Page 78 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(1) (2023)
P. 78
s of the two main sources of information in ased for assessore/assessora and deputato/deputata
Italian produced in Istria, the Radio and Tele- with consistent unmarked use of the grammat-
vision Programme in Italian at the National Ra- ical male and female gender. For leading posi-
dio and Television Network’s Regional Centre tions in society, such as ministers and majors,
situated in Koper (hereinafter: RTVC) and the which were traditionally occupied by men, the
daily newspaper La Voce del Popolo (hereinaf- appearance of women has no bearing on the lan-
ter: LVDP)16 showed a significant difference in guage of administration in the Italian language
gender reference. Results below show occurrenc- in Slovenia. Similar observations were made by
es (%) of grammatical female and referential fe- Villani (2020), who detected a vague specialisa-
male gender, used to address female designata, tion of terms la presidente and presidentessa, with
in RTVC, LVDP17 and data collected by Zarra the latter used generally for positions considered
(2017) in his comprehensive and up-to-date re- to be of lesser prestige than institutional roles (la
search of their use in Italian in Italy (hereinaf- presidente della Commissione Europea vs la pres-
ter: Italy).18 identessa dell’Associazione Comuni della Marca
Table 1 trevigiana).
studia universitatis her editati, letnik 11 (2023), številk a 1 / volume 11 (2023), number 1 78
Ministra CAN RTVC LVDP Italy A significantly divergent use can be ob-
hereditatiSindaca0.031.26.236.0 served in the language of the media, with a more
Assessora 0.0 50.0 4.7 2.2 or less substantial presence of the grammatical-
Deputata /19 65.6 1.9 3.3 ly female gender for female designata. Values for
/20 97.2 86.7 39.5 RTVC appear to be extremely high, but a dia-
chronic review shows that a strong divide from
The Italian language in administration the tradition occurred in the past few years. For
(CAN) appears to be biased for ministro and ministra, 0 occurrences were detected in 2018, 3
sindaco, used as unmarked grammatical male in 2019, 7 in 2020 and 21 in 2021. Although the
as referential male and female, while it is unbi- transition to the use of the grammatically female
gender was gradual, a dramatic increase is ob-
16 Research was conducted on approximately 200 occurrenc- served between 2020 and 2021.21
es of grammatical masculine and referential feminine gen-
der per term, and the relative number of occurrences of A strong variation in the use of designations
grammatical and referential feminine in the same time pe- can be observed within the journalistic language
riod. For those with less than 100 occurrences the whole as well, with values for LVDP that are signifi-
archive was examined. The percentage calculated shows cantly lower than values for RTVC; in some cas-
the share of grammatical and referential feminine gender es they are even lower than the values for Italy.
occurrences within all reference to female designata, gram- These results may imply that the LVDP editori-
matical male and female. al policy is more closely tied to the Italian cul-
tural heritage, deriving from the linguistic sub-
17 The LVDP editorial house is based in Rijeka, Croatia; stratum in Istria, in particular the Venetian,22
however, the newspaper is written and read by Italian na-
tionals on both sides of the Slovene-Croatian border, and 21 Temporally, the increase coincides with the last Janša Gov-
as such it was included in the research. News supplied by ernment; however, whether there is an actual correlation
the press agency Adnkronos, based in Italy, was not taken between the two phenomena has not been determined.
into consideration.
22 The writings attesting to the diffusion of Venetian ‘colin-
18 Data was collected by means of Internet browser research iale’ (Bidwell 1967) or ‘de là da mar’ (Folena 1970) are not
and subsequently analysed. earlier than the last decades of the thirteenth century, but
interesting lexical indications in Latin documents in Istria
19 The denomination was excluded from the research due to allow us to hypothesise that the Venetian linguistic type
a scant number of occurrences: 6 grammatical and referen- began to take root on the opposite shore of the Adriatic as
tial male and 1 grammatical and referential female. early as the ninth and tenth centuries. Venetisation of the
language began, at least in the areas of most intense eco-
20 Only 3 occurrences of deputata were detected with refer- nomic interest, in the fourteenth century. The dedication
ence to a female designata. However, the grammatically of many Istrian towns to doge rule was ratified between
male gender is consistently used as referential male as well,
indicating a trend towards a gender-marked use of deputa-
to/deputata.
