Although the Sicilian language does not have official status (including in Sicily),[13][14] in addition to the standard Sicilian of the medieval Sicilian school, academics have developed a standardized form. Such efforts began in the mid-19th century whenVincenzo Mortillaro published a comprehensive Sicilian language dictionary intended to capture the language universally spoken across Sicily in a common orthography. Later in the century,Giuseppe Pitrè established a common grammar in hisGrammatica Siciliana (1875). Although it presents a common grammar, it also provides detailed notes on how the sounds of Sicilian differ across dialects.[citation needed]
In initially 2017, with an updated version in 2024 the nonprofit organisationCademia Siciliana created an orthographic proposal to help to normalise the language's written form.[17][18][19][20] This orthography was used by the organisation in their collaboration with Google to bring the Sicilian Language to Google Translate.[21][22] Their "Manifesto" currently has been signed by many towns and cities of Sicily demanding official status for the language.[2] There are currently proposals in the Sicilian Regional Assembly to include Sicilian in the list of the Italian Law n. 482 of 1999.[3]
The autonomous regional parliament of Sicily has legislated Regional Law No. 9/2011 to encourage the teaching of Sicilian at all schools, but inroads into the education system have been slow.[23][24] The CSFLS created a textbook "Dialektos" to comply with the law but does not provide anorthography to write the language.[25] In Sicily, it is taught only as part ofdialectology courses, but outside Italy, Sicilian has been taught at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,Brooklyn College andManouba University. Since 2009, it has been taught at theItalian Charities of America, in New York City (home to the largest Sicilian speaking community outside of Sicily and Italy)[26][27] and it is also preserved and taught by family association, church organisations and societies, social and ethnic historical clubs and even Internet social groups, mainly inGravesend andBensonhurst, Brooklyn.[28][29][30] On 15 May 2018, the Sicilian Region once again mandated the teaching of Sicilian in schools and referred to it as a language, not a dialect, in official communication.[2]The language is officially recognized in the municipal statutes of some Sicilian towns, such asCaltagirone[31] andGrammichele,[32] in which the "inalienable historical and cultural value of the Sicilian language" is proclaimed. Furthermore, the Sicilian language would be protected and promoted under theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). Although Italy has signed the treaty, theItalian Parliament has not ratified it.[33] It is not included in Italian Law No. 482/1999 although some other minority languages of Sicily are.[34]
Alternative names of Sicilian areCalabro-Sicilian,sicilianu, andsìculu.[3] The first term refers to the fact that a form of Sicilian is spoken in southern Calabria, particularly in theprovince of Reggio Calabria.[3] The other two are names for the language in Sicily itself: specifically, the termsìculu originally describes one of the larger prehistoric groups living in Sicily (theItalicSicels orSiculi) before the arrival ofGreeks in the 8th century BC (seebelow). It can also be used as a prefix to qualify or to elaborate further on the origins of a person, for example:Siculo-American (sìculu-miricanu) or Siculo-Australian.
First let us turn our attention to the language of Sicily, since the Sicilian vernacular seems to hold itself in higher regard than any other, because all the poetry written by theItalians is called "Sicilian"...
