Nnapulitano
Neapolitan
Little Italyeapolitan, a lingua franca spoken across much of southern Italy for centuries, remained to some degree a lingua franca for the mostly southern Italian immigrants who entered New York in large numbers beginning in the late 19th century. In the following decades, Neapolitan music, particularly songs sung in Neapolitan, became big business both in Italy and New York. To some extent, local related varieties from surrounding provinces are also grouped under Neapolitan, though they remain distinct. In the New York area, this has included "Irpino" speakers such as the many Sturnese speakers from Sturno (Avellino province) who came to work in mansions on the North Shore of Long Island (later in landscaping and in light bulb factories) and now make up a significant community in Glen Cove. Likewise Long Island City's Societa Sant’ Amato Di Nusco has represented speakers of Nuscano from the town of Nusco (also Avellino).