Sa limba sarda - la lingua più vicina al latino (Sardinian - the closest language to Latin)

 

Recentemente ho trovato questo blogpost scritto in inglese Sardinia (Limba Sarda) The Closest Language to Latin che per me era interessantissimo perché parla della relazione tra la lingua sarda e il latino. Purtroppo, quando l'ho condiviso su Facebook c'è stata poca reazione. E quindi, poiché ci sono molti sardi che non parlano inglese, ho deciso di tradurlo in italiano:-

Sembra che l'annosa questione, riguardo alla lingua più vicina al latino, è stata finalmente decisa. Molti studi linguistici indicano che la lingua sarda è il vincitore. Quindi, diamo un'occhiata alla lingua che molti linguisti chiamano la lingua più vicina al latino.

Ma prima di tutto abbiamo bisogno di un po' di contesto.

La Sardegna è un isola grande del Mediterraneo che durante i secoli è stata sotto l'influenza  di diversi poteri regionali che comprendono Cartagine,  Roma, Aragonesi e l'impero bizantino. Tutte queste regioni avevano vari gradi di influenza linguistica sulla lingua sarda, una lingua per più di 1,3 milioni di persone.

I linguisti sono affascinati da molto tempo da questa lingua isolata che sembra essere una reliquia di un'era passata.

Lo studio del linguista Mario Pei analizzò la differenza tra le lingue romanze e il latino. Esso determinò che la lingua sarda era la più vicina in termini di fonologia, inflessione, sintassi, vocabolario e intonazione, con una differenza di solo 8%. Il rivale più vicino era la lingua italiana 'standard' con una differenza di 12% (basato sul dialetto toscano). Il latino era in Sardegna dall'arrivo dei romani nell'anno 238 AC. C'è stata una discussione che il sardo era la prima lingua separata dal latino e che appartiene ad una categoria unica in contrasto con le altre lingue romanze.

Però, il sardo è profondamente una lingua romanza. In questa tabella sotto, presa da Orbilat (un sito fenomenale delle lingue romanze), possiamo vedere la vicinanza della lingua sarda alle altre lingue romanze.

Tabella delle somiglianze lessicali tra le lingue romanze moderne

         Fr     Sp     Cat    Port     Rom     Ita    Sard    Rum

Fr     —      75     N/A.    75        78       89      80       75
Sp     75      —     85        89        74       82      76       71
Cat    N/A.  85     —        N/A.     N/A.  87      N/A.   N/A.
Port   75      89     N/A.     —        N/A.  N/A.   78      N/A.
Rom  78      74     N/A.    N/A.      —      82      74      N/A.
Ita      89      82      87       N/A.      82      —      85       77
Sard   80      76     N/A.     78         74      85      —       74
Rum   75      71     N/A.    N/A.     N/A.   77      74       —

Fr = Francese  Sp = Spagnolo  Cat = Catalano  Port = Portoghese   Rom = Romancio  Ita = Italiano  Sard = Sardo  Rum = Rumeno

Se queste statistiche non sono sufficienti, perché non dare un'occhiata alla lingua per vedere ciò che non capite?                      
La preghiera del Signore in due varianti del Sardo, che dicono che siano i più conservativi al latino:-

Babbu nostru, ch’istas in sos chelos, santifcadu siada su lumene tuo, venzada a nois su regnu tuo, sia fatta sa voluntade tua comente i’su chelu i’sa terra. Dae nos oje su pane nostru cotidianu, perdona a nois sos peccados nostros comente nois los perdonamus, libera da ogni tentsassione, libera nos a male. (Sardo – nuorese)

Babbu nostru k’istas in sos kelos, santificadu siat su nòmene tou, benzat a nois su regnu tou e fatta siat sa voluntade tua comente in su kelu gai in sa terra. Su pane nostru de dogni die dàdenolu oe, perdona a nois sos peccados nostros perdona a nois sos peccados nostros comente nois perdonamus sos inimigos nostros, e non nos lesses ruer in tentatzione, ma lìberanos dae su male. Amen. (Sardo – logudorese)

Gli studi hanno dimostrato che la lingua sarda non è comprensibile a quelli che parlano altri dialetti italiani, e quindi diamo un'occhiata più vicina a questa lingua straordinaria.

Una caratteristica di sardo che è diversa dalle altre lingue romanze è l'articolo determinativo - su/sa - viene dal latino 'ipse'. Questa caratteristica è condivisa solo con il 'catalano balearico' mentre tutte le altre lingue romanze prendono i loro articoli determinativi dal latino 'ille'.

Ci sono stati alcuni cambi di suono che hanno avuto un effetto sulle parole sarde come si sono sviluppate dal latino. Uno dei cambi di suono principali è dal latino 'q' e 'g' alla 'b' della lingua sarda   

acqua     = abba 

lingua     = limba   

quaranta = baranta

equa       = apa (cavalla)      

 

Come l'italiano la lingua sarda ha tre coniugazioni di verbi (-are/-ere/-ire)  

Il verbo essere in sardo:-

 

(deo)                   soe                    

(tue)                    ses                  

(isse/issa)            est                    

(nois)                   semus              

(vois)                   sedzis                

(issos/issas)         suntu      

 

Allora, per rispondere alla domanda 'Quanto vicino è il sardo al latino?"

 

Alcuni verbi del latino classico esistono solo in sardo e non nelle altre lingue romanze, tranne nel rumeno. Per esempio 'ischire' in sardo, che deriva dal latino 'scire'. (Sapere in italiano, saber in spagnolo).

'Domo' dal latino 'domus' è stato conservato solo nella lingua sarda, mentre le altre lingue romanze hanno le parole come 'casa' o 'maison'. Il sardo ha anche alcuni verbi che non sono usati nelle altre lingue romanze, come 'narrare' che è usato al posto della parola romanza derivata dal latino 'dicere' - dego/deo narro (sardo) e 'yo digo' (spagnolo).

Altri pezzi interessanti del vocabolario che sono unici in sardo, e che sono simili al latino, sono:

cras             =   domani

pustic cras   =  dopodomani               (latino = post cras)

hoc annu      =  quest'anno                  (latino = hoc annus)

domo           =   casa                            (latino = domus)

ibi sun          =   ci sono                       (latino = ibi sunt)

bi sun duo canes =  ci sono due cani 

bertula          =    borsa

albu              =    bianco                        (latino = albus)

ianna            =     porta                          (latino = ianua) 

 

I giorni della settimana sono simili, per la maggior parte, nella lingua sarda, tranne venerdì che è 'chenapura' e viene dal latino 'caena pura'. L'origine è dalla parola antica cristiana ed ebraica per la cena prima del sabato. Inoltre, la parola per settembre, capudanni, viene dal latino 'caput anni' - l'inizio dell'anno perché era il primo mese del calendario agricolo nel calendario giuliano.

