The Lombards of Sicily ( it, Lombardi di Sicilia) are an

ethnolinguistic Ethnolinguistics (sometimes called cultural linguistics) is an area of anthropological linguistics that studies the relationship between a language and the nonlinguistic cultural behavior of the people who speak that language. __NOTOC__ Examples ...

minority living in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

, speaking an isolated variety of

Gallo-Italic The Gallo-Italic, Gallo-Italian, Gallo-Cisalpine or simply Cisalpine languages constitute the majority of the Romance languages of northern Italy. They are Piedmontese, Lombard, Emilian, Ligurian, and Romagnol. Although most publications def ...

languages, the so-called

Gallo-Italic of Sicily , states = Northwest Italy , region = Central and eastern Sicily , speakers = 60,000 , ref = , date = 2006 , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Italic , fam3 = Romance , fam4 = Italo-Western , f ...

History

The origins of these communities goes back to the 11th century, when soldiers and settlers from

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

(at the time collectively called "Lombardy"), settled the central and eastern part of Sicily during the

Norman conquest of southern Italy The Norman conquest of southern Italy lasted from 999 to 1139, involving many battles and independent conquerors. In 1130, the territories in southern Italy united as the Kingdom of Sicily, which included the island of Sicily, the southern th ...

. After the marriage between the Norman king

Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a Norman nobleman who became the first Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the H ...

with Adelaide del Vasto, member of

Aleramici The House of Aleramici were a medieval Italian noble family of Frankish origin which ruled various northwestern counties and marches, in Piedmont and Liguria from the tenth to the 14th centuries. History The founder of the family was William I of ...

family, many Lombard colonisers left their homeland, in the Aleramici's possessions in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, to settle on the island of Sicily. The Normans began a process of 'latinization' of Sicily by encouraging an immigration policy of their people, French (Norman, Provencal and Breton) and northern Italians (in particular from Piedmont and Liguria) with the granting of lands and privileges. The aim of the new Norman kings was to strengthen the "Latin stock", which in Sicily was a minority, compared to the more numerous Greek and Arab populations. Beginning from the end of the 11th century were repopulated the central and eastern parts of the island, the

Val Demone Val Demone or Val di Demona (English: 'Valley of Demona') is a historical and geographical region encompassing the north-eastern third of Sicily. Historically, it was one of the three valli of Sicily. Val Demone was the last part of the island to ...

, where there was a strong Byzantine presence and the

Val di Noto Val di Noto (English: ''Province of Noto'') is a historical and geographical area encompassing the south-eastern third of Sicily; it is dominated by the limestone Hyblaean plateau. Historically, it was one of the three valli of Sicily. History ...

, with colonists and soldiers from the Aleramici mark which included the

Monferrato Montferrat (, ; it, Monferrato ; pms, Monfrà , locally ; la, Mons Ferratus) is part of the region of Piedmont in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Province of Alessandria, ...

in Piedmont, part of the Ligurian hinterland of the west, and small portions of the western areas of Lombardy and Emilia. The migration of people from Northern Italy to Sicily continued until the end of the 13th century. It is believed that the population of Northern Italy who immigrated to Sicily during in these centuries was altogether about 200,000 people. The major centres, called historically , where these dialects can still be heard today, include

Piazza Armerina Piazza Armerina (Gallo-Italic of Sicily: ''Ciazza''; Sicilian: ''Chiazza'') is a ''comune'' in the province of Enna of the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. History The city of Piazza (as it was called before 1862) developed d ...

Aidone Aidone (Gallo-Italic of Sicily: ''Aidungh'' or ''Dadungh''; scn, Aiduni) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Enna, in region of Sicily in southern Italy. The extensive archaeological site of Morgantina is on a ridge close to the town. ...

Sperlinga Sperlinga is a comune in the province of Enna, in the central part of the island of Sicily, in southern Italy. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("the prettiest villages in Italy"). Geography Sperlinga is at about above sea level, o ...

San Fratello San Fratello (Gallo-Italic: San Frareau, Sicilian: ''Santu Frateddu'', Greek and Latin: ''Apollonia'', Medieval Latin ''Castrum S. Philadelphi''), formerly San Filadelfo, is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the ...

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

, and

Novara di Sicilia Novara di Sicilia ( Gallo-Italic of Sicily: Nuè; Sicilian: ''Nuvara'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region of Sicily, located about east of Palermo and some southwest of Messina. Novara di ...

. Northern Italian dialects did not survive in some towns in the

province of Catania The Province of Catania ( it, Provincia di Catania; scn, Pruvincia di Catania) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Catania. It had an area of and a total population of about 1, ...

, Syracuse and

Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a ''comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''. In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14th l ...

that developed large Lombard communities during this period, for example

Paternò Paternò ( scn, Patennò) is a southern Italian town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily. With a population (2016) of 48,009, it is the third municipality of the province after Catania and Acireale. Geography Paternò ...

and

Butera Butera ( Sicilian: ''Vutera'') is an Italian town and a ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, in the southern part of the island of Sicily. It is bounded by the ''comuni'' of Gela, Licata, Mazzarino, Ravanusa and Riesi. It has a populatio ...

. However, the Northern Italian influence in the local varieties of Sicilian are marked. In the case of San Fratello, some linguists have suggested that the Gallic-Italic dialect present today has Provençal as its basis, having been a fort manned by Provençal mercenaries in the early decades of the Norman conquest (bearing in mind that it took the Normans 30 years to conquer the whole of the island).

History

References

See also