Sicilian language

Sicilian (Lu Sicilianu, Lingua Siciliana) is the Romance language spoken in Sicily and southern Italy. Sicilian dialects (or dialects comprising the Italiano_meridionale-estremo language group) are spoken on the island of Sicily (and all of its satellite islands), as well as in the southern and central sections of Calabria ("southern Calabro") and Puglia ("Salentino") on the Italian mainland. Ethnologue (see section below) describes Sicilian as being "distinct enough from Standard Italian to be considered a separate language".

Early influences

The fact that Sicily is the largest island in the middle of the Mediterranean and that virtually all the peoples of the Mediterranean (and beyond) have passed through her, be that as friend or foe, over the millennia, ensures that the Sicilian language is both rich and varied in its influences. The language has inherited vocabulary and/or grammatical forms from all of the following: Greek, Latin, Arabic, French, Lombard, Provençal, German, Catalan, Spanish and of course Italian, not to mention prehistoric influences from the earliest settlers on the island. The very earliest influences, visible in Sicilian to this day, exhibit both prehistoric Mediterranean elements and prehistoric Indo-European elements, and occasionally a cross-over of both.

Related Topics:
Sicily - Mediterranean - Greek - Latin - Arabic - French - Lombard - Provençal - German - Catalan - Spanish - Italian - Indo-European

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Before the Roman conquest, Sicily was occupied by remnants of the autochthonic populations (Sicani, Elymi, Siculi, (the latter arriving between the first and second millennium BC), as well as by Phoenicians (from between the 10th and 8th century BC) and Greeks (from the 8th century BC). The Greek influence remains strongly visible, however, the influences from the other groups are less obvious. What can be stated with certainty is that there remain pre-Indo-European words in Sicilian of an ancient Mediterranean origin, but one cannot be more precise than that. Of the three main prehistoric groups, only the Siculi were Indo-European, and their speech is likely to have been closely related to that of the Romans.

Related Topics:
Roman conquest - Sicani - Elymi - Siculi - Phoenicians - Greeks - 8th century BC - Greek

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The following table provides the perfect illustration of the difficulty philologists face in tackling the various sub-strata of the Sicilian language.

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A similar qualifier can be applied to many of the words that appear in this article. Sometimes we may know that a particular word has a prehistoric derivation, but we do not know whether the Sicilians have inherited it directly from the autochthonic populations, or whether it has come to them via another route. Similarly, we might know that a particular word has a Greek origin, but we do not know from which Greek period the Sicilians first used it (pre-Roman occupation or during its Byzantine period), or once again, whether the particular word may even have come to Sicily via another route. For instance, by the time the Romans had occupied Sicily during the 3rd century BC, the Latin language had made its own borrowings from the Greek language.

Related Topics:
Greek - Byzantine period

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Pre-classical period

The words with a prehistoric Mediterranean derivation often refer to plants native to the Mediterranean region or to other natural features. Bearing in mind the qualifiers mentioned above (alternative sources are provided where known), examples of such words include:

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• alastra (a thorny, prickly plant native to the Mediterranean region; but also Greek kelastron and may in fact have penetrated Sicilian via one of the Gallic idioms)
• ammarrari (to dam or block a canal or running water; but also Spanish embarrar - to muddy)
• calancuni (ripples caused by a fast running river)
• calanna (landslide of rocks)
• racioppu (stalk or stem, e.g. of a fruit, Mediterranean rak)
• timpa (crag, cliff; but also Greek tymba, Latin tumba and Catalan timba).

There are also Sicilian words with an ancient Indo-European origin that do not appear to have come to the language via any of the major language groups normally associated with Sicilian, i.e. they have been independently derived from a very early Indo-European source. The Siculi are a possible source of such words, but there is also the possibility of a cross-over between ancient Mediterranean words and introduced Indo-European forms. Some examples of Sicilian words with an ancient Indo-European origin:

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• dudda (mulberry; similar to Welsh rhudd and Lithuanian rauda meaning the colour "pink"; Romanian "dud?")
• scrozzu (not well developed; similar to Lithuanian su-skurdes with a similar meaning and High German scurz, meaning short)
• sfunnacata (multitude, vast number; from Indo-European und/Fund meaning water)

Greek influences

The following Sicilian words are of a Greek origin (including some examples where it is unclear whether the word is derived directly from Greek, or via Latin):

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• appizzari - to rot, go bad (as in fruit), ruin (from (eks)èpeson)
• babbiari - to fool around (from babazo, which also gives the sicilian words: babbazzu and babbu - stupid; but Latin babulus and Spanish babieca)
• bucali - pitcher (from baukalion)
• bùmmulu - water receptacle (from bombylos; but Latin bombyla)
• cartedda - basket (from kartallos; but Latin cratellum)
• carusu - boy (from kouros; but Latin carus - dear, Sanskrit caruh - amiable)
• casèntaru - earthworm (from gas enteron)
• cirasa - cherry (from kerasos; but Latin cerasum)
• cona - icon, image, metaphor (from eikyon; but Latin icona)
• cuddura - type of bread (from kollyra; but Latin collyra)
• grasta - flower pot (from gastra; but Latin gastra)
• naca - cradle (from nake)
• ntamari - to stun, amaze (from thambeo; but Calabrese tàmmaru - stupid, comes from Arabic tammar date vendor)
• pistiari - to eat (from apestiein)
• tuppuliàri - to knock (from typto).

