The Paradox In the Language Of The Coumboscuro People Of Italy

Italy is a country that is famous for a lot of things that include their contribution to delicious meals (pasta), fashion, and arts and topped with the famous ‘gelato’. 

Somewhere in the space of Italy exist a tiny, isolated village called Sancto Lucio de Coumboscuro which literally means little provence. Sancto Lucio de Coumboscuro is enclosed by nature with forest and ash trees, located in between the Piedmont region of Italy and France. The social life of this small village is confined around the traditional activities that involve mushroom hunting on the weekends and others aimed at the preservation of culture and language. If you’re in this town that is located in Italy and leaving, you would expect to get a ‘bye’ that translates into “arrivederci” rather than a “arveire” which is how the people in the isolated village of Sancto Lucio de Coumboscuro will bid you farewell.

Why is that so? The twist here is in the irony of language spoken by the people in the village of Coumboscuro as they do not speak Italian but are located in a country that speaks Italian.

The said language that is spoken in Coumboscuro is from a prehistoric medieval period.  The official language of Coumboscuro is Provençal, a prehistoric medieval neo-Latin dialect which is spoken by the Occitania in the area of France. The language has elements of French and Italian linked.

The numbers of people that reside in the village are about 30 in number and they heavily rely on their livestock for survival however their livestock are usually attacked by wolves.

Asides their conflicting language as expected to be Italian, one appeal for tourists is an awe-inspiring view of a mountain pasture beginning from the Alpine and extending to the Cote d’Azur and is illuminated with dazzling purple violet grassland.  

The way of life of the Coumboscuro people is married with nature, tapping into an easy paced lifestyle. The only accommodation offered in the village is a rustic set up of long-established wooden hut being operated by Garrone that is in an old farm in the village.

While some in the village cultivate cannabis including all sorts of herbs as syrups are made from flowers, others find a way out to the city. But some of the people are threatened by this and the risk of their language possibly going extinct.

With an existing center for Provençal people can learn the Provençal language through  writing courses for beginners that include grown-ups and children.

While residents migrate resulting in the reduced number, this disturbs the language and culture of the people. With greater awareness by the people, the people have become more sentimental to their place of origin.

With the new awakening  cultural  ancestral Provençal articles are sold

Subsequently, with the consciousness of the residents to preserve their identity,  Italy legitimately acknowledged the way of life of the Occitan minority in 1999. Henceforth being guided by law.

According to the UNESCO report of 2010, the language of Sancto Lucio de Coumboscuro was listed among the endangered languages of the world.