View source for Italian language

{{Short description|Romance language}}
{{About|the Italian language|the regional varieties of standard Italian|Regional Italian}}
{{Redirect|Italiano}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Italian
| nativename       = {{lang|it|italiano}}, {{lang|it|lingua italiana}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|it|itaˈljaːno||It-italiano.ogg|}}
| ethnicity        = [[Italians]]
| states           = [[Italy]], [[San Marino]], [[Vatican City]], [[Switzerland]], [[Slovenia]] ([[Slovene Istria]]), [[Croatia]] ([[Istria County|Istria]])
| region           = 
| speakers         = [[L1 speakers|L1]]: {{sigfig|64.821530|2}} million
| date             = 2022
| ref              = e25
| speakers2        = [[Second language|L2]]: {{sigfig|3.080100|2}}-21 million<ref name=e25/><ref name="Italian language">{{cite web |url=http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/modern-languages/lal/languages%20at%20lal/italian |title=Italian — University of Leicester |publisher=.le.ac.uk |access-date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=2 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502004444/http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/modern-languages/lal/languages%20at%20lal/italian |url-status=dead }}</ref><br>Total: {{sigfig|85.000000|2}} million<ref name=e25/>
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3             = [[Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4             = [[Latin]]
| fam5             = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6             = [[Italo-Western]]
| fam7             = [[Italo-Dalmatian]]
| fam8             = [[Italo-Romance]]
| ancestor         = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor2        = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| ancestor3        = [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]]
| ancestor4        = [[Florentine dialect|Florentine]]
| dia1             = [[Maltese Italian]]
| dia2             = [[Swiss Italian]]
| dia3             = Various forms of [[regional Italian]]
| script           = [[Latin script]] ([[Italian alphabet]])<br />[[Italian Braille]]
| nation           = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;
| title=4 countries
|[[Italy]]
|[[San Marino]]
|[[Switzerland]]
|[[Vatican City]]
}}<br />
{{Collapsible list
| titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;
| title=2 regions
|[[Slovene Istria]] <small>([[Slovenia]])</small>
|[[Istria County]] <small>([[Croatia]])</small>
}}<br />
{{Collapsible list
| titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;
| title=Various organisations and orders
| [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2016/06/21/pope-to-receive-knights-of-malta-grand-master-thursday_a9e72a37-ec6c-421d-a632-92f2dfe81dd7.html|title=Pope Francis to receive Knights of Malta grand master Thursday – English|date=21 June 2016|website=ANSA.it|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813173147/https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2016/06/21/pope-to-receive-knights-of-malta-grand-master-thursday_a9e72a37-ec6c-421d-a632-92f2dfe81dd7.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|[[European Union]]
|[[FAO]]
|[[Holy See]]
|[[OSCE]]
| [[IDLO]]
| [[International Institute of Humanitarian Law|IIHL]]
|[[Mediterranean Universities Union]]
|[[UNICRI]]
|[[UNIDROIT]]
|''and others''
}}
| minority         = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;
| title=5 countries
|[[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]{{efn|name=EUChart|Recognised as a minority language by the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]].<ref name=coe>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/AboutCharter/LanguagesCovered.pdf|title=Languages covered by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|access-date=11 June 2019|archive-date=13 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213191817/https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/AboutCharter/LanguagesCovered.pdf|url-status=live}} (PDF)</ref>}}
|[[Brazil]] <small>([[Languages of Brazil#Language co-officialization|6 municipalities]])</small>
|[[Croatia]]
|[[Romania]]{{efn|name=EUChart}}
|[[Slovenia]]}}
| agency           = {{lang|it|[[Accademia della Crusca]]|italics=no}} ({{lang|it|de facto}})
| iso1             = it
| iso2             = ita
| iso3             = ita
| lingua           = 51-AAA-q
| map              = Map Italophone World - updated.png
| mapscale         = 
| mapcaption       = Geographical distribution of the Italian language in the world:
{{legend|#1E90FF|Areas where it is the majority language}}
{{legend|#87CEEB|Areas where it is a minority language or where it was a former colonial language}}
{{legend|#00FF00|Areas where notable Italian-speaking communities are present}}
| notice           = IPA
| sign             = {{lang|it|[[Italiano segnato]]}} "(Signed Italian)"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cdila.it/cds/Index?q=object/detail&p=_system_cms_node/_a_ID/_v_33 |title=Centro documentazione per l'integrazione |publisher=Cdila.it |access-date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101035439/http://www.cdila.it/cds/Index?q=object%2Fdetail&p=_system_cms_node%2F_a_ID%2F_v_33 |url-status=live }}</ref> <br />{{lang|it|[[italiano segnato esatto]]}} "(Signed Exact Italian)"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cdila.it/cds/Index?q=object/detail&p=_system_cms_node/_a_ID/_v_37 |title=Centro documentazione per l'integrazione |publisher=Cdila.it |access-date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923201303/http://www.cdila.it/cds/Index?q=object%2Fdetail&p=_system_cms_node%2F_a_ID%2F_v_37 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| glotto           = ital1282
| glottorefname    = Italian
}}
{{Italian language|state=expanded}}