 

Gli studi hanno dimostrato che il sardo, e soprattutto il dialetto logudorese (il dialetto più conservativo è più libero dalla influenza spagnola) è la lingua neolatina o romanza più vicina al latino nei temini di fonologia. Il sardo mantiene il suono di una 'c' dura, chiamata una plosiva velare, prima di tutte le vocali. E' una caratteristica che esiste anche nel latino classico, in contrasto con le lingue romanze in cui la 'c' dura è persa prima di 'e' e di 'i'; per esempio, 'Kena' invece di cena; e 'kentu' invece di cento. La lingua sarda e la lingua estinta dalmata (che parlarono in Croazia) erano le sole lingue che hanno conservato questo suono dal latino classico. 

Ci sono gli esempi in cui la lingua sarda non è unica nella sua natura conservativa ed è accompaganata dalla lingua spagnola. Come lo spagnolo, il sardo mantiene le cinque vocali distinte dal latino. Inoltre, come la lingua spagnola, conserva la fine del congiuntivo imperfetto del latino. Per esempio, la parola per formaggio è casu (queso in spagnolo) dal latino 'caseus'. Invece 'formaggio' e 'fromage' (francese) sono dal latino più recente - 'formaticus'.

Naturalmente, quando consideriamo quale lingua è la più vicina al latino dobbiamo pensare a ciò che vogliamo dire quando parliamo del latino. Per esempio, c'è anche il latino volgare che dobbiamo prendere in considerazione. Il latino ecclesiastico è basato sul latino volgare più recente, con la pronuncia della lingua italiana. Quello che è interessante è che, infatti, ci sono molte parole che derivano dal latino ed esistono solo in sardo e in rumeno. E' una cosa che ci aiuta a giungere alle conclusioni interessanti. Potrebbe essere detto che entrambi le lingue fossero le versioni più isolate del latino e, in certi modi, fossero più conservative.

 

La lingua sarda è classificata come una lingua 'certamente a rischio di estinzione' secondo l'UNESCO. E' un peccato perché questa lingua rivela così tanto a noi del nostro passato e c'è ancora molto che possiamo imparare da essa. Speriamo che esisterà ancora per molte generazioni future.

 

A si biri! 

 

                                         

                                                                                               

 

E' famoso in Italia?

Ultimamente ho scoperto che l'80% della musica sulla radio nella maggior parte d'Europa è la musica britannica e americana. E' probabilmente uguale in Sardegna, e anche nel resto dell'Italia. Poco tempo dopo che sono arrivato qua mi sono reso conto quanto sono popolari  molti artisti britannici e americani. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Sting, Elton John, The Police, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Depeche Mode, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Oasis, Adele e molti altri sono famosissimi qui. Però, ogni tanto sono un po' confuso perché ci sono altri artisti famosissimi nel Regno Unito e nell'USA che sono conosciuti in Italia ma non hanno lo stesso livello di popolarità. Per esempio, quando ho menzionato The Four Tops, Joni Mitchell, Paul Weller e anche Fleetwood Mac, talvolta la risposta è "chi è? chi sono?" Adoro la musica di tutti questi artisti ma soprattutto quella di Paul Weller e qui in Sardegna, quando dico il suo nome, la gente dice "non ho mai sentito parlare di lui" o, al contrario, "si, lui è un grande!" e poi sembra sorpresa quando dico che ci sono molte persone che non conoscono il suo nome. C'è altra gente che dice, "si, Weller è conosciuto in Italia ma non è famosissimo." Tutto questo mi ha fatto diventare curioso e quindi ho deciso di fare un po' di ricerca.

Come leader del gruppo i Jam nel Regno Unito ha avuto tantissimo successo con i single e gli album, compreso quattro single che hanno raggiunto #1 nella classifica britannica, e un album che ha raggiunto #1 nella classifica degli album. Poi, come leader degli Style Council ha avuto più successo, compreso un altro album che ha raggiunto #1. Come solista ha avuto anche molto più successo. Tutti i suoi album hanno raggiunto i 'top ten' nella classifica, sei di cui hanno raggiunto #1. E in Italia? Allora, niente dischi del Jam sono stati usciti in Italia, sono conosciuti solo come dischi importati. Gli Style Council hanno avuto un po' di successo in Italia - 3 album che hanno raggiunto il 'top twenty' della classifica italiana. Poi, dopo lo scioglimento degli Style Council, e Weller è diventato un solista, il suo single di maggior successo è stato You Do Something To Me che ha raggiunto #27 nella classifica italiana. Il suo album di maggior successo in Italia era A Kind Revolution che ha raggiunto #24 nella classifica.

E quindi Weller ha avuto un po' di successo in Italia ma ovviamente non sullo stesso livello di quello nel Regno Unito. Infatti, una cosa che ho scoperto è che c'è un bel po' delle sue canzoni che sono ben conosciute in Italia ma molti italiani, probabilmente sono più familari con le sue canzoni che con il suo nome. Questa è una selezione:-

1. A Town Called Malice (The Jam). Una parte della colonna sonora del film Billy Elliott che era molto popolare in Italia.

 

2. You're The Best Thing (The Style Council). Un giorno c'era questo video in TV, su un canale di musica, e mia moglie mi ha chiesto "E' Paul Weller?" "Si," ho risposto. "Questo brano è famoso in Italia!" ha detto lei.

3. Wild Wood (Paul Weller). Questo brano era una parte della colonna sonora della serie televisiva italiana '1993' in cui Stefano Accorsi e Miriam Leone erano tra le protagoniste.

 

4. The Changing Man (Paul Weller). Un amico nuorese, e anche musicista, dopo aver chiesto "Chi è Paul Weller?" ha detto, "ma lui ha fatto 'Changing Man' si?" "Si," ho risposto.

 

5.You Do Something To Me (Paul Weller). Questo brano è entrato nella classifica italiana dei singoli e la concorrente Chiara Galiazzo l'ha cantato in TV su X-factor Italia 2012. Quando un amico sardo ha sentito la versione di Weller, ha detto, "Conosco questo brano ma non mi ricordo chi è?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Members at the Sanremo Festival

We never expect members of our own family to be granted opportunities the odds of which are more than a million to one against! But this is exactly what happened to my wife's niece, Sarah Selenu, when she received a telephone call from RAI, Italy's national broadcasting company. She was one of 10, out of 22 million subscribers, who were chosen at random and given the opportunity of an all expenses paid trip to attend the finale of the annual Sanremo music festival. She at first thought it was a wind-up because she hadn't entered any competitions, but on realising that it was for real she was delighted at the opportunity and attended the festival with her father Raimondo, my brother-in-law. And soon, the local press in Sardinia were keen on writing about their adventure!

