Will it be the right time to finally have the Italian language in the Constitution?
We are the only Neo-Latin-speaking nation in Europe that has not engraved in its Constitution that Italian is the official language of the Republic. How come? Federico Guiglia's notebook
The Republic speaks Italian, but the Constitution does not know it. Instead, the Constitution of France says: "The official language of the Republic is French". The Constitution of Spain says: “Castilian is the official language of the state. All Spaniards have the duty to know it and the right to use it”. The Constitution of Portugal says: the fundamental task of the State is "to ensure the teaching and permanent valorisation, defend the use and promote the international diffusion of the Portuguese language". The Constitution of Romania says: “In Romania the official language is the Romanian language”.
So what does the Constitution of Italy say? Anything. He says nothing about Dante's language, and continues to say nothing, not even after the 700th anniversary of the death of the father of the Italian, and universal poet, recently celebrated in 2021.
We are the only neo-Latin-speaking nation in Europe that has not engraved in its laws that Italian is the official language of the Republic. Almost a spite of history, if you think that, of all the countries that speak a language descended and evolved from Latin, we are the closest and most direct heirs. And yet, the Spanish brothers, the French cousins, the Portuguese and Romanian family members did better than us. Everyone understood the meaning and the beauty of remembering in the very first articles of their Constitutions that language is the primary identity of the cultural and national heritage.
In Rome, for almost thirty years, every legislature has tried to add to article 12 that “Italian is the official language of the Republic”. Only seven words, but very important. However, the constitutional amendment never reaches the fourth vote of the Parliament and in the Official Gazette. It leaves in one Chamber and runs aground in the other.
Legislators of the right (Pietro Mitolo, who paved the way in the legislature of 1996), of the centre-left and centre-right in 2006 and in 2013, in short, ladies and gentlemen of every political color who over time have always voted for the other's bill are not, however, never managed to complete what is already sanctioned by ordinary laws (law 482 of 1999). And, even more, by constitutional provisions in the special Statutes of Trentino-Alto Adige and Valle d'Aosta. But, above all, by exemplary pronouncements of the Constitutional Court, which established the "constitutionally necessary centrality" of the Italian language, affirming its "official nature and primacy", as the judges of the Consulta did in 2017 with the innovative sentence number 42 It is also mentioned in public law manuals but, in all evidence, unknown by legislators, despite the novelty it expresses in the era of globalization and communication. The changing world, here is the good reason that should push Parliament to introduce the principle that is missing to enhance the national language at home and abroad.
Italian is the language that integrates immigrants and that Pope Francis disseminates on his travels across the continents. It is one of the most studied languages in schools and universities abroad and unites over 200 million Italian-speaking citizens, descendants of Italians in the world and foreigners interested for geopolitical, economic and cultural reasons in knowing a language they love also for its recognized musicality transmitted by its vowels at the end of the word. Therefore, it is also attractive thanks to its ancient charm and modern sympathy for those who are not Italian.
But today we have the opportunity to re-evaluate this wealth only forgotten by us to the highest level for the benefit of the Italian Republic and of Italians no less than of humanity. Because, if Italian operas sung in Italian by great Italian and foreign artists are staged in half of the theaters in the universe, as happens, it is paradoxical that the global Belcanto remains without a cradle right where it was born.
With a government that can be imagined sensitive to the "national language" and a Parliament that has always confirmed its transversal consensus since 1996, without being able to carry it to the end, will it be the right time to finally have the Italian language in the Constitution?
(Published in Il Messaggero )
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/sara-la-volta-buona-per-avere-la-lingua-italiana-finalmente-in-costituzione/ on Sun, 04 Dec 2022 06:47:40 +0000.