Two is 'a criatura, the small child. The Neapolitan word is not a diminutive of bambina but a straight borrowing of creatura, a creature, used across the city for any young child regardless of sex. Italian lists translate it la bambina and lose that.
It is one of the squares where the published boards visibly differ. Neapolitan Wikipedia prints 'a peccerella, the little one, for the same number. Both are current in speech and neither is wrong; the smorfia was oral for a long time before it was ever a book, and oral lists drift.
- 2
- 'A criatura
- the little girl
- Row 1–10 of the tabellone
Where the figure comes from
There is no recorded reason. Two follows one, a child follows a country, and that is as much order as the opening of the board has ever been shown to carry.
Other things filed on 2
In Neapolitan life
Criatura is the same word that turns up at 29, in 'o pate d''e criature, the father of the children — a phrase the smorfia uses so it does not have to name what it means. The dictionary sends amore here too, which is the sort of pairing that makes the list feel like a mind rather than a table.
2 in the smorfia — frequently asked
A small child, of either sex. It comes from creatura and is used affectionately, the way English might say 'the little one'.
Because both are in use. Neapolitan Wikipedia prints 'a peccerella, Italian Wikipedia prints 'a criatura. The smorfia has no single authoritative edition.