For those who don't know, the San Remo Festival is probably the main music festival in Italy and is always given extensive television coverage. It has been in existence since 1951 and I rather suspect that most of the artists who participate do so more from a need to publicise a new release rather than from an ardent desire to win first prize. It often features performances from international artists and it was at the San Remo Festival in 1965, when Dusty Springfield was a guest performer, that she heard Pino Donaggio perform the song "Io che non vivo (senza te)" and was so impressed that she wanted to record the song with English lyrics. Her version "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" became a Number One hit in the UK the following year, 1966.

Anyway, Sarah and Raimondo arrived at Sanremo on Friday 4th February and enjoyed the finale of the festival on Saturday the 5th, before returning to Sardinia on Sunday 6th. Judging by what they've told us since they returned they enjoyed every minute of it. In particular, they seem to have established an excellent rapport with Veronica Maya, a very well known television presenter in Italy, who was one of a team of several presenters. In fact, so much so that Sarah was asked to appear, via video from her home in Ogliastra, on a new TV show that Veronica Maya is presenting on Rai 2, La Risposta Giusta. So this Saturday gone (March 26th), mid morning, we were treated to more of Sarah on national TV!

With all this new found fame I'm wondering if someone interesting might actually take a fresh look at Raimondo's poetry. He had two collections of poetry published when he was younger and I recently completed a project of translating 30 of his poems into English. We put a manuscript together of both the Italian originals and the English translations. Amongst them there are actually two lovely pieces about Sarah, including this gem "To My Daughter (A mia figlia)":-

To My Daughter

The uphill street that we call life
you climb it well
although sometimes you seem exhausted
and the contradictions that surround you
make growing into a woman such hard work.

As you dip into the pool of every kind of knowledge,
finding both error and reason,
only one thing is true,
that beautiful smile blessed by youth.

It tests my patience to watch you taking off
into the heavens with flights of fantasy
but I hold you close to my heart oh daughter of mine
and throughout your journey I will spur you on
through my concerns for you.

English translation  © Geoff Davis (Italian original at the end of Italian text) 

I parenti a Sanremo

Non pensiamo mai che uno dei nostri parenti piu stretti avrà una opportunità le cui probabilità sono più di uno su un milione. Tuttavia, quello è precisamente ciò che è successo a Sarah Selenu, la nipote di mia moglie, quando ha ricevuto una chiamata dalla Rai. Lei era una dei dieci abbonati, tra circa 22 milioni, che sono estratti a sorte e avevano l'opportunità di gradire tutte le spese pagate del viaggio per la finale del Festival di Sanremo 2022. All'inizio pensava che qualcuno la prendesse in giro, perché non aveva partecipato ad alcun concorso, ma quando si è resa conto che era genuino lei era deliziata dall'opportunità ed è andata al festival con suo padre Raimondo, mio cognato. E naturalmente i giornali in Sardegna volevano scrivere di questa bella storia. (Per Sarah finalissima in prima fila.)

Sono arrivati a Sanremo venerdì il 4 febbraio e si sono goduti la finale del festival sabato 5 febbraio prima di tornare in Sardegna la domenica 6. E' ovvio, a giudicare da quello che ci hanno detto, che hanno gradito ogni minuto. In particolare, sembra che abbiano stabilito un ottimo rapporto con la presentrice Veronica Maya. Infatti, Veronica Maya è la conduttrice di un nuovo programma televisivo, La Risposta Giusta, e Sarah ha recevuto un invito ad apparire, via video da casa sua in Ogliastra, in questo show. E quindi, sabato mattina del 26 marzo abbiamo visto Sarah sulla TV nazionale di nuovo! Due giorni dopo c'era un altro articolo sulla sua avventura nella rivista online Sardegna Live - Da Lotzorai al Festival di Sanremo - Sarah racconta oggi la sua emozionante esperienza. (Mia moglie Maria Rita è la zia che è menzionata nell'articolo.)

Con tutta questa nuova fama mi domando se qualcuno di interessante potesse guardare la poesia di Raimondo. Ha fatto pubblicare due libri di poesie quando era più giovane e ultimamente ho completato un progetto per tradurre 30 delle sue poesie in inglese. Abbiamo preparato un manoscritto della poesia con le originali in italiano e le traduzioni in inglese insieme. Tra di loro ci sono due poesie di cui Sarah era l'ispirazione, compreso questo bellissimo pezzo "A mia figlia":-

 

A mia figlia

Nella strada in salita che chiamano vita
ti arrampichi forte.
Alcune volte hai l’aria sfinita
e le contraddizioni ti ruotano intorno
in questa fatica per crescere donna.

Ti senti lo scrigno di ogni sapere
a volte a torto a volte a ragione,
ma solo una cosa è la verità,
quel bel sorriso e la giovane età.

Io che con pazienza ti osservo volare
negli alti cieli della fantasia
ti stringo a me forte o figlia mia
e dalle fine della salita ti incito forte
in ansia per te. 

© Raimondo Selenu

 

 

'I Grani', The Restaurant Bar In Nuoro With A Difference

A  few days ago there was a rather interesting article in the Sardinian newspaper 'La Nuova Sardegna' about 'I Grani' (this links to the article). It is one of the venues here in Nuoro that Maria Rita and I frequent probably as much as we do any other. We have celebrated anniversaries here, enjoyed drinks and meals with friends, and we also brought our Canadian friend Claire to eat here when she was celebrating her 50th birthday by holidaying in Italy. Anyway, as soon as I read the article I wanted to translate it into English. Sadly, thanks to a combination of covid and Brexit, there are hardly any British tourists visiting Central Sardinia nowadays but there are still still plenty of Dutch, Scandinavian and German tourists who come here during the season,  and will usually want to communicate in English. So hopefully this will go some way to helping this rather unique venue in Nuoro.

(Pochi giorni fa c'era un articolo piuttosto interessante nel giornale sardo 'La Nuova Sardegna' su 'I Grani', uno dei posti qui a Nuoro che ci piace frequentare, io e Maria Rita. Qui abbiammo festeggiato un anniversario, abbiamo mangiato e bevuto con i nostri amici, e abbiamo portato qui la nostra amica canadese, Claire, a mangiare quando lei festeggiava il suo cinquantesimo compleanno in vacanza in Italia. Comunque, non appena ho letto l'articolo volevo traddurlo in inglese. Tristemente, grazie al covid e alla Brexit, ci sono pochissimi turisti britannici che vengono in centro Sardegna questi giorni ma ci sono ancora i turisti olandesi, scandinavi e tedeschi che vengono qui durante la stagione, e di solito vogliono comunicare in inglese. E quindi, spero che questa traduzione possa aiutare questo ristorante e bar unico.)

