Editing Italian language (section)

== History ==
{{Redirect|History of Italian|the history of the Italian people|Italians|the history of the Italian culture|culture of Italy}}

=== Origins<span class="anchor" id=""Old Italian""></span> ===<!-- "Old Italian" redirects here -->
[[File: Indovinello veronese.jpg|thumb|The [[Veronese Riddle]] ({{circa}} 8th or early 9th century), a riddle reflecting either a form of Medieval Latin or the earliest extant example of Romance vernacular in Italy]]
The Italian language has developed through a long and slow process, which began after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire's fall]] and the onset of the [[Middle Ages]] in the 5th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italian-language.biz/italian/history.asp|title=History of the Italian language|publisher=Italian-language.biz|access-date=24 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903094736/http://www.italian-language.biz/italian/history.asp|archive-date=3 September 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Latin, the predominant language of the western Roman Empire, remained the established written language in Europe during the Middle Ages, although most people were illiterate. Over centuries, the [[Vulgar Latin]] popularly spoken in various areas of Europe—including the [[Italian peninsula|Italian Peninsula]]—evolved into local varieties, or dialects, unaffected by formal standards and teachings. These varieties are not in any sense "dialects" of standard Italian, which itself started off as one of these local tongues, but [[sister language]]s of Italian.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Italian language today|last1=Lepschy|first1= Anna Laura|last2=Lepschy|first2=Giulio C.|date=1988|publisher=New Amsterdam|isbn=978-0-941533-22-5|edition=2nd|location=New York|pages=13, 22, 19–20, 21, 35, 37|oclc=17650220}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1= Andreose | first1 = Alvise |last2=Renzi |first2=Lorenzo | contribution = Geography and distribution of the Romance Languages in Europe| editor-last = Maiden | editor-first = Martin |editor2-last= Smith | editor2-first = John Charles |editor3-last= Ledgeway | editor3-first = Adam |title=The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages | volume = 2, Contexts| pages =302–308 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |place = Cambridge | year = 2013 }}</ref>

The linguistic and historical demarcations between late Vulgar Latin and early Romance varieties in Italy are imprecise. The earliest surviving texts that can definitely be called vernacular (as distinct from its predecessor Vulgar Latin) are legal formulae known as the [[Placiti Cassinesi]] from the [[Duchy of Benevento|province of Benevento]] that date from 960 to 963, although the [[Veronese Riddle]], probably from the 8th or early 9th century, contains a late form of Vulgar Latin that can be seen as a very early sample of a vernacular dialect of Italy.<ref>D'Antoni, Francesca Guerra. "A New Perspective on the Veronese Riddle". Romance Philology 36, no. 2 (1982): 185–200, at 186. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44943244.</ref> The [[Commodilla catacomb inscription]] likewise probably dates to the early 9th century and appears to reflect a language somewhere between late Vulgar Latin and early vernacular.

[[File:Dante03.jpg|thumb|[[Dante Alighieri]], whose works helped establish modern Italian language, is considered one of the greatest poets of the [[Middle Ages]]. His epic poem ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' ranks among the finest works of [[world literature]].<ref>{{Cite book| last=Bloom | first=Harold | author-link=Harold Bloom | title=The Western Canon | url=https://archive.org/details/westerncanonbook00bloorich | url-access=registration | year=1994| publisher=Harcourt Brace | isbn=9780151957477 }} See also [[Western canon]] for other "canons" that include the ''Divine Comedy''.</ref>]]
The language that came to be thought of as Italian developed in central Tuscany and was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer [[Dante Alighieri]], written in his native [[Florentine dialect|Florentine]]. Dante's [[Epic poetry|epic poems]], known collectively as the ''[[Divine Comedy|Commedia]]'', to which another Tuscan poet [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] later affixed the title ''Divina'', were read throughout the Italian peninsula. His written vernacular became the touchstone for elaborating a "canonical standard" that all educated Italians could understand. The poetry of [[Petrarch]] was also widely admired and influential in the development of the literary language, and would be identified as a model for vernacular writing by Pietro Bembo in the 16th century.

