Linguae Europaeae

Image by MLbay by Dalton Ascone Dalton Ascone is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Linguistics, and minoring in Teaching English as a Second Language. Upon graduating, he hopes to remain in academia to pursue his research interests, which include bilingualism, second-language acquisition, and language maintenance in diaspora communities. He wrote this blog post for 418 “Languages and Minorities in Europe” in Spring 2023. The names of the participants have been altered in order to protect their anonymity. The Iranian diaspora is diverse and widespread, but if one were to try to describe one trait that unites all its members, it is this: they live their daily lives between a rock and a hard place. Between the broken immigration systems of their nations of residence, the endless coils of red tape they are forced to dance through, and the delicate geopolitical situation of their homeland, for some, the stress is so overwhelming that it becomes mund...

by Lilia Motley Lilia Motley is a senior in Computer Science at the University of Illinois.  Lilia's future plans include taking a job at Microsoft in Seattle.  Lilia wrote this blog post in the 418 "Language and Minorities in Europe" course in Spring 2019. Image Credit: Arnold Platon, via Wikimedia Commons . License available here . Out of all the minority languages in Europe, few are in a situation as unique and contradictory as Romani's: the language boasts an estimated 3.5 million speakers--possibly making it the largest minorized language in the European Union--yet it is only recognized as an official language in one region [i].  It is ratified under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 16 states--more than any other language--yet its promotion by these countries is often lackluster compared to others.  Romani speakers live in almost every country in Europe, and yet nowhere do they make up more than 10% of the population [ii]....

By Robin Wilson Adapted from Wikimedia The debate about the feminine form of certain words of profession in the Italian language, specifically job titles, was brought back to the fore with the election of Virginia Raggi, the newly-elected mayor of Rome. She is, in fact, the first ever female mayor of Rome. With her election came the question of whether the word sindaco ‘mayor’ would be used to describe her as occupying the position of the major. Until recently, sindaco had no widely recognized feminine form in the Italian language. The dominant use of masculine words for titles and professions within the Italian language, however, is not a new phenomenon. Attitudes and inequalities associated with such a dominance was raised as early as 1987 by the researcher and activist Alma Sabatini in her influential treatise Raccomandazioni per un uso non sessista della lingua italiana ‘Recommendations for a non-sexist use of the Italian language’. Although Sabatini’s recommendations we...

Image Link Italy’s Apathy Towards Napolitano’s Imminent Death By Moisés G. Contreras Moisés G. Contreras is a Junior at the University of Illinois majoring in Psychology and Italian, with a minor in Latina/Latino Studies. After completion of his degrees, he hopes to spend a year teaching English abroad. Naples is one of his favorite Italian cities, and very probably the site of his studying and teaching abroad plans. The relationship between the majority and the minority can be detrimental, especially when it is overlooked and equity is not at the forefront. It is then interesting to apply this idea in a linguistic realm, where minority languages are mainly esteemed poorly and as not worthy of acknowledgement. In the situation of Italy and the question of regional and minority languages, the main issue is the vigorous and inconsiderate spread of Standard Italian across the state. There is legislation in Italy to protect certain minority languages, (Law 482/1999), but ...

Image: Erin O'Malley on Flickr By Elizabeth Lorentzen Elizabeth Lorentzen is a senior from Arlington Heights, Illinois, studying Speech and Hearing Sciences. She is also completing a minor in Italian Studies. With approximately 5 million speakers, the Sicilian language is vigorously used throughout Sicily and its satellite islands (Lewis, 2016). However, there are still numerous people who believe Sicilian is merely a dialect of Italian, not its own distinct language; the Italian parliament has failed to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and Sicilian is not recognized by the national law 482 which recognizes and protects 12 languages and dialects spoken in Italy. Additionally, Sicilian is not standardly used in schools, nor is it commonly written or read by the people who use it in daily life. According to the UNESCO rankings, Sicilian is a vulnerable language, meaning there is limited language use at home by a portion of the population; me...

by Amanda Oster Amanda Oster is a senior in Mathematics and Italian. After graduation she is continuing her education in graduate school to study cryptography. She is planning on using her language and mathematical skills in code-breaking for international organizations. She wrote this text as a student in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ in the spring of 2015. Image Source Italy is a country full of dialects, languages, outsiders. A common Italian language was virtually non-existent until a specific dialect was chosen to be taught in schools and used throughout the public spheres of Italian life. Italian illiteracy was uncommonly high in the first half of the 20th century, but sits today at only 1% (Homolaicus). The whole process was expedited immensely by the introduction of television. In 1954, 48% of the Italian population had access to television, and seven years later it increased to 97% (Homolaicus). Reaching this much of the population was enormous, and the Ita...

“Una risata vi seppellirà”… o forse terrà viva una lingua! Sulla lingua locale di Parma by Fara Taddei Fara Faddei is a graduate student in French Studies at the University of Illinois. She is currently completing her studies of French literature and culture and planning on enlarging her research to world literature. She is interested in Europe and cinema all over the world. She wrote this blog post while enrolled in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe.’ Piazza Garibaldi, centro di Parma. Foto di Carlo Ferrari. Come si crea una risata di gusto? Gli ideatori di io parlo parmigiano, serie di sketch comici nata su Facebook e cresciuta nelle piazze, condiscono le loro risate con un’abbondante dose di dialetto parmigiano, la lingua propria della città di Parma. Parma, nota in tutto il mondo per le tradizionali prodezze gastronomiche, quali formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano e prosciutto crudo di Parma, è una città di circa 200.000 abitanti, situata nella regione del Nord-Italia chia...

by Michelle Cozzini Michelle Cozzini is a graduate student in the Master Program in Accounting Science at the University of Illinois. Of Italian origin, Michelle is planning on working in Ernest and Young LLP Financial and Tax services in the near future. S/he wrote this text in the 418, ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ course in the spring of 2015. La regione di Trentino – Alto Adige è una delle regioni più a nord d’Italia e confina con l’Austria. Anche se la provincia rimane parte dell’Italia, i cittadini trentini non si sentono Italiani, e per la maggior parte nella città di Bolzano, e in altri paesi del Südtirol, non parlano neanche italiano. Questa parte d’Italia è interessante riguardo al rispetto che la lingua tiene sul nazionalismo. Per esempio, se vai in Trentino, i punti più a nord della provincia avranno tantissimi segni che allegano alla cultura tedesca. La mia ricerca su questo tema identifica la storia come spiegazione dell’importanza del tedesco nella cultura. P...

by Kaitlyn K. Russell When we list reasons to go abroad, one of the most common is learning a foreign language. Attending the University of Bologna in Italy allowed me to become fluent in one of the world's most beautiful languages, but it also allowed me to access a lesser-known dialect: Bolognese (Bulgnaiś, to the speakers). The dialect did not make itself immediately known-- most of the inhabitants of the city are university students and professors, hailing from across the country and around the globe. We favored standard Italian in the classroom and on the streets. I was never asked out for a vén or a cafà but rather a bicchiere di vino (a glass of wine) or un caffè (a coffee). "Nutella" is also Bolognese for Nutella ☺ Most of my contact with Bolognese came from teaching English at the local middle school, Scuola Secondaria Gandino. Although at first I was caught off guard-- a child missing their mèder (mother) was strange to me-- I grew to love the ...