Vulgar Latin was spoken by the Roman occupation troops who garrisoned Sicily after Rome annexed the island (after the end of the First Punic War, c 261 BC). An historical feature shared by Sicily, the far south of Calabria, and the province of Lecce, is that during the Roman period, these areas were never completely latinised. Greek remained the main language for the majority of the population. This helps explain the linguistic differences in these areas and those immiediately to the north (which were, more or less, latinised). It is also why Sicilian is often referred to as a neo-Latin language - it did not descend directly from Latin (although some linguists disagree with that view, see below).

Related Topics:
Vulgar Latin - Latin

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For a brief period after the fall of Rome, Goth and Visigoth barbarians managed to gain a degree of political/military control on the island, although their presence did not impact the Sicilian language. The few Germanic influences to be found in Sicilian do not appear to originate from this period. One exception might be abbanniari or vanniari (to hawk goods, proclaim publicly) from Gothic bandujan - to give a signal. Also possible is schimmenti (diagonal) from Gothic slimbs (slanting). Other sources of Germanic influences include the Hohenstaufen reign of the 13th century, words of Nordic and Germanic origin contained within the speeches of Norman and Lombard settlers and the short period of Austrian rule in the 18th century.

Related Topics:
Goth - Visigoth - Barbarians - Gothic - 13th century - 18th century

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Arab period

In 535, Emperor Justinian I made Sicily a Byzantine province, and for the second time in Sicilian history, the Greek language became a familiar sound across the island. As the power of the Byzantine Empire waned, Sicily was progressively conquered by Saracens from North Africa, from the mid 9th century to the mid 10th century. The Arab Emirs who ruled Sicily were progressive monarchs and Sicily enjoyed a sustained period of economic prosperity and intellectual enlightenment. The Arab influence is noticeable in around 300 Sicilian words, most of which relate to agriculture and related activities. This is understandable since the Saracens introduced to Sicily the most (then) modern irrigation and farming techniques and a new range of crops - nearly all of which remain endemic to the island to this day.

Related Topics:
535 - Justinian I - Byzantine - Greek language - Saracens - North Africa

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Some words of Arabic origin:

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• babbaluciu - snail (from babus; but Greek boubalàkion)
• burnia - jar (from burniya; but Latin hirnea)
• cafisu - measure for liquids (from qafiz)
• cassata - sicilian cake (from qashatah; but Latin caseata - something made from cheese)
• gebbia - artificial pond to store water for irrigation (from gabiya)
• giuggiulena - sesame seed (from giulgiulan)
• saia - canal (from saqiya)
• zaffarana - type of plant whose flowers are used for medicinal purposes (from safara)
• zagara - blossum (from zahar)
• zibbibbu - type of grape (from zabib)
• zuccu - tree trunk (from suq; but Aragonese soccu and Spanish zoque).

Before we move on to the next phase of the language's development, being its most significant, it should be borne in mind that throughout the Arab epoch of sicilian history, a large Greek population remained on the island and continued to use the Greek language, or most certainly, a variant of Greek heavily influenced by Arabic. What is less clear is the extent to which a latin speaking population survived on the island. While a form of Vulgar Latin clearly survived in isolated communities during the Arab epoch, there is much debate as to the influence it had (if any) on the development of the Sicilian language, following the relatinisation of Sicily (discussed in the next section). The best one can do is to conclude that if there was an influence, it is likely to have been minor. This view is supported by the fact that there are few Sicilian words reflecting an archaic Latin form (as may be found, for example, in Sard). However, some forms do exist, so the tantalising prospect of a Sicilian form of a Vulgar Latin surviving the Arab period and influencing the modern development of Sicilian remains open.

Related Topics:
Arabic - Sard

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These are some words of latin origin that may have survived the Arab epoch:

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• anchiu - wide, broad (from amplum)
• antura - a while ago (from ante oram - an hour ago)
• asciare - to find (from afflare)
• bìfara - to fruit twice yearly (from bifera)
• cuppigghiuni - beehive (from cupa)
• filìnia - spider's web (from filum, line, strand)
• grasciu - grease (from crassus)
• nutricari - to feed (from nutricare)
• oggiallanu - last year (from hodie est annus)