The Sicilian - English word for these? Cirasi, pronounced 'cheer-AHS- see'. This is one I heard my dad use, and for many years I thought this to be the correct word. The proper is ciliegie, pronounced 'cheel-LYEH- jeh'. Very difficult to pronounce. Cirasi is easier.
'Cucuzza', pronounced 'coo-COO-zah', or more commonly heard as 'gah-GOOTZ'. Can also refer to someone who's not on the ball, as in 'testa di gah-GOOTZ'. The standard Italian word is 'zucca', pronounced 'TZOO-kah'. A lot easier to pronounce if you ask me.
Standard is 'pera' for a single one, and 'pere' as the plural. Not so hard to remember. The word my dad used was 'PEER-see'. He worked at the Public Market in Rochester, NY for many years, which employed many Italian-Americans.
Okay, here's a tough one - the word, not the vegetable. My father, as well as one of my aunts, pronounced this as 'kwa-CHOE-koo-lah'. It's one I remember well, since the standard Italian is much easier: carciofo, pronounced 'kahr-CHOE- foh'. Very strange to hear the beginning of an Italian dialect word begin with the sound 'q'.
These look delicious - Red, to be exact. The Sicilian dialect for these is 'pumu', pronounced 'POO-moo'. I can't figure this one out, since 'pumu' is the first part of the word for 'tomato': pomidoro. I'm thinking maybe that the immigrants thought they looked like ones and had no word for 'apple' - even though there is one: 'mela' in Standard Italian, pronounced 'MEH-lah'.
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