'''Italian''' ({{lang|it|italiano}}, {{IPA|it|itaˈljaːno|pron|It-italiano.ogg}}, or {{lang|it|lingua italiana}}, {{IPA|it|ˈliŋɡwa itaˈljaːna|pron}}) is a [[Romance language]] of the [[Indo-European language family]]. It evolved from the [[colloquial Latin]] of the [[Roman Empire]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lepschy |first1=A. L. |last2=Lepschy |first2=G. |chapter=Italian |title=Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics |edition=Second |date=2006 |pages=60–64 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02251-3|isbn=978-0-08-044854-1}}</ref> and is the least divergent language from [[Latin]], together with [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Romance-languages |title=Romance languages |encyclopaedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=19 February 2017 |quote=...if the Romance languages are compared with Latin, it is seen that by most measures Sardinian and Italian are least differentiated... |archive-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106095325/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Romance-languages |url-status=live }}</ref> It is spoken by 68 to 85 million people, including 64 million native speakers as of 2024.<ref name="Italian language"/><ref name=e25/> Some speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both Italian (either in its standard form or [[Regional Italian|regional varieties]]) and a [[Languages of Italy|local language of Italy]], most frequently the language spoken at home in their place of origin.<ref name=e25/>

Italian is an [[official language]] in [[Italy]], [[San Marino]], [[Switzerland]] ([[Ticino]] and the [[Italian Grisons|Grisons]]), and [[Vatican City]], and it has official [[Minority language|minority status]] in [[Croatia]], [[Slovenia]] ([[Slovene Istria|Istria]]), [[Romania]],<ref name="coe" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dri.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Multilingvism-si-limbi-minoritare-in-Romania.pdf|title=MULTILINGVISM ŞI LIMBI MINORITARE ÎN ROMÂNIA|language=ro|access-date=13 June 2019|archive-date=14 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214095127/http://www.dri.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Multilingvism-si-limbi-minoritare-in-Romania.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]],<ref name="coe" /> and in [[Languages of Brazil#Language co-officialization|6 municipalities of Brazil]].<ref name="encantado">{{Cite web |url=https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/164 |title=Lei n. 5.048/2023 - Do Município de Encantado / RS |access-date=11 August 2024 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811141927/https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/164 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/95 |title=Lei n. 2.812/2021 - Do Município de Santa Teresa / ES |access-date=11 August 2024 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811141902/https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/95 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is also spoken in other European and non-EU countries, most notably in [[Malta]] (by 66% of the population),<ref>{{cite report|author=European Commission |title=Special Eurobarometer 386: Europeans and Their Languages |date=June 2012 |series=Eurobarometer Special Surveys |url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |access-date=12 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106183351/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |archive-date= 6 January 2016 }}</ref> [[Albania]] and [[Monaco]],<ref name="Italian language"/> as well as by large [[Italian diaspora|immigrant and expatriate communities]] in the [[Americas]], [[Australia]] and on other continents.<ref name=e25/>

Italian is a major [[European language|language in Europe]], being one of the official languages of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] and one of the working languages of the [[Council of Europe]]. It is the third-most-widely spoken native [[Languages of the European Union|language in the European Union]] (13% of the EU population) and it is spoken as a second language by 13 million EU citizens (3%).<ref name="europa2024">{{Cite web|title=Europeans and their languages - Report - en|pages=10 and 19|series=[[Eurobarometer]]|website=[[europa.eu]]|url=https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2979|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528002002/https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2979|archive-date=2024-05-28}}</ref><ref name="forbes">{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davekeating/2020/02/06/despite-brexit-english-remains-the-eus-most-spoken-language-by-far/|title=Despite Brexit, English Remains The EU's Most Spoken Language By Far|last=Keating|first=Dave|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=7 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607135739/https://www.forbes.com/sites/davekeating/2020/02/06/despite-brexit-english-remains-the-eus-most-spoken-language-by-far/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="europa2012">[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf Europeans and their Languages] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106183351/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |date=6 January 2016 }}, [http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_anx_en.pdf Data for EU27] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429224902/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_anx_en.pdf |date=29 April 2013 }}, published in 2012.</ref> Italian is the main working language of the [[Holy See]], serving as the [[lingua franca]] in the [[Roman Catholic hierarchy]] and the official language of the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]].

Italian influence led to the development of [[#Influence and derived languages|derivated languages and dialects]] worldwide. It is also widespread in various sectors and markets, with [[List of English words of Italian origin|its loanwords]] used in arts, luxury goods, fashion, sports and cuisine; it has a significant use in [[musical terminology]] and [[opera]], with numerous Italian words referring to music that have become international terms taken into various languages worldwide, including [[List of Italian musical terms used in English|in English]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.happylanguages.co.uk/italian-language-music/ |title=Why Is Italian the Language of Music? |work=Happy Languages |first=Giovanni |last=Nuccio |date=19 October 2016 |access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref> Almost all native Italian words end with [[vowel]]s, and the language has a 7-vowel [[Sound system (linguistics)|sound system]] ("e" and "o" have mid-low and mid-high sounds).<ref>{{Citation |last= Paoli | first= Sandra |title= A Short Guide to Italian Phonetics and Phonology for Students of Italian Paper V | year = 2016| publisher = Oxford University | url=https://www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/romance-linguistics/assets/uploads/paoli/Booklet_P&P_right.pdf}}</ref> Italian has contrast between short and [[Consonant length|long consonants]] and [[gemination]] (doubling) of consonants.