In addition to the widespread exposure gained through literature, Florentine also gained prestige due to the political and cultural significance of Florence at the time and the fact that it was linguistically a middle way between the northern and the southern Italian dialects.

Italian was progressively made an official language of most of the Italian states predating unification, slowly replacing Latin, even when ruled by foreign powers (such as Spain in the [[Kingdom of Naples]], or Austria in the [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]]), although the masses kept speaking primarily their local vernaculars. Italian was also one of the many recognised languages in the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]].

Italy has always had a distinctive dialect for each city because the cities, until recently, were thought of as [[city-state]]s. Those dialects now have considerable [[Variety (linguistics)|variety]]. As Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of [[Regional Italian]]. The most characteristic differences, for instance, between [[Rome|Roman]] Italian and [[Milan]]ese Italian are [[syntactic gemination]] of initial [[consonant]]s in some contexts and the pronunciation of stressed "e", and of "s" between vowels in many words: e.g. ''va bene'' 'all right' is pronounced {{IPA|[vabˈbɛːne]}} by a Roman (and by any standard Italian speaker), {{IPA|[vaˈbeːne]}} by a Milanese (and by any speaker whose native dialect lies to the north of the [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]]); ''a casa'' 'at home' is {{IPA|[akˈkaːsa]}} for Roman, {{IPA|[akˈkaːsa]}} or {{IPA|[akˈkaːza]}} for standard, {{IPA|[aˈkaːza]}} for Milanese and generally northern.{{sfn|Berloco|2018}}

In contrast to the [[Gallo-Italic languages|Gallo-Italic linguistic panorama]] of northern Italy, the [[Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Dalmatian]], [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]] and its related dialects were largely unaffected by the Franco-[[Occitan language|Occitan]] influences introduced to Italy mainly by [[bard]]s from France during the Middle Ages, but after the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy]], Sicily became the first Italian land to adopt Occitan lyric moods (and words) in poetry. Even in the case of northern Italian languages, however, scholars are careful not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages.

The economic might and relatively advanced development of Tuscany at the time ([[Late Middle Ages]]) gave its language weight, although [[Venetian language|Venetian]] remained widespread in medieval Italian commercial life, and [[Ligurian language (Romance)|Ligurian (or Genoese)]] remained in use in maritime trade alongside the Mediterranean. The increasing political and cultural relevance of Florence during the periods of the rise of the [[Medici bank|Medici Bank]], [[Renaissance humanism|humanism]], and the [[Renaissance]] made its dialect, or rather a refined version of it, a standard in the arts.

=== Renaissance ===
The [[Renaissance]] era, known as {{lang|it|il Rinascimento}} in Italian, was seen as a time of rebirth, which is the literal meaning of both {{lang|fr|renaissance}} (from French) and {{lang|it|rinascimento}} (Italian). Among its many manifestations, the Renaissance saw a reinvigorated interest in both classical antiquity and vernacular literature.<ref>{{Citation |last1= Barzun | first1 = Jacques |last2=Weinstein |first2=Donald | contribution = The Growth of Vernacular Literature |title=Encyclopedia Britannica | url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/The-growth-of-vernacular-literature}}</ref>

