Venetians have idiosyncratic
names for features of the
townscape. A canal is a
rio
, and an alleyway that cuts
through a building is a
sottoportico
or
sottoportego , to give
its dialect version. A street in
Venice is generally a
calle
, but a major street might be a
ruga
or a
salizzada , a small
street may be a
ramo , a
street alongside a body of water
is a
fondamenta (or a
riva
if it's really big), and a
street formed by filling in a
canal is customarily a
rio
terrเ . A square is usually
a
campo (there's only one
Piazza), but it might be a
campiello
if it's tiny, a
piscina
if it was formed by filling in a
place where boats used to turn,
or a
corte if it's more
of a courtyard than a square.
The Venetian dialect
version of proper names
adds a further twist to the
visitor's bewilderment. For
example, the Italian name
Giuseppe here becomes Isepo,
Eustachio becomes Stae, and
Giovanni becomes Zuan or Zan.
Things get even worse when two
names appear together - thus
Giovanni e Paolo becomes
Zanipolo, and Sant'Ermagora e
Fortunato somehow becomes San
Marcuolo. As a final refinement,
the Italian name is often used
alongside the dialect name, of
which there may be another
variant - thus, on the wall
outside the naval museum a sign
tells you that the spot on which
you're standing is called Campo
S. Biagio or Campo S. Blasio or
Campo S. Biasio. We've generally
used the standard Italian names,
with the dialect version in
brackets wherever it's in common
use.
