Pidgin Italian of Libya

Last updated
Pidgin Italian of Libya
Libyan Italian (LI)
Region Libya
Era19th to late-20th centuries
Italian-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)

There was a Pidgin Italian of Libya in the Italian colony of Libya, that survived until the 1980s. Sometimes, "Libyan Italian" (LI) is the name given to the Italian language used by native population in the North African nation of Libya., mainly in the Tripolitania region.

Characteristics

Some academics (like Abdu Hussein Ramadan [1] ) think that there was a kind of pidgin in Libya at the end of WW2: the "Italian pidgin of Libya", spoken by the Italian colonists and many local Arabs mainly in Tripoli & Tripolitania (and also in the city of Benghazi). Additionally, it is noteworthy to pinpoint that according to historian Della Volpe, in the Arab section of the capital Tripoli nearly all the Arab inhabitants spoke and/or understood the Pidgin Italian of Libya in 1940.

But with the disappearance of the Italians of Libya under Gaddafi this pidgin is no more in existence since the 1980s.

1936 map of Tripoli showing the Arab section of the city in black, where was spoken the Pidgin Italian of Libya Tripoli 1936 citta indigena e citta italiana.jpg
1936 map of Tripoli showing the Arab section of the city in black, where was spoken the Pidgin Italian of Libya

The main language characteristics are:

The areas were the local Arabs spoke more this LI pidgin was in the old section of Tripoli, around the capital Tripoli and in the coast of Tripolitania. In the old section of Benghazi there was the only huge group of speakers of this pidgin in the Cirenaica, according to Della Volpe.

Actually some loanwords from the Italian language have been assimilated into the Libyan Arab language, according to Saul Hoffmann. [2] The most important are in the following list: List of Libyan Arabic words of Italian origin.

Libyan Arabic is one of the Arabic dialects that have been heavily influenced تأثرت بشكل كبير by the Italian language and culture as there are many originally Italian words إيطالية الأصل that were adopted due to the Italian occupation الاحتلال الإيطالي of Libya لليبيا in 1911. The influence is very obvious واضح جدًا in Tripoli – the capital العاصمة – more than other parts of Libya.Hanan Ben Nafa [3]

Indeed Italian is a legacy of Italian colonial period when Libya was part of Italian North Africa. Of course it was the language of the Italians who settled in Libya. In 1940 Italian Libya, nearly half the native Libyans were able to speak Italian, but in Tripoli – and in downtown Benghazi - nearly all of them were fluent in the Dante language.

Although it was the primary language since colonial rule, Italian greatly declined under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi who expelled nearly all the Italian colonists population (and Italian-educated Libyans who were opposed to Gaddafi's rule). The Libyan dictator returned Arabic to be once again the sole official language of the country.

Nevertheless, Italian is still spoken and understood to some degree by mainly some old people. After the National Transitional Council (NTC) has been responsible for the transition of the administration of the governing of Libya, returning Italian Libyan refugees from Italy or Switzerland and their children who speak Italian introduced the language again in Libya (but only in some limited cities like the capital Tripoli).

Under the colonial regime, Italian was the language of instruction in schools, but only a scattering of Muslim children attended these institutions. As a consequence, the Italian language did not take root in Libya to the extent that French did elsewhere in North Africa. Nevertheless, the strong wave of nationalism accompanying the 1969 revolution found expression in a campaign designed to elevate the status of the Arabic language. An order was issued requiring that all street signs, shop window notices, signboards, and traffic tickets be written in Arabic. This element of Arabization reached its apogee in 1973, when a decree was passed requiring that passports of persons seeking to enter the country contain the regular personal information in Arabic, a requirement that was strictly enforced. U.S. Library of Congress: Libya

The Italian language was spoken & fully understood by half the Arab native population of Italian Libya in 1940, according to historian P. Tripodi. However, after the 1990s, practically disappeared the use of Italian language in Libya; and the same happened with the Pidgin Italian of Libya.

Notes

  1. Abdu Hussein Ramadan. “Italian loanwords in colloquial Libyan Arabic as spoken in the Tripoli region”. Tripoli
  2. Saul Hoffman."IL LASCITO LINGUISTICO ITALIANO IN DODECANESO, LIBIA E CORNO D’AFRICA: L2, PIDGIN E PRESTITI". Pavia
  3. Hanan ben Nafa. "Italian words in Libyan Arab"

Bibliography

See also

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