Issime

Issime (; ; ; Valdôtain: (locally in patois gabençois, )) is a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy. Its population speaks Walser German.

Culture

Issime is a village of Walser language and culture. What distinguishes the community of Issime from other areas of the Alpine arc, as highlighted by many studies, are its multilingualism and the coexistence of two ethnic groups (the German-speaking and the Franco-Provençal ones).

Regarding multilingualism, which is historically attested, the linguistic repertoire of its inhabitants includes up to five varieties: Töitschu, the patois of Gaby, Piedmontese, French, and, more recently, Italian.

This uniqueness is evident in the dialect, place names, architecture, and traditional costume.

Languages and dialects

Together with Gressoney-La-Trinité and Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Issime forms a German-speaking linguistic island belonging to the Walser community. The population speaks an Alemannic dialect, Éischemtöitschu.

65.25% of the population understands the Walser dialect, but only 23.88% report it as their mother tongue. Additionally, about 5% of the population speaks Franco-Provençal.

In addition to being trilingual in Italian-French-German (the official languages of instruction in the German-speaking municipalities of the upper Lys Valley), the people of Issime also know the Valdôtain Franco-Provençal patois, due to proximity to the neighboring municipalities of Gaby and Fontainemore. Moreover, thanks to geographical closeness and historical ties with the nearby Valsesia and Canavese regions, many also know Piedmontese.

The Töitschu and the Augusta Association

Töitschu is the variety of the Walser language spoken by the group of merchants from Valais who migrated southward in the 1300s, primarily due to demographic reasons. Compared to the dialect of Gressoney, called Greschòneytitsch, the dialect of Issime has undergone fewer changes over the centuries. Nevertheless, the influence of the Valdôtain patois, Piedmontese, French, and Italian is evident. The community of Issime is multilingual.

Currently, Töitschu is still fluently spoken by a good portion of the town's inhabitants, and there are numerous school-based efforts underway to teach it. An Italian–Töitschu and Töitschu–Italian dictionary is published by the Augusta Association, along with a journal of the same name that has been in publication since 1969. The association has also published numerous books and essays.

Founded in 1967, the Augusta Association is active in preserving and promoting the town’s cultural aspects, with particular attention to language and the natural and cultural landscape. The association is based in the old parish house in the town center (Duarf).

Examples of Töitschu:

• Vergelzgott = thank you (cf. German Vergelt’s Gott, short for Gott vergelte es – “may God reward it”)
• Chrigschman = soldier (cf. German Kriegsmann – “man of war”)
• Heersij (cf. German Herzchen or Herzlein – “little heart”), diminutive of Heers = sweetheart or fiancé(e)
• D’lljibigotschaugjini: literally “the little eyes of the good God” = myosotis (forget-me-nots)

A comparative example using the Lord’s Prayer:

Some proverbs:

• Goan tringhien in d'Lljéisu un arwinnen mit dam dust. To go drink from the Lys and return still thirsty (to be insatiable).
• Varchaufen d'sunnu um chaufen dar moanu. To sell the sun to buy the moon (to sleep during the day in order to party at night).
• Is het sövvil gschnout, das d'hénji hen muan bikhjen d'steerni. It snowed so much that the hens have to peck at the stars.

Töitschu also contains loanwords from neighboring languages, particularly French and Valdôtain patois:

• mutschur (from French mouchoir) = handkerchief
• tretwar (from French trottoir) = sidewalk
• rido (from French rideau) = curtain
• verdscháts (= squirrel), from the Franco-Provençal verdjáts

Sample text

References