643: capisce and mafia Sep 11, 2016

Any language with a large enough groups of speakers is going to have separate dialects caused by social differences or geographic distinction. Usually though, when it comes to adopting words from those language into others, dialects don't make as much of a difference, unless it is due to contact with large groups of other populations. Mexican Spanish has, for example, influenced Western American English due to exposure. This also happens when large immigrant populations enter into a new area. Mafia are known for being Sicilian, and even the word is Sicilian for 'bragging'. Sicilian Italian is also why 'capisce' is only 2 syllables, but in Standard Italian the word is 3 syllables, 'capisci', from the verb 'capire' meaning 'to understand'.