Cilentan dialect

"Cilentan" redirects here. For the region, see Cilento. For the coast, see Cilentan Coast.

The Cilentan dialect (in Italian: Cilentano, in Cilentan: Celendano or Cilindanu), also known as Cilento, is a Neapolitan dialect spoken in the area of Cilento, located in the southern part of the Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy.

Cilentan
Celendano
Native to	Italy
Region	Cilento (Southern Campania)
Native speakers	(undated figure of 250,000)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Latinic Romance Italo-Western Italo-Dalmatian Italo-Romance Intermediate and Extreme Southern Italian Cilentan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Influences

It has been influenced, especially in the Vallo di Diano and in central Cilento, by the Basilicata language as spoken in Potenza and part of its Province of Potenza. In the towns of northern Cilento close to the urban area of Salerno (for example Agropoli, Capaccio and Paestum), the language is mainly influenced by Neapolitan, more specifically by the Salernitan dialect. In the southern corner of Cilento, the language is largely influenced by Sicilian, particularly the Calabrian variety of Sicilian.

Phonology

Consonants

Many words in Cilento are similar to their Neapolitan counterparts, but with slightly different consonants.

• LL: The "ll" in certain Neapolitan words becomes an "dd" in Cilento, e.g. gallenèlla (Italian: gallinella, English: hen) becomes gaddenèdda.
• NF: The "nf" in certain Neapolitan words becomes an "mp" in Cilento, e.g. nfame (Italian: infame, English: infamous) becomes mpame.

See also

• Lucania
• Cilento
• Vallo di Diano
• Cilentan Coast
• Cilento National Park
• Province of Salerno
• Irpinian dialect

References

Bibliography

• Ondis, Lewis A. (1932). "Phonology of the Cilentan dialect, with a word index and dialect texts". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-11-14.