I chose this song not only because it’s the most famous Neapolitan song in the world, but because in my posts I often mention Italian dialects, and I thought this might be a good way to illustrate some of the differences between ‘proper’ Italian and dialetto (dialect).
Firstly the original Neapolitan text :
Che bella cosa na jurnata ‘e sole, / n’aria serena doppo na tempesta! / Pe’ ll’aria fresca pare gia’ na festa. / Che bella cosa na jurnata ‘e sole!
Ma n’atu sole / cchiu’ bello oi ne’. / ‘O sole mio / sta ‘nfronte a te! / ‘O sole, ‘o sole mio / sta ‘nfronte a te, / sta ‘nfronte a te!
Lucene ‘e llastre d’a fenesta toia; / na lavannara canta e se ne vanta / e pe’ tramente torce, spanne e canta / lucene ‘e llastre d’a fenesta toia.
Ma n’atu sole / cchiu’ bello, oi ne’. / ‘O sole mio / sta ‘nfronte a te!
Quanno fa notte e ‘o sole se ne scenne, / me vene quase ‘na malincunia; / sotto ‘a fenesta toia restarria / quanno fa notte e ‘o sole se ne scenne.
Ma n’atu sole / cchiu’ bello, oi ne’. / ‘O sole mio / sta ‘nfronte a te!
Now the Italian ‘translation’:
Che bella cosa una giornata di sole, / un’aria serena dopo la tempesta! / Per l’aria fresca pare gia’ una festa. / Che bella cosa una giornata di sole!
Ma un’altro sole / piu’ bello non c’e’. / Il sole, il sole mio / sta in fronte a te, / sta in fronte a te!
Luccicano i vetri della tua finestra; / una lavandaia canta e si vanta / mentre strizza, stende e canta / luccicano i vetri della tua finestra!
Ma un altro sole / piu’ bello non c’e’. / Il sole mio / sta in fronte a te!
Quando fa notte e il sole se ne scende, / mi viene quasi una malinconia; / resterei sotto la tua finestra, quando fa notte e il sole se ne scende.
Ma un altro sole / piu’ bello non c’e’. / Il sole mio / sta in fronte a te!
Neapolitan is just one of the many dialects spoken in Italy, but it is probably the most famous one due to the well known tradition of Canzone Napoletana, and to the many famous actors who have made Neapolitan a popular dialect. Comparing the two texts above it’s easy to see the similarities between the Italian language and Neapolitan dialect, e.g. you can see that na jurnata ‘e is a dialectic transformation of una giornata di, and so on. Seeing the Neapolitan and the Italian texts side by side doesn’t, however, really illustrate the true difference between spoken Italian and Neapolitan dialect. To understand this you will need to listen to ‘O sole mio performed by a true Neapolitan.
To finish with, here is my English translation of ‘O sole mio:
A sunny day is such a beautiful thing, / the air is serene after the storm! / The fresh air really feels like a celebration / A sunny day is such a beautiful thing!
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5 Comments
That’s great! I love the way in which the text is exposed; especially for us folk who are unfamiliar with la lingua napoletana. Grazie!
Ciao Serena,
Thank you for the interesting article on “O sole mio.” I realize an important reason for presenting this song is to show the difference between a dialect and standard Italian. But I wanted to share some information with you and your readers about “O sole mio.” In 1898, after returning to Naples with the song, Di Capua showed it to Alfredo Mazzucchi, a young pianist, who transcribed the music, scoring it for the piano, and it is now believed, making significant contributions to the melody. In 2002, after almost 30 years of litigation, an Italian court ruled that Mazzucchi had the right to be known as the co-author of “O sole mio”, and granted his heirs the copyright until 2042.
Salve Richard
Thank you for your information about ‘O Sole Mio. I wasn’t aware of it and it’s always very interesting to learn a bit more.
A presto.
Thank you for the lovely translation. I will never listen to the song in the same way again.
I really enjoyed the article and translation on ‘O Sole Mio I would love to see more of this type.
Thanks, and keep them coming.