Gallo-Italic of Sicily
Gallo-Italic of Sicily (Italian: Gallo-italico di Sicilia) is a group of Gallo-Italic languages found in about 15 isolated communities of central eastern Sicily. Forming a language island in the otherwise Sicilian language area, it dates back to migrations from northern Italy during the reign of Norman Roger I of Sicily and his successors.
| Gallo-Italic of Sicily | |
|---|---|
| Italian: Gallo-italico di Sicilia Siculo-Lombard | |
| Native to | Northwest Italy |
| Region | Central and eastern Sicily |
Native speakers | 60,000 (2006) |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Gallo-Italic is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Towns inhabited by the new immigrants became known as the "Lombard communities" (Latin: oppida Lombardorum, Sicilian: cumuna lummardi). The settlers, known as the Lombards of Sicily, actually came principally from the Aleramici fiefdoms of southern Montferrat, comprising today south-eastern Piedmont and north-western Liguria, "Lombardy" being the name for the whole of northern Italy during the Middle Ages. In addition to a common place of origin, the colonizers brought their Gallo-Italic languages. These languages added to the Gallic influence of the developing Sicilian language (influences which included Norman and Old Occitan) to become the Gallo-Italic of Sicily language family.