Sicilian language

Sicilian
Sicilianu
Native to	Italy
Region	Sicily Calabria (center and southern provinces) Campania (Cilento) Apulia (Salento)
Native speakers	4.7 million (2002)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Romance Italo-Dalmatian Sicilian
Language codes
ISO 639-2	scn
ISO 639-3	scn
Glottolog	sici1248[2]
Linguasphere	51-AAA-re & -rf (mainland 51-AAA-rc & -rd)

Sicilian (sicilianu; in Italian: Siciliano; also known as Siculo (siculu) or Calabro-Sicilian) is a Romance language spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. It is also spoken in southern and central Calabria (where it is called Southern Calabro), in the southern parts of Apulia, Salento (where it is known as Salentino), and Campania, on the Italian peninsula, where it is called Cilentano (Gordon, 2005).^[3] The Ethnologue (see below for more detail) describes Sicilian as being "distinct enough from Standard Italian to be considered a separate language" (Gordon) and is recognized as a "minority language" by UNESCO.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} Some assert that Sicilian represents the oldest Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin,^[9] but this is not a widely held view amongst linguists and is sometimes strongly criticized.^[10][11] Sicilian has the oldest literary tradition of the Italic languages.^[12]

Speakers

Sicilian is currently spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of Sicily and by emigrant populations around the world. The latter are found in the countries which attracted large numbers of Sicilian immigrants during the course of the past century or so, especially the United States, Canada, Australia and Argentina. In the past four or five decades, large numbers of Sicilians were also attracted to the industrial zones of northern Italy and indeed the rest of the European Union, especially Germany.

It is not used as an official language anywhere, even within Sicily. There is currently no central body, in Sicily or elsewhere, that regulates the language in any way. However, since its inception in 1951, the Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani in Palermo has been researching and publishing information on the Sicilian language.^[13]

The autonomous regional parliament of Sicily has legislated to encourage the teaching of Sicilian at all schools, but inroads into the education system have been slow.^[14]

The language is officially recognized in the municipal statutes of Sicilian towns, such as Caltagirone^[15] and Grammichele,^[16] in which the "inalienable historical and cultural value of the Sicilian language" is proclaimed. Further, the Sicilian language would be protected and promoted under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). However, Italy has signed this treaty, but the Italian Parliament has not ratified it.^[17]

The Sicilan language is spoken in various Sicilian American communities in both the United States and Canada (especially in Montréal, Toronto and Hamilton), and is preserved and taught through family association, church organizations and societies, as well as social and ethnic historical clubs, and even in Internet social groups^[18][19][20]

Ethnologue report on Sicilian

Other names

Alternative names of Sicilian are Calabro-Sicilian, Sicilianu, and Siculu. The term Calabro-Sicilian refers to the fact that a form of Sicilian, or a dialect closely related to Sicilian, is spoken in central and southern Calabria. Sicilianu is the name of the language in Sicily itself (Gordon).

The term "Siculu" describes one of the larger prehistoric groups living in Sicily (the Sicels or Siculi) before the arrival of Greeks in the 8th century BC (see below). It can also be used as an adjective to qualify, or further elaborate on, the origins of a person, for example: Siculo-American (siculu-miricanu) or Siculo-Australian (Gordon).

Dialects of Sicilian

As a language, Sicilian has its own dialects, in the following main groupings (Gordon and Bonner 2001):

• Western Sicilian (in Palermo, Trapani, Central-Western Agrigentino)
• Central Metafonetica (in the central part of Sicily that includes some areas of the Provinces of Caltanissetta, Messina, Enna, Palermo and Agrigento)
• Southeast Metafonetica (in the Province of Ragusa and the adjoining area within the Province of Syracuse)
• Ennese (in the province of Enna)
• Eastern Nonmetafonetica (in the area including the province of Catania, the second largest city in Sicily, and the adjoining area within the Province of Syracuse)
• Messinese (in the province of Messina, the third largest city in Sicily, and the adjoning area of the city of Reggio Calabria)
• Isole Eolie (in the Aeolian Islands)
• Pantesco (on the island of Pantelleria)
• Southern and Central Calabrian (Calabrese) (in the southern and central sections of Calabria, including the provinces of Reggio, Vibo Valentia, Catanzaro and most of Crotone)
• Southern Apulian (Pugliese) (also called Salentino, and reportedly a dialect of Sicilian on the peninsular section of Apulia)
• Cilindano (in the geographical region of Cilento in Campania)

History

Early influences

Because Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and many peoples have passed through it (Phoenicians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Ostrogoths, Byzantine Greeks, Moors, Normans, Swabians, Spaniards, Austrians, Italians), Sicilian displays the rich and varied influence of several languages on its lexical stock and grammar. Such languages include Italian, Albanian, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Norman, Lombard, Occitan, Germanic languages, Catalan, French and Spanish, 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.^[21] Ruffino 2001

Before the Roman conquest (3rd century BC), Sicily was occupied by populations considered indigenous, including Sicels (or Siculi, or Siculians—who arrived between the second and first millennia BC), Sicani, Elymians, and Morgetes, followed by Phoenicians (between the 10th and 8th centuries BC) and Greeks (from the 8th century BC). The Greek language influence remains strongly visible, while 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 Sicels were Indo-European, and their speech is likely to have been closely related to that of the Romans (Ruffino).

