Riocontra
Riocontra(Italian pronunciation:[rjoˈkontra]) is a type ofargotin theItalian language,featuring inversion ofsyllablesin a word ormetathesis,and is common inslangand youth language.
Background
[edit]The language developed in the 1970s in the neighborhood ofLambrateinMilan,[1]It was made famous byGuido NicheliandDiego Abatantuono,in the 1983 filmIl ras del quartiere.We remember the intervention by some amateurs who appeared sometimes on television in thePortobelloprogram, in which amateurs preferred to reverse the order of the individual sounds and not of the syllables (casa(house) > "asac" ).
Formation rules of neologisms
[edit]In spite of insufficient education and non-standard use of the language, Riocontra speakers have produced a rich lexical repertoire. The passage from the official language to Riocontra occurs as mentioned mainly through the inversion of the syllables, but also with the change of the last vowel andtruncationandelisionin the last vowel of the neologism formed.
Examples
[edit]The table below summarizes and gives examples of this formation (the cell is left blank when the change does not apply to that term).
Initial term phrase in jargon |
Syllable Division |
Inversion | truncation | definite article | Translation in Italian | Translation in English |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
babbo | bab-bo | boba/bobaz (slang suffix) | il/i | padre | father | |
bambino | bambi-no | nobambi | kid | |||
bella | bel-la | llabe | ciao | hi | ||
bestia | be-stia | stiabe | assai | beast (means a lot, very good, depending on the situation) | ||
capito | capi-to | tocapi | understood | |||
casa | ca-sa | saca | home | |||
cazzo | ca-zzo | zzoca | penis (Intensifier) | |||
chesciato | chescia-to | tocchescia | ricco | rich (from chesciare (make cash), fromcash+ -are) | ||
cilotto | ci-lotto | lotto | cilum | chillum | ||
cinque | cin-que | quinci | five | |||
culo | cu-lo | locu | ass | |||
crasto | cra-sto | stocra | figo | cool | ||
droga | dro-ga | gadro | drug | |||
fattone | fa-tto-ne | toffa / tofa | drogato | drug addict | ||
figa | fi-ga | gafi | vulva | |||
figo | fi-go | gofi | cool guy | |||
frate | fra-te | tefra | fratello | brother | ||
fumo | fu-mo | moffo | hashish | |||
gabbio | ga-bbio | bioga | gabbia | prison (from gabbia (cage)) | ||
gergo | ger-go | gorge | slang | |||
grammo | gra-mmo | mogra | gram | |||
grano | gra-no | nogra | money | |||
grasso | gra-sso | sogra | sostanzioso | substantial | ||
schiaffo | fo-schia | foschia/fischia | slap | |||
aggiunta | iunta-agg' | iunta | adding a dose to the drugs sold by the dealer | |||
peso | pe-so | sope | heavy (difficult situation) | |||
piazza | pia-zza | zapia | square (neighborhood) | |||
pizza | pi-zza | zapi | ||||
scudo | scu-do | doscu | 5 euros (etim. fromItalian scudo) | |||
tipa | ti-pa | pati | girl | |||
troia | tro-ia | iatro | bitch | |||
ladro | la-dro | drola | thief | |||
merda | mer-da | damer | escrement | |||
mezza | zza-me | zame | half (50 euro) | |||
palo | lo-pa | lopa | pole (1000 euro) | |||
madama | ma-da-ma | mamada | polizia | madame (police) | ||
madre | ma-dre | drema | mother | |||
mezzo | me-zzo | zome | mezzo di traporto | means of transport / vehicle | ||
padre | pa-dre | drepa | father | |||
pere | pe-re | repe | seno | breasts | ||
pippare | pippa-re | repippa | sniffare cocaina | snorting cocaine (from pipa (pipe)) | ||
pula | pu-la | lapu | polizia | police (from theMilanesepulé or from pulotto) | ||
pulito | puli-to | topuli | clean | |||
birra | bi-rra | rabi | beer | |||
sbatta | sba-tta | tasba | impegnativo (from sbattimento) | challenging | ||
storia | sto-ria | riasto | qualcosa | history (something) | ||
selvaggia | sel-vaggia | gioselva | la/le | ragazza prosperosa | busty girl | |
