Abruzzo history and my grandfathers hometown. My grandfather always said he was from Abruzzo. He was born in 1890 ( yea I am that old) and came to the USA in 1920's. He told us verbally, never in writ

anthony tripoli

Abruzzo history and my grandfathers hometown.

My grandfather always said he was from Abruzzo. He was born in 1890 ( yea I am that old) and came to the USA in 1920's. He told us verbally, never in writing he was from Itri. ( sounds like ee-

tr-ee , long sounding English "e" before and after "tr") The only Itri I can find in Italy is south of Rome and in the Lazio province( I believe). I was able to find an Atri , Italy in Abruzzo. I do not know what dialect my grandfather spoke but I do not think the "A" would give the sound my grandfather said.

I was also told by someone in Rome that Mussolini absorbed some of Abruzzo province into Lazio. I do not know if that is true. So two questons

1. What are the odds that my Grandfather in his dialect would have prounounce Atri as Itri?

2 Where would I look ( or does anyone know?) if Atri was once considered part of Abruzzo ?

thanks for any comments

Jan 8, 2016 8:10 PM

Comments · 7

Francesco, Thank you for your comments on Dialects/ pronunciation. I will now consider Atri my roots. I was there 2 years ago and was really touched by being in the town where I thought my grandfather and grandmother were born and married.

Karen and Elizabeth- Anne thank you for your comments also. My maternal grandparents are from Naples.. I like to tell Italians though my heart and head are American my DNA is 100% italian.. so biologically I am as Italian as they are. I will start looking for some way to trace my roots on line..

thanks again,

Antonio the dinosauro

January 25, 2016

Hi....

My maternal grandmother was born in Abruzzo, Corvara (the village) in the province of Pescara. (1904).

I am sure you might be able to find some Abruzzi research groups online and make contact with some people who may be able to shed some light for you. Francesco's comment sounded promising.

Sounds like we are both dinosaurs.......

January 24, 2016

My grandfather was born in 1890 too !

But he was from Naples, and came here in 1911, and apart from one trip back which was a gift as his kids all chipped in for his passage, he never went back and did not seem interested to do so in either case.

He loved being in America and raising his family and having a neighborhood dry cleaning and tailoring shop.

January 24, 2016

Dear Anthony, I'm not from Abruzzo but I studied that in many dialects spoken near to Atri the lletter "A" was pronounced like an "E" whose pronounce was actually very similar to the "i".
In practice, according to my humble opinion, it is very likely that your mother's town was ATRI and that in her dialect it was pronounced as "ITRI".
I hope this information might be useful for you.

Best reguards,

Francesco

Caro Antonio, io non sono abruzzese ma ho studiato che in molti dialetti parlati vicino Atri la lettera"A" era pronunciata come una "E" la cui pronuncia in realtà era molto simile alla "I".
IN pratica, secondo il mio umile parere, è molto probabile che il paese di tua madre fosse ATRI e che nel suo dialetto fosse pronunciato come ITRI.
Spero che questa informazione sia stata utile per te.

Saluti,

Francesco

January 24, 2016