IAP 285: Biangolin’ - Bagnarol’ - Bacous’: Examining the Italian American Language

Our language is a reflection of ourselves, and this week’s guest has made it her mission to present both Italians and Italian Americans with a unique mirror in which to see that reflection… the fascinating and distinct Italian American language!

What is the “Italian American language,” you ask? To answer that question, we’re joined this week by Federica La Torre, the founder of “Just a Siciliana,”  a Sicilian linguist with deep ties to the United States since her childhood, when she would regularly visit family and friends who had made the immigrants’ journey to become Italian Americans. During these visits, she came into contact with the Italian American community, which inspired her life’s work of studying the Italian American language.

In this week’s episode, Federica tells us about how the distinct Italian American language developed along with the growing immigration of Italians to the United States and how efforts to preserve it are a major piece of understanding our community as a whole. She also shares her experiences as a translator for the Ellis Island Museum and how her discoveries there revealed a new linguistic world to her… one that she would fight to defend amongst a very doubtful public in Italy and the United States.

She also shares the inspiration for her “Just a Siciliana” Instagram feed and how her work is encouraging others to preserve the words they inherited from family and friends.  

We’ll share some of our favorite Italian American words and phrases, dissect their meanings and etymologies, and examine the back-and-forth exchange as it impacted the Italian language in America and Italy.

Join us for a lively discussion on how our language reveals so much about our history and what makes our community unique!

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