La melagrana e il lupo: un’inchiesta linguistica sulla sapienza dei gessai

Abstract

In this essay, we propose two large ethnotexts recorded in Raffadali (Ag) and Castrofilippo (Ag). The description of the chalk extraction and processing phases allows us to identify the specific lexicon of chalk workers and its diachronic variation, after the progressive mechanization of extraction companies. Some idiomatic expressions, for example comu u granatu, are traced back to a tradition of popular wisdom linked to crafts. The terms lupu, not present in the previous repertoires, and sceccu di issara are also recorded.