Before theRoman conquest (3rd century BC), Sicily was occupied by various populations. The earliest of these populations were theSicanians, considered to be autochthonous. TheSicels and theElymians arrived between the second and first millennia BC. These aboriginal populations in turn were followed by thePhoenicians (between the 10th and 8th centuries BC) and theGreeks.[44] The heavy Greek-language influence remains strongly visible, while the influences from the other groups are smaller and less obvious.[44] What can be stated with certainty is that in Sicilian remain pre-Indo-European words of an ancient Mediterranean origin, but one cannot be more precise than that: of the three main prehistoric groups, only the Sicels were known to be Indo-European with a degree of certainty, and their speech is likely to have been closely related to that of the Romans.[44]
The following table, listing words for "twins", illustrates the difficulty linguists face in tackling the various substrata of the Sicilian language.[45]
A similar qualifier can be applied to many of the words that appear in this article. Sometimes it may be known that a particular word has a prehistoric derivation, but it is not known whether the Sicilians inherited it directly from the indigenous populations, or whether it came via another route. Similarly, it might be known that a particular word has a Greek origin but it is not known from which Greek period the Sicilians first used it (ancientMagna Grecia or theByzantine 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, the Latin language had made its own borrowings from Greek.[47]
The words with a prehistoric Mediterranean derivation often refer to plants native to the Mediterranean region or to other natural features.[44] Bearing in mind the qualifiers mentioned above (alternative sources are provided where known), examples of such words include:
alastra – "spiny broom" (a thorny, prickly plant native to the Mediterranean region; but also Greekkélastron and may in fact have penetrated Sicilian via one of theGaulish languages)[44][48]
ammarrari – "to dam or block a canal or running water" (but also Spanishembarrar "to muddy")[48]
calancuni – "ripples caused by a fast running river"
calanna – "landslide of rocks" (cf. Greek χαλάω (khaláō) "loosen, drop", verb borrowed into Latin, widespread in Romance languages)
racioppu – "stalk or stem of a fruit etc." (ancient Mediterranean wordrak)[48]
timpa – "crag, cliff" (but also Greektýmba, Latintumba and Catalantimba).[48]
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 Indo-European*h₁rowdʰós,Romaniandudă andWelshrhudd "red, crimson")[48]
scrozzu – "not well developed" (similar toLithuaniansu-skurdes with a similar meaning andOld High Germanscurz "short")[48]
In 535,Justinian I made Sicily aByzantine province, which returned theGreek language to a position of prestige, at least on an official level.[49] At this time the island could be considered a border zone with moderate levels ofbilingualism: Latinisation was mostly concentrated in western Sicily, largely among the upper class, whereas Eastern Sicily remained predominantly Greek.[49]
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):
babbiari – "to fool around" (frombabázō, which also gives the Sicilian words:babbazzu andbabbu "stupid"; but also Latinbabulus and Spanishbabieca)[48]
bucali – "pitcher" (frombaúkalion) (cognate of Maltesebuqar,[48] Italianboccale)
bùmmulu – "water receptacle" (frombómbylos; but also Latinbombyla) (cognate of Maltesebomblu)[50]
cartedda – "basket" (fromkártallos; but also Latincartellum)[50]
carusu – "boy" (fromkoûros; but also Latincarus "dear",Sanskritcaruh "amiable")[48]
From 476 to 535, theOstrogoths ruled Sicily, although their presence apparently did not affect the Sicilian language.[52] The fewGermanic influences to be found in Sicilian do not appear to originate from this period. One exception might beabbanniari orvanniari "to hawk goods, proclaim publicly", fromGothicbandwjan "to give a signal".[48] Also possible isschimmenti "diagonal" from Gothicslimbs "slanting".[48] Other sources of Germanic influences include theHohenstaufen rule of the 13th century, words ofGermanic origin contained within the speech of 11th-centuryNormans andLombard settlers, and the short period ofAustrian rule in the 18th century.
Many Germanic influences date back to the time of the Swabian kings (amongst whomFrederick II, Holy Roman Emperor enjoyed the longest reign). Some of the words below are "reintroductions" of Latin words (also found in modern Italian) that had been Germanicized at some point (e.g.vastāre in Latin to[53]guastare in modern Italian). Words that probably originate from this era include:
arbitriari – "to work in the fields" (fromarbeit; but other possible Latin derivations)[48]
As the power of the Byzantine Empire waned,Sicily was progressively conquered bySaracens fromIfriqiya, from the mid 9th to mid 10th centuries. TheEmirate of Sicily persisted long enough to develop a distinctive local variety of Arabic,Siculo-Arabic (at present extinct in Sicily but surviving as theMaltese language).[49] Its influence is noticeable in around 300 Sicilian words, most of which relate to agriculture and related activities.[54] This is understandable because of theArab Agricultural Revolution; theSaracens introduced toSicily their advanced irrigation and farming techniques and a new range of crops, nearly all of which remain endemic to the island to this day.
