by Don Mosseria » Fri Apr 14, 2023 11:37 am
I have just been reading some of The Last Testimony of Bill Bonanno, and Bill reports that the formal part of a Commission meeting was referred to as the Tornu, which he translates as “circle” (again clearly the same route, cognate to the word “turn” in English). Again, another closely related term with many of the same connotations as all the other variants we have discussed. He gives some interesting information on the implied meaning, beyond simply the word for a geometric shape:
“After entering the meeting room, the members sat in chairs arranged in a circle or around a circular table. The circle signified our tradition, which has no beginning and no end—and served as a reminder that each member had equal status. The chairman called the meeting to order by announcing in Sicilian, “Attaccarmu tornu” (“Let’s tie the circle”).”
…
“When the chairman declared “Attaccarmu tornu,” it was the signal for the Commission members, and anyone else invited into the circle, to stand and join hands, completing the circle. The chairman would then utter… “En nome del la fratelanza, il tornu attacadu” (“In the name of our fraternity, the circle is tied”). The members would then unclasp their hands and sit around the table.”
At the end of the meeting, “the men would stand and join hands, repeating the words of adjournment, “Il tornu e sciolto” (“The circle is untied”). With that, the meeting was officially over.”
Bill also gives some interesting information relating these “Tourna” terms to the other terms Tony and B were discussing above related to the English words Judge, Jury, Justice, Judgment, etc. - giuri, guirare etc., relating to swearing oaths and to judgment of sworn testimony etc. He states:
“For the members, this tying of the circle had a stronger significance than the swearing of an oath in a courtroom. On occasion, a nonmember invitee could join the circle if summoned, if what he had to say would be relevant to the deliberations in the matters at hand. Such invitees would understand that their testimony was limited to reporting the facts, not interpreting them [note: they are sworn in like a courtroom witness]. The circle gave sanctity to what was said”.
This is all in Chapter 6: Protocol of a Commission Meeting. The PDF version of the book that I am reading does not give page numbers unfortunately.
It really is fascinating from a social history perspective that a word for a family gathering - tornu - which apparently would be used for any family, is so closely tied to all these related terms that have additional meaning related to oath sworn loyalty, which I would imagine indicates these connotations were implied by this word itself (especially as a mafia family apparently used it for its gathering). But it even shines light on the whole idea of referring to such an organisation as a family at all. In an environment of weak and corrupt state institutions, family, and extended family/clan, is itself the key institution. To survive and thrive requires strong family bonds of loyalty, mutual defence and mutual action.
I have just been reading some of The Last Testimony of Bill Bonanno, and Bill reports that the formal part of a Commission meeting was referred to as the [i]Tornu[/i], which he translates as “circle” (again clearly the same route, cognate to the word “turn” in English). Again, another closely related term with many of the same connotations as all the other variants we have discussed. He gives some interesting information on the implied meaning, beyond simply the word for a geometric shape:
“[b]After entering the meeting room, the members sat in chairs arranged in a circle or around a circular table. The circle signified our tradition, which has no beginning and no end—and served as a reminder that each member had equal status. The chairman called the meeting to order by announcing in Sicilian, “Attaccarmu tornu” (“Let’s tie the circle”).[/b]”
…
“[b]When the chairman declared “Attaccarmu tornu,” it was the signal for the Commission members, and anyone else invited into the circle, to stand and join hands, completing the circle. The chairman would then utter… “En nome del la fratelanza, il tornu attacadu” (“In the name of our fraternity, the circle is tied”). The members would then unclasp their hands and sit around the table.[/b]”
At the end of the meeting, “[b]the men would stand and join hands, repeating the words of adjournment, “Il tornu e sciolto” (“The circle is untied”). With that, the meeting was officially over.[/b]”
Bill also gives some interesting information relating these “Tourna” terms to the other terms Tony and B were discussing above related to the English words Judge, Jury, Justice, Judgment, etc. - [i]giuri, guirare[/i] etc., relating to swearing oaths and to judgment of sworn testimony etc. He states:
“[b]For the members, this tying of the circle had a stronger significance than the swearing of an oath in a courtroom. On occasion, a nonmember invitee could join the circle if summoned, if what he had to say would be relevant to the deliberations in the matters at hand. Such invitees would understand that their testimony was limited to reporting the facts, not interpreting them [/b][note: they are sworn in like a courtroom witness][b]. The circle gave sanctity to what was said[/b]”.
This is all in Chapter 6: Protocol of a Commission Meeting. The PDF version of the book that I am reading does not give page numbers unfortunately.
It really is fascinating from a social history perspective that a word for a family gathering - [i]tornu[/i] - which apparently would be used for any family, is so closely tied to all these related terms that have additional meaning related to oath sworn loyalty, which I would imagine indicates these connotations were implied by this word itself (especially as a mafia family apparently used it for its gathering). But it even shines light on the whole idea of referring to such an organisation as a family at all. In an environment of weak and corrupt state institutions, family, and extended family/clan, is itself the key institution. To survive and thrive requires strong family bonds of loyalty, mutual defence and mutual action.