== 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]]—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 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#Italy|city-states]]. 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]], [[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]], [[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 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]]'' (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]]'') 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]]" ([[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 |pages=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}}.

== Classification ==
Italian is a [[Romance language]], a descendant of [[Vulgar Latin]] (colloquial spoken Latin). Standard Italian is based on [[Tuscan language|Tuscan]], especially its [[Florentine dialect]], and is, therefore, an [[Italo-Dalmatian language]], a classification that includes most other central and southern Italian languages and the extinct [[Dalmatian language|Dalmatian]]. As in most Romance languages, [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] is distinctive in Italian.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pdx.edu/multicultural-topics-communication-sciences-disorders/italian|title=Portland State Multicultural Topics in Communications Sciences & Disorders {{!}} Italian|website=www.pdx.edu|access-date=5 February 2017|archive-date=6 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206105028/https://www.pdx.edu/multicultural-topics-communication-sciences-disorders/italian|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to ''[[Ethnologue]]'', [[lexical similarity]] is 89% with French, 87% with [[Catalan language|Catalan]], 85% with [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]], 82% with Spanish, 82% with [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], 78% with [[Ladin language|Ladin]], 77% with [[Romanian language|Romanian]].<ref name=e25/> Estimates may differ according to sources.<ref name="ezglot.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.ezglot.com/most-similar-languages.php?l=ita|title=Similar languages to Italian|website=ezglot.com|access-date=14 May 2021|archive-date=30 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430213746/https://www.ezglot.com/most-similar-languages.php?l=ita|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 1949 study by the linguist [[Mario Pei]] concluded that out of seven Romance languages, Italian's stressed vowel phonology was the second-closest to that of Vulgar Latin (after [[Logudorese Sardinian]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pei |first=Mario |author-link=Mario Pei |date=1949 |title=A New Methodology for Romance Classification |journal=WORD |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=135–146 |doi=10.1080/00437956.1949.11659494 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The study emphasized, however, that it represented only "a very elementary, incomplete and tentative demonstration" of how statistical methods could measure linguistic change, assigned "frankly arbitrary" point values to various types of change, and did not compare languages in the sample with respect to any characteristics or forms of divergence other than stressed vowels, among other caveats.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pei |first=Mario |author-link=Mario Pei |date=1949 |title=A New Methodology for Romance Classification |journal=WORD |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=135–146 |doi=10.1080/00437956.1949.11659494 |doi-access=free }} Demonstrates a comparative statistical method for determining the extent of change from the Latin for the free and checked stressed vowels of French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Rumanian, Old Provençal, and Logudorese Sardinian. By assigning 3½ change points per vowel (with 2 points for diphthongization, 1 point for modification in vowel quantity, ½ point for changes due to nasalization, palatalization or umlaut, and −½ point for failure to effect a normal change), there is a maximum of 77 change points for free and checked stressed vowel sounds (11×2×3½=77). According to this system (illustrated by seven charts at the end of the article), the percentage of change is greatest in French (44%) and least in Italian (12%) and Sardinian (8%). Prof. Pei suggests that this statistical method could be extended not only to all other phonological but also to all morphological and syntactical phenomena.</ref><ref>See [[Classification of Romance languages|Koutna ''et al.'' (1990: 294)]]: "In the late forties and in the fifties some new proposals for classification of the Romance languages appeared. A statistical method attempting to evaluate the evidence quantitatively was developed in order to provide not only a classification but at the same time a measure of the divergence among the languages. The earliest attempt was made in 1949 by Mario Pei (1901–1978), who measured the divergence of seven modern Romance languages from Classical Latin, taking as his criterion the evolution of stressed vowels. Pei's results do not show the degree of contemporary divergence among the languages from each other but only the divergence of each one from Classical Latin. The closest language turned out to be Sardinian with 8% of change. Then followed Italian — 12%; Spanish — 20%; Romanian — 23,5%; Provençal — 25%; Portuguese — 31%; French — 44%."</ref>

== Geographic distribution ==
{{main|Geographical distribution of Italian speakers}}
{{see also|Italian language in Argentina|Italian language in Brazil|Italian language in Canada|Italian language in Croatia|Maltese Italian|Italian language in Slovenia|Swiss Italian|Italian language in the United States|Italian language in Venezuela}}
[[File:Suisse italiene.png|thumb|[[Swiss Italian|Italian language in Switzerland]]]]

Italian is the official language of Italy and [[San Marino]] and is spoken fluently by the majority of the countries' populations. Italian is the third most spoken language in [[Switzerland]] (after German and French; see [[Swiss Italian]]). It is official both on the national level and on regional level in two [[canton of Switzerland|cantons]]: [[Ticino]] and Grisons. Ticino, which includes [[Lugano]], the largest<!--or one of the largest at the very least--> Italian-speaking city outside Italy, is the only canton where Italian is predominant.<ref>Marc-Christian Riebe, ''Retail Market Study 2015'', p. 36. "''the largest city in Ticino, and the largest Italian-speaking city outside of Italy.''"</ref> Italian is also used in administration and official documents in [[Vatican City]].<ref>The Vatican City State appendix to the [[Acta Apostolicae Sedis]] is entirely in Italian.</ref>

