Libyan Italian

Libyan Italian is a name given to Italian language used in North African nation of Libya.

Background

Italian is a legacy of Italian colonial period when Libya was part of Italian North Africa. Although it was the primary language since colonial rule, Italian greatly declined under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi who expelled the Italian Libyan population and Italian-educated Libyans who were opposed to Gaddafi’s rule and returned Arabic to be once again the sole official language of the country.^[1] Nevertheless, Italian is still spoken and understood to some degree by mainly some old people. After the National Transitional Council (NTC) has been responsible for the transition of the administration of the governing of Libya, returning Libyan refugees from Italy or Switzerland and their children who speak Italian introduced the language again in Libya. ^{[citation needed]}

Language characteristics

While phonology and intonation are affected by Arabic, Libyan Italian is mostly based on the standard European form. The Italian lexicon used in Libya contains many loanwords of Arabic origin, including Islamic terms. Also, Libyan Italian can be seem to resemble the form and structure of Creole based forms of European languages.

References