azzizzari – "to embellish" (عزيزʿazīz "precious, beautiful") (Cognate of Maltesegħażiż, meaning "dear")[48]
babbaluciu – "snail" (frombabūš, Tunisianbabūša; but also Greekboubalákion.[48] Cognate of Maltesebebbuxu)[55]
burnia – "jar" (برنيةburniya; but also Latinhirnea)[48]
cafisu (measure for liquids; from Tunisianقفيزqafīz)[48]
cassata (Sicilian ricotta cake; fromقشطةqišṭa, chiefly North African; but Latincaseata "something made from cheese".[48] Cognate of Malteseqassata)
gèbbia – artificial pond to store water for irrigation (from Tunisianجابيةjēbya.[48] Cognate of Malteseġiebja[56] and Spanishaljibe)
giuggiulena – "sesame seed" (from Tunisianجلجلانjiljlēn orjuljulēn.[48] Cognate of Malteseġunġlien orġulġlien[57] and Spanishajonjolí).
ràisi – "leader" (رئيسraʾīs.[48] Cognate of Malteseras "head")[58]
saia – "canal" (fromساقيةsāqiya.[48] Cognate of Spanishacequia Maltesesaqqajja)[59]
zaffarana – "saffron" (type of plant whose flowers are used for medicinal purposes and in Sicilian cooking; fromزعفرانzaʿfarān. Cognate of Malteseżagħfran and EnglishSaffron)
zàgara – "blossom" (زهرةzahra.[48] Cognate of Malteseżahar[60] and Spanishazahar)
zuccu – "market" (fromسوقsūq; but alsoAragonesesoccu and Spanishzoque.[48] Cognate of Maltesesuq)[62]
Bibbirria (the northern gate ofAgrigento;باب الرياحbāb ar-riyāḥ "Gate of the Winds").[63]
Gisira – "island" (جَزِيرَةjazīra. Cognate of Maltesegżira)(archaic)
Throughout the Islamic epoch of Sicilian history, a significant Greek-speaking population remained on the island and continued to use the Greek language, or most certainly a variant of Greek influenced by Tunisian Arabic.[49] 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,[citation needed] 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).[citation needed]
An 1196 miniature depicting the variousscribes (1. Greeks; 2. Saracens; 3. Latins) for the various populations of theKingdom of Sicily
By AD 1000, the whole of what is todaySouthern Italy, including Sicily, was a complex mix of smallstates andprincipalities, languages and religions.[49] The whole of Sicily was controlled by Saracens, at the elite level, but the general population remained a mix of Muslims and Christians who spoke Greek, Latin or Siculo-Arabic. The far south of the Italian peninsula was part of the Byzantine empire although many communities were reasonably independent fromConstantinople. ThePrincipality 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 independentcity-states.[64] It was into this climate that the Normans thrust themselves with increasing numbers during the first half of the 11th century.
