Over the last decades, the city of Milan has shown a constant growth in the size of immigrant communities, with the Egyptian, Romanian, Filipino and Chinese communities ranking at the top. Among Sub-Saharan immigrants, the Senegalese constitute the largest group. They reached Milan starting from the 1980s and did not settle in a specific area but mixed with other immigrant communities. Eritrean immigrants, in turn, mostly settled in Milan in the early 1960s, concentrating exclusively in the area of Porta Venezia, where they joined Eritrean housekeepers that had moved to Milan in earlier years with Italian families. The paper concentrates on the two communities and shows how these and other differences are reflected in their contribution to Milan's linguistic landscape.
Africa out of Africa: the impact of African communities on Milan’s linguistic landscape
Fiorentini Ilaria
;Luraghi Silvia
2026-01-01
Abstract
Over the last decades, the city of Milan has shown a constant growth in the size of immigrant communities, with the Egyptian, Romanian, Filipino and Chinese communities ranking at the top. Among Sub-Saharan immigrants, the Senegalese constitute the largest group. They reached Milan starting from the 1980s and did not settle in a specific area but mixed with other immigrant communities. Eritrean immigrants, in turn, mostly settled in Milan in the early 1960s, concentrating exclusively in the area of Porta Venezia, where they joined Eritrean housekeepers that had moved to Milan in earlier years with Italian families. The paper concentrates on the two communities and shows how these and other differences are reflected in their contribution to Milan's linguistic landscape.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