sborra | sbo-rra | rasbo | sperma | sperm | ||
schifosi | schi-fo-se | fosischi | filthy | |||
lurido | luri-do | doluri | Paninaro (sandwich maker) | filthy (Food truck) | ||
sgamo | sga-mo | mosga | suss out To find out something secret | |||
strada | stra-da | dastra | road (neighborhood) | |||
sbirro | sbi-rro | rosbi | policeman/cop | |||
spaccino | spa-cci-no | cispa | drug dealer | |||
soldi | sol-di | disol | money | |||
suono | suo-no | nosuo | money | |||
lavoro | lavo-ro | rolavo | work/job | |||
treno | tre-no | notre | train | |||
cesso | ce-sso | soce | toilet (ugly boy/girl) | |||
scopare | sco-pa-re | rescopa | to sweep (to fuck) | |||
pezzo | pe-zzo | zope | pezzo di hashish | piece of hashish | ||
prete | pre-te | tepre | priest (guy with a clean record) | |||
vecchio | ve-cchio | chiove | il/la | elder | ||
vibrazione | vibra-zio-ne | vibranezio | vibration | |||
vino | vi-no | novi | wine | |||
a caso | a ca-so | a soca | casualmente | casually | ||
alla grande | alla-gran-de | alla degra | great | |||
di brutto | di-bru-tto | di tobru | tantissimo | a lot | ||
figa di legno | fi-ga-di-le-gno | gafi di gnole | wooden pussy (chaste, restrained girl) | |||
bella di brutto | be-lla-di-bru-tto | labe di tobru | very beautiful | |||
chili di grano | chi-li-di-gra-no | lochi di nogra | kilos of money (a lot of money) | |||
Dio cane | dio-ca-ne | dio neca | dog god (blasphemous profanity) | |||
schifo al cazzo | schi-fo-al-ca-zzo | foschi allo zoca | it sucks | |||
tocco di fumo | to-cco-di-fu-mo | cotto di moffo | piece of hashish |
The r move
[edit]The pronunciation of the letter "r" at the end of an inverted word risks merging with the next word or even not being pronounced, so it is placed between the two syllables once inverted to make the pronunciation more fluid.
- Furto - toFu(r) - to(r)Fu............. Torfu
- Carte - teCa(r) - te(r)Ca............... Terca
- Morte - teMo(r) - te(r)Mo............... Termo
The exception is the wordmerda,which although it can becomedarme,becomesdamerorrdame
Somesyntactic geminationalso happens:
- chesciato → tochescia → tocchescia
- Riccone → nericco → nerrico
- tocco → ccoto → cotto
It should also be noted that, with the inversion, the plural is lost.
- Babbi → (i) boba
- Sbirri → (i) rosbi
- Selvagge → (le) gioselva
- Tipe → (le) pati
- Chili → (i) lochi
Developments of the riocontra
[edit]The riocontra then gradually spread throughout Italy with the advent oftrap music,[2]as the language of the youth groups. Taking up mechanisms similar to those of Frenchverlan,similar jargons have also been established in other Western countries. On the other hand, the trancorio[3][4]developed in the Mompiano district ofBrescia.The Milanese rapperNerone[5]is until now the only one to have written a song almost entirely in Riocontra. The song is ironically titledLa Miaccade Llade Scacru,or "La Accademia della Crusca"(Album:Max ,2017) orFoschi al zzoca(schifo al cazzo) (Album:DM EP ,2020). The Milanese rapperLazzausually uses Riocontra in his productions as with the albumZzala .Quentin40 and Puritano's Thoiry piece is also of relevance for its jargon based onapocopeorshortenings.
References
[edit]- ^"Vuoi fottere il sistema? Stai calmo e usa il Riocontra".linkiesta.it.14 October 2017.Retrieved4 January2021.
- ^"Rappare" al contrario ": le regole del riocontra".Billboard.19 November 2017.Retrieved16 November2019.
- ^"Do you speak Trancorio?".Retrieved25 February2013.
- ^Il trancorio, storia di una lingua tutta bresciana
- ^"Nerone porta il" Riocontra "ad un altro livello".rapburger.6 February 2017.Retrieved6 February2019.
Bibliography
[edit]- Aldofre e Nigiova Di Nobru, "Il Riocontra illutostra",Giulio è in Audi editore,2017