Two notes on terms seemingly in ‘grechesco’ in sixteenth-century texts

Abstract

This article consists of two distinct notes. I. The first contribution re-examines a stanza with grechesco elements from the ballad Chi non fa co far. mi hauer. la taccha (1549). In particular, a new interpretation is proposed for the previously obscure line «vegna vu del culo cali», which should not be read as a Greek form (καλή), but rather as an entirely Italo-Romance expression meaning «may calluses come to your backside». This interpretation clarifies the antithetical structure of the stanza, which contrasts the joyful evocation of ‘macaroni’ with a vulgar curse, in keeping with the general tone of the composition. II. The second contribution re-examines the meaning of the term Tegna in Andrea Calmo’s Rodiana. Against previous interpretations rendering it as «university» or «Athens», it is proposed to understand it as a vernacular form of the Greek τέχνη, referring to Galen’s Τέχνη ἰατρική, a widely circulated text in the Latin Middle Ages known as Tegni. This new reading also makes it possible to resolve further exegetical difficulties in the passage.