There are a variety of regional languages spoken to varying degrees in
Italy, most of which belong to various branches of the Romance languages and
are hence descendants of Vulgar Latin. The official and most widely spoken
language is Italian, a descendant of Tuscan. All Romance varieties spoken in
Italy, except from Italian, are often called "dialects" in the literature,
although the term may coexist with other labels such as "minority languages" or
"vernaculars." There are several minority languages that belong to other
Indo-European branches, such as Cimbrian, Arbëresh, the Slavomolisano
dialect of Serbo-Croatian, and Griko. Other non-indigenous languages are
spoken by a substantial percentage of the population due to immigration.
Legal status = Recognition at the European level=
Italy is a signatory of the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages, but is yet to ratify the treaty, and therefore its provisions
protecting regional languages do not apply in the country.
The Charter does not, however, establish at what point differences in expression
result in a separate language, deeming it an "often controversial issue", and
citing the necessity to take into account, other than purely linguistic
criteria, also "psychological, sociological and political
considerations". = Recognition by the Italian state=
Law number 482 of 15 December 1999, recognises the following minority
languages: Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovene, Croatian, French,
Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Ladin, Occitan, Sardinian. The law also makes a
distinction between those who are considered minority groups and those who
are not. The original Italian Constitution does
not explicitly express that Italian is the official national language. Since
the constitution was penned, there have been some laws and articles written on
the procedures of criminal cases passed that explicitly state that Italian
should be used: Statute of the Trentino-South Tyrol, –
"[...] [la lingua] italiana [...] è la lingua ufficiale dello Stato."
Code for civil procedure – "In tutto il processo è prescritto l'uso della lingua
italiana. Code for criminal procedure – "Gli atti
del procedimento penale sono compiuti in lingua italiana."
Article 1 of law 482/1999 – "La lingua ufficiale della Repubblica è
l'italiano." = Recognition by the regions=
Aosta Valley: French is co-official in the whole region; German is unofficial
but recognised in the Lys Valley. Campania: Neapolitan is "promoted", but
not recognised, by the region. Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Friulian and
Slovene are "promoted", but not recognised, by the region;.
Piedmont: Piedmontese is unofficial but recognised as the regional language; the
region "promotes", without recognising, the Occitan, Franco-Provençal and Walser
languages. Sardinia: Sardinian, Sassarese and
Gallurese are unofficial but recognised and promoted "enjoying the same dignity
and standing of Italian" in their respective territories, as well as
Catalan in the city of Alghero and Tabarchino in the islands of Sulcis.
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol: German is co-official in the province of South
Tyrol; Ladin, Cimbrian and Mòcheno are unofficial but recognised in their
respective territories. Veneto: Venetian is unofficial but
recognised. Conservation status
According to the UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, there are
31 endangered languages in Italy. The degree of endangerment is classified in
different categories ranging from 'safe' to 'extinct'.
The source for the languages' distribution is the Atlas of the World's
Languages in Danger unless otherwise stated, and refers to Italy exclusively.
= Vulnerable= Alemannic: spoken in the Lys Valley of
the Aosta Valley and in Northern Piedmont
Bavarian: South Tyrol Ladin: several valleys, towns and
villages in the Dolomites, including the Val Badia and the Gardena Valley in
South Tyrol, the Fascia Valley in Trentino, and Livinallongo in the
Province of Belluno Sicilian: Sicily, southern and central
Calabria and southern Apulia Neapolitan: Campania, Basilicata,
Abruzzo, Molise, northern Calabria, northern and central Apulia, southern
Lazio and Marche as well as easternmost Umbria
Venetian: Veneto, parts of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
= Definitely endangered= Algherese Catalan: the town of Alghero
in northwestern Sardinia; an outlying dialect of Catalan language not listed
separately by the SIL Alpine Provençal: the upper valleys of
Piedmont; the original joint ISO code [prv] for Alpine Provençal and Provençal
has been retired on false grounds Arbëresh: Adriatic zone: Montecilfone,
Campomarino, Portocannone and Ururi in Molise as well as Chieuti and
Casalvecchio di Puglia in Apulia; San Marzano in Apulia; Greci in Campania;
northern Basilicata: Barile, Ginestra and Maschito; North Calabrian zone: ca.
30 settlements in northern Calabria as well as San Costantino Albanese and San
Paolo Lucano in southern Basilicata; settlements in southern Calabria, e.g.
