Calabria, Italy and its Genealogy, History, Culture and Language

Calabrian Dialects & Linguistics Books

A collection of books of linguistic value for the language of Calabria

Benincasa, Emilio. I Mille Proverbi Calabresi. Montalto Uffugo, CS: La Grafica Meridionale, 1992. Paperback, 100p.

Lombardi Satriani, Raffaele. Proverbi in Uso in San Costantino Di Briatico. Peloritana Editrice, Messina, Sicilia, 1969. Hard, 312 p.
1119 proverbs accompanied by Italian explanations (where necessary) and good footnotes with references to proverbs in many other languages, especially Latin, Greek, French, and old Tuscan. A great book for someone who wants to learn a little about one of the dialects of Calabria and a little about the Calabrian way of thinking, both past and present.
Renzi, Lorenzo. Introduzione alla Filologia Romanza. Società editrice il Mulino, Bologna. Seconda edizione, 1978. 445 p.
Discusses classical thought and its linguistic consequences, theories of historical development, structural linguistics, generative grammar, languages, styles, dialects, Latin and its linguistic descendents, characteristics of Romance languages, semantics, phonology, etc. A good all around book. Provides an important background understanding for the study of any Romance dialect.
Rohlfs, Gerhard. Estudios Sobre el Léxico Románico. Editorial Gredos, Madrid, España, 1979. Hard, 444 p.
Excellent discussion of the development of the Romance lexicon. Discusses semantic variations through time and across cultures. Has many linguistic geographical illustrations. Provides a better understanding of Romance evolution, of relationships between languages and dialects, of why "salire" is a false cognate of the Spanish "salir". Does not focus specifically on Calabrese, but does explain the origin of many of its words and phrases that don't seem to have anything in common with Italian.
Rohlfs, Gerhard. Nuovo Dizionario Dialettale della Calabria. A. Longo, 1977, 4th printing June 1990. Hard, 950 p.
Arguably, the most comprehensive dictionary of the Calabrese dialects in print today. Rohlfs began his research in Calabria in 1921, and over a 50 year period, compiled the dialect words from 121 towns in the province of Cosenza, 135 towns in the province of Catanzaro, and 74 in the province of Reggio. The dictionary provides both a Calabrese-to-Italian and Italian-to-Calabrese section. In addition, Rohlfs provides a synopsis of his research experiences, methodology, and a historical section detailing the origins of the various dialects to include; Greek, Spanish, French, Latin, Arabic, German, and Pre-Latin. A must for the linguists out there!