LANGUAGE:       A brief history of the Faetar/Celle dialect

An ancient Italian/French dialect known as Faetar is spoken in 
Faeto and Celle di San Vito.  It has been of great interest to 
scholars, historians and linguists for many years.  Standard 
Italian is taught in the schools as the primary language but 
Faetar is also taught and is used extensively between parents 
and children.  The people of Celle and Faeto are very proud of 
the Faetar dialect and they have nurtured the language in their 
daily lives.  The signs at the town boundaries of Faeto welcome 
visitors in both Italian and Faetar.

The origin of the Faetar dialect is traced to the thirteenth 
century.  During the early years of the thirteenth century 
Emperor Frederick II ruled the western portion of the old Holy 
Roman empire.  The emperor ruled from Germany.  Rome had been 
a "backwater" town for centuries although the Popes resided there.  
The church was very weak but getting stronger.  Pope Innocent IV 
was in constant competition with Frederick II.  They fought over 
control of everything, Innocent for the domination of the papacy 
having control over emperors and Frederick II over resisting 
that takeover.  At Frederick's death in 1250 A.D. his son, 
Manfred, became emperor.  Pope Innocent searched for a strong 
military leader to counter the influence of Manfred.  After years 
of  haggling during which Pope Innocent died and was succeeded by 
Pope Urban IV the stage was set for the entrance of Charles of 
Anjou (France).  Charles was the younger brother of Louis IX, 
king of France.  Charles' aim was to re-invigorate the kingdom 
of the two Sicilies under Angevin rule.

Charles accepted the Pope's military offer to rid Italy of the 
Normans, Saracens, Arabs and other factions that were a threat 
to the papacy.  After defeating Manfred at the battle of 
Benevento, he invited hundreds of farmers and tradesmen from 
his Franco-Provencal homeland to southern Italy to dilute the 
influence of the Saracens, Greeks and Arabs.  Many settled in 
Lucera, Troia, Celle di San Vito, Foggia and surrounding towns.  
Over the years a group of these settlers (probably from Celle) 
seeking a more healthful climate, settled in the Faeto area and 
eventually, in 1344, founded the new town.  By this time the 
Faetar dialect was well-entrenched.

In recent years linguists and historians have researched the 
origins of the Faetar dialect.  In 1991 John Carosiello (now 
residing in Bethlehem, PA) carried a brief history he had 
written of Faeto to the Linguistics Dept. at the University of 
Pennsylvania in Phildelphia.  He was asked to leave his writings 
at the university so that the graduate students would be able to 
review it and, perhaps, one might accept the challenge of 
studying the Faetar dialect.  Much to Mr. Carosiello's surprise, 
within two weeks he received a call from Ms. Naomi Gail Nagy, a 
graduate of Dartmouth informing him that she would like to study 
the Faetar dialect for her doctoral dissertation.  She spent the 
next three summers in Faeto working on the project and making 
many friends.

Ms Nagy received her doctoral degree in April, 1996.  Her 287 
page dissertation is a masterfull technical document.  She is now 
a professor of linguistics at the University of New Hampshire.  
Ms. Nagy's research substantiated that the Faetar dialect 
originated in the Ain and Isere river regions of the 
Francoprovencal area of France.  However, today's Faetar dialect 
is well diluted with the local Apulian and Neopolitan languages 
and would hardly be recognizable by today's locals of the Ain and 
Isere rivers.

Both Nagy and Carosiello agree that there are other credible 
influences of the Faetar dialect.  One is the Waldensian 
migration from northern Italy.  The true facts may never be known 
but Faetani and Cellesi descendants, who are scattered all over 
the world, have a rich history to contemplate.    
[by Ray LaMacchia 1998]


More about Dr. Nagy's Faetar Studies:
  
If you are interested in languages and Dr. Nagy's work on Faetar 

you can view her papers at these sites: 

This is 'the best link to my work, and other links to Faeto'
 - Naomi Nagy, Ph.D., Linguistics Program Coordinator, 
English Department, University of New Hampshire


Phonology Papers  Romance Language Papers  Sociolinguistic Papers