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 andCalabria). It took Roger 30 years to complete the conquest of Sicily (Robert died in 1085).[64] In the aftermath of the Norman conquest of Sicily, the reintroduction of Latin in Sicily had begun, and someNorman words would be absorbed, accompanied with an additional wave ofParisian French loanwords during the rule ofCharles I from theCapetian House of Anjou in the 13th century.[65]
accattari – "to buy" (from Norman Frenchacater,[48] Frenchacheter; but there are different varieties of this Latin etymon in theRomania, cf.Old Occitanacaptar)[66]
ammucciari – "to hide" (Old Norman Frenchmuchier, Norman Frenchmuchi/mucher,Old Frenchmucier; but also Greekmychós)
bucceri/vucceri "butcher" (from Old Frenchbouchier)[49]
TheNorthern 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, namelyNovara,Nicosia,Sperlinga,Aidone andPiazza Armerina.[49] The Siculo-Gallic dialect did not survive in other major Italian colonies, such asRandazzo,Caltagirone,Bronte andPaternò (although they influenced the local Sicilian vernacular). The Gallo-Italic influence was also felt on the Sicilian language itself, as follows:[49]
sòggiru – "father-in-law" (fromsuoxer)
cugnatu – "brother-in-law" (fromcognau) (cognate of Maltesekunjat)[67]
figghiozzu – "godson" (fromfiglioz) (cognate of Maltesefiljozz)[68]
The origins of another Romance influence, that ofOccitan, had three reasons:
The Normans madeSan 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 Occitan, which leads to the conclusion that a significant number in the garrison came from that part of France.[69] 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:
Some Occitan words have entered the language during the regency ofMargaret 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, and many Occitan words entered the language during this period.[64]
TheSicilian School of poetry was strongly influenced by the Occitan of thetroubadour tradition.[69] This element is deeply embedded in Sicilian culture: for example, the tradition of Sicilian puppetry (òpira dî pupi) and the tradition of thecantastorie (literally "story-singers"). Occitan troubadours were active during the reign ofFrederick 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, to turn something on" (fromallumar)[48]
aggrifari – "to kidnap, abduct" (fromgrifar; but also Germangreiffen)[48]
banna – "side, place" (frombanda)[48] (cognate of Maltesebanda "side")[70]
burgisi – "landowner, citizen" (fromborges)
lascu – "sparse, thin, infrequent" (fromlasc)[48](cognate of Malteselaxk "loose")[71]
pariggiu – "equal" (fromparatge).[48] (cognate of Maltesepariġġ "equal, as")[72]
It was during the reign ofFrederick II (or Frederick I of Sicily) between 1198 and 1250, with his patronage of the Sicilian School, that Sicilian became the first of the modern Italic languages to be used as aliterary language.[73] 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 andPetrarch. The influence of the Sicilian language should not be underestimated in the eventual formulation of alingua franca that was to become modernItalian. The victory of theAngevin army over the Sicilians atBenevento 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.[73] 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.
Following theSicilian Vespers of 1282, the kingdom came under the influence of theCrown of Aragon,[74] and theCatalan language (and the closely relatedAragonese) added a new layer of vocabulary in the succeeding century. For the next 250 years, both Catalan and Sicilian were the official languages of the royal court.[75] Sicilian was also used to record the proceedings of theSicilian Parliament (one of the oldest parliaments in Europe) and for other official purposes.[76] While it is often difficult to determine whether a word came directly from Catalan (as opposed to Occitan), the following are likely to be such examples:
addunàrisi – "to notice, realise" (fromadonar-se)[48] (cognate of Malteseinduna)[77]
affruntàrisi – "to be embarrassed" (fromafrontar-se)[48]
Spanish rule had hastened this process in two important ways:
Unlike the Aragonese, almost immediately the Spanish placedviceroys 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 a predominantly illiterate population.
Theexpulsion of all Jews from Spanish dominions that began in 1492 altered the population of Sicily. Not only did the population decline, many of whom were involved in important educated 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 were lost.[76]
Spanish rule lasted over three centuries (not counting the Aragonese andBourbon periods on either side) and had a significant influence on the Sicilian vocabulary. The following words are of Spanish derivation:
arricugghìrisi – "to return home" (fromrecogerse; but also Catalanrecollir-se)
Since theItalian Unification (the Risorgimento of 1860–1861), the Sicilian language has been significantly influenced by (Tuscan) Italian. During theFascist period it became obligatory that Italian be taught and spoken in all schools, whereas up to that point, Sicilian had been used extensively in schools.[82] This process has quickened sinceWorld 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.[82] TheSicilian 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.[82] 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.[83][84][85]
Sicilian has a number of consonant sounds that set it apart from the other major Romance languages, notably itsretroflex consonants.[87][88][89]
ḌḌ/DD — The retroflex phoneme /ɖ/ (usually geminated or long [ɖː]) is normally the result of the evolution of Latin -ll-.[90][91] This sound is rare but present among Romance languages, including Sardinian, Southern Corsican, and some dialects of Calabria.[91] Similar but not identical sounds are also found in the rest of the Extreme Southern Italian dialect group.[91] The older [lː] sequence is retained in some dialects,[90] while the pronunciation of this phoneme as dental [dː] is increasingly common.[89] Traditionally in Sicilian, the sound was written as-đđ-[citation needed], and in more contemporary usage-dd- has been used. It is also often found written-ddh- or-ddr- (both of which are often considered confusing, as they may also represent[dː] and[ɖːɽ], respectively). In theCademia Siciliana orthographical proposal as well as theVocabolario siciliano descriptive orthography, thedigraph-ḍḍ- is used.[89][92] For example, the counterpart to Italianbello in Sicilian isbeḍḍu.[88]
DR andTR — The Sicilian pronunciation of the digraphs-dr- and-tr- is[ɖɽ] and[ʈɽ],[89] or even[ɖʐ],[ʈʂ]. If they are preceded by a nasal consonant,n is then a retroflex nasal sound[ɳ].
