Maria wrote me…
My father was from Volpago, Italy. His mother died when he was quite young. Rso, my Zia became the surrogate mother to the three younger siblings.
I remember her petting the palm of my hand from heel to fingertip and saying these words…
Manina bella
fata panella
dova sen data
date la nona…and she would tickle the palm of my hand and say, Giddie, giddie, giddie!.
I’m sure my spelling is way off but, perhaps you can decipher it. I would so appreciate any help so, I can play with my great grandchildren as Zia did with me.
Thank you so much.
Maria
If anyone is familiar with this rhyme, or can offer any help, please comment below.
If you’re interested in other Nursery Rhymes and Songs from Italy, come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Italy Page.
Thanks!
Lisa
This article was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2006 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Italian, Italian Nursery Rhymes, Italy, Languages, Mama Lisa, Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Readers Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
11 Responses to “Question about an Italian Nursery Rhyme Game”
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January 16th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
It looks like this one
Manina bella, Pretty little hand
fatta a pennello, Wonderfully made
dove sei andata? Where did you go?
dalla nonnina. At granny’s
Cosa ti ha dato? What did she give you?
pane, vino, latte Bread, wine, milk
Gatte, gatte, gatte. Cats, cats, cats
January 21st, 2006 at 10:44 pm
Monique later wrote…
I didn’t add that “gatte” in Italian = she-cats. I actually found it at filastrocche.it where there are 5 of them, that’s the one the most similar to the one she sent. The others come from http://digilander.libero.it/vecioparlar/pagine/filastroccheCentro.htm where you can hear a guy recite them.
I found these two which are said to be in a Venetian dialect:
Manìna bela,
Fata penèla,
dove sétu stata?
Dala nòna.
Cossa te àla dat?
Pan e late,
Gate, gate, gate!
Manìna bela,
Fata penèla,
dove sétu stata?
Dala nòna.
A far còssa?
A magnàr pan e late,
Gate, gate, gate!
I found this one too :
Manìna bèla,
fata a penèla,
dove sito ‘ndata?
Da la me nona.
E cossa gatu magnà?
Polenta e làte
gate gate gate.
Thanks Monique!
May 1st, 2006 at 8:28 am
Hi, I’am from Volpago.
Gate, gate, gate means I tickle, tickle, tickle you.
The filastrocca works by petting the palm of the hand from heel to fingertip many times (1) manina bela, 2) fatta a penela 3) dove sei stata, ecc.).
After this petting the plam of the hand gets a little bit sore, so the final tickle works very well.
Little kids (2-4 years old) enjoy this old game.
Bye,
July 27th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
My wife’s Mom would say this version of “Manina bella”:
Manina bella,
Fata penela,
Andove se statu?
Da la nona,
A mangiare,
Polenta e latte!
Gitte, gatte, gitte, gatte….!
August 20th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
My grandmother had something similar, she was from Verona.. I am going to type it out the best I can
Manina bella
tu sorrella
du statu sta?
Del la mama, e bu pa
Cosi date
panin y late
Gitte Gitte Gitte Gitte
There was another one where she bounced me on her knee
Trotta trotta cavolino
andelemo Bardolino
a comprar y figi sticky
parle y pecoli bultelitti
bultelitti no le voul
butaleso el balcon!
January 14th, 2015 at 9:30 pm
I received this question recently:
Hi, an Italian man taught me a rhyme in Italian that has same rhythm and use as “Eenie meenie miney mo” in English. ( he was choosing something and using the rhyme) he tried to translate it but I can’t find it so far! He said it was something like ” pear, apple, tell me the truth, don’t tell me lies but tell me the truth” .. “Pela, mela, …” Do you know this one?! It was so cute I wish I could remember. Thank you
Does this ring a bell for anyone?
April 24th, 2018 at 6:45 pm
Podrias indicarme tu correo para una propuesta comercial?
April 24th, 2018 at 7:03 pm
Mi correo es lisa@mamalisa.com
February 12th, 2021 at 12:49 pm
In Veneto:
Manina be’a
Fatt’a penea
Do’e sito sta
Da me cugna
Cosa ghetto magna
Pan e latte
Gatte, gatte, gatte, gatte.
Translation:
Beautiful little hand
Made so well (made with the perfect strokes of a brush – pennello)
Where have you been
To my sister in law (for the sake of the rhyme as Nonna doesn’t have the same accent)
What did you eat
Bread and milk
Tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle. (that’s what “gatte” means in Veneto)
August 20th, 2021 at 12:36 am
What is it called though?
June 13th, 2022 at 12:44 am
I’m from Brescia, and my Nonna used to say:
Manina bella
(Beautiful little hand)
Dove sei stata?
(Where have you been?)
Dalla Nonnina
(To the Granny)
Cosa ti ha dato?
(What she gave you?)
Polenta, Ciccì
(Polenta and ragù/meat)
Ghiri, ghiri, ghiri
(Tickle, tickle, tickle)
At the end you tickle the child’s palm