Italian-Americanisms? or regionalisms?

[Steve Boatti]

In a message dated 7/13/02 2:26:09 PM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:

<< Yes, in response to Enid's and Frank's posts, I realize that "greater
New Haven" with respect to the "apizza" a-BEETS designation extends
west to Bridgeport (in exchange for lending us their "Frisbie" pie
plates) and north to Meriden.  I was wondering more about the areas
outside the Wooster Street sphere of influence.  (One of these days
I'll locate my student's senior essay in which he tracks the New
Haven Italian dialect to its source in two small villages in
Campania.) >>

This explains why, while you find an "apizza" stand in Meriden, you don't
find any in Middletown, which has a large Italian population and is only 7
miles away. Most of the Middletown immigrants came not from Campania, but
from a small Sicilian town named Melilli.

Steve Boatti