two) changes into dammene dua, etc., although this rule is now obsolete.
  
  
  
• When two nouns are closely related because of their meaning, or because they belong to a common saying, or to a name, etc., the first one of the two sometimes drops the final vowel; this helps the whole expression to improve its rhythm when pronounced:

  the landlord Trevi Fountain a glass of wine a pair of shoes

  il padrone di casa Fontana di Trevi un bicchiere di vino un paio di scarpe

  er padron de casa Fontan de Trevi un bicchier de vino un par de scarpe  (paio turns into paro)

  
  They are not real elisions (note the absence of an apostrophe), i.e. the first noun is simply shortened.
  This is not a rule (for instance, er padrone de casa or un bicchiere de vino are also correct), but it is a very common custom.
  
  
  
• Usually, the word ogni (each) drops the "o" turning into 'gni.
  This also occurs in compound words that contain ogni: ogniqualvolta (each time) changes into 'gniquarvorta, etc.
  
  
• In the old dialect, the Italian word bisogna (it has to..., it ought to...) dropped the central "so", turning into bigna (or biggna, according to the proper pronounciation). Nowadays it is uncommon.
  

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VOCATIVE

In the spoken language, the sentence is very often introduced by a vocative expression.
Either addressed to a specific person or more generically to the people by the speaker, the most common form is to drop the part of the noun that follows its stressed syllable, adding the vocative particle a (more or less similar to the English oh) before the noun:

(Oh) Sir,... (Oh) Boys,... (Oh) Peter,... (Oh) John,... / Joan,...

(O) Signore,... (O) Ragazzi,... (O) Piero,... (or Pietro,...) (O) Giovanni,... / Giovanna,...

A siggno',... A rega',...  (note: ragazzi turns into regazzi) A Pie',... A Giova',...,  or  A Giuva',...

Note how due to this truncation the word loses the syllable that in many cases expresses the gender of the name (Giovanni masculine, Giovanna feminine), thus in roman dialect the same truncated name may often refer to either gender.
In the following examples, the stressed syllables are marked in blue, to show which part of the words is truncated:

Paul,... / Paula,... Charles,... / Carla,... Julius,... / Julia,...

Paolo,... / Paola,... Carlo,... / Carla,... Giulio,... / Giulia,...

A Pa',... (both genders) A Ca',... (both genders) A Giu',... (both genders)

Instead, when in the masculine and feminine forms of a noun the stress is carried by different syllables, also the roman version is different:

Mario,... / Mary,... Lucius,... / Lucy,...

Mario,... / Maria,... Lucio,... / Lucia,...

A Ma',... / A Mari',... A Lu',... / A Luci',...

For the same reason, sometimes different names may have the same roman vocative form:

A Pie',... A Lu',... A Ma',...

Piero,..., Pietro,... (masculine)  |  Piera,... (feminine) Luca,..., Lucio,... (masculine) Marco,..., Mario,... Massimo,... (masculine)

Often the vocative is further strengthened by opening the sentence with the expression ahó... (similar to the English hey...); in such case, the vocative particle a may be omitted, but it is commonly left, all the same:

Hey, Francis,... Hey, sir... Hey, boys...

Ehi, Francesco,... Ehi, signore... Ehi, ragazzi...

Ahó, a France',....,  or  Ahò, France',.... Ahó, a siggno'...,  or  Ahó, siggno'... Ahó, a rega',...,  or  Ahó, rega',...

Remember that the letter H is always soundless, as in Italian.

In the modern dialect, since Ciccio is a very common nickname (which refers to the name Francesco), it is not uncommon to address a stranger in a very friendly attitude, calling him: a ci'..., yet non knowing his real name. For instance: a ci', che ciai d'accénne? (do you have a light?), or ahò, a ci', che ssai 'ndo sta 'sta piazza? (hey mate, do you know where this square is?), and so on.

an introduction to the ROMAN DIALECT
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