“Ambarabà Ciccì Coccò”, A nice nursery rhyme Italian for children used as counts in games, is a composition handed down for generations, whose possible Historical and linguistic roots They are uncertain but fascinating, reconstructed through the theories of scholars and linguists.
The most common version of the nursery rhyme reads:
Ambarabà Ciccì Coccò
Three owls on the dresser
who made love
with the doctor’s daughter;
The doctor fell ill
Ambarabà Ciccì Coccò!
THE’origin precise of the text is uncertain. In this kind of composition the musicality and the rhythm They have more relevance of the words, yet in the composition there is something particular: the first verse would seem to be a set of words with a senseless syllabic combination; The second could constitute a phrase of complete meaning, from the third onwards the sentences are syntactically current but with a doubtful meaning.
Ambarabà Ciccì Coccòthe possible meaning and origins of the nursery rhyme
The nursery rhyme was investigated by the Italian linguist Vermondo Brugnatellithat in his article “For an etymology by AM Barabà Ciccì Coccò” he hypothesized that the incipit can derive from ancient Latin “HANC Para AB HAC, quidquid quodquod“, And specifically the author proposes a breakdown into Latin elements:
- “AM”: it could derive from “Hanc”, singular female accusative of the Latin pronoun “Hic”, indicating “this”.
- “Barabà”: It could be an altered form of “Para AB HAC”, where “Para” is the imperative of the Latin verb “Parrare” (preparing, protecting) and “AB HAC” means “from this”.
By combining these interpretations, the incipit “AM Barabà Ciccì Coccò “ it could originally mean “Repaires this (hand) from this other (which matters) …“, Suggesting that the nursery rhyme was used as a counts in childhood games, in which one hand had to” shelter “on the other during the selection of the participants. The sequence”Ciccì Coccò“, On the other hand, could be the result of a phonetic transformation based on”Ciff and Ciaff rule “: linguistic phenomenon that provides for the creation of words by doubling with vocal variation: in this way a word can be formed by repeating a consonantic sequence, changing the vowel from a closed (such as “i”) to a more open or labia lock (such as “or”). From here, “Ciccì Coccò” could derive from Latin words “quidquid” And “quodquod“, Two indefinite pronominal forms. Other examples of this phenomenon of phonetic transformation, to make greater clarity, can be onomatopoeic sounds tic tac (clock), Tip-Tap (dance), or names like Here quo here (Duck’s grandchildren), King Kong and so on.
Also Umberto Ecoeminent philosopher, writer, translator, Italian bibliophile, in his “Second minimum diary“(1992), analyzed the nursery rhyme in several languages in a semiotic key, highlighting the nonsense character, typical of many popular nursery rhymes.
As Eco points out, theauthor of the successful nursery rhyme remains anonymousand today “Ambarabà Ciccì Coccò” is widespread throughout Italy with some variants: for example, in some versions, the owls “fearful” to the doctor’s daughter, rather than “love”. It must also be said that in recent years the nursery rhyme has been the subject of reinterpretations and analysis On the part of those who have tried to attribute them deeper or more moral meanings, while others underline its playful character without a precise logical sense which, like many expressions of the oral tradition, continues to entertain and intrigue.
