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gelataisa · 26 days

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So does Vongola Family mostly speak Italian or Sicilian language? I saw your posts about Xanxus surpressing his Sicilian and trying to mostly speak Italian, but could you please elaborate more?

I believe, Reborn will push Tsuna&co to learn both languages (just because he can), but which one will be first in line for learning?

Oooh what a great question!!

I think its time to deeper in the dialect argument.

In big cities not everyone speaks dialect. The lower you go on the social ladder and the older you are the more likely you are to speak dialect. The lower in the social ladder you go, the more likely it is that people dont know how to speak italian well.

But, tendencially, everyone speaks italian, and italian is the primary language of people. Many young people from "respectable neighbourhoods" dont grow up listening to dialect, and cannot really speak it. What happens is that words or phrases in dialect get incorporated into the current italian speech, sometimes even being italianised in the process. What remains the most is just the accent.

So, who consistently speaks sicilian in the Vongola? Probably only the lower goons that do stupid shit and dont get to interact with important people.

The ninth and his generation can most likely speak dialect too, because they come from a time when it was much more common to speak and hear, but italian is their language. They too sometimes use phrases or words in sicilian, when they fit into the discussion. When interacting with people from lower classes they also may just switch to dialect.

Xanxus, on the other hand, was born into a "non respectable neighbourhood". He was born in a place where dialect was the only language, and only then learned italian. Growing up he does not try to speak italian, he just knows it. And oh boy if he learned fast. It did not actually require that much effort, he was a kid and everyone around him spoke italian at that point. And he went to a school where everyone spoke italian too, and he studied the grammar and everything else too. He did realise from the beginning how important it was to learn italian, but it was not a hard thing to do.

One thing i also believe, though, is that he subconciously suppressed most of his accent. It's not like he speaks without any accent, everyone can recognise that hes from the south. But not many could pin point from where. He most likely tried to get rid of his accent because it was too heavy and think, something that would give his origin away. Funnily enough, people surrounding him have a thicker accent than he does, the ninth too. Though i like to believe that sometimes, when hes drunk the right amount or when he says specific words, he just says things with the thickest accent ever. Cause certain words can only be said in that way.

One prime example of "born in a respectable neighbourhood" i can think of is Squalo (whom i hc as palermitan too!): he cannot sustain one conversation in dialect, he does not even understand it well if its too fast or emphasized (like, if xanxus actually speaks it). But he does have the accent and he does use words, especially those that convey concepts that are not present in italian, or that do so faster and more directly. He would never say "Com'è nuvoloso oggi" (Today is very cloudy) when he can just say "Che cielo accupuso". And even then, che cielo accupuso is not real dialect. It is italianised dialect. Real dialect would be something like "chi cielu accupusu" (but even then, i dont really know! Im just like squalo!)

Now for the last part of your ask: I dont think tsuna and the others would directly learn dialect. reborn, at least to me, is not sicilian, so he couldnt even begin teaching it, not really. and socially it is not that important, not in "high society", so there is no actual need to learn it. He would probably try to teach italian to at least tsuna, but considering that such a thing was not present in the manga (of course it wasnt, i dont even blame amano), i cannot see any urgency in doing so. And Tsuna being as disinterested he is in everything mafia (most realistic thing of the manga, good for him), he would probably not be so enthusiastic in learning italian either! Even less sicilian!! So learning would take quite some time.

To me its more probable that others in the family learn italian faster, for reasons that are completely separated from tsuna and reborn:

Yamamoto would probably learn it through Squalo, who wouldnt even do many lessons but just. Speak it some just because, or even just on the phone with someone in varia villa. Hes a fast learner, after all!

Chrome has Mukuro, Chikusa and Ken to teach her! With their dreadful milanese accent (jk my norherner friends!). Mukuro would be the only one actively teaching her though, i believe.

Kyoko and Haru would probably start learning it on their own, once they understood that Italy is gonna become part of their lives somehow. They are just happy to learn new things, especially if they come in handy!

Lambo is just italian, so he has nothing to learn. Though he is so little... maybe he actually forgets it some. But its very easy to him to just pick it up again.

Ryohei and Hibari i dont really see making any effort in learning, but of course over time they end up doing so. Maybe Hibari has... a certain someone from italy... helping him in a way or another. who knows.

as for Gokudera, that's for another time!

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