(ANSA) Florence, March 10 - A petition urging the nation
to 'say it in Italian' and spurn the use of English words
creeping into everyday speech has obtained nearly 70,000
signatures, organisers claimed Tuesday.
The campaign for signatures in defence of the purity of the
language of Dante Alighieri was launched by Annamaria Testa in
an echo of the inter-war regime of Fascist dictator Benito
Mussolini, who banned the use of English words such as barman
and coined new Italian ones such as barista to replace them,
substituting 'babbo' for the French 'papa' for Dad, for example.
The hallowed Crusca Academy in Florence joined in the fray
Tuesday, announcing it will set up a website to offer Italians
words in their own language for English words that have passed
into common daily usage on the peninsula.
"When Annamaria Testa came to Florence to present us the
petition," Crusca President Claudio Marazzini said in a note to
those who signed, "we imagined a concrete campaign together
opening new scope for participation".
"If nobody presents obstacles we will plan an easy access
internet site to help everyone to find their bearings with old
and new words that have gone into our lexicon, to understand
their meaning, use, and the valid and possible alternatives".
"It's not a question of imposing choices but of finding a
wide consensus and the active participation of Italians and all
those who love our language".
He added "we don't want to wage war on English but we want
to remind Italian speakers that in many cases there are easy and
transparent Italian words that can be used".
The petition is in part a reaction to recent
English-language slogans like Be Cool, Join the Navy, Rome & You
as part of a Roman tourism drive and very bello for the Milan
Expo 2015 world's fair.
Premier Matteo Renzi also has a penchant for English, such
as Jobs Act for his signature labour-market reform.
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