Advancements in technology played a crucial role in the diffusion of the Italian language. The [[printing press]] was invented in the 15th century, and spread rapidly. By the year 1500, there were 56 printing presses in Italy, more than anywhere else in Europe. The printing press enabled the production of literature and documents in higher volumes and at lower cost, further accelerating the spread of Italian.<ref>{{cite journal|year=2011|title=Information Technology and Economic Change: The Impact of the Printing Press|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|volume=126|issue=3|pages=1133–1172|last1=Dittmar|first1=Jeremiah|doi=10.1093/qje/qjr035|s2cid=11701054|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Italian became the language used in the courts of every state in the [[Italian Peninsula]], and the [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige variety]] used on the island of [[Corsica]]<ref>Toso, Fiorenzo. ''Lo spazio linguistico corso tra insularità e destino di frontiera'', in ''Linguistica'', 43, pp. 79–80, 2003.</ref> (but not in the neighbouring [[Sardinia]], which on the contrary underwent [[Italianization]] well into the late 18th century, under [[House of Savoy|Savoyard]] sway: the island's linguistic composition, roofed by the prestige of Spanish among the [[Sardinians]], would therein make for a rather slow process of [[cultural assimilation|assimilation]] to the Italian cultural sphere<ref>Cardia, Amos. ''S'italianu in Sardìnnia candu, cumenti e poita d'ant impostu: 1720–1848; poderi e lìngua in Sardìnnia in edadi spanniola'', pp. 80–93, Iskra, 2006.</ref><ref>«La dominazione sabauda in Sardegna può essere considerata come la fase iniziale di un lungo processo di italianizzazione dell'isola, con la capillare diffusione dell'italiano in quanto strumento per il superamento della frammentarietà tipica del contesto linguistico dell'isola e con il conseguente inserimento delle sue strutture economiche e culturali in un contesto internazionale più ampio e aperto ai contatti di più lato respiro. [...] Proprio la variegata composizione linguistica della Sardegna fu considerata negativamente per qualunque tentativo di assorbimento dell'isola nella sfera culturale italiana.» Loi Corvetto, Ines. ''I Savoia e le "vie" dell'unificazione linguistica''. Quoted in Putzu, Ignazio; Mazzon, Gabriella (2012). ''Lingue, letterature, nazioni. Centri e periferie tra Europa e Mediterraneo'', p. 488.</ref>). The rediscovery of Dante's {{lang|it|[[De vulgari eloquentia]]}}, and a renewed interest in linguistics in the 16th century, sparked a debate that raged throughout Italy concerning the criteria that should govern the establishment of a modern Italian literary and spoken language. This discussion, known as [[questione della lingua]] (i.e., the ''problem of the language''), ran through the Italian culture until the end of the 19th century, often linked to the political debate on achieving a united Italian state. Renaissance scholars divided into three main factions:
* The [[purism (language)|purists]], headed by Venetian [[Pietro Bembo]] (who, in his {{lang|it|[[Gli Asolani]]}}, claimed the language might be based only on the great literary classics, such as [[Petrarch]] and some part of Boccaccio). The purists thought the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' was not dignified enough because it used elements from non-lyric registers of the language.
* [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] and other [[Florence|Florentines]] preferred the version spoken by ordinary people in their own times.
* The [[courtier]]s, such as [[Baldassare Castiglione]] and [[Gian Giorgio Trissino]], insisted that each local vernacular contribute to the new standard.

A fourth faction claimed that the best Italian was the one that the papal court adopted, which was a mixture of the [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] and [[Roman dialect|Roman]] dialects.<ref>This faction was headed by Vincenzo Calmeta, [[Alessandro Tassoni]], according to whom "the idiom of the Roman court was as good as the Florentine one, and better understood by all" (G. Rossi, ed. (1930). ''La secchia rapita, L'oceano e le rime''. Bari. p. 235) and [[Francesco Sforza Pallavicino]]. See: {{cite journal|title=Language and Idiom in Sforza Pallavicino's ''Trattato dello stile e del dialogo''|first=Eraldo|last=Bellini|pages=126–172|url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004517240/BP000020.xml|journal=Sforza Pallavicino: A Jesuit Life in Baroque Rome|isbn=978-90-04-51724-0|year=2022|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|doi=10.1163/9789004517240_008|doi-access=free|access-date=1 October 2022|archive-date=1 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001123640/https://brill.com/view/book/9789004517240/BP000020.xml|url-status=live}}</ref> Eventually, Bembo's ideas prevailed, and the foundation of the {{lang|it|[[Accademia della Crusca]]|italic=no}} in Florence (1582–1583), the official legislative body of the Italian language, led to the publication of [[Agnolo Monosini]]'s Latin tome {{lang|la|[[Floris Italicae lingue libri novem|Floris italicae linguae libri novem]]}} in 1604 followed by the first Italian dictionary in 1612.