Italian is also spoken by a minority in [[Monaco]] and France, especially in the southeastern part of the country.<ref name=2008census>{{cite web|title=Society|url=http://www.monaco-iq.com/society|work=Monaco-IQ Business Intelligence|publisher=Lydia Porter|accessdate=28 June 2013|date=2007–2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815074527/http://www.monaco-iq.com/society|archive-date=2013-08-15|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=e25/> Italian was the official language in [[Savoy]] and in [[Nice]] until 1860, when they were both annexed by France under the [[Treaty of Turin (1860)|Treaty of Turin]], a development that triggered the "[[Niçard exodus]]", or the emigration of a quarter of the [[Niçard Italians]] to Italy,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.montecarlonews.it/2017/08/28/notizie/argomenti/altre-notizie-1/articolo/un-nizzardo-su-quattro-prese-la-via-dellesilio-in-seguito-allunita-ditalia-dice-lo-scrittore.html|title="Un nizzardo su quattro prese la via dell'esilio" in seguito all'unità d'Italia, dice lo scrittore Casalino Pierluigi|date=28 August 2017|access-date=14 May 2021|language=it|archive-date=19 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219165302/http://www.montecarlonews.it/2017/08/28/notizie/argomenti/altre-notizie-1/articolo/un-nizzardo-su-quattro-prese-la-via-dellesilio-in-seguito-allunita-ditalia-dice-lo-scrittore.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Niçard Vespers]]. [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] complained about the referendum that allowed France to annex Savoy and Nice, and a group of his followers (among the [[Italian Savoyards]]) took refuge in Italy in the following years. [[Corsica]] passed from the [[Republic of Genoa]] to France in 1769 after the [[Treaty of Versailles (1768)|Treaty of Versailles]]. Italian was the official language of [[Corsica]] until 1859.<ref>Abalain, Hervé, (2007) ''Le français et les langues historiques de la France'', Éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot, p.113</ref> Giuseppe Garibaldi called for the inclusion of the "[[Corsican Italians]]" within Italy when [[Capture of Rome|Rome was annexed]] to the [[Kingdom of Italy]], but King [[Victor Emmanuel II]] did not agree to it. Italian is generally understood in Corsica by the population resident therein who speak [[Corsican language|Corsican]], which is an Italo-Romance language similar to Tuscan.<ref name="Corsican">{{cite web |title=''Sardinian language'', Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sardinian-language |access-date=7 June 2022 |archive-date=2 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102075744/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sardinian-language |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Francization]] occurred in Nice case, and caused a near-disappearance of the Italian language as many of the Italian speakers in these areas migrated to Italy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/mediterraneo-e-lingua-italiana_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27Italiano%29/|title=Mediterraneo e lingua italiana|access-date=2 November 2021|language=it|archive-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103191454/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/mediterraneo-e-lingua-italiana_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27Italiano%29|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="rivistaetnie">{{cite web|url=https://www.rivistaetnie.com/annessione-nizza-savoia-99755/|title=Dal Piemonte alla Francia: la perdita dell'identità nizzarda e savoiarda|date=16 June 2018|access-date=14 May 2021|language=|archive-date=5 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105132407/https://www.rivistaetnie.com/annessione-nizza-savoia-99755/|url-status=live}}</ref> In Corsica, on the other hand, almost everyone still speaks the [[Corsican language]], which, due to its linguistic proximity to the Italian standard language, appears both linguistically as an Italian dialect and therefore as a carrier of Italian culture, despite the French government's decades-long efforts to cut Corsica off from the Italian motherland. Italian was the official language in [[Monaco]] until 1860, when it was replaced by the French.<ref name="miglioverde">{{cite web|url=https://www.miglioverde.eu/monegasco-lingua-si-studia-scuola-ed-obbligatoria/|title=Il monegasco, una lingua che si studia a scuola ed è obbligatoria|date=15 September 2014|access-date=6 June 2022|language=it|archive-date=17 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817073845/https://www.miglioverde.eu/monegasco-lingua-si-studia-scuola-ed-obbligatoria/|url-status=live}}</ref> This was due to the annexation of the surrounding [[County of Nice]] to France following the [[Treaty of Turin (1860)]].<ref name="miglioverde"/>