English translation (traduzione in inglese):-

I Grani 

Enjoy eco-friendly menus to the rhythm of jazz (by Luca Urgu)

It's a place that you find immediately captivating. It entices you with its range of beverages and dishes, and then warms the cockles of your heart. You are guaranteed a warm and courteous welcome and a patient explanation, if needed, of the various drinks and dishes available. The soothing sound of soft jazz music in the background is no hindrance to those who may choose to bring their laptops along and use the venue as an office for a while. 'I Grani' has a spirit and identity that belongs to the territory of Sardinia and yet, at the same time, it has something which is cosmopolitan, colourful and it thrives on being environmentally friendly. The restaurant bar is in Nuoro's Via Corso Garibaldi but could just as easily be in Florence, London, Berlin or Porto. Their approach cuts across different styles and if it were a dress suit it might seem a little casual, perhaps already used, but once worn you find it fits perfectly and makes you feel at ease. The atmosphere is informal but the spirit of 'I Grani' was conceived with great care and a particular philosophy: inclusive (vegans and vegetarians will find their needs catered to) and with an eye on the world of food and drink that differs from the usual. For example, you find no coco cola here or any other multinational products. Instead, should you find something of a similar nature, it will be eco-friendly, a reminder that there is always an alternative way should you wish to follow it. There is no need to mince words about the fact that a focus on diversity, and the richness of the Sardinian territory, is the core belief of the owners, Elisa Pisanu and Stefano Mongillo, who have managed 'I Grani' for five years. They took over the business, with a minimum of fuss, from the previous owners, Paolo Bianchi and Daniela Chironi, who created 'I Grani' in the first place and who believed that their alternative approach could prove to be a winner. "They were brave enough to have the foresight to create something new for Nuoro. We wanted to continue in the same vein but, at the same time, make some personal adjustments with particular attention to the needs of our customers."

Elisa is originally from Nuoro, and after several years of study and work in Genova, where she met Stefano, she found that she was still suffering from the "disease of Sardinia" and her companion was happy for her to pass the disease on to him. In Nuoro the couple decided to open a place of their own in order to give expression to a sector that they were already familiar with. 'I Grani', already well established at that point, provided the ideal opportunity for their project. "We had already seen something that didn't convince us, but we took to this place immediately," said both Stefano and Elisa, who have really put their personal mark on the restaurant bar. It comes alive early in the morning with a selection of fresh pastries, whipped drinks, herbal teas and coffee for breakfast. Then there is the popular craft beer from Irgoli. Later in the day you can enjoy something from the lunch and dinner menus, renewed every day and with local products providing freshness (vegetables from Baronia, fish from the east coast of Sardinia). As far as is possible, they use 'zero kilometres' produce so that an absolute minimum of waste is involved. The chef reworks many traditional recipes and every day it is possible to choose between at least two first courses and a number of starters and second courses. The menus are written in chalk on to old-fashioned blackboards both inside and outside the bar. "We have to say that this hasn't been an easy period but things are moving forward. It has also been a period of great satisfaction because of the prompt and positive feedback we've had from our regular and loyal customers as well as from so many tourists who like to come here. We insist on the concept of 'being inclusive', which means people's pet dogs are welcome, we offer children something different, and we allow those with food allergies or who are vegetarians to find something which is to their liking." 

For now, in the era of covid, also at 'I Grani' (where in the summer season it is also possible to be served in the small square opposite the bar) they have to play it by ear. However, in the future, and one hopes as soon as possible, there are plans for some new initiatives involving music (Stefano has a past as a DJ), reading and book presentation. 

(Translation by Geoff Davis)

(Leggere l'articolo c'è un link vicino all'inizio del post)

How Well Do the British Know Sardinia?

There is a Facebook Page called Do the Brits know Sardinia? which hasn't posted anything for over two years now. It's a shame because it's an interesting question and, in my experience, the answer is pretty much an overwhelming 'no'! To be fair, it isn't entirely their fault. Sardinia rarely features in the British media and, if it does, it's on the holiday pages of newspapers and dominated by the delights of holidaying in the Costa Smeralda, as if no other part of Sardinia is worth visiting. Lots of Sardinians have told me that the Costa Smeralda, having been hijacked by the ultra wealthy and famous as a go-to destination, is not the real Sardinia. The city and region of Nuoro in Central Sardinia, where I've lived for 12 years now, is much closer to being the cultural heart of the island. At the same time, one musn't forget the south, the island's capitol city of Cagliari, and the delights of both the west and east coasts.

I must confess that when I first met my Sardinian wife I knew little about the island beyond the fact that Gianfranco Zola, the famous ex-Chelsea and Italian international footballer, was from Sardinia, and that the island was one of the world's 'blue zones', meaning it has a much larger proportion of centenarians per head of population, and that people tend to live longer here than is the average elsewhere. Among my friends and relatives, the only person who had heard of Nuoro was my brother, because he'd read the D.H Lawrence travel memoir, Sea and Sardinia, which mentions the town. So perhaps it's a bit unfair of me to criticise my compatriots for their ignorance of what the island is actually like but, I must confess, I have heard some pretty wild assumptions about it over the years!

One of the most common mistakes that the British make is about the size of the island. On one trip back to Bristol I remember the taxi driver, taking me from Bristol Airport to where I was staying, telling me that he thought that Sardinia was about the size of the Isle Of Wight. On another occasion a rather well spoken lady, who was staying in the same bed and breakfast accommodation as we were, in Filton in Bristol, was surprised to hear us say that Sardinia has three International Airports (Olbia, Alghero and Cagliari). "I wouldn't have thought Sardinia was big enough to have more than one airport," she said. When I told her that the land mass of Sardinia was slightly larger than that of the whole of Wales she, rather good-naturedly responded with, "I'm shutting up!" Yes, ignorance about the island and its size is fairly widespread. I remember reading a comment online in one of the British daily newspapers, at a time when Sardinia actually made the news globally because of a cyclone that hit the island in November 2013. It read something like "that's what happens on these tiny overpopulated islands". Well, obviously the commenter didn't know that Sardinian's population of about 1.6 million is less than that of the Greater Birmingham area in the UK and, as I've already written, on an island with a land mass slightly larger than that of the Wales. The map below, with its comparisons with Belgium and Denmark etc., gives a truly accurate impression of the size of the island. 

However, the size of the island isn't the only thing about Sardinia that escapes the knowledge of the British. I have had people ask me if Sardinia is in Portugal or, confusing it with Sicily, wanting to assert that it's the home of the mafia! Others have suggested to me that it must be rather backward. Well, Sardinia certainly isn't in Portugal and it has never been a home for mafiosi. It did, however, once have a problem with banditry, but that has all but disappeared now. As for being backward, well!!! As a part of the Italian state, all the mod cons that are available elsewhere are available in Sardinia and, from my experience, Sardinians seems to have a very good balance between retaining their old traditions and embracing the technology that comes with the modern world. There are other things which come to mind. One of my closest friends actually surprised me, because he seemed surprised, when I told him that Sardinians are no less likely to have their arms and legs adorned with tattoos than they are anywhere else. Yes, there are several tattoo parlours in Nuoro!