GGHI andCCHI — The two digraphs -gh- and -ch-, when occurring before front vowel soundsi ore or a semivowelj, are pronounced as palatal stops[ɟ] and[c], though in central southern Sicily (Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Enna) -ggh- is pronounced as a voiced palatal fricative [ʝ]. From Italian, in place of -gl-, a geminatedtrigraph -ggh(i)- is used and is pronounced as[ɟː]. When -cch(j)- is geminated, -cch(j)- it can be pronounced as[cː].
RR — The digraph-rr-, depending on the variety of Sicilian, can be a long trill[rː] (hereafter transcribed without the length mark)[89] or a voiced retroflex sibilant[ʐː].[88] This innovation is also found under slightly different circumstances inPolish, where it is spelled-rz-, and in some NorthernNorwegian dialects, where speakers vary between[ʐ] and[ɹ̝]. At the beginning of a word, the single letterr is similarly always pronounced double, though this is not indicated orthographically. This phenomenon, however, does not include words that start with a singler resulting from rhotacism or apheresis (see below), which should not be indicated orthographically to avoid confusion with regular doubler.
VoicedS andZ — The/s/ and/ts/ sounds are voiced as[z] and[dz] when after/n/ or other voiced sounds. In the Siciliandigraphs-sb- and-sv-,/s/ becomes voiced and palatalized as a voiced post-alveolar fricative[ʒ] along with the voiced sounds /b,v/.
STR andSDR — The Siciliantrigraphs-str- and-sdr- are[ʂːɽ] or[ʂː], and[ʐːɽ] or[ʐː].[89] Thet is not pronounced at all and there is a faint whistle between thes and ther, producing a similar sound to theshr of Englishshred, or how some English speakers pronounce "frustrated".[clarification needed] The voiced equivalent is somewhat similar to how some English speakers might pronounce the phrase "was driving".
LatinFL — 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 ("river", from Latinflūmen), but can also be found in written forms such as-hi-,-x(h)-,-çi-, or erroneously-sci-.[93]
Consonantallenition — A further range of consonantal sound shifts occurred between the Vulgar Latin introduced to the island following Roman 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-.[94]
Rhotacism and apheresis — This transformation is characterized by the substitution of singled byr. In Sicilian this is produced by a single flap of the tongue against the upper alveolar ridge[ɾ]. This phenomenon is known asrhotacism, that is, the substitution ofr for another consonant; it is commonly found both in Eastern and Western Sicilian (but not in central Sicilian), and elsewhere in Southern Italy, especially inNeapolitan. It can occur internally, or it can affect initiald, in which case it should not be represented orthographically to avoid confusion with the regularr (see above). Examples :pedi ("foot") is pronounced[ˈpɛːɾi];Madonna ("Virgin Mary") is pronounced[maˈɾɔnna];lu diri ("to say it") is pronounced[lʊˈɾiːɾi]. Similarly,apheresis of some clusters may occur in certain dialects, producing instances such as'ranni[ˈɾanni] forgranni "big".[89]
NG — The digraph-ng-, depending on the variety of Sicilian, can be a[ŋ:] or a[ŋg]. It is found in the wordsangu ("blood").