[[File:Istria-Italians-1991.gif|thumb|Percent of inhabitants with Italian native tongue in [[Croatia]]'s and [[Slovenia]]'s [[Istria]]]]
It formerly had official status in [[Montenegro]] (because of the [[Venetian Albania]]), parts of [[Slovenia]] and [[Croatia]] (because of the [[Venetian Istria]] and [[Venetian Dalmatia]]), parts of [[Greece]] (because of the [[Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands]] and by the [[Italian Islands of the Aegean|Kingdom of Italy in the Dodecanese]]). Italian is widely spoken in [[Malta]], where nearly two-thirds of the population can speak it fluently (see [[Maltese Italian]]).<ref name=Europoll>{{cite web|title=Europeans and their Languages|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf|publisher=European Commission: Directorate General for Education and Culture and Directorate General Press and Communication|accessdate=28 June 2013|date=February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803015530/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf|archive-date=2008-08-03|url-status=live}}</ref> Italian served as Malta's official language until 1934, when it was abolished by the British colonial administration amid strong local opposition.<ref>Hull, Geoffrey, ''The Malta Language Question: A Case Study in Cultural Imperialism'', Valletta: Said International, 1993.</ref> [[Italian language in Slovenia]] is an officially recognised [[minority language]] in the country.<ref name="ita-slo">{{cite web|url=https://www.ita-slo.eu/it/tutte-le-notizie/news/primis-la-tutela-delle-minoranze-linguistiche-slovenia|title=La tutela delle minoranze linguistiche in Slovenia|date=22 April 2020|access-date=5 June 2022|language=it|archive-date=15 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815062620/https://www.ita-slo.eu/it/tutte-le-notizie/news/primis-la-tutela-delle-minoranze-linguistiche-slovenia|url-status=dead}}</ref> The official census, carried out in 2002, reported 2,258 ethnic Italians ([[Istrian Italians]]) in [[Slovenia]] (0.11% of the total population).<ref name="stat">{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.si/Popis2002/en/rezultati/rezultati_red.asp?ter=SLO&st=7|title=Popis 2002|access-date=10 June 2017|archive-date=6 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806084849/http://www.stat.si/popis2002/en/rezultati/rezultati_red.asp?ter=SLO&st=7|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Italian language in Croatia]] is an official minority language in the country, with many schools and public announcements published in both languages.<ref name="ita-slo"/> The 2001 census in [[Croatia]] reported 19,636 ethnic Italians (Istrian Italians and [[Dalmatian Italians]]) in the country (some 0.42% of the total population).<ref name="dzs">{{Croatian Census 2001 | E | url=http://web.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/Census2001/Popis/E01_02_02/E01_02_02.html}}</ref> Their numbers dropped dramatically after [[World War II]] following the [[Istrian–Dalmatian exodus]], which caused the emigration of between 230,000 and 350,000 Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_VCBtYq1H4C&pg=PA11|title=Istria|page=11|author1=Thammy Evans  |author2=Rudolf Abraham |year=2013|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |isbn=9781841624457|name-list-style=amp }}</ref><ref name="query.nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|title=Election Opens Old Wounds in Trieste|author=James M. Markham|date=6 June 1987|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=9 June 2016|archive-date=9 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209030954/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Italian was the official language of the [[Republic of Ragusa]] from 1492 to 1807.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lodge|first1=R. Anthony|last2=Pugh|first2=Stefan|title=Language contact and minority languages on the littorals of Europe|publisher=Logos Verlag|isbn=9783832516444|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxULAQAAMAAJ|year=2007|pages=235–238|access-date=6 June 2022|archive-date=8 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208114405/https://books.google.com/books?id=WxULAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Italian empire 1940.PNG|thumb|upright=1.4|right|Italy and [[Italian Empire|its colonial possessions]] in 1940]]
It formerly had official status in [[Albania]] due to the [[Italian invasion of Albania|annexation of the country to the Kingdom of Italy]] (1939–1943). Albania has a large population of non-native speakers, with over half of the population having some knowledge of the Italian language.<ref>Zonova, Tatiana. "The Italian language: soft power or dolce potere?." Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali (2013): 227–231.</ref> The Albanian government has pushed to make Italian a compulsory second language in schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.balkaneu.com/albanian-government-italian-obligatory-language-professional-schools/|title=Albanian government makes Italian an obligatory language in professional schools|website=balkaneu.com|date=February 2014|access-date=2018-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809123856/https://www.balkaneu.com//albanian-government-italian-obligatory-language-professional-schools/|archive-date=2018-08-09|url-status=live}}</ref> The Italian language is well-known and studied in Albania,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Longo|first1=Maurizio|title=La lingua italiana in Albania|journal=Education et Sociétés Plurilingues|year=2007|issue=22|pages=51–56|url=http://www.cebip.com/download.asp?file=/elementi/www/esp022_07_longo.pdf|accessdate=28 July 2014|language=it|quote=Today, even though for political reasons English is the most widely taught foreign language in Albanian schools, Italian is anyway the most widespread foreign language.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923201418/http://www.cebip.com/download.asp?file=%2Felementi%2Fwww%2Fesp022_07_longo.pdf|archive-date=2015-09-23|url-status=live}}</ref> due to its historical ties and geographical proximity to Italy and to the diffusion of Italian television in the country.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Longo|first1=Maurizio|last2=Ademi|first2=Esmeralda|last3=Bulija|first3=Mirjana|title=Una quantificazione della penetrazione della lingua italiana in Albania tramite la televisione (III)|journal=Education et Sociétés Plurilingues|date=June 2010|issue=28|pages=53–63|url=http://www.cebip.com/datapage.asp?l=1&id=40|accessdate=28 July 2014|trans-title=A quantification of the diffusion of the Italian language in Albania via television|language=it|format=PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808202851/http://www.cebip.com/datapage.asp?l=1&id=40|archive-date=2014-08-08|url-status=live}}</ref>

Due to heavy Italian influence during the [[Italian Empire|Italian colonial period]], Italian is still understood by some in former colonies such as Libya.<ref name=e25/> Although it was the primary language in [[Libya]] since [[Italian Libya|colonial rule]], Italian greatly declined under the [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|rule of Muammar Gaddafi]], who expelled the [[Italian Libyan]] population and made [[Modern Standard Arabic|Arabic]] the sole official language of the country.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/21/news/italy.php] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217024247/http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/21/news/italy.php|date=17 December 2008}}</ref> A few hundred Italian settlers returned to Libya in the 2000s.

