James Silverton wrote:

>> Sigh again. Google is your friend!
>> Turkish/Sicilian.

> Thank heaven, I said I didn't care and I won't change my pronunciation
> but you keep bringing up interesting points :-) I didn't know that
> Siciilans spoke Turkish.

Sicilians speak italian (or at least try to) but have had a long arab
presence and this has left signs on many names. Many people has obviously
arab surnames, as Alì (note the stress on the letter "i"), and many places
are named after arab names, as Palermo Airport at "Punta Raisi", where Raisi
comes straigth from the arabian word "Rais", which everybody heard from the
TV talking about Saddam Hussein and which means "chief" or "leader". Many
dishes in Sicily are arab dishes and tabboule' is just one of them.
--
Vilco
Mai guardare Trailer park Boys senza
qualcosa da bere a portata di mano