On Saturday, January 17th, it took place the third edition of the Italian National Dialect and Local Languages’ Day, jointly organized by The National Union: Pro Loco, Lazio Legautonomie, the Documentation Center For Dialect Poetry “Vincenzo Scarpellino”, the International Center “Eugenio Montale” and N.G.O. School as an Instrument of Peace – E.I.P. Italy.
The event, which is going to span from the period immediately before till well after the actual date, is chaired by the eminent Italian linguist, Professor emeritus, and former Minister of Education, Tullio De Mauro.
Its mission is to raise general awareness about the gradual “extinction” of the cultural and traditional heritage, represented by the local, dialectal varieties all over Italy. This worrisome tendency is vividly captured by confronting the data, collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), respectively from families in 1995 and 2012.
From the mid-nineties, when 23.7% of Italians almost exclusively spoke dialect within the family units, the decrease has been drastic. According to the most recent data, only 9% of Italians still employ dialect within their families.
One of the main deterrents, in order to fight this impoverishing trend, is the awarding of the national literary prize: “Save Your Local Language” (which will take place on February 6th, in the Protomoteca Hall, in the Capitoline Hill, Rome) to authors who distinguish themselves by writing published or unpublished dialectal works, both in prose and poetry.
Among the laudable initiatives, traditionally aimed at safeguarding the Roman dialect, the weekly periodical, Il Rugantino, since its constitution in 1848 has been giving voice to the most eminent dialectal writers and poets, like Trilussa, who, in 1887, published his first poem on the Roman newspaper.
Another interesting project, supported by the Italianistic Department at Roma Tre University, is the Vocabulary of Contemporary Roman Dialect, co-directed by Professor C. Giovanardi and Professor P. D’Achille.
Referring to my experience as their student, in the academic year 2002-03, I distinctly recollect their passion at the beginning of the project, which back then consisted in the completion of the entries under the letter “I” of the work.
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