Italian Christmas Vocabulary

19 Sunday Dec 2021

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Feste, Italian language, Parole piacevoli

Tags

Christmas greetings in Italian, Italian Christmas, Italian Christmas traditions, Italian pronunciation guide, Natale

Need to brush up on the Italian Christmas vocabulary? Any excuse to improve vocabulary and language skills is a good one. Try using these Italian Christmas season related words, greetings and phrases to impress friends and relatives at events and in Whatsapp/text messages or Christmas cards. It may be too late this year for cards, but get a head start for next year! For a review of how to pronounce Italian words, and my own funky way of showing pronunciation, check out the post Italiano per Ristoranti-How to pronounce your restaurant menu.

In Italia, le Feste Natalizie-the Christmas Festivities/Holidays officially start on December 8^th, which is la festa dell’Immacolata Concezione, the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. This is a national holiday and the day most families put up their presepio and tree. Le Feste Natalizie end on January 6^th, l’Epifania or the Epiphany, which is also a national holiday. January 6th the tree and decorations come down. As the expression goes ‘L’Epifania tutte le feste porta via’-the Epiphany carries away all of the festivities.

Buon Natale (BWON na·TA·leh) is how Merry Christmas is expressed in Italiano. Natale comes from the Latin ‘dies Natalis’ which means ‘day of birth’, so Buon Natale literally means ‘good day of birth’. Buone Feste(BWON·eh FES·teh) which is ‘good festivities’ is also common. This refers to the whole season, from December 8^th to January 6th.

Auguri means best wishes

Tanti auguri di Buon Natale (TAN·tee ow·GOO·ree dee BWON na·TA·leh) = Lots of good wishes for a Merry Christmas

Ti/vi auguro un Buon Natale (tee ow·GOO·roh oon BWON na·TA·leh) = I wish you a Merry Christmas

Buone Feste can be used interchangeably in both of these phrases.

Auguri per le Feste Natalizie (ow·GOO·ree per leh FES ·teh na·tah·LEEZ·yeh) = Best wishes for the Christmas festivities/season

Auguri per un Natale sereno (ow·GOO·ree per oon na·TA·leh seh·REY·noh) = Best wishes for a serene/peaceful Christmas

I miei migliori auguri per un Buon Natale (ee MEE·ay mee·LYOH·ree ow·GOO·ree per oon BWON na·TA·leh) = My best wishes/greetings for a Merry Christmas. ‘Per un Buon Natale’ can also be replaced with ‘per le Feste’.

Felice Anno Nuovo (feh·LEE·cheh anno NWOH·voh) = Happy New Year!

Cosa farai a Capodanno? (CO·sah FA·rahee a capoh·DAN·noh) = What are you doing New Year’s?

If someone wishes you well, reply with:

Grazie, altrettanto (GRA·zyeh al·tret·TANtoh) = Thank you! Same to you! or with

Grazie, anche a te/voi (GRA·zyeh AN·kay a teh/voey) = Thank you, also to you.

What do I write in my cartoline di Natale? I tend to be extremely thorough in my positive greetings so I usually write something like this mini-essay:

Auguro a te e alla tua famiglia un Buonissimo Natale e un nuovo anno pieno di salute, pace, amore e gioia (ow·GOO·roh a teh eh AL·lah tooah fah·MEE·lyah oon bwon·ees·SEE·moh na·TA·leh eh oon noo·OH·voh AN·noh PYEH·noh dee sal·OO·teh, PAH·chay, am·OH·reh eh gee·OH·yah) = Wishing you and your family an extremely good Christmas and a new year filled with health, peace, love and joy.

Vocabolario di Natale:

Addobbo/addobbi di Natale (ad·DOHB·boh/ ad·DOHB·bee) = Decorations and ornaments

Agrifoglio (ag·ree·FOH·lyoh) = Holly

Albero di Natale (al·BEHR·oh) =Christmas tree

Babbo Natale (BAB·boh na·TA·leh) = Father Christmas/Santa Claus

La Befana (beh·FAH·nah) = January 6^th female gift-bringer

Calze (CAL·zeh) =socks/stockings

Capodanno (capoh·DAN·noh) = New Year’s -literally ‘top of the year’

Cartolina di Natale/d’auguri (car·toh·LEE·nah di na·TA·leh) = Greeting card

Ceppo (CHEP·poh) = yule log

Dolci di Natale (DOL·chee dee na·TA·leh) = Christmas sweets

Elfi (EL·fee) =elves

Gesù Bambino (JEH·suh bam·BEE·noh) = Baby Jesus

Luci (LOO·chee) = lights

Presepio or Presepe (pre·sep·PEE·oh) = Nativity scene, creche

Pupazzo di neve (poo·PATZ·zoh dee NEH·veh) = Snow person

Regalo/regali (reh·GAL·oh/ reh·GAL·lee) = present/presents

Renne (REN•neh) = reindeer

Santo Stefano = December 26^th Boxing Day

San Silvestro = New Year’s Eve

Slitta (SLEET·tah) = sleigh

La vigilia di Natale (vee·gee·lyah dee na·TA·leh) = Christmas Eve

Zampognaro (zam·poh·NYAR·oh) Abbruzzese bagpiping shepherd

Click on the links to read more about some of these vocabolario items! Let me know in the comments if you get to use any new words this Natale!

