"Arrègulas": Oral Poetry and Minority Language Standardisation

Abstract

Arrègulas is a proposal for the standardisation of Campidanese Sardinian approved by the Province of Cagliari, in 2009. It began as a reaction to the promotion by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia of one Logudorese-based standard language (Limba Sarda Comuna) to be used across the whole of Sardinia. What is peculiar about Arrègulas is that it is modelled after the koiné language employed by cantadoris, who are extemporaneous poets with a strong following in the Campidanese area. This koiné can be described as a form of Southern Campidanese deprived of its most marked features. The Arrègulas proposal gives this oral language a standard orthography with a comparatively straightforward phoneme-grapheme correspondence. All things considered, the standard has potential for a higher degree of acceptability with respect to Limba Sarda Comuna in the Campidanese area, both among proficient native speakers and among the many heritage speakers of Sardinian.