OCTOBER 2009
Eyeto/Eytie/Eyetalian
The Color of Words: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United
States defines the term eyetalian as:
From the first half of the nineteenth century, eyetalian is
a mispronunciation of Italian, sometimes jocular but also a deliberate, subtle
slur. Lipski (1976, 113) notes that because most people pronounce Italy and
Italian without
exaggeration, "the exaggerated spelling pronunciation [i.e., eyetalian]
may, at least originally, have indicated a desire to ridicule" (Lipski cites
James Joyce's line in Ulysses, "The signor Brini from Summerhill,
the eyetallyano, papal zouve to the Holy Father, has left the quay and gone
to Moss Street"). In any case, both the spelling and the pronunciation are
usually taken as offensive. Eytie (also eyetie, itie, among
other variants) had World War I and II derogatory use.
The meaning of this phrase varies according to context. Jocular in some instances, eyetalian takes
on an entirely different connotation in reference to times of war, specifically
World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States
issued the forced registration of all "enemy aliens." This included
more than 600,000 Italians, who were subjected to restrictions and deprived
of liberties throughout the course of the war. Not only were they forced to
carry identification cards and report all jobs changes, but they were also
placed under an 8:00pm-6:00am curfew and forbidden from traveling more than
five miles from home. Failure to comply with any element of these restrictions
could, and often did, lead to arrest and imprisonment.
These legal restrictions infiltrated the larger social realm and had many
adverse consequences on Italian-American culture, such as the suppression of
Italian language and culture. Anti-Italian sentiment resulted in the abstention
of speaking the language in public and Italian parents refrained from teaching
the language to their children during this time. It's easy to see how an arguably
mild phrase, a subtle slur at worst, could be transformed into something derogatory
and blatantly hostile in these conditions.
Many Americans remain largely unaware of the injustices endured by more than
half a million Italians living in the United States during World War II. Though
better publicized in recent documents and exhibitions such as "Una
Storia Segreta," (A Secret Story) sponsored by the American
Italian Historical Association, this history was suppressed from historical
accounts over the past 50 years. Therefore, learning about the contextual meaning
of the term eyetalian not
only enlightens individuals to the definition of a new word, but it also generates
awareness about a little known, important part of American history.
SOURCES:
Herbst, Philip H. 1997. The Color of Words: An Encyclopedic
Dictionary of Gender and Sexual Orientation Bias in the United States. Yarmouth,
Maine: Intercultural Press.
Copyright 2009. "When Speaking Italian Was a Crime." About.com. http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa102500a.htm
Copyright 2009. "Italian American Contributions." The
National Italian American Foundation. http://www.niaf.org/research/contribution.asp#demographic
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