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 its
speakers 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 in
Sardinian contributes
Greatly to the decline
of the language.
Numbers
Sardinian
1 – unu
2 – duos
3 – tres
4 – bàtoro
5 – chimbe
6 – ses
7 – sete
8 – oto
9 – noe
10 – deghe
Italian
1 – uno
2 – due
3 – tre
4 – quattro
5 – cinque
6 – sei
7 – sette
8 – otto
9 – nove
10 – dieci
Sardinian
20 – binti
30 – trinta
40 – baranta
50 – chinbanta
60 – sessanta
70 – setanta
80 – otanta
90 – nonanta
100 – chentunian
Italian
20 – venti
30 – trenta
40 – quaranta
50 – cinquanta
60 – sessanta
70 – settanta
80 – ottanta
90 – novanta
100 – cento
Months
Sardinian
Gennaio
Febbraio
Marzo
Aprile
Maggio
Giugno
Luglio
Agosto
Settembre
Ottobre
Novembre
Dicembre
Italian
Gennaio
Febbraio
Marzo
Aprile
Maggio
Guigno
Luglio
Agosto
Settembre
Ottobre
Novembre
Dicembre
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