Sicilian Language or Siculish

What is Sicilian?

Sicilian (u sicilianu) is neither a dialect nor an accent. It is a not a variant of Italian, a local version of Italian, and it’s not even derived from what became Italian. In fact, in truth, Sicilian preceded Italian as we know it.

A Mediterranean Language

Though its origin is still somewhat debated, most linguistic scholarship traces Sicilian to a group of languages spoken originally by the peoples who populated the island up to some 700 years a.D., not all of them, possibly, of Hindu-European origin; the Sicani, originally from Iberia, the Elimi from Libya, and the Siculi, from mainland Italy. Many linguistic influences followed with the waves of the invaders: from the Semitic languages Phoenician and Punic, the languages of the Carthaginians, then Greek, and only then Latin, through the Romans.

Hence it is fundamentally a true Mediterranean language, onto which Arabic and Arab influences were also layered through conquest. The Latin penetration of the language or languages that were already spoken in Sicily was likely slow, not particularly literate (not high Latin), and took root in different degrees in different areas. The same for Arabic influences, which remained stronger and longer in some areas of Sicily, while other areas remained most strongly Greco-Roman. Hence, all of the influences grafted on in different locations in different ways, and some others as well: French, Provençal, German, Catalan, and Spanish.

What’s Siculish?

Sicilian spoken by Italian immigrants living in the United States (or the Sicilianization of English) is called Siculish: English-Sicilian terms such as carru for car, for example. It is a hybrid of terms coined by Sicilian immigrants to make English their own.

If you are interested in taking a look at some literary Sicilian writing, check out Giovanni Verga, Luigi Pirandello, Leonardo Sciascia, and, on the contemporary shelf, Andrea Camilleri, whose Detective Montalbano is most famous.

READ MORE ON: 

Filippo, Michael San. “An Introduction to Sicilian: The Language of Sicily.” ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/sicilian-for-beginners-2011648.

RELATED Previous Posts

Wines of Sicily
The Greeks, Phoenicians, Arabs and Italians have all held sway over Sicily. Though the Greeks brought their advanced viticulture techniques, Sicilians have been making wine since 4000 BC. Its dry, warm climate features regular sunshine and moderate rainfall that suits wine production.

Sicilian Olive Oils
The main olive varieties used to produce this delicacy are Biancolilla, Cerasuola, Moresca, Nocellara del Belice, Nocellara Etnea, Ogliarola Messinese and Tonda Iblea, but some other varieties grown on the island can also be used.

Street Food
The basic principle of street food is: simple and cheap food for simple people. The street food of Palermo mainly consists of simple poor recipes…simply fried and locals often use to eat on the street cooked food to spit with their hands.

Marsala and the Saltpans
Dating back as far as the reign of the Phoenicians some 2700 years ago, the ancient salt pans of western Sicily between Trapani and Marsala have played a hugely important role in the daily life of thousands of Mediterranean and European people for generations.

Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More