I often think of Sardinia as being like the Ireland of Italy. It's an island to the west of the Italian mainland (or 'continente' as the Sardinians themselves say) and, while they have acquired a lot of Italian traits, they have their own distinct culture and character which is somewhat different from most of Italy. And, as with Ireland, that can boast of the likes of BernardShaw, OscarWilde and Seamus Heaney, Sardinia has a very rich literary and cultural heritage. How many Brits know that the famous political philosopher, Antonio Gramsci, was from Ales in Sardinia? Or that the second woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature, in 1926, was Grazia Deledda, from Nuoro? Again, I must be fair, because I hadn't heard of Grazia Deledda before my wife told me about her, when we first met. Most of her books have only been translated into English comparitively recently, and haven't been read terribly widely outside of Italy, so she isn't anything like as well known in the English speaking world as perhaps she should be. 

Then there is the little known fact that Sardinia has it's own language, of which there are many different dialects, usually called 'Sardo' or 'Sardu'. I myself know little more than a few words and phrases in Sardo, mainly because my wife doesn't speak it (although she does understand it when spoken). During Italy's fascist period, the use of the Sardinian language was brutally suppressed and the unfortunate legacy of this was that a lot of parents, while conversing in Sardo with each other, would only speak Italian in the presence of their children. There has been a significant change in attitude over the last few decades, but still the language has no official status in public life. I've seen so many conflicting statistics about the percentage of Sardinians who speak Sardo that it is hard to know the truth. However, it would appear to be a much larger percentage of the population than the percentage of Welsh people who speak Welsh. 

If the Brits do think of Sardinia at all, they are likely to think of an island with lots of sunshine and beautiful beaches, but there is much more to the island than the sea and sunshine. It has a very long history, which dates back to neolithic times, and especially interesting is what is called the Nuragic Civilisation, the remains of which can be seen in many parts of the island in the form of buildings called Nuraghe. There is one such Nuraghi here in Nuoro. We've been lucky enough to visit a handful of the many architectural sites, which preserve many of the remants of Sardinia's ancient history, such as Tharros , on the west coast, and Serra Orrias, near Dorgali, which I wrote about several years ago. 

Tharros

In fact, Sardinia has a bit of something for everybody. Another little known fact about the island is that, there are four ski resorts. Several years ago we visited one of them for the day, on Mount Broncu Spinu, not far from the town of Fonni. Fonni is the highest town in Sardinia and a place where snowfall is common in winter and average temperatures are lower than a lot of places in the UK!

I have to confess that I cannot remember the island of Sardinia ever being mentioned during geography lessons in my schooldays and, as I've already written, there is scant coverage of the island in the British media. So the British can be forgiven for their general ignorance of the island. But then, how much do we know about any of the other main islands in the Mediterranean? It's such a shame that the charms of Sardinia are not more widely known, when you consider its history, rich culture and reputation for hospitality and quality food and wine. It has opened up more to tourism in the last two or three decades, with the rise of budget airlines, but it's still Spain and the Greek Islands that seem to be the more popular destinations for many British holidaymakers. In this post I could have written so much more about the island that I have come to call home, even if I've written far more than I intended to!

The Hostile Environment Reaches The Professor Of Bristolian

I am a Professor of Bristolian and even I am a victim of the UK Home Office's hostile environment. Let me explain. I am not really a Professor of Bristolian. I played such a character in the Terry's Bristolian Language Lessons DVD and afterwards I set up a Professor of Bristolian facebook page which became far more popular than I ever expected, allowing me to indulge my rather bizarre and surreal sense of humour to the full! So why am I a victim of the UK Home Office's hostile environment? Well, it's quite a long story. I nearly had to refuse the offer to appear in the aforementioned DVD because I had moved to Sardinia a few months before, in order to be with my Sardinian/Italian girlfriend, now my wife. It was only the fact that I was back in Bristol for ten days, at the very time filming was taking place, that I was able to play the role of a Professor of Bristolian in the DVD. This was way back in 2010, when there was no mention of a referendum on membership in the EU and Brexit wasn't even a word. My wife has always had an interest in the English language and in British culture and told me that she used to dream of one day living in the UK. "Well," I thought, "I like it here in Sardinia, but I'm still rather attached to my native city of Bristol. No problem, perhaps one day we'll be able to go back and live there." Wrong! I'll explain why.

Everything changed when we woke up in bed and breakfast accommodation in Naples, on our way down to Calabria in the far south of Italy for a family wedding. On the television news that morning, in June 2016, we learnt about how the British had voted in a referendum to leave the EU. Shortly after, I wrote a blogpost What Brexit Could Mean To a Bristolian In Sardinia in which I voiced my concerns about how the referendum vote might impact us negatively. Some of my concerns were unfounded. I am now old enough to be receiving my state pension and there are no problems there. Similarly, the Easyjet service, from Bristol to Olbia in Sardinia, appears to be safe for the time being, on account of the company having made necessary adjustments to their business. However, one of my gravest concerns was expressed thus: 

I had read articles like this in the Guardian about British people needing a minimum income of  £18,600 per annum in order to bring their foreign spouses over to live in the UK. In the event of Brexit would that rule be extended to British ex-pats with a spouse from a EU member state should they wish to return to live in the UK? If so we might find ourselves with an insurmountable obstacle to overcome should we decide that one day we want to set up home again in my native city of Bristol. People have tried to reassure me. "No, it could never come to that!" they say. I'm not so sure. I never believed that there would ever come a time when the disabled and the unemployed would be treated with such crass insensitivity and cruelty as they have been under the present Conservative government with Cameron, Osborne and Duncan-Smith (for most of the time) at the helm. 

Well, sadly, it has come to that, even though we had no plans to return to live in the UK in the foreseeable future. In fact, thanks to the hostile environment being further enforced by the new British Immigration Bill that became law last November, it's far worse. I recently checked the costs involved in the case of an EU spouse, of a British citizen, applying for a visa to live in the UK after 31st March 2022. I was absolutely flabbergasted. The spouse visa fee for an 'out of country' application is £1,523; the Immigration Health Surcharge £1,872 (for being able to use the NHS. I might add here that in the summer of 2012 I had a mild heart attack and received excellent treatment at one of the local hospitals here in Nuoro. It cost us nothing! So much for health tourism in the UK!) Then there's £150 for an English language test (even though my wife's written English is far better than that of a lot of native brits); and finally, up to £300 for the translation of essential documents like marriage, birth and divorce certificates. There are other potential costs that probably wouldn't affect us. Don't believe me? Read this on the Migrate website. So, irrespective of the minimum income requirements, it would cost us nearly £4,000 for the undoubted privilege of living in the UK for just two and a half years. No thanks. I hardly think that is value for money, especially as the country seems to be in a far worse shape than it was when I left in November 2009. We'll stick to the joys of a warmer climate in Sardinia with its spectacular beaches and scenery, better quality food and wine, culinary delights like culurgiones and delicious liqueurs like mirto. OK, the driving here can be a bit indisciplined, the road planning and bureaucracy bewildering, but overall, life is pretty good!

