KRZYSZTOF FERUGA

Akademia Techniczno-Humanistyczna w Bielsku-Białej

Italian loanwords in the language of the Croats

Key words: Molise Croats, borrowings, language system Słowa klucze: molizańscy Chorwaci, zapożyczenia, system językowy

Neighboring nations interact with each other, especially in terms of communication, which leads to various interferences in their own and foreign language systems. Thus, there occur loanwords, calques (loan translations), etc. Languages that have weakened or lost con- tact with their own matrix are particularly exposed to this type of influence. The language of the Molise Croats is one of the best examples of this situation. Currently, it is used by the inhabitants of only three villages in the south of the Apennine Peninsula: (m-cr.1: Živavoda Kruč), (m-cr.: Mundimitar) and (m-cr.: Filić). The population of these villages is bilingual, co- mmunicating with each other mainly in Italian, but also in na-našo. From the moment of their arrival in , i.e. from the 15th / 16th century, their language developed under specific con- ditions, isolated from the motherland, in a non-Slavic neighborhood. Thus, it was exposed to intense disintegration processes, losing many native elements over time, ranging from the phonetic and phonological level, through morphological, to syntactic and, above all, lexical level. Therefore, many features of the old , which were used by the ance- stors of the Molise Croats, even before their resettlement to the regions of , as well as the Italian and Abruzian-Molisan languages, were preserved. For generations, it was passed on only by oral tradition, no sooner than at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries we can observe an intensified normative activity.

1 m-cr. – Molise-Croatian. 62 Krzysztof Feruga

In the language of the Molise Croats, we can find many words borrowed from Italian, Al- banian and the Molisan . This is due to the geographical location of the villages, among non-Slavic neighbors, as well as the aforementioned necessity to communicate in Italian on a daily basis. The greatest number of loanwords can be found in lexis, and they concern, for example, the names of months, the degree of kinship, numerals, etc. Names of months:2 Molise-Croatian Italian Croatian 1. jenara gennaio siječanj 2. frebara febbraio veljača 3. marca marzo ožujak 4. abrila aprile travanj 5. maja maggio svibanj 6. džunja giugno lipanj 7. lulja luglio srpanj 8. agušta agosto kolovoz 9. sutembra settembre rujan 10. atubra ottobre listopad 11. novembra novembre studeni 12. dučembra dicembre prosinac

The Slavic people from the took the names of the months, however the names of the days of the week remained native, e.g.: Molise-Croatian: jutorak, Croatian: utorak; Molise-Croatian: četrtak, Croatian: četvrtak; Molise-Croatian: petak, Croatian: petak etc.

2 Piccoli A., Sammartino A., Dizionario dell’idioma croato-molisano di Montemitro / Rječnik moliškohrvatskoga govora Mundimitra, Fondazione “Agostina Piccoli”, Matica Hrvatska, Montemitro-Zagreb 2000; Breu W., Piccoli G., Dizionario croato molisano di Acquaviva Collecroce. Dizionario plurilingue della lingua slava minoranca di provenienza dalmata di Acquaviva Collecroce in Provincia di , dizionario, registri, grammatica, testi, Campobasso 2000; Rešetar M., Le colonie serbocroate nell’Italia meridionale, tłum. na j. włoski Breu W. i Gardenghi M., Campobasso 1997. Idiolekt Karela Čapka w publicystyce… 63

Numerals:3 Molise-Croatian Italian Croatian 1 un/jena uno jedan 2 du/dva due dva 3 tre/tri tre tri 4 kuatr/četir quattro četiri 15 kuinič/petnast quindici petnaest 19 dičanov/devetnast diciannove devetnaest 23 vinditre/dvadeset tri ventitre dvadeset tri 30 trenda/trideset trenta trideset 40 kuaranda/četirdeset quaranta četrdeset 50 činguanda/petdeset cinquanta pedeset

Forms derived from the Italian language are used more often than the Slavic forms. Moli- se Croats most often use Slavic forms ranging from 1-5, to express the remaining numerals they mainly use Italian forms adapted to their needs, e.g.: Croatian: tri dana, Molise-Croatian: tri dana; Croatian: deset dana, Molise-Croatian: diječ dana, etc.

Italian loanwords are also present in the grammatical forms of the language of the Molise Croats, in particular in the 1st and 4th verb conjugations.4 The first conjugation includes a series of verbs of Italian origin, ending in -are. These verbs end in -at in the infinitive in Molise-Croatian, e.g .: - rivat (Italian: arrivare, Croatian: doći); - nduvinat (Italian: indovinare, Croatian: ogoditi); - tokat (Italian: toccare, Croatian: taknuti, dodirnuti) etc.

The infinitive of the 4th conjugation verbs ends in -it. Similarly to the first conjugation, here we can also find many verbs of Italian origin that end with -ere and -ire, e.g .: - premit (Italian: premere, Croatian: pritisnuti); - akapit (Italian: capire, Croatian: razumjeti); - dečidit (Italian: decidere, Croatian: odlučiti) etc.

3 Sammartino A., Grammatica della lingua Croatomolisana / Gramatika moliškohrvatskoga jezika, Fondazione “Agostina Piccoli”, Profil International, Montemitro-Zagreb 2004, p. 247. 4 Op. cit., p. 256. 64 Krzysztof Feruga

Some words have been completely adopted from the Italian language, differing only in the terms of spelling, e.g.: - familja (Italian: famiglia, Croatian: obitelj); - forca (Italian: forza, Croatian: snaga); - taca (Italian: tazza, Croatian: šalica); - televizjona (Italian: televisione, Croatian: televizija) etc.

