L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano I n Sicily, you often h e a r t h e m a r k e t before you see it, its v o i c e s e c h o i n g through the narrow streets, rising and falling in a rhythm that sounds like a s o n g . T h a t ' s w h y , i n t h e country's largest island, the calls vendors use to draw people closer have a special name, abbanniate. A mix of invitation, per- suasion, and showmanship, abbanniate turns shopping into a full theatrical experi- ence; in Palermo's historic markets – Ballarò, Capo, Vucciria – the sound is as f a m i l i a r a s t h e s m e l l o f oranges or the flash of silver fish on ice; it's a full part of the daily choreography, loud but never random, shaped by habit and, why not, a flair for poetry. The history of the abban- niata goes back to when the only way to sell was to be heard, and traders relied on their voices to stand out in the crowd; the word itself comes from the verb abban- niare, which is related to the noun bando, a proclama- tion. Its roots reach to Latin a n d e v e n t o G e r m a n i c , where bannum or bandwo m e a n t a p u b l i c s i g n a l . Indeed, long before market sellers, there were bandi- t o r i , m e n w h o s h o u t e d decrees through the streets so everyone could hear. A n y o n e w h o w a l k s through Ballarò early in the morning can feel how the air trembles with sound: a fish- m o n g e r d r a w i n g o u t t h e w o r d s a r d e , a w o m a n repeating ricotta fresca, a vendor improvising a rhyme to make people laugh; sure- ly, to the untrained ear, it s e e m s c h a o t i c , b u t e a c h voice knows what it's doing: sellers lengthen vowels to m a k e t h e m c a r r y , r e p e a t words until they stick, or bend pitch to fit the crowd's m o o d . Y o u n e e d a g o o d i n s t i n c t w i t h w o r d s a n d loads of stamina, as well as l u n g s . C i t y g u i d e s n o w describe the abbanniata as an intangible tradition, s o m e t h i n g t h a t c a n ' t b e stored in a museum but still defines Palermo's identity. Short recordings from Bal- larò capture its texture, a blend of humor and urgency that no photograph could match. But the abbanniata is not confined to the markets: on beaches and in small towns, street vendors keep the pat- t e r n a l i v e , c a l l i n g o u t coconuts, corn, or slices of s f i n c i o n e f r o m t h r e e - wheeled carts; some now use little loudspeakers play- ing recorded loops, but even the mechanical voice follows the same rhythm. There's an old saying that " g o o d s c a l l e d o u t a r e already half sold," which really explains the logic of abbanniate perfectly, espe- cially for Sicily, where the a c t o f s e l l i n g h a s a l w a y s been about communication. B e c a u s e , y o u s e e , i n a n abbanniata, the voice does- n't just announce, it con- vinces and entertains; both shopkeepers and itinerant putiari once relied on it, a n d e a c h n e i g h b o r h o o d developed its own tone, to t h e p o i n t t h a t t h e w a y a w o r d w a s s t r e t c h e d o r a price delivered could identi- fy a family or a stall as clear- ly as a signboard. O v e r t i m e t h e m a r k e t s c h a n g e d , a n d t h e c i t y around them has changed, too. Ballarò still bursts with life, while Vucciria, once famous for its produce, has become a place of nightlife and street food. Rules on amplified music and closing h o u r s h a v e s o f t e n e d t h e city's noise, and the long daily chorus of abbanniate has mostly become a morn- ing affair. Yet it hasn't disap- peared. Sellers mix dialect a n d I t a l i a n , i n v e n t n e w jokes, or turn the rhythm of their phrases into something instantly recognizable: that is to say, the style may have adjusted, but the instinct of vendors remained the same. N o w , a b b a n n i a t e a r e made of several little identi- fiers: the pitch can rise to signal excitement (a fresh catch, a sudden discount) or s l o w d o w n t o u n d e r l i n e q u a l i t y , a n d t h e c r o w d answers in kind, with laugh- ter or haggling, turning the transaction into conversa- tion. Don't be fooled: what seems noisy is actually coor- dination, a constant reading of mood and distance, of who's listening and who's ready to buy. In that back- and-forth lies the market's pulse, one that microphones or social media posts could never replace. Old recordings are use- ful to learn how little the r h y t h m c h a n g e d : a 1 9 6 0 t a p e f r o m B a g h e r i a c a p - tured the same stretched syllables and rolling pat- terns we hear still today; sure, the background noise i s d i f f e r e n t ( l e s s t r a f f i c , m o r e f o o t s t e p s ) , b u t t h e v o i c e i s t h e s a m e . T h i s proves that the abbanniata remains a working tool that lasts because it still works. Even when a loudspeaker replaces a shout, the pur- p o s e r e m a i n s t o t u r n anonymity into attention. For Sicilians, these voices mean belonging, they are a kind of public familiarity t h a t t i e s p e o p l e t o t h e i r streets, because a market cry is a claim on space and on community. Many locals c a n t e l l w h i c h m a r k e t they're in with their eyes closed, simply by the tone and accent of the vendors. The calls are a code shared b y s e l l e r s a n d b u y e r s , a reminder that trade here is s t i l l h u m a n , d i r e c t , a n d rooted in presence. Walking through a Sicil- ian market means to hear t h a t c o d e i n a c t i o n : t h e abbanniata links today's vendors with the old bandi- tori, the voices that once carried news before paper or radio. It survived micro- p h o n e s , r e g u l a t i o n s , a n d n e w w a y s o f s h o p p i n g because it still answers the need to speak, to be heard, and to connect. In the rhythm of those c a l l s , w h i c h r e m a i n h a l f s o n g a n d h a l f s t a t e m e n t , Sicily continues to tell its story. Inside the tradition of the abbanniata, the sound of Sicilian markets LUCA SIGNORINI LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE The abbanniata at a market in Catania (Photo: Giuseppe Anello/Dreamstime)

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