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Language Family: Indo-European, and it the closest "romance" language to Latin.

Where it is spoken: Italy (official language), Malta, Corsica, Albania, Luxemburg, Germany, Belgium, America, Canada, and some parts of South America

Number of Italian Speakers: 64,000,000 globally

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October marks National Italian Heritage Month, and the third week of the month is designated as Italian Language Week: la settimana della lingua italiana. Now in its fifteenth year, each iteration of Italian Language Week takes on a theme related to the language and culture of Italy. This year's celebration revolves around music, recognizing the melodic qualities of the language and Italy's role as a historical producer of rich musical culture.

In honor of Italian Language Week, here are 8 facts you may not know about the Italian language.
1. The Italian language has been around since - at least - the 900s.
Like other Romance languages, Italian is derived from Latin. The first known written text resembling what we now recognize as the Italian language was a legal document regarding a dispute over land ownership between southern Italian monasteries. Known as the Placiti Cassinesi, the documents date back to the years 963-960.
2. ...But the language didn't become standardized until the time of Dante Alighieri.
Perhaps the most famous Italian writer of all time, Dante Alighieri penned The Divine Comedy ( La Divina Commedia), which was completed in 1320, a year before his death. In the late Middle Ages, the vast majority of poetry and literary works were written in Latin, but Dante was a proponent of vernacular literature that used the common language of the people. He wrote The Divine Comedy in the Tuscan dialect, a highly unorthodox choice that would set the standard for Italian literature and position Tuscan Italian as the language of high culture and the basis for the 'standard' Italian spoken today. For his role in establishing modern Italian, Dante is often referred to as the "father of the Italian language."
3. ...And Italy didn't actually have a national language until the 20th century.
Dante and other prominent Italian writers and linguists like Petrarch paved the path for the Tuscan dialect to become the national language of Italy. However, when Italy became one unified nation in 1861 and officially adopted Tuscan Italian as its national tongue, fewer than 2.5% of Italians could actually speak the standardized language.
6. The dialects of Italy are each their own independent languages.
Before Italian unification in 1861, what we now know as Italy was made up of several independent states, each with their own regional language. Though some of these dialects - including those spoken in and around the cities of Naples and Venice and on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia - share their Latin roots with Tuscan Italian, they are recognized as unique Romance languages that developed entirely independently of Italian. In fact, they differ quite markably from standard Italian in sound, syntax, and vocabulary. Regional dialects coexist with standard Italian in most cities in Italy, with an estimated 60 percent of the population claiming proficiency in their local language. Over 30 of these dialects are classified as endangered languages by UNESCO.
5. The Italian alphabet is only 21 letters.
Italian uses the same Roman characters as the English language... minus 5 of them. The letters j, k, w, x, and y simply do not exist in Italian, so if you happen to see them used in an Italian text, that means the word is borrowed from another language!
6. Italian is the language of classical music.
Anyone who has studied or played music will be familiar with terms like crescendo, forte, soprano, alto, and a tempo. What they might not know is that those are all Italian words! This is because Italian is used universally as the language of classical music. Musical notation became commonplace during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and as many of the most important composers of that time were Italian, the Italian language became the standard for musicians around the globe.
7. Italian is spoken by over 85 million people worldwide.
Italian is the first language of some 65 million people, and the second language of a further 15 million people. In addition to being the national language of Italy, Italian is one of the national languages of Switzerland, with which it shares its northern border, as well as San Marino and Vatican City. It is also the second most spoken language in Argentina, where it is estimated that over half the population is of Italian descent, making Italians the largest ethnic group in the country.
8. Italian is the 5th most studied language in the United States.
Italian has been a widely spoken language in the U.S. for over one hundred years due to the large-scale migrations of the late 19th century. It is currently spoken by over 700,000 Americans, the majority of whom reside in New York and New Jersey, and is the 5th most studied language in U.S. schools (preceded by Spanish, French, American Sign Language, and German).

Here is the official video promoting Italian Language Week 2015: La musica parla italiana - Music speaks Italian:

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8 Facts About the Italian Language - CORE Languages

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October marks National Italian Heritage Month, and the third week of the month is designated as Italian Language Week: la settimana della lingua italiana. Now in its fifteenth year, each iteration of Italian Language Week takes on a theme related to the language and culture of Italy.

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"J, K, W, X, Y" are not letters that are used in the Italian language

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In addition to Italian being the official language of Italy and then further being divided into regional dialects, German is also the official language in some northern regions.

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50 facts and more about Italy - Italian Travel Bureau

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Not all people in Italy speak proper Italian, but one of its many Italian dialects. Some of the older people can neither speak Italian, but only the local dialect or will speak only German when living in the Northern Region of Alto Adige, or French dialect in the Valle d'Aosta

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Borrowed Words from Italian that we use in English

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Borrowed Words from Italian that we use in English

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There are many words in the English and Italian language that are similar, or have some similarities because both stem from Latin. Some examples of words we use that originated in Italy are

Panini
Bimbo
Espresso
Camera

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Italy has been made up of regional languages, or dialects, since the 1800's. Each of these dialects vary in words, syntax, and sound. Dialects coexist with "standard" Italian in regions, 60% of people claim to speak their regions dialect fluently.

