Italy: Anger at the British!

i’Is Italy in open war against the British? That’s the meaning of a bill tabled by Fabio Rambelli, deputy president of the House of Representatives and a member of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia party. The text, backed by the party’s leader, Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, aims to reduce the use of English in society. Its editors claim that the English language “debases and distorts” the Italian language, determined to banish it from all official documents and communications. “Its use will become mandatory in all offices, even those dealing with foreigners who do not speak Italian,” the text argues. If accepted, the price for criminals is high: “with a fine of 5,000 to 100,000 euros”.

If all languages ​​are involved, the elected officials bill is clearly targeting English. “Anglomania has consequences for the whole society”, its authors explained in the preface, which seeks the support of a committee created by the Ministry of Culture with the aim of “certifying the correct use of the Italian language and its pronunciation”.

+ 773% of English languages

These are the statistics published by the Agenzia Italia press agency that prompted Fabio Rambelli and his colleagues to want to legislate: since 2000, the number of English speakers in Italian has increased by 773%. Thus reference dictionary Drekani He lists almost 9,000 of the 800,000 words. A “big” number, comments point Bernard Cerquiglini is a distinguished linguist and scientific advisor to Le Petit Larousse. “In newspapers, in political discussions, as in personal relationships… English is everywhere in Italy today”, a half-amused, half-skeptical narrator testifies that a Transsalpine restauranteur told him shortly before perfecting the terms. : “Siamo full! » [Nous sommes full (« complets », NDLR].

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By comparison, in France, each year 150 new words enter the Petite Larousse, of which only 15% are foreign – mostly Anglo-American. A constant figure over the past twenty-five years. “We cannot talk of an invasion here as in Italy! »

The earlier Mussolini

Last November, the Fratelli d’Italia presented a bill with the aim of adding the Italian language to the constitution, saying that no legislative framework governs the language. Therefore, in accordance with Article 2 of the French Constitution (“The language of the Republic is French”) and the Touban Law of August 4, 1994 (mandating the use of French in legal texts, employment contracts and all writings aimed at consumers), Italian is the only language today. Accademia della Crusca, the unofficial equivalent of the French Academy. Equipped with a “preventive police”, it “roots” in Italian and adheres to the English “spotting”.

A position that stems from a harsh precedent: Mussolini, by imposing foreign words such as “cocktail”, “flirt” or “carriage” on his comrades in 1923, recalled “how dictatorial language can be”. , insists Bernard Cerglini. Since then, “few Italians dare to defend their language”, for fear of appearing nostalgic for the politician.

Practical concern

“However, Italy needs a language law, at least for practical reasons! argues the linguist who remembers those French nurses, some of whom, before the Touban law, could not understand the instructions for using some needles written in English. “What about an Italian court judgment delivered in English tomorrow? We can imagine anything. can see…”

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Without prejudging the Fascist impulses of the Fratelli d’Italia, he cautions “to stop the ruling party there and not fall into a linguistic dictatorship.” That is, define precisely its field of application, without which it “never applies to the individual”, the text, for the time being, is confined to it. “The law applies exclusively to public and private companies,” slogan bearer Fabio Rambelli assured the daily. Corriere della Sera.

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