The
Greek-Calabrian dialect or
Greek-Bovesian is the version of
Italian GreekGriko, sometimes spelled Grico, is a form of the Greek language which is spoken by people in the Magna Graecia region in southern Italy. The Greeks consider it as a Modern Greek dialect and often call it Katoitaliotika or Grekanika...
used in
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
, as opposed to the other Italian-Greek dialect spoken in the
Grecìa SalentinaGrecia Salentina is a Griko-speaking area in the peninsula of Salento in southern Italy, near the town of Lecce. It consists of nine towns and belongs to province of Lecce and the administrative area of Apulia ....
, remnant of the
ancientAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
and
ByzantineByzantine Greeks or Byzantines is a conventional term used by modern historians to refer to the medieval Greek or Hellenized citizens of the Byzantine Empire, centered mainly in Constantinople, the southern Balkans, the Greek islands, Asia Minor and the large urban centres of the Near East and...
Greek colonisation of the region. The two languages are frequently mentioned together as
Italiot Greek (Katoitaliótika) or Grecanic or
GrikoGriko, sometimes spelled Grico, is a form of the Greek language which is spoken by people in the Magna Graecia region in southern Italy. The Greeks consider it as a Modern Greek dialect and often call it Katoitaliotika or Grekanika...
, but are two different versions with different developmental histories.
The Greek Calabrian is mentioned in the
Red Book of
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
on endangered languages
http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/europe_report.html#Italiot, together with the Grecanic; in addition,
Euromosaic analyzes
http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/grec/an/i1/i1.html and recognizes it as being an endangered and minority language in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
.
It is also mentioned by
EthnologueEthnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language.The Ethnologue contains statistics for 7,358 languages...
as a dialect of
Modern GreekModern Greek refers to the varieties of Greek spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic modern features...
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ell, in the sense of a modern vernacular language of the Hellenic family (as is the case with Pontic and
TsakonianTsakonian, Tsaconian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic is a highly divergent dialect of modern Greek or a separate language spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. It is named after its speakers, the 'Tsakonians', which is held to be an alteration of 'Laconians' - although Tsakonians...
Greek.
However, this form of Greek has never experienced an extensive growth period during its history, and it has only ever been used in basic day to day communications, without ever playing a significant role in the fields of administration, literature, or ecclesiastical matters.
Diffusion
Diffusion in the past
This dialect was spoken throughout the whole of south
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
until the 15th to 16th century, when it was gradually replaced by a Romance dialect (Calabrian), even though there are influences of Greek Calabrian on the grammar and in a large part of the latter's vocabulary. During the
Angevin AgeThe Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
the Greek dialect was widely spoken in a large area between
SeminaraSeminara is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 90 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 30 km northeast of Reggio Calabria...
,
TaurianovaTaurianova is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 80 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 40 km northeast of Reggio Calabria...
, the Mésima's valley and the plateau of
PoroThe Poro, or Purrah or Purroh, is a secret society of Sierra Leone and Liberia.-Structure:Only males are admitted to its ranks, but two other affiliated and secret associations exist, the Yassi and the Bundu, the first of which is nominally reserved for females, but members of the Poro are admitted...
. A brief historical analysis illustrates quite readily the progressive disappearance of the Greek dialect in different Calabrian areas from the 16th century onwards.
Around the mid 16th century this dialect had disappeared in the Petrace's field, particularly in the high valley of Diverso and
TasiTASI can mean:* Technical Advisory Service for Images* Time-assignment speech interpolation* The Theoretical Advanced Study Institute in elementary particle physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, best known for the TASI lectures in astrophysics and high energy physics* The Tadawul All...
. During the following century the regression spread to some valleys in the western side of
AspromonteAspromonte is a mountain massif in the province of Reggio Calabria . The name means "rough mountains", so named by the farmers who found its steep terrain and rocky soil difficult to cultivate. It overlooks the Strait of Messina, being limited by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas and by the Pietrace...
near the Straits of Messina, like Catona's and
GàllicoGallico is a surname, and may refer to:* Elisha Gallico , Palestinian Jewish Talmudist* Paul Gallico , American novelist...
