my daughter - figghia mia (figlia mia) ( translation glossary) Mafia,Names (personal, company),

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	my daughter
Italian translation:	figghia mia (figlia mia)
Entered by:	Oscar Romagnone

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5:02am Feb 17, 2008

English to Italian translations [PRO]
Names (personal, company) / Mafia

English term or phrase: my daughter

I heard that the reason of naming Mafia in this way was that a member of this group who was riding a motorcyle snatched a carried daughter from a woman kidnapping her; however, such a woman hurried following him crying **Ma fi! Ma fi!** which means in English "My daughter! My daughter!"

However, I am not sure of the correct writing of this #Ma fi#
So, could you kindly help me find the correct translation of "my daughter" into Italian?
Have you any idea about this incident or something to this effect?
TIA

Saleh Al-Qammaari

KudoZ activity
Questions: 13 (all closed)
Answers: 270

Egypt

Clarification request(s) and response

Oscar Romagnone: 7:01pm Feb 19, 2008: Dear Saleh, very kind of you indeed!...actually I just wanted to offer a little help (by the way, I know a bit of your country: I've been in Alexandria and in Cairo [Al Qāhira] and I found both extremely charming as far as I could see! :))

figghia mia (figlia mia)

Explanation:
Nonna Carmelina in un momento di silenzio della folla grida: " Figghia mia, figghia mia statte attenta cu nu te custipi, era megghiu cu te stai a casa..."
http://margantonio.blogspot.com/2007/11/giulia-2024.html

Se ci si riferisce al dialetto siciliano forse il termine nasce dall'invocazione stessa ripetuta due o più volte: "figghia mia/figghia mia" e successivamente storpiata...chissà?
Lascio la risoluzione del dilemma a qualche siciliano doc (ad esempio Giovanni Pizzati, se è all'ascolto)...;-)

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Note added at 22 ore (2008-02-18 03:55:59 GMT)
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Hi Saleh: that's true, you're right!...I'd better have written in english, I know (sorry), but now you have a lot of examples and you just have to choose the one more convincing. In the one posted by me yesterday actually I was trying to compare that cry to the initial part of "mi-a/figghia..." that is a local expression (sicilian regional dialect) corresponding to "figlia mia" in italian or "my daughter" in english. Bye!

Selected response from:

Oscar Romagnone
Italy

Note from asker to answerer

Many thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

read carefully

Fiamma Lolli

3 +2

ma fille (figlia mia)

Maria Rosa Fontana

2 +2

figghia mia (figlia mia)

Oscar Romagnone

Never heard about this legend...

Elisa Comito

Answers

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

read carefully

Explanation:
Dear Saleh, You'll be surprised to hear that, according to many experts, the word mafia comes from... arab (only in Palermo there were over 300 mosques; yes, once we and our people were nearer than we are now, for the good and the bad: and I dare to say especially for the good).
I never heard this "Ma fi (mia figlia)" legend, and I am quite a bit expert in mafia problem (but "quite a bit" is not enough, of course). I copy you some links to the ethimology of "mafia", hoping they will be helpful for you. Unfortunately the Merriam Webster dictionary will not help you, because it says the the word mafia comes from Sicilian "mafiusu" but does not goes beyond.
Have a nice day!
http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/students/index.cfm?P=5562
http://swobodin.fedora-tn.org/archives/149
http://www.unilibro.it/find_buy/findresult/libreria/prodotto...
http://www.alleanzacattolica.org/idis_dpf/english/m_the_mafi...

Reference: http://www.umich.edu/~themafia/etymology.htm
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia#Etymology

Fiamma Lolli
Italy
Native speaker of:

Italian

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

ma fille (figlia mia)

Explanation:
According to the legend, that woman shouted "ma fille" (figlia mia) in French because the offenders wer French soldiers.

However ths is just a legend. For a more acurate explanation of the ethimology of "mafia", you should have a look at the links that Fiamma posted

Reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=zH9YN-2nuTcC&pg=PA126&lpg=P...

Maria Rosa Fontana
Italy
Native speaker of:

Italian

8 hrs confidence:

Never heard about this legend...

Explanation:
Many sicilian words are of arab origin. Regarding the term "mafia" you might find interesting to look at this wikipedia voice (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia ), even though it's in italian, to see the different arab words which might be at the origin of the name. But you must know that, besides sicilian, also other italian dialects had similiar words, which might have originated the term. In any case, the meaning of the word changed with time because, as they already told you, originally it had not necessarily a negative connotation. For example in sicilian if you called a woman "mafiusedda" you meant she was pretty, attractive, if you called a child "mafiusu" you meant he was pretty, quick-witted, clever...
But what are you translating? Is it something about mafia or is this organization mentioned only marginally?
In any case, personally I had never heard about the legend you reported, Its not credited here in Italy and I wouldn't spread it. You will understand that for us mafia is a very serious problem.
Good luck for your translation!

Elisa Comito
Italy
Native speaker of:

Italian

14 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

figghia mia (figlia mia)

Explanation:
Nonna Carmelina in un momento di silenzio della folla grida: " Figghia mia, figghia mia statte attenta cu nu te custipi, era megghiu cu te stai a casa..."
http://margantonio.blogspot.com/2007/11/giulia-2024.html

Se ci si riferisce al dialetto siciliano forse il termine nasce dall'invocazione stessa ripetuta due o più volte: "figghia mia/figghia mia" e successivamente storpiata...chissà?
Lascio la risoluzione del dilemma a qualche siciliano doc (ad esempio Giovanni Pizzati, se è all'ascolto)...;-)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 ore (2008-02-18 03:55:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Hi Saleh: that's true, you're right!...I'd better have written in english, I know (sorry), but now you have a lot of examples and you just have to choose the one more convincing. In the one posted by me yesterday actually I was trying to compare that cry to the initial part of "mi-a/figghia..." that is a local expression (sicilian regional dialect) corresponding to "figlia mia" in italian or "my daughter" in english. Bye!

Oscar Romagnone
Italy
Native speaker of:

Italian
PRO pts in category: 4

Note from asker to answerer

Many thanks!

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks a lot Oscar! Unfortunately, I do not know Italian. Therefore, I prefered the answer to be in English but I do not why this does not appear.

Asker: I need this phrase in my translation from Arabic into English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Gina Ferlisi: i am half sicilian, and i agree 100% with oscar :)

5 hrs

-> thanks a lot Gina: really? I didn't know that! :-)

agree

Katiuscia Siddi: it's impossible to translate it into English Saleh because you would miss the resemblance of sounds in words. Translate as Oscar suggested and write the English translation (my daughter) in brackets;-)

5 hrs

-> thanks Katiuscia, very kind of you!! ;-)

agree

Potlatch: si, per tenere l'ordine delle parole potrebbe anche essere "me' figghia", anche se non è esclamativo...

6 hrs

-> grazie Potlatch (e complimenti per la foto visto che non te li avevo ancora fatti!) in realtà ho risposto ma avevo forti dubbi perché mi sa che il termine sia nato quando ancora le moto non esistevano!! :)

disagree

Fiamma Lolli: sorry, Oscar, but "ma fi" in Italian does not mean anything, nor it resembles anything. If Saleh wants to know how to write "my daughter" then, yes, it is "figlia mia" but "figlia mia" (or in Sicilian "figghia mia") and "mi fi" have nothing in common.

10 hrs

-> Ok Fiamma, forget it!...but, I want to say, just think of the possibility that such a woman was short of breath because running...;-)

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English: my daughter

Italian translation: figghia mia (figlia mia)