Sardinian By Anna Moon

The Sardinian language• Sardinia is an island off the western coast

of Italy.• The official language of Sardinia is Italian.• The Sardinian language is the largest minority language in Italy.• The only place Sardinian is spoken is on the island of Sardinia though many of itsspeakers migrate to Italy and other parts of Europe.

Sardinian: A Romance language• Sardinian is a Romance language which is

most closely related to Italian.• However, Sardinian developed separately

from Italian and is similar to Italian because both languages are very similar to the original Latin.

• Sardinian is considered by some to be the closest living relative of Latin.

Language tree(s)

Language tree(s)

Native speakers• Sardinia has a population of about 1.6

million people.• An estimated 1.3 million people speak

Sardinian.• That is approximately 80% of the

population of the island.• There are many dialects of this language

even though it has very few native speakers.

• The four primarily recognized dialects are Campidanese, Logudorese, Sassarese and Gallurese.

Native speakers (cont.)• One quarter of the

population live in Cagliari, Nuoro, Oristano and Sassari.

Linguistic history• The island of Sardinia has been occupied

by many different kingdoms, empires and countries.

• The unique history of Sardinia is evident in its language. Sardinian has many similarities to and evidence of Phoenician, Etruscan, Nuragic, Catalan and Arabic language influence.

• Prior to WWII, Sardinia enjoyed a stable state of diglossia (Italian and Sardinian).

Linguistic history (cont.)• After WWII, a literacy campaign in Italy led

to Italian dominating the education system and communication median.

Sociopolitical history• Sardinian is protected by the Italian

constitution.• The official language of Italy is Italian.• The official language of the state of

Sardinia is Sardinian.• The literacy campaign following WWII

contributed greatly to the decline of Sardinian and dominance of Italian in Sardinia.

Sociopolitical history (cont.)• Sardinian can be used in many official

situations in Sardinia (schools, legal papers, court proceedings, road signs, etc.) however it is not used in many of these situations.

• Although Sardinian is protected and allowed in many different situations in Sardinia, it has declined and Italian has become the primary language in most situations other than communication.

Status as a language• According to UNESCO (United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), all dialects of Sardinian are endangered because of decline of the language in most areas besides verbal communication.

• Attempts have been made to revitalize and standardize the Sardinian language but none of these attempts have been succesful.

Pictures

Sardinian popular culture• Sardinia does not have newspapers or

newscasts in Sardinian. The local media will include articles, stories, etc. in Sardinian from time to time but no media is primarily in the Sardinian language.

• Sardinian literature is not common and few books are written in Sardinian.

• Sardinian music is mostly folk music and is rarely seen outside of the state of Sardinia.

Schools in Sardinia• Schools in Sardinia offer education in

Sardinian in primary and secondary schools by request from the parents, however, no textbooks are available in Sardinian so only instruction is given in Sardinian.

• Lack of education inSardinian contributesGreatly to the decline of the language.

NumbersSardinian 1 – unu2 – duos3 – tres4 – bàtoro5 – chimbe6 – ses7 – sete8 – oto9 – noe10 – deghe

Italian1 – uno2 – due3 – tre4 – quattro5 – cinque6 – sei7 – sette8 – otto9 – nove10 – dieci

Sardinian20 – binti30 – trinta40 – baranta50 – chinbanta60 – sessanta70 – setanta80 – otanta90 – nonanta100 – chentunian

Italian20 – venti30 – trenta40 – quaranta50 – cinquanta60 – sessanta70 – settanta80 – ottanta90 – novanta100 – cento

MonthsSardinianGennaioFebbraioMarzoAprileMaggioGiugnoLuglioAgostoSettembreOttobreNovembreDicembre

ItalianGennaioFebbraioMarzoAprileMaggioGuignoLuglioAgostoSettembreOttobreNovembreDicembre

Websites• A website from a university in Berlin, this website is in the Sardinian, Italian and

German languages and gives a little information about the culture of Sardinia and educational programs in Sardinia.

http://www.lingrom.fu-berlin.de/sardu/

• This website has everything you need to know about Sardinia. From language to culture to history, this website has it all in nine languages.

http://www.sardegnacultura.it/linguasarda/

• This website can be viewed in Italian or in Sardinian and describes tourism, popular attractions, transportation, accommodation, everything you need to know about vacationing in Sardinia.

http://www.comune.laconi.or.it/home_sar.php?lang=sar&inc=home_sar

• A Facebook page about the Sardinian language.http://www.facebook.com/Lingua.Sarda?v=info

Websites (cont.)• Wikipedia in Sardinian. This page discusses the language just as the English version

of the page.http://sc.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limba_sarda

• A website of a detailed history of Sardinia, this website tells the story of Sardinia from the beginning.

http://www.immaginidellasardegna.it/storia/nuragica.htm

• This website features a variety of Sardinian writing (mostly poetry).http://digilander.iol.it/belzebuttu/

• A dictionary of Sardinian words with translations into five different languages.http://www.ditzionariu.org/home.asp

Websites (cont.)• This website lists numbers, days of the week, the months of the year and other words

as well as gives the words in different dialects.http://digilander.libero.it/PROVERBISARDI/calendario/calendario.htm

• A website about the language, culture and popular topics on Sardinia and in the Sardinian language.

http://www.fontesarda.it/sr/sr0013.htm

Sources• http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sardinian.htm• http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/europe_report.html#GSardinian• http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/euromosaic/doc4560_en.htm#21• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinian_language• http://www.nativlang.com/sardinian-language/sardinian-basic-phrases.php• http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/sardlang.html• http://www.activsardegna.com/lingua_en.htm• http://www.mondosardegna.net/eng/linguasarda/linguasarda.htm• http://www.immaginidellasardegna.it/storia/nuragica.htm• http://www.gotosardinia.com/storia_della_lingua_sarda.htm