My fascination with Sicily prompts me to post this insert:
The Sicilian Language
Dante recognized its beauty, and the language of Sicily (often but incorrectly referred to as a “dialect” of standard Italian) is a unique blend of Greek, Latin, Aragonese, Arabic, Longobardic and Norman-French elements. This Italic tongue may be considered a distinct Romance Language, but while its prose is beautiful, Sicilian is rarely written. Sicilian is quite similar to Calabrian, and shares certain elements with Maltese. Despite attempts by the national government to suppress it after 1860, Sicilian remained the native language of most Sicilians until the twentieth century. A brand of Tuscan had been the official written language since around 1700, before which time most documents were recorded in “Church” Latin. In Norman times, official documents were issued in Greek, Latin, Arabic and, very rarely, in Norman French.