 

Santa Maria Navarrese, Ogliastra, Sardinia

 

 

    

A Famous Singer Checks Out Our Band In Orosei, Sardinia

In a previous post, almost five years ago now, I wrote about the rock band that I joined as a singer, Optimistic Sound, here in Nuoro in Sardinia. Well, with three other members of that line-up and a different drummer, Salvatore Pes, we are now called Nameless. Our usual set is almost exclusively British and American rock covers from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, covering classics from the likes of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cream, Depeche Mode, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors and Paul Weller.

Obviously, because of the lockdown we haven't been too active with regard to performing lately, but a week ago we did our first gig since just before Christmas at a beach bar in Orosei. It went reasonably well and we were advised before hand that there might be a famous Italian singer present, Malika Ayane. Sure enough, she was there with a group of friends and before we started my dear wife persuaded her to pose for a photo with me.

I actually said to her, "devo ammettere che non avevo sentito parlare di lei prima di tre giorni fa."("I must confess I'd never heard of you until three days ago.") Even though it was true I did wonder aferwards whether I should have said that and whether it sounded a bit disrepectful! She didn't seem to mind, laughed, and said she'd never heard of me either! No surprise there! Anyway, later I had a look at her youtube videos and realised that I had heard some of her music before but her name hadn't stuck with me. She has actually had a string of hit singles and albums in the Italian charts, and one of her singles, Senza Fare Sul Serio, has had 43 million views on youtube. A few more than the 1,500 views of the most viewed of any youtube musical videos that I've uploaded from my days of gigging in the Bristol area in England!    

She did stay for half the set but had left by the time we had started our little tribute to The Rolling Stones. Maybe just as well, as I wasn't enthralled with the way my vocals sounded on Brown Sugar and Gimme Shelter! Here's a little taster: Rolling Stones Tribute

Coronavirus in Sardinia and the UK

I must confess that, until about three weeks ago, I was guilty of not taking the coronavirus outbreak as seriously as I might have done. It seemed to be something mainly confined to mainland Italy, especially the north, and with Sardinia being an island (albeit an island larger than the whole of Wales) and no positive cases having been reported here I wasn't very concerned. Then, first there were a couple of positive cases in Cagliari, and a researcher (and her partner) returning to Nuoro from a conference in Udine tested positive. After that, horror of horrors, a dozen or so health workers at San Francesco Hospital (about two miles away from us) tested positive. I found this distressing on several levels. Aside from the risk, especially to older people and those whose health problems have weakened their immune systems, there was the problem it created for the hospital in functioning normally, especially with the risk of further infection. I have a personal interest in this because in 2012 I had a mild heart attack and was treated at San Francesco Hospital where the treatment I received was excellent. Furthermore, I have given private English lessons to three of the doctors who work there, all of whom were extremely nice people. It's easy for some people to sneer and crack jokes but when you realise the pandemic may be directly affecting people you know personally, it's a different matter. Now the whole of Italy has been in lockdown for over two weeks and, strange as it may seem, I'm somewhat relieved and not at all bothered about staying at home most of the time for the time being, however long that might be.

My wife took early retirement at the end of the last year and since then we've very much been taking things at the gentle pace for which, by and large, Sardinia is renowned. However, we have had to put on hold our daily outings for coffee and aperitives at our favourites bars, Nobel 26 in ExMe and Caffé Tettamanzi among others, and it's been cappuccino and caffé normale (or 'espresso') at home instead since Tuesday 10th March. 

How hard Italy has been hit by the coronavirus has made the news globally and now I'm beginning to cast an anxious eye towards the UK because I still have so many friends and relatives living there. There was widespread astonishment here and elsewhere at the initial response of the UK government at how to deal with the spread of the virus. The idea that the British could 'take it on the chin and create 'herd immunity'. 'La roulette di Boris Johnson. Il Regno Unito ha una strategia molto rischiosa per contenere il coronavirus' said the Italian press (Boris Johnson's Russian roulette. The UK has a very risky strategy for containing the coronavirus). Especially shocking to the Sardinians was the idea that this might mean the premature death of, at the very least, 250,000 of the elderly and more vulnerable members of society in the UK. One member of my wife's extended family was moved to write the following about it:- 'Boris Johnson has no shame in communicating to the entire world that his country's economy is more important than the life of his elderly co-citizens and that they can be sacrificed for the sake of GDP. In Sardinian culture elderly people have always enjoyed special consideration because of the knowledge and wisdom they can bring. Moreover, a society that venerates appearance and wealth and has zero consideration for the lives of its elderly is inevitably condemned to decline.' I myself was disappointed but not surprised by the headlines in some British newspapers,  including this monstrosity in the Daily Telegraph (sometimes described as the Boris Johnson fanzine).

A pathological incapacity to even try to be impartial seems to be a prerequisite for anyone wishing to write for that particular publication! How dare anyone question the government's 'herd immunity' strategy! We're British! We know best! We don't need to take any notice of those strategies that have been successful in slowing down the virus in other countries! They can't compete with our British exceptionalism! (They appreciate sarcasm in Sardinia.) Fortunately, the UK has been forced to change it's strategy by models created by a team at Imperial College, London and displaying the folly of the original strategy (and the idiocy of some who write newspaper headlines). Even so, as I write, just after the UK went into 'full lockdown' last weekend, there still seems to be a lot of confusion with regard to what 'full lockdown' actually means and who key workers are. On social media some of my friends are saying not much seems to have changed!

After the aforementioned outbreak of COVID-19 at San Francesco Hospital in Nuoro there were exhaustive tests done on the other health workers and 120 tests returned negative results and Sardinia is still one of the least affected regions. As of yesterday there were 421 positive cases and, sadly, the fatalities on the island numbered 15. In Nuoro there were 26 positive cases and in the last few days the number falling victim to the virus in my home town of Bristol has overtaken the number in Nuoro. Now do you understand why I worry about my friends and relatives in the UK? Here, people appear to be taking the lockdown a lot more seriously. They are observing the recommended distance for social distancing. If my wife or I have to go out for any essential reason we always wear gloves and a mask and I always wash my hands immediately when returning to the apartment after having been downstairs to check the post or take stuff out for recycling. Some may be a bit blasé and claim the virus only has about a 3% fatality rate and some people experience mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. That may be true but it's not the point. The point is that the coronavirus is extremely contagious and those who are asymptomatic can pass it on to the elderly or those living with pre-existing health conditions for whom it can be deadly. Be sensible. Be responsible and keep others safe as well as yourself.

Nuoro And Its Poetry

Before I got sidetracked by Brexit, and the needless anxieties it has brought, I was using this blog to write of my experiences in Sardinia. As my Italian improved I started to do Italian translations of my posts along the original English text (although I have to thank my wife for checking my translation work and making quite a number of corrections!) In recent years I've written far less, as my initial enthusiasm for the project waned, but there are quite a lot of experiences that I have had here that I do wish I had written about. Oh well!