The following table, listing words for "twins", illustrates the difficulty linguists face in tackling the various sub-strata of the Sicilian language.(Ruffino)

Stratum	Word	Source
Modern	giameddi	Italian	gemelli
Medieval	bizzuni, vuzzuni	Norman	bessons
	binelli	Ligurian	beneli
Ancient	èmmuli	Latin	gemelli
	cucchi	Latin	copula
	minzuddi	Latin	medii
	ièmiddi, ièddimi	Ancient Greek	δίδυμοι dídymoi

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 indigenous 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 Greek (Ruffino).

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:

• 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 Gaulish languages) (Ruffino)
• ammarrari "to dam or block a canal or running water" (but also Spanish embarrar – to muddy)^[21]
• calancuni "ripples caused by a fast running river"
• calanna "landslide of rocks"
• racioppu "stalk or stem, e.g. of a fruit" (ancient Mediterranean word rak)^[21]
• timpa "crag, cliff" (Greek tymba, Latin tumba and Catalan timba) (Ruffino).

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 Sicels 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:

• dudda "mulberry" (similar to Welsh rhudd "red, crimson"; Romanian dudă^[21]
• scrozzu "not well developed" (similar to Lithuanian su-skurdes with a similar meaning and Old High German scurz "short")^[21]
• sfunnacata "multitude, vast number" (from Indo-European und / fund "water"^[21]

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):

• azziccari – "to rot, go bad (as in fruit), ruin" (from (eks) èpeson)^[21]
• 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)^[21]
• bùmmulu – "water receptacle" (from bombylos; but Latin bombyla), (Ruffino)
• cartedda – "basket" (from kartallos; but Latin cratellum), (Ruffino)
• carusu – "boy" (from kouros; but Latin carus – dear, Sanskrit caruh – amiable)
• casèntaru – "earthworm" (from gas enteron)^[21]
• cirasa – "cherry" (from kerasos; but Latin cerasum)^[21]
• cona – "icon, image, metaphor" (from eikon; but Latin icona), (Ruffino)
• cuddura – "[type of bread]" (from kollyra; but Latin collyra), (Ruffino)
• grasta – "flower pot" (from gastra; but Latin gastra), (Ruffino)
• naca – "cradle" (from nake)^[21]
• ntamari – "to stun, amaze" (from thambeo)^[21]
• pistiari – "to eat" (from apestiein)^[21]
• tuppiàri – "to knock" (from typto)^[21]

Germanic influences

From 476 to 535, the Ostrogoths ruled Sicily, although their presence apparently did not impact the Sicilian language (Ruffino). 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 rule of the 13th century, words of Germanic origin contained within the speech of 11th century Normans and Lombard settlers, and the short period of Austrian rule in the 18th century.

Arabic influence

In 535, 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 (Hull, 1989). As the power of the Byzantine Empire waned, Sicily was progressively conquered by Saracens from North Africa (Ifriqiya), from the mid 9th to mid 10th centuries, and remained there long enough to develop a distinctive local dialect of Arabic, Siculo-Arabic (at present extinct in Sicily but surviving in the Maltese language). Its influence is noticeable in around 300 Sicilian words, most of which relate to agriculture and related activities (Hull and Ruffino). This is understandable because of the Arab Agricultural Revolution; the Saracens introduced to Sicily their advanced irrigation and farming techniques and a new range of crops, nearly all of which remain endemic to the island to this day.

Some words of Arabic origin:

• azzizzari – "to embellish" (عزيز ʿazīz "precious, beautiful")^[21]
• babbaluciu – "snail" (from babus; but Greek βουβαλάκιον)^[21]
• burnia – "jar" (برنية burniya; but Latin hirnea)^[21]
• cafisu – "measure for liquids" (قافز qāfiz)^[21]
• cassata – "Sicilian ricotta cake" (قشطة qishṭah, chiefly North African; but Latin caseata – something made from cheese)^[21]
• gèbbia – artificial pond to store water for irrigation (جابية jābiya)^[21]
• giuggiulena – "sesame seed" (giulgiulan)^[21]
• mafia –" swagger, boldness/bravado" (from mahyas "aggressive boasting, bragging", or from مرفود marfud "rejected")^[22]
• ràisi – "leader" (ريس raʾīs)^[21]
• saia – "canal" (from ساقية sāqiya)^[21]
• zaffarana – "saffron, type of plant whose flowers are used for medicinal purposes and in Sicilian cooking" (from زعفران zafrān)
• zagara – "blossom" (زهرة zahrah)
• zibbibbu – "type of dried grape" (زبيب zabīb)^[21]
• zuccu – "market" (from سوق sūq; but Aragonese soccu and Spanish zoque)^[21]
• Bibbirria, the northern gate of Agrigento (باب الرياح bāb al-riyāḥ "Gate of the Winds").^[23]

Throughout the Islamic epoch of Sicilian history, a large Greek-speaking population remained on the island and continued to use the Greek language, or most certainly a variant of Greek influenced by Arabic (Hull). 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 Islamic epoch, there is much debate as to the influence it had (if any) on the development of the Sicilian language, following the re-Latinisation of Sicily (discussed in the next section). There are few Sicilian words reflecting an archaic Latin form (as may be found, for example, in Sardinian or Romanian ), so the influence may have been minor (Hull). However, some forms do exist, so the tantalising prospect of a Sicilian form of a Vulgar Latin surviving the Islamic period and influencing the modern development of Sicilian remains open (as already mentioned, Privitera puts forward the radical proposition that medieval Sicilian descends directly from a form of Vulgar Latin that survived throughout the Byzantine and Islamic periods).