Ï — The Sicilian letter ï indicates that the unstressed i is not a semivowel[j] with the following vowel. It is found in the wordpistiari[pis.ti'a.ri] (to eat).
Development of stressed vowels from Latin to Sicilian
Sicilian has five phonemic vowels:/i/,/ɛ/,/a/,/ɔ/,/u/. The mid-vowels/ɛ/ and/ɔ/ do not occur in unstressed position in native words but may do so in modern borrowings from Italian, English, or other languages. Historically, Sicilian/i/ and/u/ each represent the confluence of three Latin vowels (or four in unstressed position), hence their high frequency.[49]
Unstressed/i/ and/u/ generally undergoreduction to[ɪ] and[ʊ] respectively, except in word-/phrase-final position, as in[pʊsˈsibbɪli] ‘possible’ and[kʊˈniɟɟu] ‘rabbit’.[95]
In the vast majority of instances in which the originating word had an initial/i/, Sicilian has dropped it completely. That has also happened when there was once an initial/e/ and, to a lesser extent,/a/ and/o/:mpurtanti "important",gnuranti "ignorant",nimicu "enemy",ntirissanti "interesting",llustrari "to illustrate",mmàggini "image",cona "icon",miricanu "American".[93][96]
In Sicilian,gemination is distinctive for most consonant phonemes, but a few can be geminated only after a vowel:/b/,/dʒ/,/ɖ/,/ɲ/,/ʃ/ and/ts/. Rarely indicated in writing, spoken Sicilian also exhibitssyntactic gemination (ordubbramentu),[97] which means that the first consonant of a word is lengthened when it is preceded by words likeè, ma, e, a, di, pi, chi – meaning ‘it is, but, and, to, of, for, what’. For instance in the phraseè bonu ‘it's good’, there is a doubled/bb/ in pronunciation.[98]
The letter⟨j⟩ at the start of a word can have two separate sounds depending on what precedes the word.[99] For instance, injornu ("day"), it is pronounced[j]. However, after anasal consonant or if it is triggered by syntactic gemination, it is pronounced[ɟ] as inun jornu with[nɟ] ortri jorna ("three days") with[ɟɟ].[100][verification needed]
Another difference between the written and the spoken languages is the extent to whichcontractions occur in everyday speech. Thus a common expression such asavemu a accattari... ("we have to go and buy...") is generally reduced toâma 'ccattari in talking to family and friends.[101]
Thecircumflex accent is commonly used in denoting a wide range of contractions in the written language, particularly the joining of simple prepositions and the definite article:di lu =dû ("of the"),a lu =ô ("to the"),pi lu =pû ("for the"),nta lu =ntô ("in the"), etc.[102][93]
Most feminine nouns and adjectives end in-a in the singular:casa ('house'),porta ('door'),carta ('paper'). Exceptions includesoru ('sister') andficu ('fig'). The usual masculine singular ending is-u:omu ('man'),libbru ('book'),nomu ('name'). The singular ending-i can be either masculine or feminine.[103]
Unlike Standard Italian, Sicilian uses the same standard plural ending-i for both masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives:casi ('houses' or 'cases'),porti ('doors' or 'harbors'),tàuli ('tables'). Some masculine plural nouns end in-a instead, a feature that is derived from the Latin neuter endings-um, -a:libbra ('books'),jorna ('days'),vrazza ('arms', compare Italianbraccio,braccia),jardina ('gardens'),scrittura ('writers'),signa ('signs').[103] Some nouns have irregular plurals:omu hasòmini (compare Italianuomo,uomini),jocu ('game')jòcura (Italiangioco,giochi) andlettu ("bed")letta (Italianletto,letti). Three feminine nouns are invariable in the plural:manu ('hand[s]'),ficu ('fig[s]') andsoru ('sister[s]').[104]
Sicilian has only oneauxiliary verb,aviri, 'to have'.[105][106] It is also used to denote obligation (e.g.avi a jiri, '[he/she] has to go'),[101] and to form the future tense, as Sicilian for the most part no longer has a synthetic future tense:avi a cantari, '[he/she] will sing'.[105]
