Sardo logudorese
Encyclopedia
Logudorese Sardinian is a standardised variety
of Sardinian
, often considered the most conservative
of all Romance languages
. Its ISO 639-3
code is src.
Latin
G and K before /i, e/ were not palatalized in it, in stark contrast with all other Romance languages. Compare Logudorese kentu with Italian cento /ˈtʃento/, Spanish ciento /θiento/ and French cent /sã/.
Outside of Sardinia
, the language also exists in Northern Italy
due to the migration that took place after World War II
. Many Sardinians moved to Turin
, Milan
and Genoa
for economic reasons. Outside of Italy
, large Sardinian populations can be found in Australia
and Germany
.
Logudorese is intelligible to those from the southern part of Sardinia, where Campidanese Sardinian is spoken, and partly unintelligible to those from the extreme north of the island, where Corsican-Sardinian dialects are spoken. Italian speakers can hardly understand Logudorese: Sardinian is not a dialect of Italian
as is often noted.
(literally "golden place") in which it is spoken, mainly a northern subregion of the island of Sardinia
(compare map on the right) which mainly defers to Ozieri
(Othieri) and Nuoro
(Nùgoro) for culture and language, as well as history, with important particularities in the western area, where the most important town is Ittiri
. Roughly it is an area of 150 × 100 km, with some 500 000–700 000 inhabitants.
's investigation is one of the most thorough. The language derives from Latin
, and has been influenced by Catalan
and Spanish
due to the dominion of the Crown of Aragon
and later the Spanish Empire
over the island. Logudorese is the northern macro-dialect of the Sardinian language
, the southern macro-dialect being Campidanese, spoken in the southern half of the island. The two variants share a clear common origin and history, but have experienced somewhat different developments.
Though the language is typically Romance, some words in the language are not of Latin origin, and often are of uncertain etymology. One such is "nura", found in "nuraghe
", the main form of pre-Roman building, hence the term for the pre-Roman era as the Nurgic Period. Various place names similarly have unanalisable roots.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of Logudorian is that, due to the particular history of the area, it has suffered very little contamination and has changed very slowly from Vulgar Latin in comparison to other Latin languages, even though in terms of vocabulary it is not as close to its Latin ancestor as Italian, the most Latin of Romance languages. Having said this, Campidanese in contrast at times shows more archaic features than Logudorese, particularly in its verb forms, such as the retention of the 3rd person plural in -nt, reduced to -n in Logudorese.
Variety (linguistics)
In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself...
of Sardinian
Sardinian language
Sardinian is a Romance language spoken and written on most of the island of Sardinia . It is considered the most conservative of the Romance languages in terms of phonology and is noted for its Paleosardinian substratum....
, often considered the most conservative
Conservative (language)
In linguistics, a conservative form, variety, or modality is one that has changed relatively little over its history, or which is relatively resistant to change...
of all Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
. Its ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3:2007, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages, is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages. It extends the ISO 639-2...
code is src.
Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
G and K before /i, e/ were not palatalized in it, in stark contrast with all other Romance languages. Compare Logudorese kentu with Italian cento /ˈtʃento/, Spanish ciento /θiento/ and French cent /sã/.
Outside of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, the language also exists in Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
due to the migration that took place after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Many Sardinians moved to Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
for economic reasons. Outside of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, large Sardinian populations can be found in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Logudorese is intelligible to those from the southern part of Sardinia, where Campidanese Sardinian is spoken, and partly unintelligible to those from the extreme north of the island, where Corsican-Sardinian dialects are spoken. Italian speakers can hardly understand Logudorese: Sardinian is not a dialect of Italian
Italian dialects
Dialects of Italian are regional varieties of the Italian language, more commonly and more accurately referred to as Regional Italian. The dialects have features, most notably phonological and lexical, percolating from the underlying substrate languages...
as is often noted.
Location and distribution
The name refers to the area of LogudoroLogudoro
The Logudoro is a large traditional region in central-northern Sardinia, Italy. The local dialect is known as Logudorese.Mostly composed of soft volcanic terrains, it is the most fertile area of the island. For this reason it was settled since early Prehistoric times, as shown by the presence of...
(literally "golden place") in which it is spoken, mainly a northern subregion of the island of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
(compare map on the right) which mainly defers to Ozieri
Ozieri
Ozieri is a town and comune of approximatively 11,000 inhabitants in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia , in the Logudoro historical region...
(Othieri) and Nuoro
Nuoro
Nuoro is a city and comune in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte Ortobene. It is the capital of the Province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,443 Nuoro is a city and comune (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte...
(Nùgoro) for culture and language, as well as history, with important particularities in the western area, where the most important town is Ittiri
Ittiri
Ittiri is a comune in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 160 km northwest of Cagliari and about 15 km south of Sassari. It is part of the Logudoro traditional region.-Main sights:...
. Roughly it is an area of 150 × 100 km, with some 500 000–700 000 inhabitants.
Origins and features
The language's origins have been investigated by several authors; Eduardo Blasco FerrerEduardo Blasco Ferrer
Eduardo Blasco Ferrer is a Spanish-Italian linguist, currently a professor at the University of Cagliari, Sardinia. He is best known as the author of several studies about the Sardinian language.-Books:...
's investigation is one of the most thorough. The language derives from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, and has been influenced by Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
due to the dominion of the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
and later the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
over the island. Logudorese is the northern macro-dialect of the Sardinian language
Sardinian language
Sardinian is a Romance language spoken and written on most of the island of Sardinia . It is considered the most conservative of the Romance languages in terms of phonology and is noted for its Paleosardinian substratum....
, the southern macro-dialect being Campidanese, spoken in the southern half of the island. The two variants share a clear common origin and history, but have experienced somewhat different developments.
Though the language is typically Romance, some words in the language are not of Latin origin, and often are of uncertain etymology. One such is "nura", found in "nuraghe
Nuraghe
The nuraghe is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture, the Nuragic civilization...
", the main form of pre-Roman building, hence the term for the pre-Roman era as the Nurgic Period. Various place names similarly have unanalisable roots.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of Logudorian is that, due to the particular history of the area, it has suffered very little contamination and has changed very slowly from Vulgar Latin in comparison to other Latin languages, even though in terms of vocabulary it is not as close to its Latin ancestor as Italian, the most Latin of Romance languages. Having said this, Campidanese in contrast at times shows more archaic features than Logudorese, particularly in its verb forms, such as the retention of the 3rd person plural in -nt, reduced to -n in Logudorese.