The post-fascist governing party “Fratelli d’Italia” around Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has introduced a bill that aims to ban the use of English or other foreign words from many parts of public communication. For example, no English terms should be used in universities, schools, in the media and in advertising and official documents. At universities and schools, courses should only be held in Italian, unless they are explicitly aimed at foreign students. Public administration employees would also be required to have written and oral command of the Italian language. In addition, according to the proposed law, foreign companies should in future have to write internal regulations and employment contracts in Italian, as CNN reports. The bill still has to be debated in Parliament.
Violations are to be punished with fines of between 5,000 and 100,000 euros. A committee would be set up in the Ministry of Culture under the proposed law, whose task would be to monitor the “correct” use and pronunciation of the Italian language in the areas mentioned.
The draft law comes from Fabio Rampelli, one of Meloni’s party colleagues, and wants to “promote and defend” the Italian language, it says. Although it generally covers all foreign languages, it is particularly aimed at the use of English words and the English pronunciation of Italian words. The deputy posted on Twitter: “In the Italian Chamber of Deputies we speak Italian. The fight to use our language instead of English continues. It is unclear why the disinfectant dispenser should be called a “dispenser”. The Italian term “dispensatore di liquido igienizzante per le mani” used in Rampelli’s tweet is significantly longer than the English word “dispenser”.
With this example, the member of parliament may have involuntarily demonstrated one of the reasons why the proposed law has so far met with some resistance – even from the “Accademia della Crusca” for the preservation of the Italian language, which is considered the oldest language society. In an interview with the Italian daily newspaper “Il Fatto Quotidiano”, the Italian linguist and honorary president of the “Accademia della Crusca”, Francesco Sabatini, said that laws against foreign words are ineffective and cannot stop linguistic change. The Italian language has been influenced by foreign languages for centuries and also fundamentally enriched by them – it is only important that the terms adopted from foreign languages are also understood by the masses.
Quellen: CNN, Euronews, Washington Times, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Twitter