San Nicola dell'Alto and Vena di Maida; Sicilian zone: Piana degli Albanesi and
two nearby villages near Palermo; formerly also Villabadessa in Abruzzi;
an outlying dialect of Albanian Cimbrian: vigorously spoken in Luserna
in Trentino; disappearing in Giazza in the Province of Verona and in Roana in
the Province of Vicenza; recently extinct in several other locations in
the region; an outlying dialect of Bavarian
Corsican: spoken on Maddalena Island off the northeast coast of Sardinia
Emilian-Romagnol: Emilia-Romagna, parts of the provinces of Pavia, Voghera, and
Mantua in southern Lombardy, the Lunigiana district in northwestern
Tuscany, the Province of Pesaro-Urbino in the Marche, and in a zone called
Traspadana Ferrarese in the Province of Rovigo in Veneto
Faetar: Faeto and Celle San Vito in the Province of Foggia in Apulia; an
outlying dialect of Francoprovençal not listed separately by the SIL
Francoprovençal: the Alpine valleys to the north and east of the Susa Valley in
Piedmont; disappeared in France and Switzerland
Friulian: Friuli-Venezia Giulia except the Province of Trieste and western and
eastern border regions, and Portogruaro area in the Province of Venice in Veneto
Gallo-Italic of Sicily: Nicosia, Sperlinga, Piazza Armerina, Valguarnera
Caropepe and Aidone in the province of Enna, and San Fratello, Acquedolci, San
Piero Patti, Montalbano Elicona, Novara di Sicilia and Fondachelli-Fantina in
the province of Messina; an outlying dialect of Lombard not listed separately
by the SIL; other dialects were formerly also spoken in southern Italy outside
Sicily, especially in Basilicata Gallurese: northeastern Sardinia; an
outlying dialect of Corsican Ligurian: Liguria and adjacent areas of
Piedmont, Emilia and Tuscany; settlements in the towns of Carloforte
on the San Pietro Island and Calasetta on the Sant’Antioco Island off the
southwest coast of Sardinia Lombard: Lombardy and the Province of
Novara in Piedmont Mòcheno: Palù, Fierozzo and Frassilongo
in the Fersina Valley in Trentino; an outlying dialect of Bavarian
Piedmontese: Piedmont except the Province of Novara, the western Alpine
valleys and southern border areas, as well as minor adjacent areas
Resian: Resia in the northeastern part of the Province of Udine; an outlying
dialect of Slovene not listed separately by the SIL
Romani: spoken by the Roma community in Italy
Sardinian, including both Campidanese and Logudorese
Sassarese: northwestern Sardinia; a transitional language between Corsican
and Sardinian Yiddish: spoken by parts of the Jewish
community in Italy = Severely endangered=
Töitschu: the village of Issime in the upper Lys Valley/Lystal in the Aosta
Valley; an outlying dialect of Alemannic not listed separately by the SIL
Molise Croatian: the villages of Montemitro, San Felice del Molise, and
Acquaviva Collecroce in the Province of Campobasso in southern Molise; a mixed
Chakavian–Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian not listed separately by
the SIL Griko: the Salento peninsula in the
Province of Lecce in southern Apulia; an outlying dialect of Greek not listed
separately by the SIL Gardiol: Guardia Piemontese in Calabria;
an outlying dialect of Alpine Provençal Griko: a few villages near Reggio di
Calabria in southern Calabria; an outlying dialect of Greek not listed
separately by the SIL Classification
All living languages indigenous to Italy are part of the Indo-European language
family. The source is the SIL's Ethnologue unless otherwise stated.
Language classification can be a controversial issue, when a
classification is contested by academic sources, this is reported in the 'notes'
column. They can be divided into Romance
languages and non-Romance languages. = Romance languages=
Gallo-Rhaetian and Ibero-Romance Gallo-Italic languages
Italo-Dalmatian languages Not included is Corsican, which is
mainly spoken on the French island of Corsica. Istriot is only spoken in
Croatia. Judeo-Italian is moribund. Sardinian language
Sardinian is a distinct language with significant phonological differences
among its dialects. Ethnologue, not without controversy, even considers
Sardinian as four independent languages, which would be then included in a
hypothetical subgroup named Southern Romance, along with Corsican. Gallurese
and Sassarese are considered dialects of Corsican by UNESCO, rather than being
Sardinian varieties. = Non-Romance languages=
Albanian, Slavic, Greek and Romani languages
High German languages Geographic distribution
= Northern Italy= The Northern Italian languages are
conventionally defined as those Romance languages spoken north of the La
Spezia–Rimini Line, which runs through the northern Apennine Mountains just to
the north of Tuscany; however, the dialects of Occitan and Franco-Provençal
spoken in the extreme northwest of Italy are generally excluded. The
classification of these languages is difficult and not agreed-upon, due both
to the variations among the languages and to the fact that they share
isoglosses of various sorts with both the Italo-Romance languages to the south
and the Gallo-Romance languages to the northwest.
One common classification divides these languages into four groups:
The Italian Rhaeto-Romance languages, including Ladin and Friulan
The poorly researched Istriot language The Venetian language
The Gallo-Italian languages, including all the rest
Any such classification runs into the basic problem that there is a dialect
continuum throughout northern Italy, with a continuous transition of spoken
dialects between e.g. Venetian and Ladin, or Venetian and Emilio-Romagnolo.
All of these languages are considered innovative relative to the Romance
languages as a whole, with some of the Gallo-Italian languages having
phonological changes nearly as extreme as standard French. This distinguishes
them significantly from standard Italian, which is extremely conservative
in its phonology. = Southern Italy and islands=
Approximate distribution of the regional languages of Sardinia and southern Italy
according to the UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger:
Native languages of foreigners Standardised written forms
The following regional languages of Italy have a standardised written form.
This may be widely accepted or used alongside more traditional written
forms: Piedmontese: traditional, definitely
codified between the 1920s and the 1960s of 20th century by Pinin Pacòt and
Camillo Brero Ligurian: "Grafîa ofiçiâ" created by the
Académia Ligùstica do Brénno; Sardinian: " Limba sarda comuna";
Friulian: "Grafie uficiâl" created by the Osservatori Regjonâl de Lenghe e de
Culture Furlanis; Ladin: "Grafia Ladina" created by the
Istituto Ladin de la Dolomites; See also
Italian dialects Regional Italian
La Spezia–Rimini Line Notes
References Loporcaro, M.. Profilo linguistico dei
dialetti italiani. Bari: Laterza. Marcato, Carla. Dialetto, dialetti e
italiano. Bologna: Il Mulino. Posner, Rebecca. The romance languages.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rapetti, Lori, ed.. Phonological theory
and the dialects of Italy. Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of
Linguistic Science, Series IV Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 212.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.
External links An interactive map of languages and
dialects in Italy Ethnologue - Languages of Italy
Rivista Etnie, linguistica