Cari Lettori di Un po’ di pepe…..Auguro a voi e alle vostre famiglie un Buonissimo Natale e un nuovo anno pieno di salute, pace, amore e gioia! Baci e abbracci, Cristina

Il Zampognaro

22 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Feste, Italian life, Parole piacevoli

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Abruzzo, Italian Christmas, Italian Christmas traditions, Natale, Presepio, Southern Italy, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Zampogne

Il Zampognaro (zahm•poh•NYAH•roh) is a part of most Italian Presepi or Nativity scenes. Zampognari are traditional Abruzzese shepherds, playing bagpipes known as zampogne (zahm•POH•nyeh). I have wanted one for a long time, and wrote about it in Il Presepio and Il Presepio di Mamma. Last year in Napoli’s Via San Gregorio Armeno I was so overwhelmed that I forgot to look for one!

Via San Gregorio Armeni Napoli, Antonio Pepe, www.unpodipepe.ca

‘Lavorazioni di Pastori e Scenografie Presepiati Antonio Pepe’, Via San Gregorio Armeno, Napoli (no relation!)

This year, I spent a few days in Lecce before going to Napoli. Lecce is known for cartapesta-papier maché and I saw Nativity figures, so I searched and found my hand made glazed terra cotta zampognaro. He is smaller and does not look like the other figures, but he has so much character with his puffy cheeks, I can almost hear him playing Tu Scende dalle Stelle….

Are you wondering why Abruzzese bagpiping shepherds are in Italian presepi? It has to do with la transumanza, the migration of animals along tratturi-established paths in use since pre Roman times that were protected by royal decree. Pastori-shepherds moved their animals from the mountains of Abruzzo and Molise where they grazed in the summer, to la pianura, the lowlands of Puglia. They did this to escape the snow, and in spring the sheep and goats were herded back to Abruzzo. The tratturi were used into the 1960’s, then trucks replaced the crossing by foot. view-from-hotel-certosa

During le feste Natalizie, December 8th to January 5th, zampognari in traditional dress would go to the villages to play for extra money or food, thus the zampognaro became symbolic of Christmas in Italia and earned a place in the Presepio.

La Transumanza: Cammino Reale/Royal Shepherd’s Track has been on the tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites since 2006. On December 11, 2019, it received UNESCO designation as ‘intangible cultural heritage of humanity’! Auguri zampognari! Do any of you have un zampognaro? Presepio 2019

Cari lettori di Un po’ di pepe, Vi augura un Buonissimo Natale e un meraviglioso 2020 piena di gioia e salute!

Dear readers of Un po’ di pepe, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a marvelous 2020 filled with health and joy!

Ciao, Cristina

Buon Natale~Il Presepio di Mamma

24 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Amici e Famiglia, Feste, Italian life

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Italian Christmas, Italian Christmas traditions, La Befana, Natale, Presepio, Via San Gregorio Armeno

It is probably obvious from my photos that I love le feste Natalizie-the Christmas season. Festive décor, lights, music and baking help me get through the early darkness and awful weather at this time of year. I decorate every room in my house, but my favourite piece of Christmas is definitely the Presepio. A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about the history of Il Presepio and have included photos of mine in previous December posts.

My Presepio has grown over the years, but includes mostly the ‘main players’. My Mamma’s Presepio also started out this way, but is now a whole village. It was originally placed under the tree, since l’albero di Natale was a new tradition for most new italocanadesi. It was eventually moved to the fireplace hearth, and then to a table. The stable was originally ‘rustic’, made with one of those large paper grocery bags, with the rim folded down many times and a window cut out the back for a light, or a mandarin orange box covered in brown butcher paper. The figures were the Holy Family, an angel, and ox and donkey, a shepherd with a few sheep and the 3 Wise Men. The manger is empty in the photo, as Baby Gesù does not get placed there until tonight, la Vigilia di Natale.The 3 Wise Men or Rè Magi are far off in the hills since they do not arrive in Bethlehem until the l’Epifania, January 6th. Trailing behind is La Befana trying to catch up to them.

Presepio figures are not easy to find in Vancouver, but she slowly acquired village people, more shepherds, camels and lots of other animals. Various pieces were purchased in Assisi, the Vatican and Mexico, even a napkin holder from Venezuela doubles as il forno. The beautiful starry sky was brought by a friend from Roma. In August I went to Via San Gregorio Armeno in Napoli, the street famous for Presepio making artigiani.

‘Lavorazioni di Pastori e Scenografie Presepiati Antonio Pepe’, Via San Gregorio Armeno, Napoli (no relation!)

The Presepio inventory is low in summer, but I bought a terra cotta prosciutto, capicollo and cacciotta and a cestino of eggs which you can see in the photo below. I also bought 2 tiny chairs just like the ones we have in Orsara. I forgot to buy a zampognaro-an Abruzzese bagpiping shepherd-so I will have to go back to Napoli!

Mamma gets very detailed and creative with her Presepio. She starts working on it mid November and really enjoys putting it together. I am often asked to help create accessories. The cutest detail is the tiny loaves of bread, panini and focaccia Pugliese that she bakes for the forno.

It is interesting to note that San Francesco d’Assisi created the first Presepio in 1223 in an attempt to return to the true meaning of Christmas and take the focus off of gift-giving. So Charlie Brown was not the first to search for ‘the true meaning of Christmas’! If any of you have a Presepio, I would love to hear about it!

Cari lettori di Un po’ di pepe, Vi augura un Buonissimo Natale e un meraviglioso 2019 piena di gioia e salute!

Dear readers of Un po’ di pepe, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a marvelous 2019 filled with health and joy!

Ciao, Cristina