Dialetti d'Italia

Luigi Speranza

At Unification 1860-70 although there was a standard written Italian, based on and evolved from Florentine/Tuscan dialect of the 14th and 15th centuries, the absence of a national spoken standard Italian was, for questions of international prestige as well as for very practical reasons, acutely felt.

Arguments on the Questione della Lingua put forth by writers and scholars such as A. Manzoni and G. Ascoli are well known but at the turn of the 20th century the issues were much more practical than what could be seen as abstract debates between purists and academics.

In the Italian context the following factors have played an important role in more recent times:

multilingualism
illiteracy
population distribution
Fascist regime's strategies vis-à-vis a national language

The national spoken language for a while came to be seen by many, except the educated, as an affectation and even with suspicion.

Re-discovered liberties.
Monolingualism and diglossia.

ITALY in 1931

ILLITERACY

Percentage of population over 6 years of age

ITALY in 1971

ILLITERACY

Percentage of population over 6 years of age

Holders of Primary School Certificate (age 10) in % by province.

Knowledge of one's own local language (dialects) was no longer sufficient to cope with the needs and requirements of a highly bureaucratic centralized government.

The imperatives for self improvement were real if one was to participate in the rapid post-war recovery of the country and the economic boom.

Internal migrations:
looking for work in the industrial triangle Milano-Genova-Torino.

The spread of a common national language, at the expense of dialects, was facilitated by:

Internal migration
Urbanization
Military service for all able young men
Internal tourism
Education
Mass media

Primary Education:
Mass Media: making the most of TV

Evidence of the rapid spread of the national language

"L'italiano é finalmente nato!' [...]

This is a language I do not like, because it has destroyed the classical and humanistic side of Italian culture, but we need to recognizethat this is the new language that will one day be shared by Italians of all regions and will impose itself as the first true national language'.
Quoted in Tosi

Italianisation of dialects: Dialects in retreat or just a temporary phase?

DIALECT <--------> REGIONAL DIALECT <-------> REGIONAL ITALIAN <--------> ITALIAN (standard)

1. ITALIAN
2. REGIONAL TALIAN
northern
toscano tuscan ( tuscany )
romano roman (roman / latium )
meredionale southern
3. REGIONAL DIALECT
4. DIALECT




























After 1968 and challenges ...

'the questioning of conventions and traditions of the whole society began, and is widely perceived as a landmark between the old world and the new. In addition to this emblematic significance, many Italians recognizethat at the end of the 1960s the social tensions and the widespread desire for change eventually modified established conventions, eradicated outdated traditions, and spread deeper awareness of the cultural and political life of the national community'. Tosi

enduring polycentrism

increasing homogenization

international challenges

What about the dialects?

Bad habits and bad models.

"Italy , either because of its recent unification (Romano, 1982 and 1983) or because of its institutional reluctance (Avveduto, 1983), has never invested much energy in language policy [...] Tosi






Dialects: samples

(See also http://www.netaxs.com/~salvucci/ITALdial.html and the examples provided in Some samples and on the map above)


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Italy? What?

Dialects and Language

Convergence

One language one nation?

Some audio examples