Anyway, a few days ago I came across this rather excellent blogpost, from one of our "madrelingua" English teacher friends here in Nuoro, which perfectly captures how it's such a likeable town to live in and yet frustrating at the same time. Congratulations to Lisette for such a good piece - Sardinia for the soul - Nuoro no est Italia. It actually reminded me of a poem I wrote about Nuoro the first year I was here:-

 
Nuoro

So here I am in Nuoro,
this untidy mess of a town
which is nonetheless endearing.
"Il comune non fa niente!"*
is what I keep on hearing.
Sun scorched scruffy weeds
and dirt and litter adorn
the uneven pavement
while some have sought
to see to feline needs
with a plate or two of fish-heads
left out for the strays;
the buildings blighted by graffiti,
beautiful and ugly in equal measure
and cars parked curiously
at strange angles from the kerb.
And then the gems, the treasure:
the stunning vista of the mountains
from Via Aspromonte
and the valley between Mt Ortobene
and the edge of town;
how Via Corso Garibaldi
comes to life on summer evenings,
the bars packed and thriving,
the Nuorese of every generation
walking up and down
with youth, beautiful and tanned,
showing its propensity
for elegance and style;
the museums displaying
the cultural heritage of a town
that gave us Nobel Prize winning writer
Grazia Deledda and poet Sebastiano Satta
and artists and sculptors
whose charming works beguile.
Nuoro is like a woman
whose potential beauty sometimes delights,
occasionally astounds and also frustrates
wrapped up in the frumpy clothing
of habit and convenience
that draw attention to
the lines upon her face
but seldom have I known
people of such warmth and generosity
inhabit any other place.

Geoff Davis © 2010

* The council do nothing!

:

Revoke Article 50? No Way, Says The UK Government

It's rather curious watching the odd goings on in Westminster from faraway Sardinia. Like many other UK migrants living in EU countries, I signed the online petition to revoke Article 50 and allow the UK to remain in the EU. Many remainers were getting very excited about how it was gathering momentum at the time I was writing my previous post What Brexit Could Mean To A Bristolian In Sardinia (Three years On). However, the UK Government have decided not to let some people build up their hopes too much and have sent a most odd email response to all those who signed the petition. Well, actually, the email is from the Department For Exiting The European Union. Here it is in full (or how it should be - haha):-


The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU.”.

Government responded:

This Government will not revoke Article 50. We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with Parliament to deliver a deal, no matter how bad, that ensures we leave the European Union.

It remains the Government’s firm policy not to revoke Article 50. We will honour the outcome of the 2016 referendum and work to deliver an exit which benefits everyone (even though, frankly, that's impossible), whether they voted to Leave or to Remain.

Revoking Article 50, and thereby remaining in the European Union, would undermine both our democracy and the trust that millions of voters have placed in Government and their very close friends, the mainstream media, whose exceptional capacity for objective reporting has alerted us to the dangers of the wrong kind of bananas and the fact that euro banknotes can make men impotent.
The Government acknowledges the considerable number of people who have signed this petition. However, close to three quarters of the electorate, all of whom were very well-informed about the issues involved thanks to the impartiality of newspapers like The Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, took part in the 2016 referendum, trusting that the result would be respected. This Government wrote to every household prior to the referendum, promising that the outcome of the referendum would be implemented. And no Government has ever broken a promise. 17.4 million people then voted to leave the European Union, providing the biggest democratic mandate for any course of action ever directed at UK Government. It is true that the 3 million EU citizens living in the UK, many of the 1.3 UK citizens living in the EU and young people under the age of 18 were ineligible to vote. However, we do not need to consider them even if the result of the referendum was likely to have a more adverse effect on them than most other groups.

British people cast their votes once again in the 2017 General Election where over 80% of those who voted, voted for parties, including the Opposition, who committed in their manifestos to upholding the result of the referendum. Please don't say that they had little choice. Had they wanted to leave the EU they would have voted for the Liberal Democrats or the Greens whose parties dwarf the size of Labour and the Conservatives.

This Government stands by this commitment as no Government has ever gone back on any commitment ever before.

Revoking Article 50 would break the promises made by Government to the British people, disrespect the clear instruction from a democratic vote, and in turn, reduce confidence in our democracy. This is despite the present Government's overruling of a democratic decision reached by Lancashire County Council with regard to an application for a fracking site. As the Prime Minister has said, failing to deliver Brexit would cause “potentially irreparable damage to public trust”. It is imperative that we trust the integrity of the Prime Minister as well as such political, social, business and intellectual giants as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Nigel Farage, Dominic Cummings and Arron Banks. We must maintain a hostile environment at all costs. It is imperative that people can trust their Government to respect their votes and deliver the best outcome for them. If the best outcome means 20 mile traffic jams to and from Dover, food shortages at supermarkets, fruit rotting at harvest time, frustrated car manufacturers suffering excessive waiting time for car parts to be delivered, horribly long delays going through passport control at airports, EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU losing a lot of their rights, young people losing an easy opportunity to work, study and live abroad, then so be it!

As the winning team would say: "Suck it up buttercup!"

Department for Exiting the European Union.

What Brexit Could Mean To A Bristolian In Sardinia (Almost Three Years On)

Although I was concerned when I wrote this blogpost What Brexit Could Mean To A Bristolian In Sardinia just after the EU referendum in June 2016, I consoled myself with the thought that perhaps very little would change come the UK's exit from the EU. How naive I was. When I wrote in that post that "there will always be winners and losers" I had no idea how much I was likely to lose out myself. I have since discovered that because foreign properties are taxable in Italy, and properties outside the EU are taxed much more severely than those inside the EU, it could cost me around £1,000 per annum. Now, with very little time to go and the possibility of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal, I'm faced with the prospect of my driver's licence and insurance no longer being valid as well as losing reciprocal rights regarding health care. As I wrote in the earlier post, I voted remain mainly for personal reasons. Now, I have much stronger feelings about the whole debacle and the extent to which those EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in the EU have been ignored as if we are of no consequence.

To be honest, I had not researched the EU in any depth at the time of the referendum and, although I've learnt a lot more about it since, I still don't consider myself an expert. Many people, most of whom are only familiar with a handful of EU laws and procedures, do consider themselves to be experts. Among those are people who have gleamed a lot of their information from the British gutter press, seeking anything they can find that is negative in order to feed their cognitive dissonance. It's well worth reading this tompride blogpost See 20 years of FAKE NEWS about EU by UK press in which many myths about the EU are debunked. Before anyone firmly in the 'Leave' camp wishes to dismiss it, it's well worth reflecting on the contrast between the language used. The British tabloids tend to use intemperate and hysterical language while the reponses from the European Commission would appear to lay out the facts, as impartially as they can, in language that is moderate and sensible.

