ABOUT THE USE OF "CHE"

I - THE USE OF "CHE" WITH CONJUNCTIONS AND ADVERBS

The conjunctions quando (when) and mentre (while), and the adverb dove (where), in roman dialect are often strengthened by adding the conjunction che, merely emphatic (keep in mind also the changes that occur with dove, described in the paragraph ELISIONS AND SHORTENINGS):

where there is wind when summer comes while I was there at the bar where Joseph works

dove c'è vento quando viene l'estate mentre ero lì al bar dove lavora Giuseppe

dove ('ndove) che cce sta vvento quanno che vviè l'estate mentre che stavo lì ar bare 'ndove che ce lavora Peppe

II - THE USE OF "CHE" FOR INTRODUCING INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

It is a very common use in the spoken dialect, but also in the written one (since between the two almost no difference exists, unlike many official languages), to open an interrogative sentence by using the emphatic conjunction che, almost as saying by any chance,..., that warns the listener that what follows is a question, or a request:

do you know where this place is? is your friend coming? is there more? is this the tramway stop?

sai dov'è questo posto? viene il tuo amico? ce n'è ancora? è questa la fermata del tram?

che ssai 'ndo sta 'sto posto? che viene l'amico tuo? che cce ne sta ancora? che è questa la fermata der tranve?

It is also possible to use the interjection ahó, more confidential, already discussed about VOCATIVE, as an alternative to che, or more often in addition to the aforesaid conjunction.

do you have a match?

hai un cerino?

che cciài un cerino? ahó, ciài un cerino? ahó, che cciài un cerino?

Obviously, starting the question with "why...", "when...", "where...", "how...", "how much...", etc. makes it clear enough that the sentence is interrogative. In this case the emphatic che is no longer needed, thus always avoided:

do you know where is the cinema? where is the cinema? does he earn a lot? how much does he earn?

sai dov'è il cinema? dov'è il cinema? guadagna molto? quanto guadagna?

che ssai 'ndo sta er cinema? 'ndo sta er cinema? che guadaggna tanto? quanto gguadaggna?

FORMS USED AS A GERUND

As already mentioned in the paragraph about the verbs, in roman dialect the gerund tense is often rendered by using other forms:
- the preposition a before the infinitive tense of the verb; - the use of adverb mentre, or mentre che... ("while..."), before the verb; For instance, according to the different context, facendo ("doing") may be turned into a ffà, or mentre [che] ffò ("while I do"), or mentre [che] sto a ffà ("while I'm doing"). Since in this case che is merely emphatic, it may be either used or omitted.

I am becoming hungry it was still raining I fell (while) climbing the stairs

mi sta venendo fame stava ancora piovendo sono caduto salendo le scale

me sta a vvenì ffame stava ancora a ppiove so' ccascato mentre che salivo le scale

A causative meaning, instead, is obtained by using the form siccome [che] ffò ("since I do") or siccome [che] sto a ffà ("since I'm doing"):

liking sweets, I often eat them since his foot ached, he stayed at home

piacendomi i dolci, li mangio spesso dolendogli il piede, restò a casa

siccome che me piàceno li dorci, li maggno spesso siccome che je doleva er piede, è rrestato a ccasa

THE USE OF  DICO  AND  DICE  IN DIRECT SPEECH

To report a direct speech, the roman speaker always introduces it by using dico ("I say" or "I said", although always used in the present tense), and dice ("he/she says" or "he/she said"). The former introduces a sentence spoken by whom is talking, while the latter introduces words spoken by others. They are real interjections: in fact, they are not only placed at the beginning of the sentence, almost acting as quotation marks, but they are usually repeated several times within the same sentence, also when there would be no real need to use them in order to understand the following part of the sentence.
An example:

Dico: - A ch'ora parte 'sto treno - dico - che devo ancora da fà er bijetto, - dico - nun vorei arivà ttardi. -
Dice: - Nu' lo so - dice - perché cià ggià mezz'ora de ritardo - dice - e ppo' partì in quarziasi momento. -

I said: - At what time does this train leave - I said - because I still have to buy the ticket - I said - and I wouldn't like to arrive late. -
He/she said: - I don't know - he/she said - because it's already half an hour late - he/she said - and it may leave at any moment. -

This clearly shows that within the same sentence the interjection dico or dice may be repeated three, four or even more times.
Notice that the pronounciation of the "first" dico or dice, i.e. the one which actually opens the following direct speech, tends to have a slightly longer duration (dicooo..., diceee...), almost as to create an imperceptible pause before quoting one's own words, or those of somebody else, so to capture the listener's attention.
In fact, from this point of view the following dico and dice, pronounced in a faster way, are also used to create a rythm, almost as punctuation marks inserted between each sentence.

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(the rest of the paragraph has yet to be developed)

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Finally, it is worth mentioning that some of the most amusing dialect terms are the ones which sprung from the common people's wrong beliefs about the origin or the meaning of the relevant word.
A few typical examples. To say "museum" the roman commoners used the term moseo (instead of museo), because they were convinced that they were named after "Moses", ignoring the meaning of "muse".
And they also called the most famous amphiteatre in Rome Culiseo because, as G.G.Belli handed down,...

Sti cosi tonni com'er culo, a Roma, Se sò sempre chiamati Culisei.

These things (buildings) as round as an arse, in Rome, Have always been called "Culisei".

from "Li battesimi de l'anticaje", June 22, 1834

And the roman term for mosquito is zampana (Italian: zanzara); the reason for this is explained in a further sonnet by Belli:

Be', se dirà zanzare pe le stampe; Ma sso' zampane: eppoi, santa Lucia!, Nun je le vedi lì ttante de zampe?

Well, it might be "zanzare" in printed texts; But they are "zampane": after all, by Saint Lucy!,[*] Can't you see the long legs they have?

from "Le zampane", April 2, 1846

[*] saint patron of the eyes and of good sight