Sicilian

Sicilian is a Romance language. It is spoken by about 5 million people in Sicily and in parts of Calabria and Puglia in southern Italy. There are also many Sicilians and people of Sicilian origin in the USA, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Germany who use the language. In Sicily the majority of Sicilians are bilingual in Sicilian and Italian. Sicilian has no official status and is not used is schools or the media.

Map of Sicilian language speakers.
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Map of Sicilian language speakers.

Basic stats

Total speakers: 4.8 million

Main Countries: Sicily, central and southern Calabria, the province of Lecce (Apulia), the southern part of the province of Salerno (Campania), also spoken by emigrants in around 30 countries; significant usage in other parts of Italy and in Malta

Alternate names: Calabro-Sicilian, Sicilianu, Siculu

ISO 639-3 Code: scn


Language Sample

Tutti i cristiani nascinu libbiri cu a stissa dignità i diritti. Iddi hannu a raggiuni i cuscienza i hannu a travagghiari 'nzemmula cu spiritu di fratirnità.

(Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1)


Some proverbs in Sicilian:

A un povir'omu, ogni cani cci abbaja
Every dog barks at a poor man

Ammuccia lu latinu 'gnuranza di parrinu
Latin hides the stupidity of the priest.

Cu fa assai e nun ci abbada, spenni assai e 'un cogghi biada
If you invest a lot but don't maintain it, you won't even harvest enough to re-seed

Product Availability

The following products are currently available in Sicilian:

  • For Consumers

(Coming soon)

Sources

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