The termdiaspora language, coined in the 1980s,[1] is asociolinguistic idea referring to a variety oflanguages spoken by peoples with common roots who have dispersed, under various pressures and often globally. The emergence and evolution of a diaspora language is usually part of a larger attempt to retain cultural identity.
Though possessing certain elements ofSlavic languages,Molise Slavic is also influenced byItalian.[2] Considered anendangered language, Molise Slavic is spoken by approximately 3,500 people in the villages ofMontemitro,San Felice del Molise, andAcquaviva Collecroce in southern Molise, as well as elsewhere in southernItaly. The language developed as a result of refugees arriving in Italy from the easternAdriatic coast during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Another diaspora language isIstro-Romanian, spoken by theIstro-Romanians.[3] Like Molise Slavic, it is considered endangered, with only 500 to 1000 speakers remaining. Istro-Romanian developed when the ancestors of these individuals migrated to Istria fromTransylvania (some saySerbia) during the 12th century.
Griko language (endonym:Griko/Γκρίκο), sometimes spelled Grico, is one of the two dialects ofItaliot Greek (the other beingCalabrian Greek orGrecanico), spoken byGriko people inSalento,province of Lecce, Italy.[4][5][6][7][8] Some Greek linguists consider it to be aModern Greek dialect and often call itKatoitaliótika (Greek:Κατωιταλιώτικα,lit. 'Southern Italian') orGrekanika (Γραικάνικα). Griko andStandard Modern Greek are partiallymutually intelligible.[9] The Griko language is the last living trace of the Greek elements that once formed Magna Graecia.[10]
Varieties ofGallo-Italic languages are also found inSicily,[11] corresponding with the central-eastern parts of the island that received large numbers of immigrants from Northern Italy, calledLombards, during the decades following theNorman conquest of Sicily (around 1080 to 1120). Given the time that has lapsed and the influence from theSicilian language itself, these dialects are best generically described asSouthern Gallo-Italic. The major centres where these dialects can still be heard today includePiazza Armerina,Aidone,Sperlinga,San Fratello,Nicosia, andNovara di Sicilia. Northern Italian dialects did not survive in some towns in theprovince of Catania that developed largeLombard communities during this period, namelyRandazzo,Paternò andBronte. However, the Northern Italian influence in the local varieties of Sicilian are marked. In the case of San Fratello, some linguists suggested that the nowadays dialect hasProvençal as its basis, having been a fort manned by Provençal mercenaries in the early decades of the Norman conquest (bearing in mind that it took the Normans 30 years to conquer the whole of the island).
Other dialects, attested from 13th and 14th century, are also found inBasilicata,[11] more precisely in the province ofPotenza (Tito,Picerno,Pignola andVaglio Basilicata),Trecchina,Rivello,Nemoli andSan Costantino.[12]
Arbëresh language (gluha/gjuha/gjufa Arbëreshe; also known as Arbërisht) are theAlbanianlinguistic varieties spoken by theArbëreshë people ofItaly, brought there by several migratory waves ofAlbanians fromAlbania andGreece since theLate Middle Ages. Arbëresh varieties are derived from the oldTosk Albanian varieties spoken in the south-westernBalkans, and throughout the centuries they have developed in Italy in contact with the neighboringItalo-Romance speaking communities.[13][14] Other Tosk Albanian varieties from the Late Middle Ages referred to asArvanitika (endonym:arbërisht) are spoken inGreece by theArvanites.E Mbësuame e Krështerë (1592) byLuca Matranga fromPiana degli Albanesi is the earliest knownOld Tosk text, a translation of acatechism book fromLatin.
The Arbëreshë people are bilingual, also speaking Italian.[15] Arbëresh is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. While Italian law protects the language and culture of the Albanian people in Italy,[16] the language taught at school and university is Standard Albanian, constituting an issue for the Arbëresh communities' preservation of their native idiom, which has remained separated from the main Albanian-speaking compact area for around 500 years. Alongside the fact that Arbëresh is rarely written, another issue for thelanguage attrition is the differentiation between the Albanian varieties used in Italy: the Arbëresh local idioms in some areas are so different from each other that Arbëresh people of those areas use Italian or Standard Albanian aslingua franca to communicate with each other.[15][17][18]
A study of African American enclaves in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Samaná, Dominican Republic, shows a high similarity in theAfrican American Vernacular English (AAVE) spoken there and the early versions of AAVE that originated in the south during the 19th century. AAVE in the United States on the other hand has changed substantially due in part to theGreat Migration that happened in the twentieth century.[19] Unusually, while most examples have a diaspora causing differences in language due to influence from another culture and languages, these enclaves maintained a form of language closer to the historical source, or branching point.
The great number ofHindi speakers in theUnited Kingdom has produced a strain of the language unlike that spoken on the Indian subcontinent where it began. This has given rise toHindlish, also known asHinglish, an informal term for the mixture of Hindi and English that includes such phrases ascity kotwali or "city police station." Hinglish is not considered a full-blown diaspora language but it appears to be developing into one.
