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MARIA ELETTA NEGRETTI
Laboratoire des écoulements géophysiques et industriels (LEGI UMR 5519)
SOME CURIOSITIES
I was born in a small town in the Dolomites, Brunico/Bruneck and I spent my childhood between the mountains of the Val Badia/Gadertal, my mother's hometown, and the crystal sea of the region Ogliastra, Sardinia, my father's hometown.
During my studies I stayed in different places (Canada, Spain, Germany, Greece, France, California, Texas, Australia), but I never found again mountains like the Dolomites and the sea like in the Gulf of Orosei.
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The Dolomites are part of the World's heritage UNESCO since 2009. They are a group of mountains located in the Italian Eastern Alps, south of the main Alpine chain, almost entirely within the regions of Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The Dolomites take their name from the French naturalist Déodat de Dolomieu (1750-1801), who was the first to study the particular type of rock predominant in the region, named after him as dolomite, consisting mainly of the mineral dolomite (MgCa(CO3)2), i.e. double carbonate of calcium and magnesium.
The genesis of this type of carbonate rock began with accumulations of shells, corals and calcareous algae in a marine and tropical environment (similar to the current coral reefs of the Bahamas and eastern Australia), which took place in the Triassic, about 250 million years ago, in areas with latitudes and longitudes very different from the current location of the Dolomites, where there were warm, shallow seas. Hundreds of metres of sediment accumulated on the bottom of these seas, which, under their own weight and losing their internal fluids, turned into rock. Subsequently, the collision of the European plate and the African plate (Alpine orogeny) caused these rocks to emerge, raising them over 3000 m above sea level.
By virtue of its particular chemical composition and the high reflectance it gives the mineral, if particular weather conditions allow it, a characteristic phenomenon of the Dolomites occurs, known as enrosadira. That is, when the mountains take on a pink colour at sunset that gradually changes to violet, as given in the picture above (Cima 10, view from La Valle/La Val/Wengen).
The region were I grew up, Alto Adige, was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1920, following the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War.
After the Second World War, the territory, on the basis of the De Gasperi-Gruber agreement of 1946 signed between Italy and Austria, remained under the jurisdiction of the Italian state, which recognised in its 1948 constitution the specific rights to protect the German-speaking minority, granting, for this purpose, the status of Italian region with a special statute to Trentino-Alto Adige with special rules for the protection of the non-Italian linguistic minorities present on the territory. In 1972 the agreement, after the 'South Tyrolean question' after the protests of the South Tyroleans and Austria over Italy's failure to enforce its autonomous rights, was updated and extended with the establishment of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, with extensive powers and areas of self-government.
In South Tyrol, which was marked by a strong Italianisation policy during Fascism and by episodes of secessionist terrorism on the part of the Befreiungsausschuss Südtirol (BAS) after World War II, German, Italian and Ladin-speaking populations coexist, although not without tensions.
Other countries have been inspired by the special constitution and reglementation of Alto Adige, as for example the region Catalunya in Spain.
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I talk about personal experiences in Alto Adige during the '80s and '90s (my childhood) in an autobiographic book in the final stage of redaction. Another roman I wrote has been already published in Italy ('Lo Spazio Blu'), but a french translation is also available ('Dans l'Espace Bleu'). Please contact me directly for more information.
My mother-tongue is the Ladin Language.
The Ladin language is a Rhaeto-Romanic idiom spoken in Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The five valleys of Ladinia: Val Badia where Badiot is spoken, Val Gardena with Gherdëina, Val di Fassa (Fascian), Livinallongo (Fodom) and Ampezzo (Ampezan); with their approx. 30,000 inhabitants, constitute what remains of a territory where Ladin is spoken and written, which in the past was much more extensive.
The Ladin language was formed in the geographical region of Alto Adige during the first century AD. This occurred after the conquest of the Alpine region, including Ladinia, by the Romans. Before the invasion, the inhabitants of the Dolomites were part of a very complex population made up of several languages and cultures, including Norics and Celts.
The Ladin language is made up of Rhaetian and Norse idioms and is also called "Rhaeto-Romanic language". It is a language in its own right, independent of Italian dialects for both structural and historical reasons, and is recognised as such by many linguists as well as by a European Union resolution.
Ladin is a very ancient language that predates the birth of many Italian dialects and has resisted external pressures thanks to its natural morphology. With the migration of the Germanic populations, the Ladin language was isolated in the secondary valleys, which at that time were difficult to reach. Today, in spite of the pressures from Italian on the one hand and German on the other, the Ladin language is still alive in all five valleys and represents for many a source of great pride, counteracting the complacency with which, unfortunately, all too often linguistic minorities are treated. Today, Ladin culture and language are also identified with their flag.
The Ladin language has taken many important steps in recent years. In the schools of Val Badia, Val Gardena and Val di Fassa, the language is taught on an equal footing with Italian and German and Ladin is also taught both spoken and written as well as English. After many years also the Church has taken a step towards the language and liturgies are often held in Ladin. In order to work in the public sector it is necessary to have a licence (Patentino/Zwei-Dreisprachigkeitsprüfung) that recognises the knowledge of the Ladin language, issued by the province, after passing a written and oral examination. All official acts of the municipalities as well as documents and toponymy are also written in Ladin.
Curiosities: Recherche
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