=== Modern era ===
An important event that helped the diffusion of Italian was the conquest and occupation of Italy by [[Napoleon]] (himself of Italian-Corsican descent) in the early 19th century. This conquest propelled the unification of Italy some decades after and pushed the Italian language into the status of a [[lingua franca]], used not only among clerks, nobility, and functionaries in the Italian courts, but also by the [[bourgeoisie]].

=== Contemporary times ===
[[File:Francesco Hayez 040.jpg|thumb|[[Alessandro Manzoni]] is famous for the novel ''[[The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)|The Betrothed]]'' (1827), ranked among the masterpieces of world literature.<ref name="britannica">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alessandro-Manzoni|title=Alessandro Manzoni &#124; Italian author|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=18 May 2023}}</ref> He contributed to the nationwide use of the Italian language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://manzoni.classicauthors.net/IPromessiSposiOrTheBetrothed/IPromessiSposiOrTheBetrothed1.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718073016/http://manzoni.classicauthors.net/IPromessiSposiOrTheBetrothed/IPromessiSposiOrTheBetrothed1.html|url-status=dead|title=I Promessi sposi or The Betrothed|archivedate=18 July 2011}}</ref>]]
The publication of Italian literature's first modern novel, {{lang|it|I promessi sposi}} (''[[The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)|The Betrothed]]'') by [[Alessandro Manzoni]], both reflected and furthered the growing trend towards Italian as a national standard language. Manzoni, a Milanesian, chose to write the book in the Florentine dialect, describing this choice, in the preface to his 1840 edition, as "rinsing" his Milanese "in the waters of the [[Arno River|Arno]]" ([[Florence]]'s river). The novel is commonly described as "the most widely read work in the Italian language".<ref name="Betrothed">{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704422204576130253915553800|title=The Great Italian Novel, a Love Story|first=William|last=Amelia|date=12 February 2011|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> It became a model for subsequent Italian literary fiction,<ref name="Betrothed"/> helping to galvanize national linguistic unity around the Florentine dialect.

This growth was relative; linguistic diversity continued during the [[unification of Italy]] (1848–1871). The Italian linguist [[Tullio De Mauro]] estimated that only 2.5% of Italy's population could speak the Italian standardized language properly in 1861,<ref>De Mauro, Tullio. ''Storia linguistica dell'Italia unita''. Bari: Laterza, 1963.</ref> while Arrigo Castellani estimated the same value as 10%.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Arrigo Castellani |date=1982 |newspaper=Studi linguistici italiani |number=8 |pp=3–26 |title=Quanti erano gli italofoni nel 1861?}}<!-- auto-translated from Italian by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>Colombo, Michele, and John J. Kinder. "Italian as a Language of Communication in Nineteenth Century Italy and Abroad". Italica 89, no. 1 (2012): 109–21. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41440499. ("De Mauro started from the principle that only the inhabitants of Tuscany and Rome could easily speak the common (literary) language without a great amount of schooling, because their dialects were close to Italian. For all other Italians, it is reasonable to assume that only those who had attended at least some years of the secondary school were able to speak Italian.
Given these assumptions, De Mauro (34-43) estimated that, in 1861, only 630,000 citizens, in a population of more than 25 million inhabitants, were speakers of the national language: that is, in the united Italy of the nineteenth century only 2.5% of the population was able to speak Italian. Some years later, Arrigo Castellani adjusted the percentage, arguing on the basis of new criteria that almost one-tenth of Italians spoke Italian as their everyday language in 1861.")</ref>

After Unification, a huge number of civil servants and soldiers recruited from all over the country introduced many more words and idioms from their home languages. For example, {{lang|it|[[ciao]]}} is derived from the [[Venetian language|Venetian]] word {{lang|vec|s-cia[v]o}} ('slave', that is 'your servant'), and {{lang|it|[[panettone]]}} comes from the [[Lombard language|Lombard]] word {{lang|lmo|panetton}}.