Language – Sicilian Heritage

Sicilianu – Dialect or Language?

Though some have thought or referred to the Sicilian language as a dialect of Italian and it has at times been called that, in recent years it has again been properly recognized as a language, unique in its own right, with a combination of rich and varied influences going back to ancient times.

To clarify, for Sicilian to have been a dialect of Italian as it has at times in the past century been portrayed, the Italian language would have had to exist prior to Sicilian. But that is not the chronology or actuality of what occurred.

Also, as you may know, there have even been (and still are) many languages on the continent of Italy. The language we currently recognize as Italian was just one of them (Tuscan), and the one that was successfully (politically) pushed through and accepted. And that just occurred in 1861 and didn’t even take hold for some time after that. It has only been since Unification that Sicilian has, at times, been misrepresented as a dialect of Italian. The Sicilian language existed long before that and independent of Italian.

History

‘First let us turn our attention to the language of Sicily, since the Sicilian vernacular seems to hold itself in higher regard than any other, and because all the poetry written by the Italians is called “Sicilian”..’ – Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

The Romance Languages are languages that evolved from Latin. There are actually many (Sicilian being one of them), as the Romans once occupied vast territories and brought with them their language, Vulgar Latin, which took hold in the new areas they conquered.

Over time, that language infused with other languages of those lands, along with new influences as well, and different regions and countries developed and evolved their own unique languages from Latin. And as Latin continued to be used in official writings (including church documents and records) centuries after the fall of the Roman empire, its influence remained strong.

Prior to Latin, Greek was largely spoken in Sicily, along with indigenous language of the earliest known people on the island (including the Sicels, for which Sicily is named).

It was The Punic Wars that brought the Romans and their language across a vast spread of lands, a control which lasted for several centuries.

At that time in Sicily, Greek was still spoken as well as Latin, and those elements along with words from the earliest known people on the island went into forming the Sicilian language.

By nature, living languages are interactive and continue to evolve.

Over the following centuries, each new conquering power brought their own language, languages that were additionally infused, in parts, and integrated into the Sicilian language.

Italian (Tuscan Italian) has only been the most recent language that conquerors have brought to Sicily.

Though the Sicilian language has continued to develop with new influences, integrally it has been a means of communication that has remained Sicilian from its earliest origins. No matter which flags have flown over its land, Sicily has always been Sicilian. The language is the interconnecting thread that weaves throughout all.

“It was during the reign of Frederick II (or Frederick I of Sicily) between 1198 and 1250, with his patronage of the Sicilian School, that Sicilian became the first of the modern Italic languages to be used as a literary language. The influence of the school and the use of Sicilian itself as a poetic language was acknowledged by the two great Tuscan writers of the early Renaissance period, Dante and Petrarch. The influence of the Sicilian language should not be underestimated in the eventual formulation of a lingua franca that was to become modern Italian.” {3}

Today

Because Sicilian has largely not been taught in schools (though this is changing), there are issues of standardization of spelling – or even of usage in some cases, as the specifics can and sometimes do vary from one region to another. Many of those types of variances though would actually be a case of different dialects of Sicilian on the island of Sicily just as there are different dialects of Italian on the continent of Italy.

Still, as it was discouraged after Unification, with the Italian language promoted – and required – in its place, it has been in danger of dying out due to a lack of it being present in education and in formal writing and publications. Most online translation tools do not include it either. Though it is one of the oldest languages that is still in use today in everyday conversations. If it is largely not written at this point and if there are not available books or translations for people to continue learning it, how long will it last?

In recent years, there have been more proactive steps taken to promote recognition of the language, and more attempts have been made toward written standardization. Children in schools in Sicily are learning Sicilian in class now. Though that is a recent addition, it is a step toward promoting and preserving the language so that it will likely continue to grow and evolve.

Words and Phrases

One thing you may notice in language comparison is that in some cases, the Italian is similar to the Sicilian other than one of the vowels. This is partly because Italian was influenced by Sicilian, and also because both stem from Latin (though Sicilian is actually closer to its Latin origins than is Italian).

More specifically, one difference is that in some words where the Italian word uses the letter o, Sicilian uses the letter u. Or an i instead of an e. (Some other words and phrases obviously are quite different, but some of the simplest examples consist only of a vowel difference.)

Here are a few words and phrases that provide examples of that or similar. The Sicilian is first, followed by the Italian, and then English.

Bon giornu (Sicilian) = Buongiorno (Italian)
Good afternoon or also said in morning

Bona sira (Sicilian) = Buona sera (Italian)
Good evening

Bona notti (Sicilian) = Buona notte (Italian)
Good night

Comu sta(i) (Sicilian) = Come stai (Italian) How are you?
* Note: Comu sta (Sicilian) or Come sta (Italian) are more formal.
Comu stai (Sicilian) or Come stai (Italian) is more informal.
(Stai is pronounced Sty)

Comu ti senti (Sicilian) = Come ti senti (Italian)
How do you feel?

Bedda (fem) or Beddu (m) (Sicilian) = Bella / Bello (Italian)
Beautiful

Amunì (Sicilian) = Andiamo (Italian)
Let’s go

Comu ti chiami (Sicilian) = Come ti chiami (Italian)
What’s your name?

Di unni si? (Sicilian) = Di dove sei? (Italian)
Where are you from?

A unni si? (Sicilian) = Dove sei?
Where are you?

Ni videmu (Sicilian) = Ci vediamo (Italian)
See you or We’ll see each other (can be followed by soon or tomorrow etc)

Additional:

Veni Ca – Come Here

Manciàri – To Eat

Sabeniidica:- Give me your blessing

More words and phrases coming soon.

Tip of the day:

Summary

“Because Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and many peoples have passed through it (Phoenicians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantine Greeks, Moors, Normans, Swabians, Spaniards, Austrians, Italians), Sicilian displays such rich and varied influence from several languages on its lexical stock and grammar. These languages include Latin (as Sicilian is a Romance language itself), Ancient Greek, Spanish, Norman, Lombard, Catalan, Occitan, Arabic and Germanic languages, and the influence from the island’s pre-Indo-European inhabitants. The very earliest influences, visible in Sicilian to this day, exhibit both prehistoric Mediterranean elements and prehistoric Indo-European elements, and occasionally a blending of both.” (link)

Videos

Dialects can vary by region and city, but the following videos help give an idea of some of the similarities and differences, as well as some of the specifics of the Sicilian language.