's Valleys.
During the 19th century this dialect was lost in some villages like Pentedattilo,
AfricoAfrico is a municipality in the province of Reggio Calabria, in the Southern Italian region of Calabria.Its territory is included in the Aspromonte National Park.-External links:* - Civil Records 1866 to 1910.
...
, Brancaleone,
Motta San GiovanniMotta San Giovanni is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 130 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 13 km southeast of Reggio Calabria....
,
MontebelloMontebello is the name of several places:* Montebello Islands, Australia* Montebello, Quebec, Canada* Montebello, France* Montebello della Battaglia, Pavia, Italy* Montebello, Rimini, Province of Rimini, Italy * Montebello, Antioquia, Colombia...
, and
San LorenzoSan Lorenzo is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 120 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 20 km southeast of Reggio Calabria...
, on the Ionic side of Aspromonte.
In the first years of the 20th century this regressive trend spread to the towns of
PalizziPalizzi is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 120 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 30 km southeast of Reggio Calabria...
,
StaitiStaiti is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 110 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 35 km southeast of Reggio Calabria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 335 and an area of 15.9 km².Staiti borders the following...
,
CardetoCardeto is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 120 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 10 km southeast of Reggio Calabria...
,
Roccaforte del GrecoRoccaforte del Greco is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 110 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 20 km southeast of Reggio Calabria...
, Amendolea and
CondofuriCondofuri is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 120 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 38 km southeast of Reggio Calabria...
.
Repressive measures of Fascism
During the
fascistFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
period in Italy, linguistic minorities were strongly discouraged from using their mother tongues and this inevitably affected the use of Greek-Calabrian.
Current diffusion
Today Greek-Calabrian is spoken in nine towns of
BovesìaBovesia, otherwise known as Grecìa Calabra , is one of the two remaining Griko-speaking areas in southern Italy, the other being Grecìa Salentina. It is located at the tip of Calabria, near Reggio, and consists of nine villages. Its population is significantly smaller than the one of Grecìa...
including Bova Superiore,
RoghudiRoghudi is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 130 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 20 km southeast of Reggio Calabria....
, Gallicianò, but also Chorìo di Roghudi,
Bova MarinaBova Marina is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 120 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 30 km southeast of Reggio Calabria...
, and in the city of
Reggio CalabriaReggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city located in southern Italy and the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria. It is the largest and oldest city in the region and is the second oldest city in Italy overall...
in San Giorgio Extra's and Rione Modena's neighbourhoods.
Several hundred speakers in Arangea's and Sbarre's neighbourhoods of
Reggio CalabriaReggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city located in southern Italy and the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria. It is the largest and oldest city in the region and is the second oldest city in Italy overall...
and another small number in
Melito di Porto SalvoMelito di Porto Salvo is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 130 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 25 km southeast of Reggio Calabria; and is also the country's southernmost city...
have been reported, mainly thanks to immigration from Roghudi and from Chorìo after the floods that occurred in 1971.
About 2,000 people speak and understand the language, and only about 50 of these are less than 35 years old, despite the efforts of cultural associations and administrative agencies.
In
BovaBova is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 120 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 25 km southeast of Reggio Calabria...
many study Modern Greek rather than Greek Calabrian.
Characteristics
This language has a lot in common with standard Greek. When speaking of its origins, some philologists assert that it is a dialect derived from
Medieval GreekMedieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek is a cover term for all forms of the Greek language that were spoken and written during the time of the Byzantine Empire...
, while others assert that it comes directly from Ancient Greek and particularly from
Doric GreekDoric or Dorian was a dialect of ancient Greek. Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese, Crete, Rhodes, some islands in the southern Aegean Sea, some cities on the coasts of Asia Minor, Southern Italy, Sicily, Epirus and Macedon. Together with Northwest Greek, it forms the...
spoken in Magna Grecia, with an independent evolution uninfluenced by
Koine GreekKoine Greek is the popular form of Greek which emerged in post-Classical antiquity . Other names are Alexandrian, Hellenistic, Patristic, Common, Biblical or New Testament Greek...
