An Introduction to Sicilian The Language of Sicily

What is Sicilian? The real question is what isnt Sicilian? Sicilian is neither a dialect nor an accent. It’s not derived from Italian. It’s not spoken only  in Sicily. Sicilian (u sicilianu) in Sicilian and  siciliana  in Italian) is the oldest of the  Romance languages  derived from Latin, and it’s spoken  in Sicily and in parts of southern Italy  such as  Reggio di Calabria  and  southern Puglia. It’s derived from  Latin, with  Greek,  Arabic,  French, Provenà §al,  German, Catalan and  Spanish  influences. Sicilian is currently spoken by most of the 5,000,000 inhabitants of Sicily, plus another 2,000,000 Sicilians around the world. With the predominance of Italian in Italian schools and the media, Sicilian is no longer the first language of many Sicilians. In fact, in urban centers in particular, its more common to hear standard Italian spoken rather than Sicilian, especially among the younger generation. Sicilian as Art? But what most people don’t know is that Sicilian developed as a form of art many years before what we currently define as â€Å"Italian†! In fact, even  Dante, father of Italian culture and dialect, referred to Sicilian poets and writers from the â€Å"Sicilian School† as pioneers in literary works and production written in vernacular Italian. The sicilian spelling of words is, like Italian, essentially phonetic. The spoken language is riddled with words of Arabic origin:  tabutu  (coffin) from Arabic  tabut. And in place names: Marsala, the Sicilian port, is from Allahs port,  mars  port   ala, from Allah. We can divide Sicilian dialect variations into three main areas: Western Sicilian  - From the Palermo areas to Trapani and AgrigentoCentral Sicilian  - Through the Enna’s zonesEastern Sicilian  - Divided in Syracuse and Messina Nowadays, Sicilian is the principle way to communicate within the family  (with a capital F). Its  used as a convivial language and as a homey bond with those who live distantly. What’s Siculish? Did you know that Sicilian dialect spoken by Italian immigrants living in the USA is called â€Å"Siculish†? The Sicilian novelist Giovanni Vergas surname means twig† or â€Å"branch in Spanish. The Italian word is  virga. How Does it Sound? But let’s cut to the chase, how does this ancient language sound? Most of the words aren’t too far from the Italian language, but  how  they pronounce them changes the entire game. B  - a normal â€Å"b,† heard several times in â€Å"babbo, bosco, bambole†¦,† turns into a -V. So la botte ( the barrel) sounds  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœa vuttila barca ( the boat)  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœa varcail broccolo ( broccoli) becomes  u’ vrà ²cculu Double L  - Words like â€Å"bello† e â€Å"cavallo† become  beddu and cavaddu. G  - between vowels falls and leaves only a slight trace: gatto sounds like  attà ¹gettare (to throw) sounds like  ittari Not all the sounds are squeezed though. There are cases that where letters strengthen and are redoubled in their sound. â€Å"gi† becomes  valiggia  ( suitcase), and the Sicilian jacket,  a giacca, has to be read as  aggiacca. Whether you’re a foreigner or an Italian, Sicilian is a complicated language that you can  only hope to understand. We could spend hours listening to this wonderful and melodious language that hides  a magic world dating back almost a thousand years  inside its devious words.