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A piece of legislation has been put forward in Italy which would see harsh penalties for those who use English words in the country’s official communications.
The bill, which slams “Anglomania,” was proposed by Fabio Rampelli – Vice-President of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, and a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.
“In the Italian Chamber of Deputies we speak Italian,” he said in a tweet last November.
“The battle continues on the use of our language instead of English. It is not clear why the hand sanitizer dispenser should be called a ‘dispenser.’”
Alla Camera dei deputati italiana si parla #italiano.
Prosegue la battaglia sull'utilizzo della nostra #lingua al posto dell'#inglese. Non si capisce perché il dispensatore di liquido igienizzante per le mani debba essere chiamato 'dispenser'. pic.twitter.com/c4dmUHg32b— Fabio Rampelli (@fabiorampelli) November 8, 2022
The proposed law – which has not yet been debated in the parliament – would require any Italians holding public office to have “written and oral knowledge and mastery of the Italian language,” as reported by CNN. It would also ban the use of English words, “acronyms and names” in any official communications or documents.
The draft legislation also adds that while it forbids the use of any foreign language in such documents, it deems the use of English to be particularly bad, as the UK is not even a part of the European Union since Brexit.
The legislation says that even in offices that have to deal with foreigners who are not Italian speakers, Italian must remain the main language used.
“It is not just a matter of fashion, as fashions pass, but Anglomania has repercussions for society as a whole,” the draft bill says.
The bill would also make Italian “mandatory for the promotion and use of public goods and services in the national territory,” and says that failing to do so could incur fines from between €5,000 to as much as €100,000.
In addition to all of these measures, the proposed law would see Italy’s Culture Ministry establish a new committee, whose job would include “correct use of the Italian language and its pronunciation” in schools, media, and advertising.
This would mean that using the English pronunciation of “bru-schetta” rather than “bru-sketta” could become a punishable offence under law, according to CNN.
This proposed policy comes as Italy has introduced legislation to protect the country’s traditional cuisine last week.
The plan involves banning laboratory-grown meat, with Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci saying the purpose is “to safeguard our nation’s heritage and our agriculture based on the Mediterranean diet.”
In addition, Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida argued that “Laboratory products, in our opinion, do not guarantee quality, wellbeing and the protection of our culture, our tradition.” He added that the goal was to “protect our culture and our tradition, including food and wine.”
Just last week, Italy officially put forward Italian cuisine as a candidate to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Italian food could soon become a UNESCO World Heritage Site https://t.co/r4uZGMxYgE
— Time Out Travel (@TimeOutTravel) March 28, 2023
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