These are some words of Latin origin that may have survived the Islamic epoch:

• antura – "a while ago" (from ante oram – an hour ago)^[21]
• asciari – "to find" (from afflare, cf. Spanish "hallar", to find)^[21]
• bìfara – "to fruit twice yearly, large-green fig" (from bifera)^[21]
• filìnia – "cobweb" (from filum, line, strand)^[21]
• oggiallanu or ovannu – "last year" (from hodie est annus).

Linguistic developments in the Middle Ages

By 1000 AD, the whole of what is today southern Italy, including Sicily, was a complex mix of small states and principalities, languages and religions (Hull). The whole of Sicily was controlled by Saracens, at the elite level, but the general population remained predominantly Christian. There were also Muslim immigrants from North Africa (Ifriqiya). The far south of the Italian peninsula was part of the Byzantine empire although many communities were reasonably independent of Constantinople. The principality of Salerno was controlled by Lombards (or Langobards), who had also started to make some incursions into Byzantine territory and had managed to establish some isolated independent city-states (Norwich 1992). It was into this climate that the Normans thrust themselves with increasing numbers during the first half of the 11th century.

Norman and 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), (Norwich). In the process, the revitalization of Latin in Sicily had begun, along with the marginalization of Islam (the Christian faith continued among the general population during the Saracen period, and it was only the ruling Muslim elite who were adherents of Islam, not the ordinary Sicilians themselves) and subsequent gradual expulsion of the Muslims ended in 1240. Many Normand words were to be absorbed by the new language during this period:

• accattari – "to buy" (Normand acater), (Ruffino). Normand acater ≠ OF achater
• ammuntuari/ammuntuvari – "to mention, nominate" (Normand mentevoir).^[21] Mentevoir is a Modern French form, Old French and Norman have only menteveir and menteivre. Normand retains ei everywhere and never developed the French oi. Compare E veil / French voile, etc.
• appujari – "to support" (French appuyer) (Pietrocola)
• bucceri (vucceri) – "butcher" (from OF bouchier), (Hull)
• custureri – "tailor" (OF cousturier; Modern French couturier), (Hull)
• firranti – "grey" (from ferrant).^[21] French ferrant means "riming or tipping with iron" from the verb ferrer
• foddi – "mad" (OF fol), (Hull)
• giugnettu – "July" (OF juignet), (Hull)
• ladiu or laiu – "ugly" (laid), (Hull)
• largasìa – "generosity" (largesse)^[21]
• puseri – "thumb" (poucier), (Hull). In French poucier is a "finger protection" (recorded for the first time in 1530). Thumb is pouce in French from OF pouz, pouce
• racina – "grape" (raisin), (Hull)
• raggia – "anger" (rage)^[21]
• travagghiari – "to work" (travailler) (Pietrocola) ≠ Norman travaler, traveler > Anglo-Norman traveler > E travel)
• trippari – "to hop, skip" (Normand triper)^[21]

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

• The Normans brought with them not only their own Norman-speaking kin (more than likely in quite small numbers) but also mercenaries from mainland Italy. In particular, they included Lombards with their Gallo-Italic language, ancestral to the modern Friulian language) and other Italians from around Campania. The latter would bring with them the Vulgar Latin from that region, a language not too different from that to be found in central Italy at the time (Hull).
• The thirty-year-long war of conquest and the eradication of Islam resulted in the depopulation of Saracens in most parts of Sicily, most of whom escaped back to North Africa (Hull, 1989 and Norwich; Abulafia; Nef).
• Further migrations to settle the depopulated areas were encouraged from the mainland by Roger; in particular, Italian settlers from areas controlled by the Catholic Church. The western parts of Sicily were colonised by migrants from Campania, and the central-eastern parts by settlers from the western Po Valley in northern Italy, who also brought with them a Gallo-Italic language. After the death of Roger I and under the regency of Adelaide del Vasto during the minority of her son, Roger II (herself from Northern Italy), the process of Italian colonisation from mainland Italy was intensified (Hull and Norwich).

The main factors that go into framing modern Sicilian language can be seen. 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. There were also remnants of Arabic and Greek that the new language eventually replaced, but hundreds of words remained in the vocabulary of the changing Romance language.

Other Gallic influences

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

• sòggiru – father-in-law (from suoxer)
• cugnatu – brother-in-law (from cognau)
• figghiozzu – godson (from figlioz)
• orbu and orvu – blind (from orb)
• arricintari – to rinse (from rexentar)
• unni – where (from ond)
• the names of the days of the week:
  • luni – Monday (from lunes)
  • marti – Tuesday (from martes)
  • mèrcuri – Wednesday (from mèrcor)
  • jovi – Thursday (from juovia)
  • vènniri – Friday (from vènner)

The origins of another Romance influence, that of Old Occitan, had three possible sources:

1. As mentioned above, the number of actual Normans in Sicily is unlikely to have ever numbered much higher than 5,000 at any time. They were boosted by mercenaries from southern Italy, but it is possible also 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 northeastern 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 Occitan, which leads to the conclusion that a significant number in the garrison came from that part of France.^[24] This may well explain the dialect spoken only in San Fratello, but it does not wholly explain the diffusion of many Occitan words into the Sicilian language. On that point, there are two other possibilities:
2. Some Occitan words may have entered the language during the regency of Margaret of Navarre between 1166 and 1171, when her son, William II of Sicily, succeeded to the throne at the age of 12. Her closest advisers, entourage and administrators were from the south of France (Norwich), and many Occitan words entered the language during this period.
3. The Sicilian School of poetry was strongly influenced by the Occitan of the troubadour tradition.^[25] This element is deeply embedded in Sicilian culture: for example, the tradition of Sicilian puppetry (opira dî puppi) and the tradition of the cantastorii (literally sing stories). Occitan troubadours were active during the reign of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, and some Occitan words would have passed into the Sicilian language via this route.

