What language is spoken in Italy?
Italy offers something for every traveler, from the island beaches of Sardinia, the spectacular views of the Dolomites, and the waterways of Venice that wind through Italy’s one-of-a-kind city. The list is long, and one thing is for sure: This country is far from lacking in diverse communities and experiences. That diversity extends to languages spoken throughout Italy. So, what language is spoken in Italy? Italian is the predominant one, but there are several other languages spoken on the peninsula and Italy’s islands.
What is the official language of Italy?
The official language of Italy is Italian. However, as in other countries, there are many regional dialects. Dialects are different variations of speaking the same language. These small distinctions in pronunciation or vocabulary are usually linked to certain geographic regions. Sometimes, the dialects are similar enough to modern Italian that it would take a trained ear to notice the subtle differences.
Despite the choice in 1861 to use Italian as the language of the newly formed country, it wasn’t declared Italy’s national language in the constitution until 2007. And, even then, it wasn’t a unanimous vote in the parliament. Italians remain fiercely proud of their regionality, including their unique languages (and cuisines), and not everyone was thrilled with the idea of any sort of linguistic standardization. There are so many dialects, it’s sometimes hard for Italian speakers to understand each other.
Origins of Italian
During the Roman Empire, there were two main forms of Latin: Classical Latin, used in literature, formal writing, and education, and Vulgar Latin, the everyday spoken language of the people. Vulgar Latin was not a single, uniform language but a collection of dialects that gradually diverged as the Roman Empire declined. These dialects eventually developed into the Romance languages, including Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Romanian. The term “vulgar” in this context simply means “common” or “popular,” referring to the language of the common people.
As the empire declined, two things happened: spoken Latin became less homogeneous and more separated, and it came under the influence of other languages due to invasions, conquests, and colonization. With time, each territory’s version of Latin developed into a separate language with a common base. Those are the Romance languages.
Remember, the borders of today’s Italy did not exist back then. Indeed, borders changed considerably over the course of six centuries, and borders continued to change long after the Roman empire collapsed. In the territory known today as Italy, other Romance languages developed side-by-side with Italian, and many of them are still spoken today!
When did Latin become Italian?
Tuscan, specifically the Florentine dialect, became the foundation for the modern Italian language primarily due to the literary influence of prominent Tuscan writers like Dante Alighieri, Petrarca and Boccaccio, whose works in the 14th century gained widespread popularity. This literary prestige, combined with Florence’s economic and cultural prominence during the Renaissance, solidified Tuscan as the model for a standard Italian language. Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, written in the Florentine dialect, became a foundational text for Italian literature and is today regarded as an imprescindible phase of a young Italian cultural formation.
Petrarca and Boccaccio, also Tuscan writers, further contributed to the language’s development and prestige. In the 16th century, scholars and writers began to advocate for a standardized Italian language based on the 14th-century Tuscan dialect. This process of standardization was furthered by the unification of Italy in the 19th century, where the Tuscan-based Italian was adopted as the national language.
Alessandro Manzoni is highly important for the development and unification of the Italian language, primarily through his novel “I Promessi Sposi” (“The Betrothed”), the first volume of which was published in 1827. Today, it’s considered (along with Dante’s “Divine Comedy”) one the finest examples of Italian literature. Alessandro Manzoni promoted a standardized Italian language based on contemporary Florentine speech, which helped bridge the linguistic divides across Italy and fostered a sense of national identity.
How many languages are spoken in Italy?
According to Endangered Language Alliance, many regional languages still in common use in Italy today, more than 31 have been classified by UNESCO as endangered. Several of these are officially recognized and/or actively promoted by the region in an effort to preserve their cultural heritage. For instance, the languages native to the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, and the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia are considered part of the culture and officially recognized by the Italian government.
Even after 1861, regional languages were still more prevalent than Italian. In fact, one Italian language scholar estimated that, at the time of the unification, less than 3% of the population spoke the Italian language regularly. By 1951, this figure had risen to more than 87%. Today, however, although every Italian can speak and understand the Italian language, you’ll still hear them using regional dialects and languages on a daily basis.
We’ve already mentioned that Italian, like other languages, has regional dialects. In this section, we focus on the prominent languages spoken in Italy, but to be clear: These are distinct languages, not dialects. We’ve presented the list below starting with the most widely spoken languages. You’ll be surprised by the sheer number and variety of languages spoken in Italy!