.
The evidence is based on archaicisms of this language with the presence of words derived from Doric Greek but actually disused in Greece (except in
TsakonianTsakonian, Tsaconian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic is a highly divergent dialect of modern Greek or a separate language spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. It is named after its speakers, the 'Tsakonians', which is held to be an alteration of 'Laconians' - although Tsakonians...
. There are also quite a few distinctive characteristics in comparison with standard Modern Greek. For example, in many cases the final "-s" in most words has been lost (i.e.
gaidaros (donkey) becomes
gadaro in Greek-Calabrian). Moreover, a future tense does not exist in this dialect, this grammatical requirement met by the use of the present tense.
An important peculiarity is that it uses the
Latin alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
and not the
GreekThe Greek alphabet is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is the first and oldest alphabet in the narrow sense that it notes each vowel and consonant with a separate symbol. It is as such in continuous use to...
.
Literature
The literature is scarce and consists of books of poetry, local history or calendars, frequently in three languages (Italian, Greek Calabrian and Modern Greek). Unfortunately this dialect has suffered due to the lack of a linguistic authority and the absence of a body of literature, with the language predominantly used in rural or pastoral environments.
In the late 1970s the association
Jalò tu Vúa initiated a research group to set up methodological standards to teach Greek-Calabrian and draft a grammar for the schools. The commune for Bova published it as pamphlet in 1979 with the title
La Glossa di Bova (
Bova's gloss).
The root of humanism
It is important to highlight the presence of Calabrians in
HumanismHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority...
and in the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
. Indeed the Hellenistics in this period frequently came from
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
maybe because of the Greek influence. The rediscovery of Ancient Greek was very difficult because this language had been almost forgotten. In this period the presence of Calabrian humanists or refugees from Constantinople was fundamental.
The study of Ancient Greek, in this period, was mainly a work of two monks of the monastery of
SeminaraSeminara is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 90 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 30 km northeast of Reggio Calabria...
:
BarlaamBarlaam of Seminara ,ca. 1290-1348, or Barlaam of Calabria was a southern Italian scholar and clergyman of the 14th century. Humanist, philologist, and theologian. He brought an accusation of heresy against Gregory Palamas for the latter's defence of Hesychasm...
, bishop of Gerace, and his disciple, Leonzio Pilato.
Leonzio Pilato, in particular, was probably a Greek Calabrian born near
Reggio CalabriaReggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city located in southern Italy and the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria. It is the largest and oldest city in the region and is the second oldest city in Italy overall...
. He was an important teacher of Ancient Greek and translator, and he helped
Giovanni BoccaccioGiovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
in the translations of
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
's works.
Music
Greek-Calabrian has never had a broad tradition in music; however, at present there are a number of local folk groups who sing in this dialect.
An annual festival called
"Palea riza" (that means
"Ancient Root" in Greek-Calabrian and standard Greek) of World and Greek-Calabrian music is held in Bova and other picturesque towns of the area.
Cultural associations
Inspired by the efforts of Rohlfs, a group of university students looked to further increase the exposure of this dialect by publishing a pamphlet entitled
La Ionica. This was the first organised activity aimed at protecting the language.
In 1970 this group established a cultural association named
La Ionica and the pamphlet became a magazine which contained poetry and prose in both Italian and in Greek Calabrian. The same association established contacts with Greek speakers of
Grecìa SalentinaGrecia Salentina is a Griko-speaking area in the peninsula of Salento in southern Italy, near the town of Lecce. It consists of nine towns and belongs to province of Lecce and the administrative area of Apulia ....
aimed at creating the UGIM (Union of Greeks of South Italy) in order to jointly protect the region's bilingualism and to demand formal state recognition in such areas, such as bilingual road signs.