Some examples of Sicilian words derived from Occitan:

• addumari – to light (from allumar); but also "to turn something on"
• aggrifari – to kidnap, abduct (from grifar)^[21]
• banna – side, place (from banda)^[21]
• burgisi – landowners, citizens (from borges)
• lascu – sparse, thin, infrequent (from lasc)^[21]
• lavanca and allavanca – precipice (from lavanca)^[21]
• paraggiu – equal (from paratge)^[21]

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, that Sicilian became the first of the Italic languages to be used as a literary language.^[25] 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. 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 but also effectively ensured that the centre of literary influence would eventually move from Sicily to Tuscany.^[25] While Sicilian, as both an official and a 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.

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 whom Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor enjoyed the longest reign). It should be noted that many of the below words are "reintroductions" of Latin words (also found in modern Italian) that were Germanicized at some point (e.g. "Vastare" in Latin to^[26] "guastare" in modern Italian). Words that probably originate from this era include:

• arbitriari – to work in the fields (from arbeit)^[21]
• vardari – to watch over (from wartên)^[21]
• guastari or vastari – to waste, use up (from wastjan)
• guddefi – forest, woods (from wald, note resemblance to Anglo-Saxon wudu)^[21]
• guzzuniari – to wag, as in a tail (from hutsen)^[21]
• lancedda – terracotta jug for holding water (from Old High German lagella)^[21]
• salaguni – willow (from Old High German salaha)
• sparagnari – to save money (from Old High German sparen)^[21]

Catalan influence

Following the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, the kingdom was to come under the influence of the Kingdom of Aragon (Runciman 1958), and so the Catalan language (and the closely related Aragonese) 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.^[27] Sicilian was also used to record the proceedings of the parliament of Sicily (one of the oldest parliaments in Europe) and for other official purposes.^[28] 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:

• accabbari – to finish, end (from acabar)
• addunarisi – to notice, realise (from adonar-se)^[21]
• affruntarisi – to be embarrassed (from afrontar-se)^[21]
• ammucciari – to hide (from amagar)
• arruciari – to moisten, soak (from arruixar)^[21]
• criscimogna – growth, development (from creiximoni)^[21]
• muccaturi – handkerchief (from mocador)
• nzirtari – to guess (from encertar)
• priàrisi – to be pleased (from prear-se)^[21]
• taliàri – to look at somebody/something. (from talaiar; but Arab tali'a).

Spanish period to the modern age

By the time the crowns of Castille and Aragon were united in the late 15th century, the Italianisation of written Sicilian in the parliamentary and court records had commenced. By 1543 this process was virtually complete, with the Tuscan dialect of Italian becoming the lingua franca of the Italian peninsula and supplanting written Sicilian.^[28]

Spanish rule had hastened this process in two important ways:

• Unlike the Aragonese, almost immediately the Spanish placed viceroys on the Sicilian throne. In a sense, the diminishing prestige of the Sicilian kingdom reflected the decline of Sicilian from an official, written language to eventually a spoken language amongst predominantly illiterates.
• The expulsion of all Jews from Spanish dominions ca. 1492 altered the population of Sicily. Not only did the population decline, many of whom were involved in important industries, but some of these Jewish families had been in Sicily for around 1,500 years, and Sicilian was their native language which they used in their schools. Thus the seeds of a possible broad-based education system utilising books written in Sicilian was lost.

Spanish rule lasted over three centuries (not counting the Aragonese and Bourbon periods on either side) and had a significant influence on the Sicilian vocabulary. The following words are of Spanish derivation:

• arricugghirisi – to return home; (from recogerse; but Catalan recollir-se)
• balanza – scales (from balanza)^[21]
• fileccia – arrow (from flecha)^[21]
• làstima – lament, annoyance (from lástima)^[21]
• pignata – pan (from pinada)
• pinzèddu – brush (from pincel)^[21]
• ricivu – receipt (from recibo)^[21]
• spagnari – to be frightened ( cross over of Sic. appagnari with Sp. espantarse)^[21]
• spatari – to impede or disarm someone of his sword (from espadar)^[21]
• sulità or sulitati – solitude (from soledad)^[21]

Since the Italian Unification (the Risorgimento of 1860–1861), the Sicilian language has been significantly influenced by (Tuscan) Italian. Mussolini ensured this when he made it obligatory that Italian be taught and spoken in all schools during his time in power. This process has quickened since World War II due to improving educational standards and the impact of mass media, such that increasingly, even within the family home, Sicilian is not necessarily the language of choice. The Sicilian Regional Assembly voted to make the teaching of Sicilian a part of the school curriculum at primary school level, but as of 2007 only a fraction of schools teach Sicilian. There is also little in the way of mass media offered in Sicilian. The combination of these factors means that the Sicilian language continues to adopt Italian vocabulary and grammatical forms to such an extent that many Sicilians themselves cannot distinguish between correct and incorrect Sicilian language usage.

