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It means bouquet, as in ramito compuesto which means bouquet garni. Does that make sense ? " a bouquet of .......... whatever"
You're right that rama means branch but even if you were to make it diminutive it should really be ramita, which means sprig.
Everyone here talks all the time in dimunitives, but in the Albaicin it is taken to an extreme, its almost like a childs game, a made up language where you put illo, ito, ico, or icito on the end of all the words.
Thanks Kate, That makes sense now. Like you, (although I'm not a Spanish scholar like yourself), I was always intrigued and delighted at the Spanish colloquial sense of always turning to the diminutive by adding ito or ita etc. For example, "Pobrecita" is such a lovely and captivating word that the Engish "Poor Soul" just cannot convey. And it goes on and on. I'm sure after living for so long in Granada and speaking regularly with the Gitano community there, that you could certainly go back and correct your University lecturer on some things by now LOL!
Tenshu, **Everything** is singular now. In the past people sang, danced or played Soleares, Alegrias, Bulerias etc. Now it's Solea, Alegria and Buleria. I don't know if it's a Madrid way of getting closer to Andalucia by "swallowing" the final "s" as they do, and that's started a fashion of being "cool". Like the word "palo". I'd never heard of it ever... until about five years ago! So to explain Siguiriyas against Seguiriyas, I think would be an impossible task. Thing is, everybody would immediately know what you were referring to. And I think the Andalucian Flamencos have more to interest them or worry them other than spelling. I think this sort of stuff shows the complexity and innovation in the music itself and why it's so difficult to define on paper.
Actually the extensive use of the dimintive is only in the South, my friends up North can't stand it. I certainly wasn't taught about it at University! In fact what I learnt at Uni and what happens in real life down here are so totally different it took me ages to get into the swing of real spanish as it spoken and people laughed at me a lot. They still do. I once had to phone a friend about some work and got his wife on the phone. "Soy la mujer de Harold" ( I am Harold's wife) I said and she said "Qué????" I tried again and she was still baffled, then I tried using the kids from Almanjáyar's accent, thicker and faster,'Soy la muer de 'aro" to which she replied "Ahhhhh la muer de aro"
Kate
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ron.M
Thanks Kate, That makes sense now. Like you, (although I'm not a Spanish scholar like yourself), I was always intrigued and delighted at the Spanish colloquial sense of always turning to the diminutive by adding ito or ita etc. For example, "Pobrecita" is such a lovely and captivating word that the Engish "Poor Soul" just cannot convey. And it goes on and on. I'm sure after living for so long in Granada and speaking regularly with the Gitano community there, that you could certainly go back and correct your University lecturer on some things by now LOL!
I've never heard it here, but then now you've said I'll probably here it all over the place. Learning a language can be like that.
I looked up mamar in the dictionary and it means to suckle , or to hit the bottle, or much more crudely to suck........ I wont go on. But I guess that is the sense in which the Mexicans use it. ie you're pulling my leg, or sucking my ........ok I wont go on.
There's a nice example of the use of this verb, 'ha mamado la música' which means to be 'brought up with music'.
Here I think they would say "No me digas' ie "you don't say' or "¡Qué va!" which means "no way"
Kate And 'scuse my french , as my mother would say.
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