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October marks National Italian Heritage Month, and the third week of the month is designated as Italian Language Week: la settimana della lingua italiana. Now in its fifteenth year, each iteration of Italian Language Week takes on a theme related to the language and culture of Italy. This year's celebration revolves around music, recognizing the melodic qualities of the language and Italy's role as a historical producer of rich musical culture.

In honor of Italian Language Week, here are 8 facts you may not know about the Italian language.
1. The Italian language has been around since - at least - the 900s.
Like other Romance languages, Italian is derived from Latin. The first known written text resembling what we now recognize as the Italian language was a legal document regarding a dispute over land ownership between southern Italian monasteries. Known as the Placiti Cassinesi, the documents date back to the years 963-960.
2. ...But the language didn't become standardized until the time of Dante Alighieri.
Perhaps the most famous Italian writer of all time, Dante Alighieri penned The Divine Comedy ( La Divina Commedia), which was completed in 1320, a year before his death. In the late Middle Ages, the vast majority of poetry and literary works were written in Latin, but Dante was a proponent of vernacular literature that used the common language of the people. He wrote The Divine Comedy in the Tuscan dialect, a highly unorthodox choice that would set the standard for Italian literature and position Tuscan Italian as the language of high culture and the basis for the 'standard' Italian spoken today. For his role in establishing modern Italian, Dante is often referred to as the "father of the Italian language."
3. ...And Italy didn't actually have a national language until the 20th century.
Dante and other prominent Italian writers and linguists like Petrarch paved the path for the Tuscan dialect to become the national language of Italy. However, when Italy became one unified nation in 1861 and officially adopted Tuscan Italian as its national tongue, fewer than 2.5% of Italians could actually speak the standardized language.
6. The dialects of Italy are each their own independent languages.
Before Italian unification in 1861, what we now know as Italy was made up of several independent states, each with their own regional language. Though some of these dialects - including those spoken in and around the cities of Naples and Venice and on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia - share their Latin roots with Tuscan Italian, they are recognized as unique Romance languages that developed entirely independently of Italian. In fact, they differ quite markably from standard Italian in sound, syntax, and vocabulary. Regional dialects coexist with standard Italian in most cities in Italy, with an estimated 60 percent of the population claiming proficiency in their local language. Over 30 of these dialects are classified as endangered languages by UNESCO.
5. The Italian alphabet is only 21 letters.
Italian uses the same Roman characters as the English language... minus 5 of them. The letters j, k, w, x, and y simply do not exist in Italian, so if you happen to see them used in an Italian text, that means the word is borrowed from another language!
6. Italian is the language of classical music.
Anyone who has studied or played music will be familiar with terms like crescendo, forte, soprano, alto, and a tempo. What they might not know is that those are all Italian words! This is because Italian is used universally as the language of classical music. Musical notation became commonplace during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and as many of the most important composers of that time were Italian, the Italian language became the standard for musicians around the globe.
7. Italian is spoken by over 85 million people worldwide.
Italian is the first language of some 65 million people, and the second language of a further 15 million people. In addition to being the national language of Italy, Italian is one of the national languages of Switzerland, with which it shares its northern border, as well as San Marino and Vatican City. It is also the second most spoken language in Argentina, where it is estimated that over half the population is of Italian descent, making Italians the largest ethnic group in the country.
8. Italian is the 5th most studied language in the United States.
Italian has been a widely spoken language in the U.S. for over one hundred years due to the large-scale migrations of the late 19th century. It is currently spoken by over 700,000 Americans, the majority of whom reside in New York and New Jersey, and is the 5th most studied language in U.S. schools (preceded by Spanish, French, American Sign Language, and German).

Here is the official video promoting Italian Language Week 2015: La musica parla italiana - Music speaks Italian:

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8 Facts About the Italian Language - CORE Languages

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October marks National Italian Heritage Month, and the third week of the month is designated as Italian Language Week: la settimana della lingua italiana. Now in its fifteenth year, each iteration of Italian Language Week takes on a theme related to the language and culture of Italy.

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Subject-verb-object (SVO)
When speaking Italian, the subject, verb, then object in respectively in sentences, which is the same as English.

I (subject) watch (verb) TV (object)

Io (subject) guardo (verb) la televisione (object)

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Impara l'Italiano con Italiano Automatico

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Learn Italian: 50 Italian Phrases For Beginners | 50 Frasi Italiane Per Principianti

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User Menu

9 Favourites

3 Comments

365 Views

If I have left anything out or I've made a mistake, please let me know.

Update: Added Malta and Argentina to the map.

I think you've left out the Italian minority in Malta, 2% of the population is Italian but the language is spoken by 86% of the population.

Hmm, good point. I will amend this as soon as I can.

Oh and Argentina, Italian is the 3rd most spoken language there

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Italian as an Official Language by SiliconFerret on DeviantArt

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User Menu 9 Favourites 3 Comments 367 Views If I have left anything out or I've made a mistake, please let me know. Update: Added Malta and Argentina to the map. I think you've left out the Italian minority in Malta, 2% of the population is Italian but the language is spoken by 86% of the population.

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90% of Italians are Roman Catholic. In fact, the Vatican, the country where the Pope lives, is in Italy.

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50 facts and more about Italy - Italian Travel Bureau

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Not all people in Italy speak proper Italian, but one of its many Italian dialects. Some of the older people can neither speak Italian, but only the local dialect or will speak only German when living in the Northern Region of Alto Adige, or French dialect in the Valle d'Aosta