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Oilloc', oiccann', oillann': what they mean and how to use them
If you're not from Naples, «oiccann', oilloc', oillann'» sounds like a magic spell. In a way, it is. These are three words that do something no official grammar accounts for: they conjugate the verb «there it is».
What it means
Italian has just one «eccolo» (there it is). Neapolitan has three, and each one also tells you where the thing you're talking about is.
- Oiccann': there it is here, close to the speaker.
- Oilloc': there it is there, near the listener.
- Oillann': there it is over there, far from both.
It's the same logic as this, that and yonder, but applied to an exclamation. Three words to place a person or a thing in space with the precision of a sat nav and the grace of a hand gesture.
How to use it
You're looking for your keys and find them in your pocket: oiccann'. Your brother spots them on the table next to him: oilloc'. They've been left in the car, down in the street: oillann'. In three syllables you've said that the keys exist, that you've seen them, and how far away they are.
In the plural, the three words become ebbiccann', ebbilloc' and ebbillann'. In the feminine, they soften into aiccann', ailloc' and aillann'. Yes: the verb «there it is» in Neapolitan has gender and number.
Why it's brilliant
It's proof of that gift for compression that makes Neapolitan a living language, able to say in one word what Italian needs a whole sentence for. This isn't sloppy dialect: it's linguistic engineering born in the back alleys, and it still works today, on the street just as much as in a chat message.
That's why we turned it into a T-shirt. Three words in light blue on white, which those who understand read with a smile, and those who don't pick up in an instant.
From the South, with love — Shop
 |
Napoli Tattà® Oiccann' Oilloc' Oillann' — T-Shirt The verb «there it is» in Neapolitan, in three light blue words. Unisex, designed with love, free shipping in Italy. 24.90 € Shop now → |
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