As in English and like most other Romance languages, Sicilian may use the verbjiri, 'to go', to signify the act of being about to do something.Vaiu a cantari, 'I'm going to sing'. In this way,jiri +a + infinitive can also be a way to form the simple future construction.[107]
The main conjugations in Sicilian are illustrated below with the verbèssiri, 'to be'.[108]
Infinitive
èssiri / siri
Gerund
essennu / sennu
Past participle
statu
Indicative
eu/iu/ju
tu
iḍḍu
nuàutri
vuàutri
iḍḍi
Present
sugnu
si'
esti / è
semu
siti
sunnu / su'
Imperfect
era
eri
era
èramu
èravu
èranu
Preterite
fui
fusti
fu
fomu
fùstivu
foru
Future1
—
—
—
—
—
—
Conditional2
ju
tu
iḍḍu
nuàutri
vuàutri
iḍḍi
fora
fori
fora
fòramu
fòravu
fòranu
Subjunctive
ju
tu
iḍḍu
nuàutri
vuàutri
iḍḍi
Present
sia
si' / fussi
sia
siamu
siati
sianu
Imperfect
fussi
fussi
fussi
fùssimu
fùssivu
fùssiru
Imperative
—
tu
vossìa3
—
vuàutri
—
—
sì
fussi
—
siti
—
The synthetic future is rarely used and, as Camilleri explains, continues its decline towards complete disuse.[105] Instead, the following methods are used to express the future:
1) the use of the present indicative, which is usually preceded by an adverb of time:
Stasira vaju 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) the use of a compound form consisting of the appropriate conjugation ofaviri a ('have to') in combination with the infinitive form of the verb in question:
Stasira aju a ghiri ('j' becomes 'gh' after a vowel) ô tiatru — 'This evening I will [/must] go to the theatre'
Dumani t'aju a scrìviri — 'Tomorrow I will [/must] write to you'
In speech, the contracted forms ofaviri often come into play:
aju a →hâ/hê;ai a →hâ;avi a →avâ;avemu a →amâ;aviti a →atâ
Dumani t'hâ scrìviri — 'Tomorrow I will [/must] write to you'.[107]
The synthetic conditional has also fallen into disuse (except for the dialect spoken inMessina,missinisi).[109] 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 / è — 'I'd have gone if you would have told me where it is'
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 would not have suffered misery'.[110]
The second-person singular (polite) uses the older form of the present subjunctive, such asparrassi, which has the effect of softening it somewhat into a request, rather than an instruction. The second-person singular and plural forms of the imperative are identical to the present indicative, exception for the second-person singular-ari verbs, whose ending is the same as for the third-person singular:parra.[111]
Extracts from three of Sicily's more celebrated poets are offered below to illustrate the written form of Sicilian over the last few centuries:Antonio Veneziano,Giovanni Meli andNino Martoglio.
A translation of theLord's Prayer can also be found in J. K. Bonner.[112] This is written with three variations: a standard literary form from the island of Sicily and a southernApulian literary form.
Luigi Scalia translated the biblical books of Ruth, Song of Solomon and the Gospel of Matthew into Sicilian. These were published in 1860 by PrinceLouis Lucien Bonaparte.
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 now part of the Italian language and usually refer to things closely associated to Sicilian culture, with some notable exceptions:[116]
arancino (fromarancinu): a Sicilian cuisine specialty;
babbiare (frombabbiari): to joke;
canestrato (fromncannistratu): a cheese typical of Sicily;
marrobbio (frommarrubbiu): 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 (frompicciottu): young man, but also the lowest grade in the Mafia hierarchy;
pizzino (frompizzinu): small piece of paper, especially used for secret criminal communications;
pizzo (frompizzu, literally meaning "beak", from the sayingfari vagnari a pizzu "to wet one's beak"): protection money paid to the Mafia;
quaquaraquà (onomatopoeia?; "the duck wants a say"): person devoid of value, nonentity;
scasare (fromscasari, literally "to move home"): to leave en masse;
stidda (equivalent to Italianstella): lower Mafia organization.
