Language Research

8. Miscellaneous: What else can be found about languages and minorities?

Updated (July 2001)

SARDINIA

The Sardinian language is experiencing a revival. Nowadays, the majority of the island (85% out of 1 600 000 people) understands Sardinian. The number of monolingual Italians (10%) or Sardinians (8-9%) is on decline.

After 20 years of struggle a commission of nine experts, mainly university lecturers, issued a final paper with the set of principles for the standardization of the Sardinian language, the result of two years work. Also The Institute for Sardinian Language will be formed for the implementation and further development of the standardization norms.

On the other hand, the Catalan speakers of Sardinia need a revival.

Catalan speakers of Sardinia are concentrated in city Alghero where some 15,000-20,000 people can speak and use the Catalan language. The Catalan presence dates back to 1354, when Peter IV of Aragone conquered Alghero and made it stronghold of the Spanish military power in Sardinia. From then, the immigration of Catalans from Spain to Alghero was stimulated by the Aragonese Crown through concessions and benefits. The result of this policy was a rapid Catalanization of the town. The Catalan language and culture flourished until the 16th century when the Sabaud domination forbade the use of Catalan in official documents (1764). Today, Catalan spoken in Alghero is a version of Catalan spoken in Catalonia, using standardized writing forms but also including various influences of the local Sardinian dialects.

A high level of immigration from the north of Italy in the outskirts of the town, consequently bringing in a wider use of Italian, represents a problem for the survival of Catalan in Alghero, "At present, there is a need for the implementation of a regional law from 1997 and a national law from 1999. Unfortunately, there is no major initiative for the valorization and normalization of Catalan," states Sechi, a former mayor of Alghero. 

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Updated (January 2002)

OCCITAN

"Chambra D'Óc", the association representing the Occitans from the northern Italian Alps, has made another important step towards their aim for Occitan being an official language at the Winter Olympic Games 2006 in Torino. They met in Torino with representatives from "TOROC", the local authority which organizes the Olympic Games. As a result of the meeting, the region of Piemont agreed to set up a working group which will elaborate a program to include the Occitan language in the Olympic Games.

The proposals from "Chambra D'Oc" range from playing the official Occitan hymn "Se chanta" at the inauguration ceremony to raising awareness among journalists and schools with appropriate information material and organizing artistic events with Occitan music, plays, dance and films.

The president of TOROC and former mayor of Torino, Valentino Castellani initially stressed that the Occitan request could not be accepted without consideration. According to the International Olympic Committee, regulations in English, French and the official national languages are considered to be official languages of the sportive event.

However, foreign representatives and international organizations strongly supported the idea. Xavier Bada, President of "Eurocongris 2000", an Occitan-Catalan organization from Barcelona, said that the region of Piemont should not miss the occasion to enhance the local cultures and languages. Denis Mallet, President of CIRDOC, representing Occitan organizations from Beziers in France, stressed that a project to valorize the Occitan language at the Winter Olympic Games 2006 will certainly be supported by other regions, such as Languedoc Roussillon and Catalonia. Finally, Bojan Brezigar, President of the European Bureau for Lesser-Used languages (EBLUL), promised full support to the initiative, and to keep in contact with other communities and regions in order to guarantee the success of the project. EBLUL will also provide information on funding possibilities for projects throughout the EU-programs. 

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Updated (July 2002)

The minorities' organizations in Italy consider the current census on historic linguistic minorities, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Interior to be something against the minorities and their protection.

It all started one month ago, when the prefectures of the areas where linguistic minorities are present sent a request to all the mayors, asking information about the local situation of minorities.

According to Carli Pup, the official spokesman of Committee 482, which represents the Friulan, Slovene and German-speaking minority associations in Friuli, in northeast Italy, they oppose this idea and are worried about it. The Committee was set up to defend and promote the implementation of the Italian Law on Minority Languages approved in 1999.

"It's not clear why the Ministry of Interior has chosen to promote this strange investigation. If its aim is to know the number of speakers of minority languages, this request is inadequate because it will be based only on the personal opinion of a mayor and not on the statistic research," explains Mr. Pup, and adds that "in case of Friuli and the Friulan language, there is also a Regional Decree of 1996, which recognizes and defines the territory where Friulan is spoken."

Diegu Corraine, a Sardinian teacher and publisher, agrees with Carli Pup and explains that it is not a real census so it is useless, not objective, and it could be dangerous, because of its ambiguousness.

"There is a risk that this incoherent and arbitrary data could be used against the minorities in order to obstruct the implementation of the Law," adds Dino Matteodo, who is the vice-president of "Espaci Occitan" (the Association of Local Administrations in the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont).

The Ministry's request is not clear. The Committee 482 thinks there are different criteria to explain it. They refuse every kind of census, because the Italian Law on Minorities needs only the definition of the territory, and only the territory where it has to be implemented. These limits have to be made only by the Provinces.

The Prefect of Turin, Achille Catalani, has obviously a different opinion: "Minorities don't have to be worried about this data request. Its aim is to know the numerical consistence of the historic linguistic minorities, in order to define the distribution of funds for projects on the languages. It is not like before when this issue was considered only a police issue; we all agree it's a cultural and civil rights issue," argues Catalani, who works in a province where three minority languages, Occitan, Franco-Provençal and French, are spoken.

Source: http://www.eurolang.net/, Eurolang, Turin, June 27, July 15, 2002 by Marco Stolfo 

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Updated (September 2008)

PIEDMONT GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS THE CALLS FOR OCCITAN TO BE RECOGNIZED AS WORLD HERITAGE

The Piedmont government is backing a campaign launched by the Chambra d'Òc, a major pro-Occitan organization based in the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont, which is calling for UNESCO to add the Occitan language to its World Heritage List.

On August 26, the Regional Council approved a “Proposal for the inclusion of the Occitan language on UNESCO's World Heritage list” which was drafted by Chambra d'Òc.

Just over two weeks ago, Chambra d'Òc launched its “Occitania a pè” campaign, a two-month-long journey on foot across the entire Occitan-speaking domain with the slogan “Occitan: Humanity's World Heritage”. The Regional Council has responded to the campaign by pledging to support efforts “to protect and recognize the value of Occitan language and culture” and carry out “homogeneous and synergic action across the [Occitan-speaking] territory”.

The Piedmont executive has also promised “to implement measures to get Occitan included on the UNESCO World Heritage list”. The Piedmont Government has shown that its stance on defending and protecting the Occitan language is one of the most favorable of all public bodies, together with that of the Aran Valley Government.

As well as in the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and the Aran Valley, Occitan is spoken across a large part of southern France. With an estimated 1,000,000 to 3,700,000 speakers, it is one of Europe’s most spoken marginalized languages.

Source: Ciemen Nationalia, News, September 9, 2008 http://www.nationalia.info/en/news/256

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