{"id":12799,"date":"2016-10-31T15:42:11","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T14:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=12799"},"modified":"2016-10-31T15:42:11","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T14:42:11","slug":"a-brief-history-of-spoken-italian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/a-brief-history-of-spoken-italian\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brief History Of Spoken Italian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although Italian has existed for centuries as a standard written language, it wasn\u2019t until the advent of television and the spread of mass education in the 1950\u2019s that it became widely spoken.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latino Volgare<\/span><\/p>\n

Spoken Italian is a lingua neolatina<\/b> (new Latin language) which has evolved from Latino volgare<\/b>, the everyday spoken Latin of the common people back in the Roman era. Did you know that when Italy was unified in 1861 only around 2.5% of the population actually spoke Italian? In fact, even the new King, Vittorio Emanuele II, and Count Camillo di Cavour, Italy\u2019s first prime minister, weren\u2019t completely at ease in Italian, preferring French or Piemontese<\/b>!<\/p>\n

The Diffusion Of Spoken Italian<\/span><\/p>\n

However, with political unification and the mobilization of troops during the First World War, Italian as a common spoken language became more diffuse, and by the early 1950\u2019s it\u2019s estimated that roughly 34% of the population spoke Italian rather than a regional dialect.<\/p>\n

From the 50\u2019s onwards, television played a major role in spreading the use of spoken Italian, another important factor being the mass migration of workers from Italy\u2019s impoverished south to her industrial heartland in the north.<\/p>\n

These days, of course, standard Italian predominates in most situation, yet i<\/b> dialett<\/b>i<\/b> (dialects) <\/b>are far from dead. Il dialetto <\/b>generally tends to be spoken amongst family and friends, and is far more common in the provinces than in large towns and cities.<\/p>\n

\"marraccio\"<\/a>

A variety of marracci<\/strong> for sale at a local market. Photo CC by Marco Bernardini.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Il Dialetto Da Noi<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few words in dialetto that I\u2019ve learnt here in Lunigiana:<\/p>\n

il <\/b>gradile<\/b>, in Italian il <\/b>seccatoio<\/b> (chestnut drying barn)
\nla <\/b>piagna<\/b>, in Italian la <\/b>lastra<\/b> (stone paving or roofing slab)
\nla mastra<\/b>, in Italian la madia<\/b> (wooden chest of draws used for storing flour and sour dough, which opens at the top to reveal a surface for kneading the pasta)
\nil<\/strong> marraccio<\/b>, in Italian la<\/strong> roncola<\/b>, although I previously only knew it by the name pennato<\/b> which is used in the Lucca area (a type of machete used by gardeners and lumber men)<\/p>\n

Cultural Differences<\/span><\/p>\n

One important difference that I\u2019ve observed between Italy and Great Britain (my country of origin) is that in Italy it is region rather than class which determines how you speak. There is no actual equivalent to the Queen\u2019s English.<\/p>\n

In fact, many regional dialect are extremely different from one another, and some, such as il<\/b> Sard<\/b>o<\/b> (Sardinian) and il <\/b>Friulian<\/b>o<\/b> (Friulian), are actually classed as separate languages. Within the confines of the Italian peninsula, there are also several minoranze linguistiche<\/b> (linguistic minorities) who speak completely different languages. These include German, in the region of Alto Adige<\/b>, and French in Val d\u2019Aosta<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Yet although there is no such thing as a truly neutral spoken Italian, Italians themselves tend to agree that the central Italian accent is the closest thing they have to a \u2018standard\u2019 model. And it is this accent that mainly tends to be taught to foreign learners.<\/p>\n

Il Dialetto all’Estero<\/span><\/p>\n

Many emigrants who left Italy in the post war period to seek a better life all’estero<\/b> (abroad) spoke a local dialetto<\/b> as their first language, having never formally learnt Italian. In fact, I\u2019ve come across a number of Italian immigrants in the UK who are not comfortable conversing either in English, which they\u2019ve never learnt properly, or \u2018standard\u2019 Italian. Often, these individuals only really feel at home when speaking with friends and relatives from their own region or village, sharing, as they do, a common dialect.<\/p>\n

Indeed, when Serena taught Italian at Universities and colleges in Great Britain she often found herself teaching second generation Italian immigrants who spoke little to no Italian, having grown up hearing a local dialetto<\/b> spoken at home that was quite redundant to them when visiting Italy.<\/p>\n

E Tu?<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps you yourself come from a family that emigrated from Italy. Did you hear Italian spoken at home, or a dialect? Did you learn Italian as a child?<\/p>\n

Please share your experiences in the comments section.<\/p>\n

A presto.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Although Italian has existed for centuries as a standard written language, it wasn\u2019t until the advent of television and the spread of mass education in the 1950\u2019s that it became widely spoken. Latino Volgare Spoken Italian is a lingua neolatina (new Latin language) which has evolved from Latino volgare, the everyday spoken Latin of the…<\/p>\n

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