Sicilian is estimated to have 5,000,000 speakers.[117] However, it remains very much a home language that is spoken among peers and close associates.Regional Italian has encroached on Sicilian, most evidently in the speech of the younger generations.[118]
In terms of the written language, it is mainly restricted to poetry and theatre in Sicily. The education system does not support the language, despite recent legislative changes, as mentioned previously. Local universities either carry courses in Sicilian or describe it asdialettologia, the study of dialects.
The dialect ofReggio Calabria is spoken by some 260,000 speakers in theReggio Calabria metropolitan area.[119] It is recognised, along with the other Calabrian dialects, by the regional government ofCalabria by a law promulgated in 2012 that protects Calabria's linguistic heritage.[120]
Outside Sicily and Southern Calabria, there is an extensive Sicilian-speaking diaspora living in several major cities across South and North America and in other parts of Europe and Australia, where Sicilian has been preserved to varying degrees.
The Sicilian-American organizationArba Sicula publishes stories, poems and essays, in Sicilian with English translations, in an effort to preserve the Sicilian language, inArba Sicula, its bi-lingual annual journal (latest issue: 2017), and in a biennial newsletter entitledSicilia Parra.
The 1948 filmeLa Terra Trema is entirely in Sicilian and uses many local amateur actors.
^La Face, Giuseppe (2006).Il dialetto reggino – Tradizione e nuovo vocabolario [The dialect of Reggio – Tradition and new vocabulary] (in Italian).Reggio Calabria: Iiriti.
Alio, Jacqueline (2018),Sicilian Studies: A Guide and Syllabus for Educators, Trinacria,ISBN978-1943-63918-2
Arba Sicula (in English and Sicilian), vol. II, 1980
Bonner, J. K. "Kirk" (2001),Introduction to Sicilian Grammar,Ottawa: Legas,ISBN1-881901-41-6
Camilleri, Salvatore (1998),Vocabolario Italiano Siciliano,Catania: Edizioni Greco
Piccitto, Giorgio (2002) [1977],Vocabolario Siciliano (in Italian and Sicilian), Catania-Palermo: Centro di Studi Filologici e Linguistici Siciliani (the orthography used in this article is substantially based on the Piccitto volumes)
Cipolla, Gaetano (2004), "U sicilianu è na lingua o un dialettu? / Is Sicilian a Language?",Arba Sicula (in English and Sicilian),XXV (1&2)
Ledgeway, Adam (2016). "The dialects of Southern Italy". In Ledgeway, Adam; Maiden, Martin (eds.).The Oxford guide to the Romance languages. Oxford University Press. pp. 246–69.
Martoglio, Nino (1993), Cipolla, Gaetano (ed.),The Poetry of Nino Martoglio (in English and Sicilian), translated by Cipolla, Gaetano, Ottawa: Legas,ISBN1-881901-03-3
Mendola, Louis (2015),Sicily's Rebellion against King Charles: The story of the Sicilian Vespers, New York City,ISBN9781943639038{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Nef, Annliese (2003) [2001], "Géographie religieuse et continuité temporelle dans la Sicile normande (XIe-XIIe siècles): le cas des évêchés", written atMadrid, in Henriet, Patrick (ed.),À la recherche de légitimités chrétiennes – Représentations de l'espace et du temps dans l'Espagne médiévale (IXe-XIIIe siècles) (in French),Lyon{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Cademia Siciliana – a non-profit organization that promotes education, research and activism regarding the Sicilian language, as well as an orthographic standard
Arba Sicula – a non-profit organization that promotes the language and culture of Sicily
^Venetian is either grouped with the rest of the Italo-Dalmatian or the Gallo-Italic languages, depending on the linguist, but the major consensus among linguists is that in the dialectal landscape of northern Italy, Veneto dialects are clearly distinguished from Gallo-Italic dialects.
