Storia della lingua italiana

by Luigi Speranza

As for lots of languages, the Italian Language dates back to the Romans who imposed their native tongue Latin, or "Latino" as it's known it Italian, on all the people they conquered.

Italian is considered the closest living language to Latin, is spoken in many dialects, all of which are bastardized spin-offs from spoken of colloquial Latin.

Many Italian dialects sound like totally different languages.

The Italian language developed with the regional dialects of the various Italian city states.

As what is now known modern Italy was fought over and invaded the language has absorbed different influences.

In the north of the country this has give rise to dialects known as "Gallo-Italian".

These Gallo-Italian dialects are heavily influenced by the French language.

This is so wide spread that natives of the northern city of Milan can be generally understood by most French speakers!

The center of Italy is dominated by the dialects Toscano, Marchegiano, Umbro, Abruzzese, Laziale, Molisano and Campano.

The very distinct southern dialects, such as Pugliese, Lucano, Maruggese, Salentino and Calabrese are as difficult to understand to the northern Italians as the dialects spoken on the islands of Sicily, Siciliano, and the islands of Sardinia, Sardo and Corsica, Corso.

It was not until the 19th century that the language spoken by educated Tuscans spread to become the language a unified Italy.

The unification of Italy in 1861 resulted in a significant social, economical, and cultural transformation. As schooling became compulsory, the literacy rate increased, and many speakers abandoned their native dialect in favour of the national language.