Neapolitan
Napoletano is spoken by about 7.5 million in southern Italy and in the city of Naples. Neapolitan belongs to the Italo-Romance group, a subgroup of the Romance languages. Neapolitan is classified as “vulnerable” by UNESCO, and at the lowest risk on the language ladder, meaning that most children speak Neapolitan in the regions where it thrives, but it isn’t taught in schools or used in government.
Sicilian
Sicilianu (Sicilian) is spoken by about 5 million people in southern Apulia and southern Calabria on the peninsula, though it is most closely tied with Sicily. About 70% of Sicily residents speak Sicilian, but its use is in decline, and UNESCO considers it a “vulnerable” language. Due to its political history and geographical position, it’s also heavily influenced by a multitude of languages including Spanish, Catalan, Occitan, Greek, and Arabic.
Venetian
Veneziano is spoken in the northeastern part of Italy. You’ll find a high concentration of speakers in the region of Veneto, and in a few other areas of Europe, such as Montenegro, Croatia, and Slovenia. Venice is 100 miles west of Slovenia’s border, so how did Venetian gain popularity in Slavic countries? At one time, those areas belonged to the Venetian Republic. After Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Republic, it was divided, and Veneto became part of Italy at the very end of the eighteenth century. Prior to this division, the Venetian language had enjoyed an elevated status as a literary language, including literary translations into the vernacular, starting in the Renaissance.
Lombard
Longobardo is spoken by about 3.5 million people across Northern Italy, southern Switzerland, and other smaller areas of Italy and Switzerland. Although Lombard is a Romance language, it has significant Celtic influence due to previous Celtic settlers in the region. Lombard also has Germanic influences. While it’s spoken in Switzerland, particularly in Ticino and parts of Graubünden, it’s not recognized as an official language alongside German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Switzerland’s language policy focuses on promoting and protecting these four national languages. It is considered today an endangered language.
Piedmontese
This language is spoken in the northwest part of Italy, in the region of Piemonte, by about 2 million people. While most linguists consider Piedmontese to be a language unto itself, even government officials in the region consider it to be a dialect. Because of immigration, it’s spoken in limited parts of Brazil and Argentina. Piedmontese has a tradition of literature dating back to the Middle Ages, but nowadays mostly educational material can be found in the language.
Sardinian
After Sicily, Sardinia is the second largest island in Italy and is located off Italy’s western coast. About 1.5 million inhabitants speak Sardo. Of all the Romance languages, it is the closest to the Vulgar Latin that was spoken by the common people of the Roman Empire. Sardinian is considered an endangered language by UNESCO. Linguists fear that it will eventually become a dead language. Some linguists say Sardinian sounds closer to Spanish than Italian, no doubt due to the rich and complex history of the island of Sardinia along with its geographical isolation from the mainland. But indeed it also has influences from Catalan, Italian, and Greek from the Byzantine era.
Friulano
Friuli is a region in the far northeastern part of Italy, the region my husband was born and raised. There, over 600,000 people speak Friulano. Friulano is more distinct than many of the languages listed above. This is in large part because Friuli itself has enjoyed a long history of isolation from other communities. Today, as part of Italy, Friuli is an Autonomous region (like Valle d’Aosta, Sicily, Sardinia, Trentino Alto Adige) and celebrates its status and identity. Though categorized as “definitely endangered” by UNESCO, Friulian is taught as a second language in schools and has special protections as an official language in Italy. Friulian’s heaviest linguistic influences come from French, and Venetian. Significant works of literature have been written in the language, which has been standardized.
If you want to address someone in Friulian, you can say: Mandi! Mi clami _____ (Hello! My name is _____).
Here below my husband born and raised in Friuli speaking Friulano with our friend Matteo.
Some Italian words you already know
Many Italian words have been adopted into the English language, enriching its vocabulary. One such word that shot to the top of the usage charts in 2020 is “quarantine,” which comes from Italian by way of the Venetian language. When Venice was a powerful 15th-century republic and a key trading port, ships coming into the Venetian lagoon were required to isolate for 40 days on outer islands before they were permitted to come to the main islands in order to keep the plague out of the busy city. The word for 40 in Italian is “quaranta,” so “quarantena” came to mean being in an isolation of 40 days.
Conclusion
From Neapolitan to Piedmontese, Italy has a rich web of languages that teach us plenty about the history of migration in the region. If you’re planning a trip to Italy, see if you can recognize one or several of the languages listed above! While regional languages are prevalent, Italian is the primary language of choice in Italy and will no doubt be useful to learn.
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