drittu

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• rittu (eye dialect)
• grittu (hypercorrected eye dialect)

Etymology

From Latin *drēctus, syncopated form of *derēctus, alteration of dīrēctus. Compare Catalan dret, Italian dritto.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɾit.tu/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾit.tu/ (hypercorrected)
• Rhymes: -ittu
• Hyphenation: drìt‧tu

Adjective

drittu (feminine singular dritta, masculine and feminine plural dritti)

1. straight, direct

   Synonym: dirittu

   Antonyms: strammatu, tortu

   Pi jiri ḍḍà banna hâ pigghiari ssu drittufilu.

   To go that way you have to take that straightline.

2. upright, erect, straight

   Synonyms: longu, virticali, erittu, rittu

   Antonym: curcatu

3. right, right-hand

   Synonym: destru

   Antonyms: mancu, manchignu, sinistru

4. (knitting) plain, knit

   Antonym: riversa

5. obverse (side of a coin, medal or badge)

Usage notes

• The pronunciation of Sicilian words starting with dr- is similar to those starting with gr- (i.e. granni).
• The dialects which do not pronounce the ⟨g⟩, especially at the start of word, are used to geminate the silent initial ⟨d⟩ just like the silent initial ⟨g⟩, by the progressive assimilation of the following ⟨r⟩ sound. So that these dialect spellings will produce:

1. Mèttiti â dritta.

   Stand up.

   IPA^(key): /ˈmɛttiti ˌadˈdit.ta/

2. U cani è granni.

   The dog is big.

   IPA^(key): /uˈkani ˌɛdˈdan.ni/

• In the previous two cases, ⟨d⟩ and ⟨g⟩ are graphemically distinct but phonemically equal. This explains the hypercorrected pronunciation.
• The dialects which pronounce the ⟨g⟩, especially at the start of word, are not affected by this rule.

Derived terms

• drittu filu
• manera dritta
• manu dritta
• stari â dritta

 

Related terms

• attisatu
• dirittu
• jussu
• longu
• pariggiu
• paru
• tisu

 

Descendants

• → Maltese: dritt