Italian produced in Istria, the Radio and Tele- with consistent unmarked use of the grammat-
vision Programme in Italian at the National Ra- ical male and female gender. For leading posi-
dio and Television Network’s Regional Centre tions in society, such as ministers and majors,
situated in Koper (hereinafter: RTVC) and the which were traditionally occupied by men, the
daily newspaper La Voce del Popolo (hereinaf- appearance of women has no bearing on the lan-
ter: LVDP)16 showed a significant difference in guage of administration in the Italian language
gender reference. Results below show occurrenc- in Slovenia. Similar observations were made by
es (%) of grammatical female and referential fe- Villani (2020), who detected a vague specialisa-
male gender, used to address female designata, tion of terms la presidente and presidentessa, with
in RTVC, LVDP17 and data collected by Zarra the latter used generally for positions considered
(2017) in his comprehensive and up-to-date re- to be of lesser prestige than institutional roles (la
search of their use in Italian in Italy (hereinaf- presidente della Commissione Europea vs la pres-
ter: Italy).18 identessa dell’Associazione Comuni della Marca
Table 1 trevigiana).
studia universitatis her editati, letnik 11 (2023), številk a 1 / volume 11 (2023), number 1 78
Ministra CAN RTVC LVDP Italy A significantly divergent use can be ob-
hereditatiSindaca0.031.26.236.0 served in the language of the media, with a more
Assessora 0.0 50.0 4.7 2.2 or less substantial presence of the grammatical-
Deputata /19 65.6 1.9 3.3 ly female gender for female designata. Values for
/20 97.2 86.7 39.5 RTVC appear to be extremely high, but a dia-
chronic review shows that a strong divide from
The Italian language in administration the tradition occurred in the past few years. For
(CAN) appears to be biased for ministro and ministra, 0 occurrences were detected in 2018, 3
sindaco, used as unmarked grammatical male in 2019, 7 in 2020 and 21 in 2021. Although the
as referential male and female, while it is unbi- transition to the use of the grammatically female
gender was gradual, a dramatic increase is ob-
16 Research was conducted on approximately 200 occurrenc- served between 2020 and 2021.21
es of grammatical masculine and referential feminine gen-
der per term, and the relative number of occurrences of A strong variation in the use of designations
grammatical and referential feminine in the same time pe- can be observed within the journalistic language
riod. For those with less than 100 occurrences the whole as well, with values for LVDP that are signifi-
archive was examined. The percentage calculated shows cantly lower than values for RTVC; in some cas-
the share of grammatical and referential feminine gender es they are even lower than the values for Italy.
occurrences within all reference to female designata, gram- These results may imply that the LVDP editori-
matical male and female. al policy is more closely tied to the Italian cul-
tural heritage, deriving from the linguistic sub-
17 The LVDP editorial house is based in Rijeka, Croatia; stratum in Istria, in particular the Venetian,22
however, the newspaper is written and read by Italian na-
tionals on both sides of the Slovene-Croatian border, and 21 Temporally, the increase coincides with the last Janša Gov-
as such it was included in the research. News supplied by ernment; however, whether there is an actual correlation
the press agency Adnkronos, based in Italy, was not taken between the two phenomena has not been determined.
into consideration.
22 The writings attesting to the diffusion of Venetian ‘colin-
18 Data was collected by means of Internet browser research iale’ (Bidwell 1967) or ‘de là da mar’ (Folena 1970) are not
and subsequently analysed. earlier than the last decades of the thirteenth century, but
interesting lexical indications in Latin documents in Istria
19 The denomination was excluded from the research due to allow us to hypothesise that the Venetian linguistic type
a scant number of occurrences: 6 grammatical and referen- began to take root on the opposite shore of the Adriatic as
tial male and 1 grammatical and referential female. early as the ninth and tenth centuries. Venetisation of the
language began, at least in the areas of most intense eco-
20 Only 3 occurrences of deputata were detected with refer- nomic interest, in the fourteenth century. The dedication
ence to a female designata. However, the grammatically of many Istrian towns to doge rule was ratified between
male gender is consistently used as referential male as well,
indicating a trend towards a gender-marked use of deputa-
to/deputata.