Italian was the official language of [[Eritrea]] during [[Italian Eritrea|Italian colonisation]]. Italian is today used in commerce, and it is still spoken especially among elders; besides that, Italian words are incorporated as loan words in the main language spoken in the country (Tigrinya). The capital city of Eritrea, [[Asmara]], still has several Italian schools, established during the colonial period. In the early 19th century, Eritrea was the country with the highest number of Italians abroad, and the [[Italian Eritreans]] grew from 4,000 during World War I to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilcornodafrica.it/rds-01emigrazione.pdf |title=L'emigrazione italiana in Africa orientale |first=Gian Luca |last=Podestà |access-date=2022-02-10 |archive-date=20 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820162349/http://www.ilcornodafrica.it/rds-01emigrazione.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In Asmara there are two Italian schools, the [[Istituto Italiano Statale Omnicomprensivo di Asmara]] (Italian primary school with a [[Montessori]] department) and the [[Istituto Italiano Statale Omnicomprensivo di Asmara#Divisions|Liceo Sperimentale "G. Marconi"]] (Italian international senior high school).

Italian was also introduced to [[Somalia]] through colonialism and was the sole official language of administration and education during the [[Italian Somaliland|colonial period]] but fell out of use after government, educational and economic infrastructure were destroyed in the [[Somali Civil War]].

[[File:Italian USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Italian language in the United States]]]]
Italian is also spoken by large [[Italian diaspora|immigrant and expatriate communities]] in the Americas and Australia.<ref name=e25/> Although over 17 million [[Italian American|Americans are of Italian descent]], only a little over one million people in the United States speak Italian at home.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_00_SF3_QTP16&prodType=table | archive-url = https://archive.today/20200212212514/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_00_SF3_QTP16&prodType=table | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 February 2020 | title = Language Spoken at Home: 2000 | publisher = [[United States Bureau of the Census]] | access-date = 8 August 2012}}</ref> Nevertheless, an Italian language media market does exist in the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://netcapricorn.com/newsletter/italian_ethnic_market.html |title=Newsletter |publisher=Netcapricorn.com |access-date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003416/http://netcapricorn.com/newsletter/italian_ethnic_market.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In Canada, Italian is the second most spoken non-official language when [[varieties of Chinese]] are not grouped together, with 375,645 claiming Italian as their [[Demolinguistic descriptors used in Canada#Mother tongue|mother tongue]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=109977&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2016&THEME=118&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Data tables, 2016 Census|website=[[Statistics Canada]]|date=2 August 2017 |access-date=2017-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011045848/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=109977&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2016&THEME=118&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|archive-date=2017-10-11|url-status=live}}</ref>