Distinguishing features of Sicilian

Characteristic sounds

• Sicilian has a number of consonant sounds that, though not unique to Sicilian, certainly set it apart from the other major Romance languages. The most unusual sounds include, but are not limited to, the retroflex consonants or cacuminals.^[29]
• DD — The -ll- sound (in words of Latin origin, for example) manifests itself in Sicilian as a voiced retroflex stop with the tip of the tongue curled up and back, a sound rare in the Romance languages. In standard literary Sicilian, this sound is written simply as -dd- (but can also be found written ḍḍ, ddh or ddr). The sound itself is not /d/ but rather [ɖ]. For example, the Italian word bello [ˈbɛllo] is beddu [ˈbɛɖɖʊ] in Sicilian. This sound [ɖɖ] also evolved from Latin -ll- in Sardinian and (to an extent) Asturian.
• DR, TR — The Sicilian pronunciation of the digraphs -tr- and -dr- as /ʈ͡ʂ/ and /ɖ͡ʐ/.
• RR — The consonant cluster -rr- is a voiced retroflex sibilant (/ʐ/ according to IPA notation). At the beginning of a word, the single letter -r- is similarly always pronounced double, though this is not indicated orthographically. Therefore, the -rr- sound heard in the words riccu and terra is similar to the 'zh' sound in English vision or the 'j' sound in French jour. This phenomenon, however, does not include words that include an 'r' resulting from rhotacism (renti from denti) or assimilation (ranni from granni). This innovation is also found under slightly different circumstances in Polish, where it is spelled rz, and in some Northern Norwegian dialects, where speaker vary between /ʐ/ and [ɹ̝].
• STR — The trigraph -str- in Sicilian is /ʂː/. The t is not pronounced at all and there is a faint whistle between the s and the r.^[29] An example of this trigraph is the shr sound heard in English shred.
• Latin FL — The other unique Sicilian sound is found in those words that have been derived from Latin words containing -fl-. In standard literary Sicilian, the sound is rendered as ci (representing the voiceless palatal fricative /ç/), e.g. ciumi [ˈçuːmɪ], but can also be found in written form as hi, sci, x or çi.^[29]
• Sicilian vowel system. Unlike the seven vowels of Vulgar Latin and many modern Romance languages, the Sicilian vowel system only includes five: a /a/, è /ɛ/, i /i/, ò /ɔ/, u /u/. This results in the unstressed vowel o of Latin becoming an unstressed u [ʊ] in Sicilian (Hull). This causes the vowel u to have a far greater presence than the vowel o in Sicilian, whereas the opposite is true in other Romance languages such as Spanish and Italian (notwithstanding the conservative nature of Sicilian, which retains the vowel u of the Latin stems -us and -um), although it is somewhat like Portuguese, where such unstressed vowels are pronounced like in Sicilian but spelled like in Spanish. Likewise, the unstressed vowel e of Latin becomes unstressed vowel i [ɪ] in Sicilian. As a result, the vowel i has a much greater presence than vowel e in Sicilian. In addition, one will never find a Sicilian word ending in the unaccented vowels e or o, with the exception of monosyllabic conjunctions. Due to the influence of Italian in the media after World War II, as well as the recent influx of English terminology related to technology and globalization, there is an increasing number of words entering the Sicilian lexicon that do not adhere to the Sicilian vowel system. However, the future of these borrowings is uncertain because Sicilian has always Sicilianized foreign loanwords over time in the past.
• Consonantal lenition — A further range of consonantal sound shifts occurred between the Vulgar Latin introduced to the island following Norman rule and the subsequent development of the Sicilian language. These sound shifts include: Latin -nd- to Sicilian -nn-; Latin -mb- to Sicilian -mm-; Latin -pl- to Sicilian -chi-; and Latin -li- to Sicilian -gghi-.^[30]
• Rhotacism — This transformation is characterized by the substitution of d by r. At first glance, this substitution may appear odd, but the r in question in Sicilian is produced by a single flap of the tongue against the upper alveolar ridge, and this actually sounds like a kind of d sound. This phenomenon is known as rhotacism, that is, the substitution of r for another consonant, and it is commonly found both in Eastern Sicilian and Western Sicilian. It can occur internally, or it can affect initial d. Examples : Pedi (foot) is pronounced -peri-; Madonna ( The Virgin Mary) is pronounced -Maronna-; Diri (to say) is pronounced -riri-.^[31]

Gemination and contractions

Rarely indicated in writing, spoken Sicilian exhibits syntactic gemination or raddoppiamento,^[29] which means that the first consonant of a word is lengthened when it is preceded by a vowel in the preceding word, e.g. è bonu [ˌɛbˈbɔːnʊ].

The letter j at the start of a word can have three separate sounds, depending on what precedes the word.^[29] For instance, in jornu (day), the j is pronounced [j] as in English y, [ˈjɔɾnʊ]. However, after a nasal consonant, it is pronounced [ɡ] as in un jornu, [uŋˈɡɔɾnʊ]. Tri jorna (three days) is pronounced [ˌʈ͡ʂiɡˈɡjɔɾna], the j becoming [ɡj] (like English gu in "argue"), after a vowel.

