Italo-Dalmatian languages
Romance subfamily of centro-southern Italy and Corsica From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Romance subfamily of centro-southern Italy and Corsica From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Italo-Dalmatian languages, or Central Romance languages, are a group of Romance languages spoken in Italy, Corsica (France), and formerly in Dalmatia (Croatia).
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Italo-Dalmatian | |
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Central Romance | |
Geographic distribution | Italy France Croatia |
Linguistic classification | Indo-European
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Subdivisions |
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Glottolog | ital1286 |
Italo-Dalmatian can be split into:[1]
The generally accepted four branches of the Romance languages are Western Romance, Italo-Dalmatian, Sardinian and Eastern Romance. But there are other ways that the languages of Italo-Dalmatian can be classified in these branches:
Based on the criterion of mutual intelligibility, Dalby lists four languages: Italian (Tuscan), Corsican, Neapolitan–Sicilian–Central Italian, and Dalmatian.[2]
The Venetian language is sometimes added to Italo-Dalmatian when excluded from Gallo-Italic,[clarification needed] and then usually grouped with Istriot. However, Venetian is not grouped into the Italo-Dalmatian languages by Ethnologue[3] and Glottolog,[4] unlike Istriot.[5][6]
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.[7]
Central Italian, or Latin–Umbrian–Marchegian and in Italian linguistics as "middle Italian dialects", is mainly spoken in the regions of: Lazio (which includes Rome); Umbria; central Marche; a small part of Abruzzo and Tuscany.
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.
The Extreme Southern Italian, known in Italian linguistics as the "extreme southern dialect group", is spoken on the island of Sicily; and in the south of both Calabria and Apulia.