Nevertheless, some of my reservations about the EU, which I wrote about in the aforementioned blogpost, still stand. I can accept that EU rules on fishing quotas may have had consequences for the UK fishing industry and that many sub-post offices may have closed, directly or indirectly, as a result of EU law insisting on making postal services more competitive. Furthermore, I am also uneasy about the influence that the European Central Bank has had with regard to overseeing polices like austerity in dealing with member states that were in difficulties, like Greece. Although, it must be added, that the austerity measures in the UK were introduced by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government and the the EU had little or nothing to do with it.

Any reservations I may have about the EU, however, are dwarfed by the concerns I have about how disruptive Brexit will be to so many people's lives. Of course I am thinking about myself and the worry and uncertainty that this wretched situation has created. I am also thinking of other UK citizens living in the EU and EU citizens living in the UK. Most of us made the decision to move in good faith and with the belief that our rights would not be affected. Suddenly, a great many of us are faced with a minefield of troublesome bureaucracy to deal with which for years, in some cases decades, were of no concern. Many have far worse problems to deal with than I have and among the UK citizens living in the EU there are those whose livelihoods depend on freedom of movement, as Laura Shields of British In Europe, the group that lobbies far our rights, articulates far more clearly than I could.

 

It should be emphasised that freedom of movement is not just about the movement of people which, in some people's minds, should be restricted in order to "keep the immigrants out". It is also the freedom of movement of goods, services and capitol. Ending freedom of movement will have a hugely negative effect on industries like the music industry as extra controls, delays and tariffs will discourage British musicians of all kinds from organising European tours as the overheads will mean that such tours are no longer financially viable. 

You may or may not remember Ciaran Donovan the van driver, who gave Jacob Rees-Mogg such a difficult time on an LBC phone-in programme, when explaining how the removal of frictionless borders could destroy businesses like his. He also spoke from his own personal experiences of the difficulties and the enormous inconvenience he had to suffer when crossing over into Switzerland. An article that he wrote for the Daily Mirror, and that was quoted in Somerset Live, is quite illuminating. Many leave supporters dismiss talk of how Brexit could disrupt just-in-time supply lines, and cause huge damage to businesses and the economy, as mere fear-mongering. They seem to overlook the fact that these concerns are not being voiced by politicians with an agenda or an axe to grind, but by people directly involved in industries that would be most affected, such as Britain's biggest supermarket retailers and those in car manufacturing. This conversation  that James O'Brien of LBC had with a fruit and vegetable buyer for a major supermarket, about the huge problems that would result should the UK leave the EU with no deal, is very revealing. The stories of falling investment, the number of firms moving their operations from the UK to other EU countries, as well as those closing their existing plants in the UK, have been so widely reported that I hardly need to mention it here.

To a certain extent I can understand people having ideological objections to the way the EU operates. While I don't personally believe that the EU is a neoliberal project, it has aligned itself far too closely to the kind of neoliberal policies that millions of people are uncomfortable with. Having said that, in my opinion the EU is no more corrupt, bloated by bureaucracy, dictatorial or less democratic than the British Government is in its present form. And as more information has come to light over the last three years it should be clear to anyone who tries to remain objective, and base their opinions on fact-based research, that the practical benefits of staying in the EU far outweigh those of leaving. Leavers continue to talk about a betrayal of democracy if the referendum result isn't respected, but it's a strange kind of democracy when millions of those most likely to be adversely affected by the vote - EU citizens living in the UK, many UK citizens living in other EU countries and young people whose opportunities to work, study and live in other parts of the EU will be made far more difficult - weren't eligible to vote in the first place. 

When leavers bring up the subject of democracy remainers often respond with, " yes, but 'Leave' lied." Well, it's certainly true that their leading campaigners gave lots of false assurances about 'the easiest deal in history' and 'all your rights, all your privileges will be respected'. Take a look at this video of Michael Gove in this twitter post. "All your rights, all your privileges, are carried on and are respected," he says. I don't think it will feel like that for many EU citizens in the UK who have had to suffer a significant increase in racism and xenophobia and told that they will have to apply for settled status, including some who have been settled happily in the UK for decades. 

With the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal becoming ever more likely, the public have latched on to the phrase 'no deal' and many leavers are insisting that is what they voted for. I am sorry to disappoint them but had they read what was written on the Leave Campaign leaflets before the referendum took place they would realise that they voted for no such thing.

Remainers are fond of pointing out how the Leave Campaign were fined for breaches of electoral law but, to be fair, so were remain, although considerably less. Far more concerning is the misuse of personal data that Leave.EU were fined for. Furthermore, there is the mystery surrounding the source of the huge sum of money donated by Arron Banks, the Leave Campaign's largest personal donor, and the fact that Theresa May, when she was Home Secretary, may have blocked an investigation into Banks in the run-up to the referendum. There are a huge number of unanswered questions, even if nothing is proven, as yet.

In the previous blogpost, that I link to in the first paragraph, I wrote that: "For me the saddest thing about the whole affair has been the divisions created by the hyperbole, scaremongering and exaggerated claims by both the Remain and the Leave camps." That was written at the end of June 2016. Things have got far, far worse since then. In fact, read any comments thread on Brexit and before long the exchanges become increasingly toxic and hysterical. What surprises me is how many people post comments, about subjects on which they're rather ignorant, without doing any fact checking whatsoever. I wrote about this in another post in this blog with regard to quite a different matter: houses for sale for just €1,00 in Ollolai (if you were prepared to commit to spending around €20,000 to restore them), a town not all that far from where I live in Nuoro in Sardinia. The comments linking to articles in Yahoo and the Daily Mail Online on this issue were astonishing in their ignorance and stupidity. As I live in Sardinia I am far better placed to know that it is not the home of the mafia and it is not situated on an earthquake fault line! But to return to Brexit, leavers tend to come up with the same well-worn clichés and soundbites when being abusive towards remainers. Remainers delude themselves into thinking that being arrogant and condescending will somehow get their point across to leavers, while being equally abusive. There is a sense of people not listening and not wanting to listen. Whatever you may think of Caroline Lucas MP, at least she had the courage and courtesy to visit areas that mostly voted leave and listen to their reasons for doing so. Is it really so hard to be civil towards people that you disagree with? If we have exchanges of opinions they should be civil and based on assessing information as impartially as we are capable of. Yes, I voted remain. Yes, I would vote remain again if there were another referendum. Yes, I still cling to the vain hope that the UK won't leave the EU, because it will make my life so much simpler. However, I know people that I like very much who voted leave and I am not going to fall out with them because of a difference of opinion over Brexit. When we allow such things to damage our family relations or our friendships then we need to question how intelligent we are in terms of emotional and practical intelligence. We all need each other. There is a unifying force that can create something new and far better. It's called listening.