Un populuUn populumittitilu a catinamittitilu a catina

spughiatiluspughiatiluattuppatici a vuccaattuppatici a vucca

è ancora libiru.è ancora libiru.Livatici u travagghiuLivatici u travagghiu

u passaportuu passaportua tavula unnu manciaa tavula unnu mancia

u lettu unnu dormi,u lettu unnu dormi,

è ancora riccu.è ancora riccu.Un populuUn populudiventa poviru e servudiventa poviru e servu

quannu ci arrubbanu a linguaquannu ci arrubbanu a lingua

addutata di patri:addutata di patri:

è persu pi sempri.è persu pi sempri.

Diventa poviru e servuDiventa poviru e servu

quannu i paroli non figghianu paroliquannu i paroli non figghianu paroli

e si mancianu tra d'iddi.e si mancianu tra d'iddi.

Mi nn'addugnu ora,Mi nn'addugnu ora,

mentri accordu la chitarra du dialettumentri accordu la chitarra du dialettu

ca perdi na corda lu jornu.ca perdi na corda lu jornu.

[…][…]

Language and DialectA Peopleput them in chainsstrip them nakedgag their mouths,they are still free.

Take awaytheir job,their passportthe table where they eatthe bed they sleep in,they are still rich.

A Peoplebecome impoverished and servile,when taken from themthe languageendowed by their fathers:is lost forever.

They become impoverished and servile,when their words don't generate wordsand they eat each other.Now I understandas I tune up the guitarof the dialectlosing a string a day.[…]

by Ignazio Buttitta

Click on the pictures to know more!

Click on the picture for the recipe!

During the last two generations, Sicilian had been considered as the language of the poor ignorant people. People was ashamed to speak in public using Sicilian, and the use of this language had been limited to jokes. Nowadays, we are trying to save our language memory, because if we lose our local language, we lose a whole world.Inspired by this poem dated 1970, we are learning words, poems, songs and popular sayings in our language, with translation in Italian and English and some of the languages we speak in class, when we knew the words: French, Filipino and Tamil. We have learnt that all languages are important, and that it’s important to know more than one, because, as a Sicilian proverb says «Cu havi lingua passa u mari» (The one who has language, gets across the sea).

Class V E, aged 9/11 - Direzione Didattica Statale G.Pitré-M.Rapisardi, Palermo, Italy

Ignazio Buttitta (1899-1997) was one of the

most important Sicilian poets in the past century. He wrote both in Sicilian and in Italian. In the 1970s he was aware of the risk

that dialect could become a dead language and, in his works, he contributed to keep Sicilian language alive. Here is a video with the complete poem, here

the whole poem with English translation and

comment. Here is a link to Butttitta’s page at

Wikipedia in Spanish and another link to Wikipedia in Sicilian. Here is a link to an English page with critics and some poems.