Following the example of
La Ionica, other local associations were established, including
Zoí ce glossa (Life and language) in Reggio Calabria,
Cinurio Cosmó (New World) and
Jalò tu Vúa in Bova Marina,
CUMELCA in Gallicianò and Roghudi and
Apodiafázi (Dawn) in Bova Superiore.
Mass media
There exist two periodicals in Greek-Calabrian:
I Riza which is trilingual (Italian, Greek-Calabrian and modern Greek) and is published by the
Jalò tu Vúa association, and
CUMELCA. The former is a four-monthly publication while the latter is published every three months, however in reality it only appears on the shelves at irregular intervals. The region gives some financial aid to support these publications.
At the moment, there are no radio stations that broadcast in the Greek-Calabrian dialect, mostly due to the crisis of the local private radio stations. In fact, between 1977 and 1984, coinciding with the boom in local stations, some stations used to air programs in this language. Among these were the
Radio Antenna Don Bosco at Bova Marina,
Radio San Paolo at Reggio di Calabria and
RTM at Mélito di Porto Salvo.
This dialect has never been used on television.
Education and awareness raising
The Greek government in
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, through the
Associazione Internazionale degli Ellenofoni (SFEE) or the International Association of Greek speakers, has established relations with
La Ionica and has officially invited Greek-Calabrians at the annual meetings they host in
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
. Apart from this,
La Ionica has not been well supported by government public institutions; in fact awareness of this problem has only really surfaced in the last few years.
The
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
n region has encouraged the education of the dialect in schools, along with what already happens regarding
AlbanianAlbanian is a unique Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, Montenegro, and southern Serbia. Albanian is also spoken by native enclaves...
, thus promoting bilingualism. In 1993 the region also created an
Istituto Regionale Superiore di Studi Ellenofoni (Regional Institute of Advanced Greek Studies) based in Bova Marina.
Despite this initial activity, the program has not made many advances because of the lack of qualified teachers and the fact that bilingualism is not present in the administration. The improvements are very small and at the moment, for example, only the towns of Bova and Bova Marina have bilingual street signs.
Critical points
The gradual decline in the use of Greek Calabrian is mainly because the population views it as nothing more than a dialect–in other words, as a form of expression of the lower classes, typical of rural and/or illiterate peoples. The lack of linguistic registers (i.e. use in environments other than at a familiar level) is a further impediment to its survival.
The language was preserved whilst the population remained isolated in the mountains of the
AspromonteAspromonte is a mountain massif in the province of Reggio Calabria . The name means "rough mountains", so named by the farmers who found its steep terrain and rocky soil difficult to cultivate. It overlooks the Strait of Messina, being limited by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas and by the Pietrace...
. Following the migrations from these zones of the bulk of the population, the younger generations of today have only a very basic knowledge of the language and improved education standards encourage the use of other languages, such as Italian, even on a day to day basis.
Activity in the area of education, even if it is supported by local administration and legislation in promoting the presence of Greek in the classroom and in universities, is limited because lecturers and tutors with an adequate knowledge of Greek Calabrian are not available to offer courses. Initial activity has been limited to the initiatives of cultural groups at a local level, with the financial support of the odd local council.
The teaching of the language in schools has not followed a bilingual format, but rather, it has been offered more as an optional subject at primary school level, thanks to the financial support of the regional government and the
European CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
. In any case, student numbers have remained quite low.
The teaching of the language is completely absent at the secondary school level. Still, the cultural associations offer courses aimed at adults.
Therefore the biggest problem remains the limited knowledge of the language on the part of the teaching fraternity for whom bilingualism is not a mandatory element of their qualification. Some further education of such graduates is offered by the odd cultural association such as
Jalò tu Vúa, but thanks only to the support of the European Community. This same association has even worked towards the creation of a Greek Calabrian grammar.
However, interest among the youth in learning standard Greek continues to grow.
External links
Grecìa Calabra Scheda Euromosaic Leonzio Pilato's Biography