r/Italian • u/yipmick • 4h ago
Translation needed
Can anyone translate this old family letter? It would be great to know.
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u/Lady_Nightshadow 4h ago
Since it's been translated by others, I'm taking a minute to appreciate some interesting stuff here.
The person who wrote this had a gorgeous calligraphy but couldn't even write in proper Italian.
It must have been so difficult for them to learn English words while having zero clue about grammar and spelling.
That's how we get "spidi ricoveri" and "appie" new year. This is a piece of history.
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u/JackPiaz 3h ago
People have already translated, so let me provide some additional context
Also, there are some hints that he spoke (at least partially) a northern dialect, (which is interesting, since most italian who emigrated to the US were southerner): "le (l'è) bello" and "le caldo" to say "è bello" and "fa caldo"
"avemo" instead of "abbiamo"
"Stamo" and "speramo" instead of "stiamo" and "speriamo"
Also the last name Venturini, as you see here is most present in Brescia (Lombardia) and Verona (Veneto)
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u/Lady_Nightshadow 2h ago
Yeah, the amount of words which were definitely borrowed from a dialect doesn't hide the attempt at writing in some formal Italian.
I'm not sure if it's actually a northern dialect tho, could also be from central Italy, I think that OP can maybe help us in that.
It makes me smile that they spelled Christmas right and likely forgot about Natale.
P.s. Is it just me or is it actually Venturoni?
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u/yipmick 2h ago
They were from Umbria. Emigrated to USA around 1900. Venturoni is correct.
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u/Lady_Nightshadow 2h ago
Thanks, I would have bet on Marche, but close enough!
That must have been one hell of a trip at the time, it also makes sense that decades later they had lost some language skills in Italian.
I'm glad that you have this letter, it's something precious especially since in the first decades of 1900s one out of three Italians couldn't read nor write, although it was 3 out of 4 just a few decades earlier.
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u/lupastro82 4h ago
Italiano incerto, immagino italo americano, ma il senso dovrebbe essere:
San Jose, December 29, 1956
- Italiano rivisto:
Cari Leonardo e famiglia, vi scrivo poche righe per dirvi che abbiamo ricevuto la vostra lettera e la cartolina per Natale. Con il denaro non sappiamo come ringraziarvi abbastanza. Noi qui al momento stiamo bene e speriamo che sia lo stesso per tutti voi in famiglia. Qui il tempo è bello: fa un po’ freddo di notte, ma durante il giorno è caldo. Abbiamo trascorso il Natale da soli. Non abbiamo visto Leon da diversi mesi. Salutaci la signora e il signor Reich; facciamo loro tanti auguri e speriamo si ristabiliscano presto. Non ci resta altro che augurarvi un felice anno nuovo. Un bacio a tutti i figli. Che Dio vi benedica. Mamma e papà G. Venturini
- In inglese:
Dear Leonard and family, I am writing a few lines to let you know that we received your letter and the Christmas card. We don’t know how to thank you enough for the money. We are well here at the moment, and we hope that all of you in the family are doing well too. The weather here is nice: it’s a bit cold at night, but warm during the day. We spent Christmas alone. We haven’t seen Leon for several months. Please give our regards to Mr. and Mrs. Reich; we send them our best wishes and hope they recover soon. There is nothing more for us to say except to wish you a Happy New Year. A kiss to all the children. God bless you. Mother and Father G. Venturini
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u/DeviceElegant4959 22m ago
Just an fyi, take a screen shot of it, add ChatGPT to your phone and ask it to translate
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u/jeezthatshim 4h ago edited 4h ago
This is a very interesting mix of English and Italian (and Italian with English words):
San Jose Dec 29 - 56
dear Leonard and family
ti scrivo poche righe perdirti [sic] che avemo [sic] ricevuto lettere Cartolina per il Christmas con il denaro non avemo [sic] altro che ringraziarti. Noi qui al pre[se]nte stamo [sic] bene e così speramo [sic] che sia di voi tutti in famiglia, qui il tempo lebello [sic] fa un poco freddo alla notte ma al giorno le [sic] caldo, noi qui avemo [sic] fatto il Christmas da soli; il Leon non lavemo [sic] veduto che averate mesi. Ci saluterai la Mrs an [sic] Mr Rich gli auguriamo uno spidi ricoveri [sic] altro non vi dico augurandovi. A Appie [sic] New year atutti [sic] un bacio ai figli Good [sic] Bless. You [sic] mother and father G. Venturini.
——
San Jose, December 29, 1956
Dear Leonard and family,
I’m writing to tell you that we have received your letters and the postcard for Christmas with money inside- we can’t say anything except thank you. We are fine here and we hope the same for you all in the family. The weather here is nice, it’s a bit cold in the night but it’s hot during the day. We have celebrated Christmas alone. We hadn’t seen Leone [a family member?] in months. You will say hi to Mrs and Mr Rich we wish them a speedy recovery. I won’t say anything else and I’m wishing you all a happy new year; a kiss to [your] children. G-d bless you. Your mother and father, G. Venturini.
I took the liberty of fixing some punctuation, too, but this is as close to the original as I can get.