Another difference between the written and spoken languages is the extent to which contractions will occur in everyday speech. Thus a common expression such as avemu accattari... (we have to go and buy...) will generally be reduced to amâ 'ccattari when talking to family and friends (Bonner).

The circumflex is commonly used in denoting a wide range of contractions in the written language, in particular, the joining of simple prepositions and the definite article. Examples: di lu = dû (of the), a lu = ô (to the), pi lu = pû (for the), nta lu = ntô (in the), etc. (Bonner).

Gender and the formation of plurals

Generally speaking, Sicilian has the same ending for feminine nouns (and their adjectives) as most Romance languages, that being the /a/, for example: casa (house), porta (door), carta (paper), but there are exceptions to this rule, for example, soru (sister), ficu (fig). The ending for masculine nouns is /u/, for example: omu (man), libbru (book), nomu (name). The ending i can be either masculine or feminine, as can e.

Unlike standard Italian, Sicilian uses one letter, i, to denote the plural for both masculine and feminine nouns, for example: casi (houses), porti (doors), tàuli (tables). There are also many exceptions to this rule which are not always shared by Italian, for example: òmini (men), libbra (books), jorna (days), jòcura (games), manu (hand/hands), vrazza (arms), jardìna (gardens), scrittura (writers), signa (signs), etc. (Bonner).

Omission of initial Latin "i"

In the vast majority of instances where the originating Latin word has had an initial "i", the Sicilian has dropped it completely. This can also happen occasionally where there was once an initial "e", and to a lesser extent "a" and "o". Examples: mpurtanti "important", gnuranti "ignorant", nimicu "enemy", ntirissanti "interesting", llustrari "to illustrate", mmàggini "image", cona "icon", Miricanu "American". (Camilleri 1998).

Verb "to have"

Sicilian only has one auxiliary verb, aviri "to have".

Aviri is also used to denote obligation (e.g. avi a jiri [ˌaːvjaɡˈɡiːɾi] '[he/she] has to go').

It is also used to form the future tense, as Sicilian no longer has a synthetic future tense. For example: avi a cantari '[he/she] will sing' ([ˌaːvjakkanˈtaːɾɪ] or [ˌaːwakkanˈdaːɾɪ], depending on the dialect). This use of aviri is an ancient feature that is also found in Sardinian. (Bonner).

Verb "to go" and the periphrastic future

Like French, Spanish, and English, but unlike Italian, Sicilian may use the verb jiri, to go, to signify the act of being about to do something. Vaiu a cantari (pronounced [ˌvaːjwakkanˈtaːɾɪ]) "I'm going to sing", literally "I go to sing." In this way, jiri + a + infinitive can also be a way to form the simple future construction (Bonner).

Tenses and moods

The main conjugations in Sicilian are illustrated below with the verb èssiri, "to be".^[30]

Infinitive	èssiri / siri
Gerund	essennu / sennu
Past participle	statu
Indicative	eu/do/ju	tu	iddu	nuàutri	vuàutri	iddi
Present	sugnu	sì	esti / è	semu	siti	sunnu / sù
Imperfect	era	eri	era	èramu	èravu	èranu
Preterite	fui	fusti	fu	fomu	fùstivu	foru
Future1	—	—	—	—	—	—
Conditional2	ju	tu	iddu	nuàutri	vuàutri	iddi
	fora	fori	fora	fòramu	fòravu	fòranu
Subjunctive	ju	tu	iddu	nuàutri	vuàutri	iddi
Present	sia	si / fussi	sia	siamu	siati	sianu
Imperfect	fussi	fussi	fussi	fùssimu	fùssivu	fùssiru
Imperative	—	tu	vassìa3	—	vuàutri	—
	—	sì	fussi	—	siti	—

1. The synthetic future is no longer in use; instead, the following methods are used to express the future:

1) use of the present indicative, usually preceded by an adverb of time:

Stasira vaiu ô tiatru — "This evening I go to the theatre"; or, using a similar English construction, "This evening I am going to the theatre"

Dumani ti scrivu — "Tomorrow I [will] write to you."

2) use of a compound form consisting of the appropriate conjugation of aviri a ("have to") in combination with the infinitive form of the verb in question:

Stasira haju a gghìri/ìri ô tiatru — "This evening I will [/must] go to the theatre."

Dumani t'haju a scrìviri — "Tomorrow I will [/must] write to you."

In speech, the contracted forms of aviri often come into play:

haju a → /hâ/hê; hai a → hâ, havi a → havâ, avemu a → hamâ; aviti a → hatâ

Dumani t'hâ scrìviri — "Tomorrow I will [/must] write to you" (Bonner).

2. The synthetic conditional has also fallen into disuse. The conditional has two tenses:

1) The present conditional, which is replaced by either:

i) the present indicative:

Cci chiamu si tu mi duni lu sò nùmmaru — "I [would] call her if you [would] give me her number", or

ii) the imperfect subjunctive:

Cci chiamassi si tu mi dassi lu sò nùmmaru — "I'd call her if you would give me her number"; and

2) the past conditional, which is replaced by the pluperfect subjunctive:

Cci avissi jutu si tu m'avissi dittu [/diciutu] unni esti / e — "I'd have gone if you would have told me where it is"

Note that in a hypothetical statement, both tenses are replaced by the imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive:

Si fussi riccu m'accattassi nu palazzu — "If I were rich I would buy a palace"

S'avissi travagghiatu nun avissi patutu la misèria — "If I had worked I wouldn't have suffered the misery" (Bonner 2001).