Be not different at all, e.g .: - papa (Italian: papa, Croatian: tata); - subito (Italian: subito, Croatian: odmah); - roba (Italian: roba, Croatian: stvari) etc.

In some words we can notice the reduction of -l(e), e.g .: - kana (Italian: canale); - dženera (Italian: generale); - kardina (Italian: cardinale) etc.

And also changing the voiceless -t or -c into voiced -d or -dz, e.g .: - kandzuna (Italian: canzone, Croatian: pjesma); - štandza (Italian: stanza, Croatian: soba); - vandat (Italian: vantare, Croatian: pohvaliti) etc.

The way of expressing adverbs, specifying that there is less of something, has also been derived from Italian. In Italian, we use the suffix -ino, whereas in the language of Molise Cro- ats -ico, e.g .:5 - dobrico (Italian: benino, Croatian: dosta dobro); - malico (Italian: piccolino, Croatian: nešto mało) etc.

Some adverbs are formed by adding the Italian suffix -mente, which underwent the Slavic transformation process, e.g. Molise-Croatian: siguramend, finalmend. From the analysis of the vocabulary, we can see that the influence of the Italian language mainly concerns modern terminology – Molise Croats more and more often use the Italian standard in their everyday communication, borrowing without restrictions all elements at all levels of the language. Earlier borrowings concern specific areas of life, e.g. the names of kinship relations, mainly in its further lines, e.g. Molise-Croatian: cila – Italian: zio, as well as

5 Feruga K., Język diaspory molizańskich Chorwatów, Wydawnictwo ATH, Bielsko-Biała 2009, p. 130. Idiolekt Karela Čapka w publicystyce… 65

the already mentioned names of the months (all of them were borrowed from Italian, there are no Croatian forms). The new vocabulary introduced into the language of Molise Croats, and related to, for example, the contemporary development of civilization, is created primarily on the basis of Italian, less Croatian. The inhabitants of these villages have more contact (through work, school, media, friends, etc.) with the Italian language than with the Croatian language spoken in . Therefore, during conversations with each other, without knowing or forgetting some words, they use the Italian language, often not returning to the Molise-Croatian langua- ge in further conversation. The language variants spoken by the inhabitants of these three villages differ slightly. Currently, attempts are being made to standardize them, some normative measures are under- way, grammars and dictionaries are being developed, and writing is developing among the local community. The inhabitants of Filić, Kruč and Mundimitr increasingly notice that without any action, they may lose their national identity over time. They use the Italian language on a daily basis, watch Italian television, read Italian newspapers, etc. For many of them, the words spoken by Nicola Neri in the second half of the 18th century: Nemojte zabit'naš lipi jezik!6 have become a motto encouraging to act in favor of preserving one's own culture, language and traditions among many cultures and languages of the European Union.

Bibliography BREU W., PICCOLI G., Dizionario croato molisano di Acquaviva Collecroce. Dizionario plurilingue della lingua slava minoranca di provenienza dalmata di Acquaviva Collecroce in Provincia di Campobasso, dizionario, registri, grammatica, testi, Campobasso 2000. FERUGA K., Język diaspory molizańskich Chorwatów, Wydawnictwo ATH, Bielsko-Biała 2009. PICCOLI A., SAMMARTINO A., Dizionario dell’idioma croato-molisano di Montemitro / Rječnik moliškohrvatskoga govora Mundimitra, Fondazione “Agostina Piccoli”, Matica Hrvatska, Montemitro-Zagreb 2000. REŠETAR M., Le colonie serbocroate nell’Italia meridionale, tłum. na j. włoski Breu W. i Gardenghi M., Campobasso 1997.

6 Scotti G., Hrvatski trokut u Italiji, Liber, Rijeka 2006, p. 84. 66 Krzysztof Feruga

SAMMARTINO A., Grammatica della lingua Croatomolisana / Gramatika moliškohrvats- koga jezika, Fondazione “Agostina Piccoli”, Profil International, Montemitro-Zagreb 2004. SCOTTI G., Hrvatski trokut u Italiji, Liber, Rijeka 2006.

Włoskie zapożyczenia w języku molizańskich Chorwatów Narody sąsiadujące ze sobą ulegają wzajemnym kontaktom, przede wszystkim komunikacyjnym, co doprowadza do rozmaitych interferencji we własnych i obcych systemach językowych. Dochodzi więc do zapożyczeń, kalek itp. Szczególnie narażone są na tego typu wpływy języki, które osłabiły lub utraciły kontakt z własną macierzą. Język molizańskich Chorwatów należy właśnie do najlepszych przykładów obrazujących taką sytuację. W ich języku znaleźć możemy bardzo wiele wyrazów zapożyczonych z języka włoskiego, albańskiego i dialektu molizańskiego. Z włoskiego najwięcej zapożyczeń znaleźć możemy w leksyce, a także w różnych formach gramatycznych, np. w koniugacji czasowników, sposobach wyrażania przysłówków itd. Z analizy słownictwa zauważyć możemy, iż wpływ języka włoskiego dotyczy przede wszystkim terminologii współczesnej – molizańscy Chorwaci coraz częściej w swej codziennej komunikacji wspierają się standardem włoskim zapożyczając bez ograniczeń wszystkie elementy na wszystkich poziomach języka.