Yiddish is a major linguistic creation of theJewish Diaspora, originating in what is now Germany.[20] It is one of many languages that emerged as a result of the migration of the Jewish people throughout Europe, alongsideLadino (Judeo-Spanish),Italkian (Judeo-Italian),Knaanic (Judeo-Slavic),Yevanic (Judeo-Greek), andZarphatic (Judeo-French).[21] Of these languages, Yiddish produced the most significant literature and served as an icon of Jewish identity throughout Central and Eastern Europe.[22]
TheYoruba language can be found across the globe, on every continent, however enforced migration under colonial slavery resulted in a particular density in the Americas and pressure on Yoruba speakers to adapt or assimilate. In theCaribbean, in particular,Yoruba culture, religion, and language have co-evolved with the needs of the enslaved populations, generating extensive hybridization and surviving into the current era. TheSanteria religion draws its roots from Catholic,Yoruba and Native American spiritual traditions, and its liturgical language isLucumi, a dialect of the original predominantly NigerianYoruba.[23][24]
In the aftermath of theHighland andLowland Clearances, a great number of Scots emigrated to Canada, proportionately more than the other Anglo New World countries of the United States, Australia, and even New Zealand. They brought with them their language, and while many spokeScots orEnglish, a great number spokeGaelic. It was even debated in the early days of Canadian Confederation whether to make Gaelic (inclusive of both the Scottish and Irish varieties) the third official language of Canada, and, if Irish and Scottish are counted together, Gaelic was the most common native tongue amongst theFathers of Confederation of Canada, more common than French or English, and the first Canadian Prime Minister,John A. Macdonald, spoke it as his mother tongue.Canadian Gaelic is considered to be similar to the western dialects of Gaidhlig in Scotland.
Cocoliche is anItalian–Spanishcontact language or pidgin that was spoken byItalian immigrants between 1870 and 1970 inArgentina (especially inGreater Buenos Aires) and from there spread to other urban areas nearby, such asLa Plata,Rosario andMontevideo,Uruguay. In recent decades it has become more respected and even recorded in music and film. Traces of it may be found in Argentina, Brazil, Albania, Panama, Quebec, Uruguay, Venezuela, San Marcos, Cabo Verde and many other places.[25]
Talian (Venetian:[taˈljaŋ],Portuguese:[tɐliˈɐ̃]), or Brazilian Venetian, or Vêneto[26] is aVenetian dialect spoken primarily in theSerra Gaúcha region in the northeast of the state ofRio Grande do Sul inBrazil. It is also spoken in other parts of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as in parts ofEspírito Santo[27][28][29][30][31] and ofSanta Catarina.[32] Talian is mainly a Venetian dialect mixed with Italian dialects from theVeneto region as well asLombardy and other Italian regions, influenced by localPortuguese.[33][34][35]
Lunfardo (Spanish pronunciation:[luɱˈfaɾðo]; from the Italianlombardo[36] or inhabitant ofLombardy,lumbard inLombard) is anargot originated and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the lower classes in theRío de la Plata region (encompassing the port cities ofBuenos Aires andMontevideo) and from there spread to other urban areas nearby, such as theGreater Buenos Aires,Santa Fe andRosario.[37][38]
Lunfardo originated from the mixture of languages and dialects produced due to the massiveEuropean immigration, mainly Italian and Spanish, which arrived in the ports of the region since the end of the 19th century.[39] It was originally a slang used by criminals and soon by other people of the lower and lower-middle classes. Later, many of its words and phrases were introduced in the vernacular and disseminated in theSpanish ofArgentina, andUruguay. Nevertheless, since the early 20th century, Lunfardo has spread among all social strata and classes by habitual use or because it was common in the lyrics oftango.
Today, the meaning of the termlunfardo has been extended to designate anyslang orjargon used in Buenos Aires.[40]
In the time of theAustro-Hungarian Empire, the province ofGalicia was considered the poorest in all of Europe, and was considerably over-populated. While the western part, containingWarsaw, was more densely populated and better maintained, the eastern part, overwhelminglyUkrainian, was considered the most backward part of the Empire and good for little more than as a source of troops for the army. This led to a mass exodus of citizens, along with Ukrainians from the neighbouring region ofBukovina, to Canada, settling primarily in the Western provinces ofThe Prairies. They brought with them not just their religion – western Ukrainians are predominatelyUkrainian Catholic whereas the rest of Ukraine is largelyEastern Orthodox – but also their language. To this day,Canadian Ukrainian is clearly reminiscent of the Western dialects, and has minimal influence from Russian (given that it had never been part of the Russian Empire and was only conquered by the Soviet Union after WWII, long after theCanadian Ukrainian community had been established), but proportionately greater influence from Polish and German, such as loanwords. The Canadian dialect frequently uses English words for technologies or concepts developed since the start of the 20th century, so while vocabulary like "coal" and "shoe" remain the same as their counterparts in Ukraine, newer concepts frequently use English loanwords for items such as "truck" and "cash register."
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