The Influence of the Arabic Language in the Sicilian Dialect and in Camilleri’s Vigatese

Abstract

This paper highlights the richness associated with having several dialects within the same Italian language system, and specifically discusses the Sicilian dialect that was highly affected by Arabic. The article will also go back historically to introduce “Siqilliya,” examining the Arabic Sicilian lexicology to demonstrate syntactic constructions typically relevant to the Arabic language, and thus exposing the Sicilian Arabism. My main target is to show, through different examples, the interaction between the Sicilian and Arabic languages at the cultural, syntactic, lexicological and grammatical levels. I will also trace some terms used by Andrea Camilleri through his “Commissario Montalbano,” which have become a “modo di dire” or way of speaking that has become an integral part of the Italian language.