Italian surnames with French spelling

[doreen]

I’m sure there are loads of Italian (and other) names that underwent this process in France ( and other countries)
When someone with say, an Italian name moves to and settles in France , there are a few things that can happen

1. The name can be translated- my guess is that this happened more commonly in the past than it does now.
2. The name can keep its spelling , but change pronunciation to follow the rules in the new language
3. It can keep its pronunciation , but change the spelling to follow the new language’s conventions
4. It can undergo some combination of 2 & 3 - see Tolliver from Tagliaferro
5. It can keep both the original pronunciation and spelling. This might be very common with the immigrants themselves, and perhaps their children but IME by the third generation either the pronunciation or spelling has changed - almost no one pronounces “Rizzo” or “Rizzi” correctly.

[DavidwithanR]

@Johanna

Sicilian language is Calabrian, basically. After they kicked out the Muslims in the early 13th century they had to import peasants from across the strait to repopulate the island and work the latifundias. Until then the languages spoken in Sicily had been Arabic and Greek. The 13th-century population exchange is how Sicily came to speak a form of Southern Italian.

Basically. But there are enough differences, and enough people who say the differences matter to them, that it makes sense to acknowledge it. Serbian and Croatian aren’t much different either, but for political reasons they are different. (Of course in Sicily and Calabria the reasons are political too, just a different type of political reasons.)

[Lamoral]

@doreen

I’m sure there are loads of Italian (and other) names that underwent this process in France ( and other countries)
When someone with say, an Italian name moves to and settles in France , there are a few things that can happen

My theory in this case is that it underwent the process in Louisiana, not France. There don’t seem to be Chauppettas in any other place other than Louisiana.

[doreen]

@Lamoral

My theory in this case is that it underwent the process in Louisiana, not France. There don’t seem to be Chauppettas in any other place other than Louisiana.

There’s one in Boston ( he’s a private eye) and I saw another in Maine and an obit from Arizona - but my point wasn’t that it happened in France rather than Louisiana. My point was that names get changed all the time when the bearer of a name from X-speaking country moves to a place where they speak Y-language. It may not happen at the equivalent of Ellis Island, but over time many of them get changed. I’m the third-generation born in the US and I remember my cousin’s wedding - the Italian DJ introduced my uncle by pronouncing his name in the correct Italian manner, but it was unrecognizable to my relatives ( They spell it the same way it’s spelled in Italy, but use an American pronunciation).