The Infuence of the Arabic Language in the Sicilian Dialect and in Camilleri’s Vigatese Maya El Hajj* Notre Dame University- Louaize, Beirut, Lebanon Corresponding Author: Maya El Hajj, E-mail: melhajj@ndu.edu.lb ABSTRACT This paper highlights the richness associated with having several dialects within the same Italian language system, and specifcally discusses the Sicilian dialect that was highly afected by Arabic. The article will also go back historically to introduce “Siqilliya,” examining the Arabic Sicilian lexicology to demonstrate syntactic constructions typically relevant to the Arabic language, and thus exposing the Sicilian Arabism. My main target is to show, through diferent examples, the interaction between the Sicilian and Arabic languages at the cultural, syntactic, lexicological and grammatical levels. I will also trace some terms used by Andrea Camilleri through his “Commissario Montalbano,” which have become a “modo di dire” or way of speaking that has become an integral part of the Italian language. Published by Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijclts.v.10n.1p.6 INTRODUCTION Andrea Camilleri (6 September 1925 – 17 July 2019), an Italian writer and an expert in the Italian language and Sicil- ian culture, was a prominent fgure of this era, and his writ- ings and immortal archive need particular attention. What essentially fascinates Camillieri’s readership is his person- ality and eloquence of his writings depicting reality in an unmatched sarcastic manner. Preeminently real to himself frst, and subsequently to his readers, some of his translated work drove me to invest more in this study. Being a transla- tor, I am unable to ignore aspects of his work that deal with the internationalization of his messages. I sense a personal commitment to this author whose detective novels have en- thralled more than 30 diferent cultures and outlooks. For in- stance, his book, Inseguendo un’ ombra, has been translated into 35 languages, including Chinese. Therefore, my current research revolves around the Sicilian dialect that distinguish- es Camilleri, providing him with a distinct, individual identi- ty, one that fuses Arabic and Sicilian. This article is divided into three parts. Firstly, I briefy describe the Italian reality, the notion of dialects in Italy, and the standardization of the language with Dante Alighieri. I proceed to track the nature of the Sicilian dialect, referring to a controversial issue that arose recently in Italy regarding the origin(s) of the Italian language. In the second part, I discuss the interaction between the Sicilian dialect and the Arabic language at various levels. Finally, in the third part, I highlight a few Sicilian-Arabic expressions difused in Italy through Camilleri. It is central to note that Andrea Camilleri, through his “Commissario Montalbano,” has contributed to the difusion of many Arabic linguistic “clichés” in Italy or its standard language. This paper indicates the amplitude associated with hav- ing several dialects within the same Italian language system, specifcally focusing on the contribution of the Sicilian di- alect, that was highly afected by Arabic, to this amplitude. It will also demonstrate some syntactic constructions typi- cally relevant to the Arabic language in the Sicilian dialect, hence, exposing the Sicilian Arabism. My main target is thus to show, through diferent examples, the interaction between the Sicilian and Arabic languages at the cultural, syntactic, lexicological and grammatical levels. I will also be tracing some terms used by Andrea Camilleri through his “Commis- sario Montalbano,” which have become a “modo di dire” or manner of speaking; in other words, a part of the everyday Italian popular usage. REVIEW OF LITERATURE According to Loporcaro (2009), when we invoke the word “dialect” or “dialetto” in the Italian reality, we are referring to a linguistic variety that is not standardized. Each region International Journal of Comparative Literature & Translation Studies ISSN: 2202-9451 www.ijclts.aiac.org.au ARTICLE INFO Article history Received: November 03, 2021 Accepted: January 20, 2022 Published: January 31, 2022 Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Conficts of interest: None Funding: None Keywords: Camilleri, Sicilian Dialect, Italian Standard, Arabic Language, Culture