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Is Sicilian a real language?
Is there a dialect in Sicily?
What language group does Sicilian belong to?
What is Sicilian?
Nov 15, 2023 · Sicilian is much more than a mere dialect. It's a true language with a millennia-old history and a linguistic heritage dating back to ancient Greece, with Arabic, Norman, Spanish, and Italian influences. Its colorful vocabulary resonates in the streets, homes, and markets of the island, giving life to unforgettable expressions and phrases.
- A Mediterranean Language
- Sicilian Now
- Sicilian Vernacular Poetry
- Vocabulary
- Phonetics and Pronunciation
- What’s Siculish?
Though its origin is still somewhat debated, most linguistic scholarship traces Sicilian to a group of languages spoken originally by the peoples who populated the island up to some 700 years a.D., not all of them, possibly, of Hindu-European origin; the Sicani, originally from Iberia, the Elimi from Libya, and the Siculi, from mainland Italy. Many...
An estimated 5 million inhabitants of Sicily speak Sicilian (plus another 2 million estimated Sicilians around the world); but in truth Sicilian, or languages considered to be derived or influenced by Sicilian, are spoken in parts of southern Italy such as Reggio Calabria, southern Puglia, and even parts of Corsica and Sardegna, whose indigenous la...
Sicilian became known in literary circles for a form of vernacular poetry at the court of Frederick II, king of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor, in the early 1200s, developed, perhaps, by troubadours who had escaped from France (hence the Provençal). That Sicilian vernacular, strongly influenced by high Latin (because of the troubadours), was recogni...
Sicilian is replete with words and names of places from every language brought to the island by its invaders. For example, of Arabic origin, sciàbaca or sciabachèju, a fishing net, fromsabaka; Marsala, the Sicilian port, from Marsa Allāh, Allah's port. A maìdda is a wood container used to mix flour (from màida, or table); mischinu means "poor littl...
So, how does this ancient language sound? While some words sound much like Italian, others do not at all (though Sicilian spelling of words is, like Italian, essentially phonetic). Depending on the place, articles are shortened, consonants doubled. For example, b'sturns most normally into v's: 1. la botte (the barrel) sounds ‘a vutti 2. la barca (t...
Sicilian spoken by Italian immigrants living in the United States (or the Sicilianization of English) is called Siculish: English-Sicilian terms such as carrufor car, for example. It is a hybrid of terms coined by Sicilian immigrants to make English their own. If you are interested in taking a look at some literary Sicilian writing, check out Giova...
Consequently, if it is true that in Sicily there is no dialect defined as a variety deriving from Italian (since it has Latin, Greek-Byzantine, Arab, Norman and Spanish roots), it is also true that there is a dialect understood as a language opposed to a another one, with respect to which it remains in a state of subordination.
So, why many people, including Sicilians, think of Sicilian has a dialect? In a nutshell: prejudices. For decades Sicilian has been considered a dialect spoken only by uneducated people or peasants. Is Sicilian Language different from Italian? Yes, it is, just like the other romance languages (French, Spanish, or Portuguese) are different from ...
Sep 22, 2022 · Sicilian, which in Sicily is known as sicilianu, is a Romance language like all the dialects distributed across the Italian Peninsula. With more than five million native speakers, mainly located in Sicily, this dialect descends from a variety of historical languages.
May 21, 2021 · Sicilian is indeed an official language separate from Italian. It is recognised by various international bodies, including UNESCO and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Most Sicilians, however, speak a variant dialect that is distinct to their own town, village, quarter or area.
