LIVING IN UMBRIA

Umbrians speak with an Umbrian accent overlay, they speak a mixture of Umbrian, a language which is far older than Roman, Latin and Italian. There are the "Egubine Tablets" three sheets of copper in Gubbio on which is written a script in Latin, Etruscan and Umbrian, but it is not an exact translation, only an aproximation, so we really don't know how the Umbrians spoke, nor for that matter the Etruscans.

Our nipote; our "adopted" nephew/grandson, Francesco, when he was smaller had a lisp, and to get him to say that he wanted to go to Calzolaro for a parsley pizza. "Caltholaro per una pittha di prethemolo". Nipote, hence nepotism, unfair favouritism, quite a popular sport in Italy and, as in all countries, friends in the right places are always helpful.

Tuscans, who will proudly tell you that they speak the best Italian, Dante after all was from Firenze, but they have a curious "h" sound instead of a hard "c" sound. "Questi hase in hampagna sono hare", "Questi case in campagna sono care", "these country houses are costly", us Umbrians, secretly, fall about when we hear them speak.

Salute - Cheers, health, when drinking or as a greeting, and all soldiers still "salute" officers.
Trout - Trotta
Trot - Trot
Kilo of oil - is a litre of the stuff

But it isn't only a one way street. When I was a lad I recall a local builder saying that he needed a yard of sand: I didn't ask, but for years I wondered what a yard of sand could be, a perfect pile or a cone a yard high or what? It couldn't possibly be a line of sand a yard of long! It was years before I became aware of cubic measurement.