Saving ‘our way’: How young Italians are preserving their rare dialect
Tucked deep within the mountainous landscape near the Adriatic Coast in southern Italy, a language and a culture dating back 500 years are at risk of disappearing.
Roughly 1,000 people in the towns of Montemitro, San Felice, and Acquaviva Collecroce speak Slavomolisano – or na-našo (pronounced “na-nasho”) as it is known in the language – a blend of ancient Croatian and the local Italian dialect of the Molise region.
Created from the blend of Italian culture and the language spoken by 15th-century Croatian refugees, , meaning “our way,” and its associated traditions have been passed down for generations. But as the towns’ populations have dwindled over as their primary language, that heritage has looked near its end.
