Language Death e sopravvivenze identitarie: l'illa Plana ad Alicante

Language Death and survival of identity: Illa Plana, off the coast of Alicante

The study examines the details of the initial preservation, crisis and demise of the Ligurian variety introduced onto Illa Plana off the coast of Alicante, as a consequence of the release of a group of slaves of Tabarca by the Spanish government. The last testimonies to the use of the Tabarca dialect appear to date back to the end of the nineteenth century, while the likewise rare vestiges of lexis confirm the prolonged use of a speech form that, according to some, is supposed to have been extinct on the transfer of tenant farmers from Africa. Today, a sense of identity with respect to Tabarca lives on essentially
as a kind of sentimentality and a way to promote solidarity among the descendents of the early population of Illa Plana, often resident on the mainland, which proves that language is only one of the factors that contribute to a collective sense of belonging.