Italian immigrants to South America have also brought a presence of the language to that continent. According to some sources, Italian is the second most spoken language in [[Argentina]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americaeconomia.com/politica-sociedad/sociedad/los-segundos-idiomas-mas-hablados-de-sudamerica |title=Los segundos idiomas más hablados de Sudamérica &#124; AméricaEconomía – El sitio de los negocios globales de América Latina |publisher=Americaeconomia.com |date=16 July 2015 |access-date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019061615/http://www.americaeconomia.com/politica-sociedad/sociedad/los-segundos-idiomas-mas-hablados-de-sudamerica |url-status=live }}</ref> after the official language of Spanish, although its number of speakers, mainly of the older generation, is decreasing. Italian bilingual speakers can be found scattered across the southeast of Brazil and in the south.<ref name=e25/> In [[Venezuela]], Italian is the most spoken language after Spanish and Portuguese, with around 200,000 speakers.<ref name="L'ITALIANO IN VENEZUELA">{{cite journal|last1=Bernasconi|first1=Giulia|title=L'Italiano in Venezuela|journal=Italiano LinguaDue|volume=3|year=2012|issue=2|page=20|doi=10.13130/2037-3597/1921|url=https://www.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doajarticles::e2c6e2d8ae5915079007d321c21defb0|accessdate=22 January 2017|publisher=Università degli Studi di Milano|doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |language=it|quote=L'italiano come lingua acquisita o riacquisita è largamente diffuso in Venezuela: recenti studi stimano circa 200.000 studenti di italiano nel Paese|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202192545/https://www.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doajarticles::e2c6e2d8ae5915079007d321c21defb0|archive-date=2017-02-02|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Uruguay]], people who speak Italian as their home language are 1.1% of the total population of the country.<ref>{{Cite web|year=2019|title=Encuesta Telefónica de Idiomas (ETI) 2019|url=https://www.ine.gub.uy/web/guest/eti2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028151823/https://www.ine.gub.uy/web/guest/eti2019|archive-date=28 October 2020|website=Instituto Nacional de Estadística Instituto Nacional de Estadística – Uruguay}}</ref> In Australia, Italian is the second most spoken foreign language after Chinese, with 1.4% of the population speaking it as their home language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0 |title=2011 Census QuickStats: Australia |publisher=Censusdata.abs.gov.au |accessdate=2015-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106221006/http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0 |archive-date=2015-11-06 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The main Italian-language newspapers published outside Italy are the ''[[L'Osservatore Romano]]'' ([[Vatican City]]), the ''L'Informazione di San Marino'' ([[San Marino]]), the ''[[Corriere del Ticino]]'' and the ''[[laRegione Ticino]]'' ([[Switzerland]]), the ''[[La Voce del Popolo]]'' ([[Croatia]]), the ''Corriere d'Italia'' (Germany), the ''L'italoeuropeo'' (United Kingdom), the ''Passaparola'' ([[Luxembourg]]), the {{lang|it|[[America Oggi]]}} (United States), the ''[[Corriere Canadese]]'' and the ''[[Corriere Italiano]]'' (Canada), the ''Il punto d'incontro'' (Mexico), the ''L'Italia del Popolo'' ([[Argentina]]), the ''Fanfulla'' (Brazil), the ''Gente d'Italia'' ([[Uruguay]]), the ''La Voce d'Italia'' ([[Venezuela]]), the ''[[Il Globo]]'' (Australia) and the ''La gazzetta del Sud Africa'' (South Africa).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ipse.com/quotites.html|title=QUOTIDIANI ITALIANI ALL'ESTERO|access-date=6 June 2022|language=it|archive-date=24 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524153914/https://ipse.com/quotites.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.conteallestero.it/articoli-psicologo-all-estero/come-si-informano-gli-italiani-all-estero|title=Come si informano gli italiani all'estero|access-date=6 June 2022|language=it|archive-date=14 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214215149/https://www.conteallestero.it/articoli-psicologo-all-estero/come-si-informano-gli-italiani-all-estero|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radioascolta.it/t-giornale-italo-brasiliano-(Fanfulla)/#:~:text=Il%20Fanfulla%20%C3%A8%20il%20giornale,brasiliani%20che%20vivevano%20in%20Brasile.|title=Il giornale italo-brasiliano (Fanfulla)|access-date=6 June 2022|language=it|archive-date=14 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214215149/https://www.radioascolta.it/t-giornale-italo-brasiliano-(Fanfulla)/#:~:text=Il%20Fanfulla%20%C3%A8%20il%20giornale,brasiliani%20che%20vivevano%20in%20Brasile.|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Education ===
[[File:ItalSchoolRijeka.jpg|thumb|[[Italian Secondary School, Rijeka|Italian Secondary School in Rijeka/Fiume]], [[Croatia]]]]
Italian is widely taught in many schools around the world. In the 21st century, technology also allows for the continual spread of the Italian language, as people have new ways to learn how to speak, read, and write languages at their own pace and at any given time. For example, the free website and application [[Duolingo]] has 4.94&nbsp;million English speakers learning the Italian language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.duolingo.com/courses|title=duolingo|website=duolingo|access-date=18 July 2017|archive-date=23 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023033042/https://www.duolingo.com/enroll/eo/en/Learn-Esperanto|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the [[Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], every year there are more than 200,000 foreign students who study the Italian language; they are distributed among the 90 [[Italian Cultural Institute|Institutes of Italian Culture]] that are located around the world, in the 179 Italian schools located abroad, or in the 111 Italian lecturer sections belonging to foreign schools where Italian is taught as a language of culture.<ref name="esteri.it">{{cite web |url=http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Politica_Estera/Cultura/PromozioneLinguaItaliana/DatiStatisticheInsegnamentoLingua.htm |title=Dati e statistiche |publisher=Esteri.it |date=28 September 2007 |access-date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807061658/http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Politica_Estera/Cultura/PromozioneLinguaItaliana/DatiStatisticheInsegnamentoLingua.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As of 2022, Australia had the highest number of students learning Italian in the world. This occurred because of support by the Italian community in Australia and the Italian Government and also because of successful educational reform efforts led by local governments in Australia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hajek |first1=John |last2=Aliani |first2=Renata |last3=Slaughter |first3=Yvette |title=From the Periphery to the Center Stage: The Mainstreaming of Italian in the Australian Education System (1960s to 1990s) |journal=History of Education Quarterly |date=November 2022 |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=475–97 |doi=10.1017/heq.2022.30|s2cid=253447737 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Influence and derived languages ===
{{main|Italian diaspora}}
{{see also|Chipilo Venetian dialect|Cocoliche| Italian Eritrean|Italo-Australian dialect|Simplified Italian of Somalia|Itanglese|Lunfardo|Macarrônico|Talian dialect}}
[[File:Talian.svg|right|thumb|Municipalities where [[Talian dialect|Talian]] is co-official in [[Rio Grande do Sul]], Brazil]]
[[File:Placard piemontèis a San Fransesch an Argentin-a.jpg|thumb|Trilingual sign in [[San Francisco, Argentina]], in Spanish, Italian, and [[Piedmontese]]]]

From the late 19th to the mid-20th century, millions of Italians settled in Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil, and Venezuela, and in Canada and the United States, where they formed a physical and cultural presence.

In some cases, colonies were established where variants of regional [[languages of Italy]] were used, and some continue to use this regional language. Examples are [[Rio Grande do Sul]], Brazil, where [[Talian dialect|Talian]] is used, and the town of [[Chipilo]] near Puebla, Mexico; each continues to use a derived form of [[Venetian language|Venetian]] dating back to the 19th century. Other examples are [[Cocoliche]], an Italian–Spanish [[pidgin]] once spoken in [[Argentina]] and especially in [[Buenos Aires]], and [[Lunfardo]]. The [[Rioplatense Spanish]] dialect of Argentina and Uruguay today has thus been heavily influenced by both standard Italian and Italian regional languages as a result.

