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".

Linguistic development from the middle ages

In 1000 AD the whole of modern day southern Italy, including Sicily, was a complex mix of small states and principalities, languages, religions and ethnicities. The whole of Sicily was dominated by Muslim Saracens, except for the north-eastern corner, which was predominantly Greek speaking and Christian. The far south of the Italian peninsula was part of the Byzantine empire and predominantly Greek speaking, although many communities were reasonably independent of Constantinople. The principality of Salerno was Lombard. The Lombards (or Langobards) had also started to make some incursions into Byzantine territory and had managed to establish some isolated independent city-states. It was into this mix that Normans thrust themselves in ever increasing numbers during the first half of the 11th century.

Related Topics:
1000 - Byzantine empire - Constantinople - Salerno - Lombard - Normans - 11th century

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Norman French influence

When the two most famous of southern Italy's Norman adventurers, Roger of Hauteville and his brother, Robert Guiscard, began their conquest of Sicily in 1061, they already controlled the far south of Italy (Apulia and Calabria). It took Roger 30 years to complete the conquest of Sicily (Robert died in 1085). In the process, the relatinisation and christianisation of Sicily had begun a second time. A long list of Norman words were to become absorbed by the new language during this period, for example:

Related Topics:
Roger of Hauteville - Robert Guiscard - Apulia - Calabria - 1085 - Norman

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• accattari - to buy (from Norman acater, Modern French = Acheter)
• ammintuari ? to mention, nominate (from Norman mentevoir)
• bucceri (vucceri) - butcher (from bouchier)
• custureri - tailor (from coustrier)
• firranti - grey (from ferrant)
• foddi - mad (from fol)
• giugnettu - July (from juignet)
• ladiu - ugly (from laid)
• largasìa - generosity (from largesse)
• puseri - thumb (from poucier)
• racina - grape (from raisin)
• raggia ? anger (from rage)
• testa - head (from teste)
• trippari - to hop, skip (from Norman triper; but also Provençal and Catalan trepar)

The following factors that emerged during or immediately after the conquest were to prove critical in the formation of the Sicilian language:

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• The Normans brought with them not only their own French speaking kin (more than likely in quite small numbers), but mercenaries from southern Italy. In particular, these included Lombards (with their Gallo-Italic idiom) and other Italians from around Campania. The latter would bring with them the Vulgar Latin from that region, an idiom not too different from that to be found in central Italy (at the time).
• The thirty year-long war of conquest and the encouragement given to reestablishing Christianity resulted in the depopulation of Saracens in the central parts of Sicily, many of whom escaped to North Africa.
• Further migrations to settle the depopulated areas were encouraged from the mainland by Roger. In particular, Latin settlers from areas controlled by the western church. The western parts of Sicily were colonised by migrants from Campania. The central eastern parts of Sicily were colonised by settlers from the western Po valley in northern Italy (Padania) who also brought with them a Gallo-Italic idiom. After the death of Roger I, and under the regency of Adelaide during the minority of her son, Roger II (herself from northern Italy), this process of "Lombard" colonisation was intensified.

We can see above the main factors that go into framing the Sicilian language as we know it today. The Vulgar Latin base (predominantly from Campania) was similar to the Vulgar Latin in central Italy (and therefore, by implication, reasonably similar to the Vulgar Latin in Tuscany that would eventually form the base for the national language). This base from Campania was influenced by the many Gallic influences present in Sicily at the time, namely Norman, French and Langobardic. Underneath that were remnants of the Arabic and Greek idioms that the new language eventually replaced, but hundreds of words remained in the vocabulary of the new Romance language.

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Other Gallic influences

The Lombard influence is of particular interest. Even to the present day, a Siculo-Gallic dialect exists in the areas where the Lombard colonies were the strongest, namely Novara, Nicosia, Sperlinga, Aidone and Piazza Amerina. The Siculo-Gallic dialect did not survive in other major Lombard colonies, such as Randazzo, Bronte and Paternò (although they did influence the local sicilian vernacular). The Padanian influence was also felt on the Sicilian language itself, as follows:

Related Topics:
Siculo-Gallic - Novara - Nicosia - Sperlinga - Aidone - Piazza Amerina - Randazzo - Bronte - Paternò - Padania

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• soggiru - father-in-law (from suoxer)
• cugnatu - brother-in-law (from cognau)
• figghiozzu - godson (from figlioz)
• orbu - blind (from orb)
• arricintari - to rinse (from rexentar)
• unni - where (from ond)
• the names of the weeks:
• luni - Monday (from lunes)
• marti - Tuesday (from martes)
• mercuri - Wednesday (from mèrcor)
• jovi - Thursday (from juovia)
• venniri - Friday (from vènner)

The origins of another Gallic influence, that of Old Provençal, had three possible sources.

