Currently, Italo-Western languages has become a topic of great relevance and interest for a wide spectrum of society. People increasingly seek to understand and explore the different facets and applications of Italo-Western languages, whether in the professional, academic or personal sphere. This topic has been positioned as a central point of discussion and debate in various areas, generating deep reflections and analyzes on its impact and relevance in modern life. Italo-Western languages has sparked a large number of research, projects and cultural productions that seek to understand and apply its concepts in an innovative and creative way. In this article, we will explore the multiple dimensions and perspectives that Italo-Western languages offers, as well as its importance in the current context.
Italo-Western | |
---|---|
Geographic distribution | Italian Peninsula, Switzerland, France, Istria, Channel Islands, Iberia |
Linguistic classification | Indo-European |
Early forms | |
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | ital1285 |
Italo-Western is, in some classifications, the largest branch of the Romance languages. It comprises two of the branches of Romance languages: Italo-Dalmatian and Western Romance. It excludes the Sardinian language and Eastern Romance.
Based on the criterion of mutual intelligibility, Dalby lists four languages: Italian (Tuscan), Corsican, Neapolitan–Sicilian-Central Italian, and Dalmatian.
The Venetian language is sometimes added to Italo-Dalmatian when excluded from Gallo-Italic, and then usually grouped with Istriot. However, Venetian is not grouped into the Italo-Dalmatian languages by Ethnologue and Glottolog, unlike Istriot.
Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City and western Istria (in Slovenia and Croatia). It used to have official status in Albania, Malta and Monaco, where it is still widely spoken, as well as in former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa regions where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. The Italian language was initially and primarily based on Florentine: it has been then deeply influenced by almost all regional languages of Italy while its received pronunciation (known as Pronuncia Fiorentina Emendata, Amended Florentine Pronunciation) is based on the accent of the Roman dialect; these are the reasons why Italian differs significantly from Tuscan and its Florentine variety.
Central Italian, or in Italian linguistics "Median Italian", is spoken in the regions of Lazio, Umbria, Central Marche, and in small parts of Abruzzo and Tuscany. It is mainly split across the Roma-Ancona line, which divides the Central dialects into a Northwestern Perimedian group and a Southeastern Median one. Romanesco, the historical dialect of Rome, has lost most of its Central peculiarities and is not a regular part of Central, as it historically is the product of the implantation of Florentine on Old Romanesco, the ancient Median dialect which was spoken in Rome prior to the 1500s.
The Neapolitan language, or known in Italian linguistics as the "intermediate southern dialect group", is spoken in: southern Marche; southernmost Lazio; Abruzzo; Molise; Campania (including Naples); Basilicata; and the north of both Apulia and Calabria.
In addition, some Gallo-Italic languages are spoken in Central-Southern Italy.
The Judeo-Italian languages are varieties of Italian used by Jewish communities, between the 10th and the 20th centuries, in Italy and Greece (Corfu and Zakinthos).
Based on mutual intelligibility, Dalby lists a dozen languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Asturian-Leonese, Aragonese, Catalan, Gascon, Provençal, Gallo-Wallon, Piedmontese, Ligurian, Lombard, French, Arpitan (or Franco-Provençal), Romansh, and Ladin.
Gallo-Romance includes:
Gallo-Romance can include:
The Oïl languages, Arpitan, Occitano-Romance and Rhaeto-Romance languages are sometimes called Gallo-Rhaetian.