3. The 2nd-person singular (polite) of the imperative does not follow the same pattern as the rest of the tense. The 2nd-person singular and plural employ the present indicative in place of the imperative, while the 2nd-person singular (polite), because of its formality, employs the present subjunctive, which makes it less of a command and more of a request.

Examples of the written language

A range of extracts are offered below to illustrate the written form of Sicilian over the last few centuries, starting with a translation of the Lord's Prayer (Bonner), through to extracts from three of Sicily's more celebrated poets: Antonio Veneziano, Giovanni Meli and Nino Martoglio. The Lord's Prayer is written with three variations: a standard literary form from the island of Sicily, a southern Calabrian literary form and a southern Apulian literary form.

Lu Patri Nostru

Sicilian (Sicily)	Calabro-sicilian (southern Calabria)	Salentino (southern Apulia, around Lecce)	Italian	Latin
Patri nostru, ca siti ntrô celu,	Patri nuastru ca siti 'ndu cialu	Sire nesciu ca stai an cielu	Padre nostro, che sei nei cieli,	Pater noster, qui es in caelis,
Santificatu fussi lu Vostru nomu.	Fussa santificatu u nomi tua.	Cu'bbessa santificatu lu nume tou.	Sia santificato il tuo nome.	Sanctificetur nomen tuum.
Viatu vinissi lu Vostru regnu.	Vinissa u riagnu tua.	Cu'bbegna 'mprima lu regnu tou.	Venga il tuo regno.	Adveniat regnum tuum.
Fatta fussi la Vostra Vuluntati	Fussa sempi fatta a vostra vuluntà	Cu'bbessa sempre fatta la Vuluntate toa	Sia fatta la tua volontà	Fiat voluntas tua
Comu ntrô celu accussì ntra terra.	Cumu 'ndu cialu acccusì 'nda terra.	Comu an cielu cussì an terra.	Come in cielo così in terra.	Sicut in caelo et in terra.
Dàtini sta jurnata lu nostru panuzzu,	Dani goi u nuastru pani quotidianu,	Dànnilu osce lu pane quotidianu nesciu,	Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano,	Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,
E pirdunàtini li nostri piccati	E pirdunani i nuastri piccati	E perdunanni li peccati nesci	E rimetti a noi i nostri debiti	Et dimitte nobis debita nostra
Accussì comu nuiàtri li pirdunemu ê nostri nìmici.	Cumu nui i rimintimu ari nuastri debbitori.	Cussì comu nui li rimentimu a li nemici nesci.	Come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori.	Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
E nun lassàtini cascari ntrâ tintazzioni,	E non ni ndurri ndâ tendazziuna,	E nu' lassare cu cadimu 'n tentazzione,	E non ci indurre in tentazione,	Et ne nos inducas in tentationem,
Ma scanzàtini dû Mali.	Ma libbirini du Mali.	Ma 'lléandenni te lu male.	Ma liberaci dal male.	Sed libera nos a malo.
Amen.	Amen.	Amen.	Amen.	Amen.

Extract from Antonio Veneziano

Celia, Lib. 2

(ca. 1575–1580)

Sicilian	Italian	English
Non è xhiamma ordinaria, no, la mia,	No, la mia non è fiamma ordinaria,	No, mine is no ordinary flame,
è xhiamma chi sul'iu tegnu e rizettu,	è una fiamma che sol'io possiedo e controllo,	it's a flame that only I possess and control,
xhiamma pura e celesti, ch'ardi 'n mia;	una fiamma pura e celeste che dientro di me cresce;	a pure celestial flame that in me grows;
per gran misteriu e cu stupendu effettu.	da un grande mistero e con stupendo effetto.	by a great mystery and with great effect.
Amuri, 'ntentu a fari idulatria,	l'Amore, desiderante d'adorare icone,	Love, wanting to worship idols,
s'ha novamenti sazerdoti elettu;	è diventato sacerdote un'altra volta;	has once again become a high priest;
tu, sculpita 'ntra st'alma, sìa la dia;	tu, scolpita dentro quest'anima, sei la dea;	you, sculpted in this soul, are the goddess;
sacrifiziu lu cori, ara stu pettu.	il mio cuore è la vittima, il mio seno è l'altare.	my heart is the victim, my breast is the altar.

(sourced directly from Arba Sicula Volume II, 1980)

Extract from Giovanni Meli

Don Chisciotti e Sanciu Panza (Cantu quintu)

(~1790)

Sicilian	English
Stracanciatu di notti soli jiri;	Disguised he roams at night alone;
S'ammuccia ntra purtuni e cantuneri;	Hiding in any nook and cranny;
cu vacabunni ci mustra piaciri;	he enjoys the company of vagabonds;
poi lu so sbiu sunnu li sumeri,	however, donkeys are his real diversion,
li pruteggi e li pigghia a ben vuliri,	he protects them and looks after all their needs,
li tratta pri parenti e amici veri;	treating them as real family and friends;
siccomu ancora è n'amicu viraci	since he remains a true friend
di li bizzarri, capricciusi e audaci.	of all who are bizarre, capricious and bold.[32]

Extract from Nino Martoglio

Briscula 'n Cumpagni

(~1900; trans: A game of Briscula amongst friends)

