 | | Virgin Annunciate by Antonellu di Missina |
To paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield, the Sicilian language don’t get no respect.
It’s spoken by upwards of six million people throughout Sicily, the heel and toe of
Italy, and in many immigrant communities, making the language fully half the size as,
say, Catalan. But it has no legal standing anywhere in the world and very few are literate in
it. The American-based Arba Sicula organization, lexicographer Giuvanni Ragusa, and other enthusiasts have had an uphill climb in
their attempts to elevate Sicilian’s status and encourage its instruction in local schools.
The language’s marginalization no doubt has something to do with the fact that the Sicilians themselves
have scarcely ever held political control over their own island, so awash as it has been
with foreign occupiers of one stripe or another for at least 2500 years. Their language
showcases the richness and diversity of this history. You’ll hear words from its murky
pre-Latin roots such as calanna (rockslide), dudda (mulberry), and sfunnacata
(throng or multitude). Thereafter you find contributions from Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, Norman, Germanic/Swabian, Catalan,
Provençal, French, Spanish, and of course medieval through modern Italian.
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