Italian Language - Facts, History and Usage
Whether you are just learning how to speak Italian or you have been taking Italian lessons for years, the Italian language is fascinating to study, with a rich cultural heritage and modern usage around the world.
The Italian language is a Romance language and is the closest modern language to Latin. It is spoken today by 70 to 80 million people as their first or maternal language and is used by up to 150 million people as a second or cultural language. It is the official language of both Italy and San Marino and is an official language as well in Switzerland and Vatican City. It is spoken regionally in areas of Slovenia, Croatia, France, Albania, Malta, Montenegro and the former colonies of Libya and Eritrea, as well as in pockets of other countries with a history of Italian immigration. Italian words are used in other languages around the world as well in reference to such Italian cultural themes as food and music.
The history of Italian is long and complicated. Italy developed many regional languages/dialects over its evolution, mainly focused on local cities. Even today, the regional dialects across the country are substantially different. So-called “standard Italian” was developed in the 13th and 14th centuries when the Tuscan/Florentine dialect was popularized by the literary works of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrach. Today the Italian language (”Standard Italian”) and the Tuscan dialect are virtually one and the same, with other regions retaining their own substantially different dialects but recognizing the standard as the national language.
The Italian language uses Latin letters as the Italian alphabet. The letters J, K, W, X, and Y do appear in Italian, but are not thought of as being part of the Italian alphabet, appearing primarily in words that are “borrowed” from other languages. Italian accents include both the grave (è) and the acute (é) and are used both to indicate the proper pronunciation of a vowel and to indicate the proper syllable to stress.
Like other Romance languages, Italian includes both formal and informal forms of addressing others. The formal, or “lei” form, is used to address those whom you do not know well, while the informal, or “tu” form, is used to address friends and family members. Younger people will often use the “tu” form as well with others of their own age, regardless of how well they know them.
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