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• As mentioned above, the number of actual Normans in Sicily (from Normandy) are unlikely to have ever numbered much higher than 5,000 at any time. Their numbers were boosted by mercenaries from southern Italy, but it is also possible that mercenaries came from as far away as southern France. The Normans made San Fratello a garrison town in the early years of the occupation of the north-eastern corner of Sicily. To this day (in ever decreasing numbers) a Siculo-Gallic dialect is spoken in San Fratello that is clearly influenced by Old Provençal, leading one to the conclusion that a significant number in the garrison came from that part of France. This may well explain the dialect spoken only in San Fratello, but it does not wholly explain the diffusion of many Provençal words into the Sicilian language. On that point we are confronted with a further two possibilities.
• Some Provençal words may have entered the language during the regency of Queen Margaret between 1166 and 1171 when her son, William II of Sicily succeeded to the throne at the age of 12. The Queen's closest advisers, entourage and administrators were from the south of France, and many Provençal words entered the language during this period.
• The Sicilian School of poetry (discussed below) was stongly influenced by the Provençal of the troubadour tradition. This element is deeply imbedded in Sicilian culture, for example, the tradition of Sicilian puppetry (opira dî puppi) and the tradition of the cantastorii (literally sing stories). There is no doubt that Provençal troubadours were active during the reign of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, and that some Provençal words would have passed into the Sicilian langauge via this route.

Some examples of Sicilian words derived from Provençal:

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• addumari - to light (from allumar)
• aggrifari - to kidnap, abduct (from grifar)
• banna ? side, place (from banda)
• burgisi - landowners, citizens (from borges)
• lascu - sparse, thin, infrequent (from lasc)
• lavanca - precipice (from lavanca)
• paraggiu - equal (from paratge)

Sicilian School of Poetry

It was during the reign of Frederick II (or Frederick I of Sicily) between 1198 and 1250, with his patronage of the Sicilian School of poetry, that Sicilian became the first of the Italic idioms 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 cannot be understated in the eventual formulation of a lingua franca that was to become modern Italian. The victory of the Angevin army over the Sicilians at Benevento in 1266 not only marked the end of the 136 year Norman-Swabian reign in Sicily, it effectively ensured that the centre of literary influence would eventually move from Sicily to Tuscany. While Sicilian, as both an official and literary language would continue to exist for another two centuries, the language would soon follow the fortunes of the kingdom itself in terms of prestige and influence.

Related Topics:
Frederick II - 1198 - 1250 - Sicilian School - Literary language - Dante - Petrarch - Lingua franca - Italian - Angevin - Benevento - 1266

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As a side note, there are some Germanic influences in the Sicilian language, and many of these date back to the time of the Swabian kings (amongst which Frederick enjoyed the longest reign). Words that probably originate from this era include:

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• arbitriari - to work in the fields (from arbeit)
• vardari - to watch over (from wartên)
• guastari - to waste, use up (from wastjan)
• guddefi - forest, woods (from wald, note resemblance to anglo-saxon wudu)
• guzzuniari - to wag, as in a tail (from hutsen)
• lancedda - terracotta jug for holding water (from old High German lagella)
• salaguni - willow (from old High German salaha)
• sparagnari - to save money (from old High German sparen)

Catalan influence

Following the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, the kingdom was to come under the influence of he Aragonese, and as a result, the Catalan language would add a new layer of vocabulary in the succeeding century. For the whole of the 14th century, both Catalan and Sicilian were the official languages of the royal court. Sicilian was also used to record the proceedings of parliament (one of the oldest parliaments in Europe) and for other official purposes. While it is often difficult to determine whether a word has come to us directly from Catalan (as opposed to Provençal or Spanish), the following are likely to be such examples:

Related Topics:
Sicilian Vespers - Aragonese - Catalan language - Parliament - Europe

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• accabbari - to finish, end (from acabar)
• addunarisi - to notice, realise (from adonar-se)
• affruntarisi - to be embarassed (from afrontar-se)
• ammucciari - to hide (from amagar)
• arruciari ? to moisten, soak (from arruixar)
• criscimogna - growth, development (from creiximoni)
• muccaturi - handkerchief (from mocador)
• nzirtari - to guess (from encertar)
• priarisi - to be pleased (from prear-se)