Lombards of Sicily
Encyclopedia
Minority language
A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.-International politics:...
living in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, southern Italy, speaking an isolated variety of Gallo-Italic dialects, the so called Gallo-Italic of Sicily.
The Lombards of Sicily settled the central and eastern part of Sicily about 900 years ago, coming from the Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
, during the Norman conquest of Sicily
Norman conquest of southern Italy
The Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned the late eleventh and much of the twelfth centuries, involving many battles and many independent players conquering territories of their own...
. Because of linguistic differences among the Gallo-Italics dialects of Sicily, it is supposed that there were independent immigration routes. From Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
, Emilia
Emilia (region of Italy)
Emilia is a historical region of northern Italy which approximately corresponds to the western and north-eastern portions of today’s Emilia-Romagna region...
, Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
they began to spread south, between the 11th and 14th centuries.
The major centres where these dialects can still be heard today include Piazza Armerina
Piazza Armerina
Piazza Armerina is an Italian comune in the province of Enna of the autonomous island region of Sicily.-History:...
, Aidone
Aidone
Aidone is a town and comune in the province of Enna, in region of Sicily in southern Italy.-Main sights:* Church of Santa Maria la Cava* Mother Church of San Lorenzo...
, Sperlinga
Sperlinga
Sperlinga is a comune in the province of Enna, in region of Sicily in southern Italy....
, San Fratello
San Fratello
San Fratello , formerly San Filadelfio, is a comune in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about 110 km east of Palermo and about 90 km west of Messina...
, Nicosia
Nicosia (EN)
Nicosia is a city and comune of the province of Enna in Sicily, southern Italy. The vicinity traditionally contained are salt mines and arable lands...
, and Novara di Sicilia
Novara di Sicilia
Novara di Sicilia is a comune in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about 160 km east of Palermo and about 40 km southwest of Messina...
. Northern Italian dialects did not survive in some towns in the province of Catania
Province of Catania
Catania is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Catania.It has an area of 3,552 km², and a total population of 1,073,881 . There are 58 comunes in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Catania...
that developed large Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
communities during this period, namely Randazzo
Randazzo
Randazzo is a town and comune of Sicily, Italy, in the province of Catania. It is situated at the northern foot of Mount Etna, 70 km NW of Catania by rail. It is the nearest town to the summit of Etna, and is one of the points from which the ascent may be made.-History:In the 13th century the...
, Paternò
Paternò
Paternò is a town and comune in the Province of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy.-History:The site of Paternò was settled before 3500 BCE. Its inhabitants were probably the Sicani, although it was located in mainly Sicel territory; its initial name was Inessa. The modern name derives form the Greek...
and Bronte. However, the Northern Italian influence in the local varieties of Sicilian are marked.
In the case of San Fratello, some linguists have suggested that the gallic-italic dialect present today has Provençal
Franco-Provençal language
Franco-Provençal , Arpitan, or Romand is a Romance language with several distinct dialects that form a linguistic sub-group separate from Langue d'Oïl and Langue d'Oc. The name Franco-Provençal was given to the language by G.I...
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).
See also
- Western dialects of Lombard language
- NormansNormansThe Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
- Norman conquest of southern ItalyNorman conquest of southern ItalyThe Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned the late eleventh and much of the twelfth centuries, involving many battles and many independent players conquering territories of their own...