Sicilian	Italian	English
— Càrricu, mancu? Cca cc'è 'n sei di spati!...	— Nemmeno un carico? Qui c'è un sei di spade!...	— A high card perhaps? Here's the six of spades!...
— E chi schifiu è, di sta manera?	— Ma che schifo, in questo modo?	— What is this rubbish you're playing?
Don Peppi Nnappa, d'accussì jucati?	Signor Peppe Nappa,[33] ma giocate così?	Who taught you to play this game?
— Massari e scecchi tutta 'a tistera,	— Messere e asino con tutti i finimenti,	— My dear gentlemen and donkeys with all your finery,
comu vi l'haju a diri, a vastunati,	come ve lo devo dire, forse a bastonate,	as I have repeatedly told you till I'm blue in the face,
ca mancu haju sali di salera!	che non ho nemmeno il sale per la saliera!	I ain't got nothing that's even worth a pinch a salt!

(Martoglio 1993)

Influences on the Italian language

As one of the most-spoken languages of Italy, Sicilian has notably influenced the Italian lexicon. In fact, there are several Sicilian words that are nowadays part of the Italian language; they usually refer to things closely associated to Sicilian culture, with some notable exceptions (Zingarelli 2007):

• arancino (from arancinu): arancino, a Sicilian cuisine specialty;
• canestrato (from ncannistratu): a cheese typical of Sicily;
• cannolo (from cannolu): cannolo, a Sicilian pastry;
• cannolicchio (from cannulicchiu): razor-clam;
• carnezzeria (from carnizzaria): butcher's shop;
• caruso (from carusu): boy;
• cassata: cassata, a Sicilian pastry;
• cirneco (from cirnecu): a small breed of dogs common in Sicily;
• cosca: a small group of criminals affiliated to the Sicilian mafia;
• curatolo (from curatulu): watchman in a farm, with a yearly contract;
• dammuso (from dammusu): stony habitation typical of the island of Pantelleria;
• intrallazzo (from ntrallazzu): illegal exchange of goods or favours, but in a wider sense also cheat, intrigue;
• marranzano (from marranzanu): Jew's harp;
• marrobbio (from marrubbiu): quick variation of sea level produced by a store of water in the coasts as a consequence of either wind action or an atmospheric depression;
• minchia: penis in its original meaning, but also stupid person, is also widely used as interjection to show either astonishment or rage;
• picciotto (from picciottu): young man, but also the lowest grade in the Mafia hierarchy;
• pizzino (from pizzinu): small piece of paper;
• pizzo (from pizzu): literally meaning beak in Sicilian, it is protection money paid to the Mafia; it comes from the saying fari vagnari a pizzu (to wet one's beak).
• quaquaraquà: person devoid of value, nonentity; (onomatopoeia?; "the duck wants a say")
• scasare (from scasari): to leave en masse (means literally to move home);
• stidda (it.: stella): lower Mafia organization.

Language situation today

Sicily

Sicilian is estimated to have 5,000,000 speakers.^[34] However, it remains very much a home language spoken among peers and close associates. Regional Italian has encroached on Sicilian, most evidently in the speech of the younger generations.

Poets in Sicily sometimes write in Sicilian. However, most speakers (especially the youngest ones) are literate just in Italian, not Sicilian; this implies a poor knowledge of the written language in all its formal grammar and spelling rules, in contrast to a still-wide diffusion of informal spoken Sicilian in the island.

The education system does not support the language. Local universities do not carry courses in Sicilian, or where they do it is described as dialettologia, that is, the study of dialects.

Diaspora

Outside Sicily, there is an extensive Sicilian diaspora living in several major cities across South and North America, as well as other parts of Europe and Australia. Many descendants of Sicilians who emigrated to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s believed that their ancestors spoke 'Italian'. Some are rudely disarmed of that belief if they visit mainland Italy and receive quizzical stares when they speak archaic Sicilian to standard Italian speakers. Today, the Sicilian language is spoken to varying extents within families and communities; however, it has neither a recognized status nor programmes established to preserve the language. Most Sicilians abroad are bi- or trilingual with Sicilian, Standard Italian and/or the host country language, be it English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese. The Sicilian-American organization Arba Sicula publishes stories, poems and essays, in Sicilian and in the corresponding English, in an effort to preserve the Sicilian language.

Media

The movie La Terra Trema (1948) is in Sicilian, using many local, non-professional actors.

Other words/phrases

English	Sicilian	Pronunciation
to make a good impression	fà[ci]ri na bedda fiùra	['fari nab'bɛɖːa fj'ura]
wine	vinu	['vinu]
man	òmu	['ɔmu]
woman	fìmmina	['fimmɪna]
the other side	dabbanna	[ɖːa' bbanna]
there	da	['ɖːa]
right there	ddocu	['ɖːɔku]
you (formal)	vossìa	[vɔsˈsja]
be careful!	accura!	[akˈkura]
he, him	iddu	['iɖːu]
she, her	idda	['iɖːa]
he who pays before seeing the goods gets cheated (literally "who pays before, eat smelly fish")	cu paja prima, mancia li pisci fitùsi	[ku'paja 'prima 'maŋtʃa li'piʃʃɪ fɪˈtusɪ]

See also

• Sicilian School
• Siculo-Arabic

Notes

References

External links

Sicilian edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sicilian language.

• (in Sicilian) www.linguasiciliana.org
• (in Italian) www.linguasiciliana.it
• Arba Sicula A non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving the Sicilian language