Sicilian Language: Italo-Dalmatian language spoken in Southern Italy
The Sicilian language (lu sicilianu) is a language spoken in Sicily island and central Calabria.
It is spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of Sicily and by emigrants.
| Sicilian | |
|---|---|
| Sicilianu | |
| Native to | Sicily, Calabria (Central and Southern), Campania (Cilento), Apulia (Salento, Lecce), Malta |
Native speakers | 6.8 million (2010) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | scn |
| ISO 639-3 | scn |
| Linguasphere | 51-AAA-re & -rf (mainland 51-AAA-rc & -rd) |
 | |
Speakers
10 million people speak the language. It has three stocks: the Sicilian, the Calabro-Sicilian and Salentinu.
Differences with Italian
Compared to Italian, it is a distinctly separate form of verbal communication patterned by many years of foreign influence. Efforts to force Sicilians to speak conventional Italian include schools, television and radio. Italians maintain that Sicilian is simply a subset dialect of Italian, while Sicilians see their spoken word as a true and separate language.
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