=== Lingua franca ===
{{See also|Mediterranean Lingua Franca}}
Starting in late [[medieval]] times in much of Europe and the Mediterranean, Latin was replaced as the primary commercial language by languages of Italy, especially Tuscan and Venetian. These varieties were consolidated during the [[Renaissance]] with the strength of Italy and the rise of [[Renaissance humanism|humanism]] and [[the arts]].

Italy came to enjoy increasing artistic prestige within Europe. A mark of the educated gentlemen was to make the [[Grand Tour]], visiting Italy to see its great historical monuments and works of art. It was expected that the visitor would learn at least some Italian, understood as language based on Florentine. In England, while the classical languages [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] were the first to be learned, Italian became the second most common modern language after French, a position it held until the late 18th century when it tended to be replaced by German. [[John Milton]], for instance, wrote some of his early poetry in Italian.

Within the [[Catholic Church]], Italian is known by a large part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and is used in substitution for Latin in some official documents.

Italian [[loanword]]s continue to be used in most languages in matters of art and music (especially classical music including opera), in the design and fashion industries, in some sports such as [[football (association)|football]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilsonline.it/italy/italianlanguage.html|title=Italian Language|website=ilsonline.it|access-date=7 October 2016|archive-date=27 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427114200/http://www.ilsonline.it/italy/italianlanguage.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and especially in culinary terms.

== Languages and dialects ==
{{See also|Languages of Italy|Regional Italian}}
[[File:Dialetti Italia 1939.png|thumb|Linguistic map of Italy according to Clemente Merlo and Carlo Tagliavini (1937)]]
[[File:Minoranze linguistiche it.svg|thumb|Italy's ethno-linguistic minorities<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minoranze-linguistiche-scuola.it/carta-generale/|title=Lingue di Minoranza e Scuola: Carta Generale|website=Minoranze-linguistiche-scuola.it|access-date=8 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010152621/http://www.minoranze-linguistiche-scuola.it/carta-generale/|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

In Italy, almost all the [[Languages of Italy|other languages spoken as the vernacular]]—other than standard Italian and some languages spoken among immigrant communities—are often called "[[Languages of Italy|Italian dialects]]", a label that can be very misleading if it is understood to mean "dialects of Italian". The Romance dialects of Italy are local evolutions of spoken Latin that pre-date the establishment of Italian, and as such are [[sister language]]s to the Tuscan that was the historical source of Italian. They can be quite different from Italian and from each other, with some belonging to different linguistic branches of Romance. The only exceptions to this are twelve groups considered "[[Minority languages of Italy|historical language minorities]]", which are officially recognised as distinct [[minority language]]s by the law. On the other hand, [[Corsican language|Corsican]] (a language spoken on the French island of [[Corsica]]) is closely related to medieval [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]], from which standard Italian derives and evolved.

The differences in the evolution of Latin in the different regions of Italy can be attributed to the natural [[Language change#Causes|changes]] that all languages in regular use are subject to, and to some extent to the presence of three other types of languages: [[Stratum (linguistics)|substrata, superstrata, and adstrata]]. The most prevalent were substrata (the language of the original inhabitants), as the Italian dialects were most probably simply Latin as spoken by native cultural groups. Superstrata and adstrata were both less important. Foreign conquerors of Italy that dominated different regions at different times left behind little to no influence on the dialects. Foreign cultures with which Italy engaged in peaceful relations with, such as trade, had no significant influence either.{{r|":0"|page=19–20}}

Throughout Italy, regional varieties of standard Italian, called [[Regional Italian]], are spoken. Regional differences can be recognised by various factors: the openness of vowels, the length of the consonants, and influence of the local language (for example, in informal situations ''{{Wikt-lang|it|andà}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|it|annà}}'' and ''{{Wikt-lang|it|nare}}'' replace the standard Italian ''{{Wikt-lang|it|andare}}'' in the area of Tuscany, Rome and Venice respectively for the infinitive 'to go').

There is no definitive date when the various Italian variants of Latin—including varieties that contributed to modern standard Italian—began to be distinct enough from Latin to be considered separate languages. One criterion for determining that two language variants are to be considered separate languages rather than variants of a single language is that they have evolved so that they are no longer [[mutually intelligible]]; this diagnostic is effective if mutual intelligibility is minimal or absent (e.g. in Romance, Romanian and Portuguese), but it fails in cases such as Spanish-Portuguese or Spanish-Italian, as educated native speakers of either pairing (particularly Spanish-Portuguese) can understand each other well if they choose to do so; however, the level of intelligibility is markedly lower between Italian-Spanish, and considerably higher between the Iberian sister languages of Portuguese-Spanish. Speakers of this latter pair can communicate with one another with remarkable ease, each speaking to the other in his own native language, without slang/jargon.

Nevertheless, on the basis of accumulated differences in morphology, syntax, phonology, and to some extent lexicon, it is not difficult to identify that for the Romance varieties of Italy, the first extant written evidence of languages that can no longer be considered Latin comes from the 9th and 10th centuries CE. These written sources demonstrate certain vernacular characteristics and sometimes explicitly mention the use of the vernacular in Italy.

Full literary manifestations of the vernacular began to surface around the 13th century in the form of various religious texts and poetry.{{r|":0"|page=21}}Although these are the first written records of Italian varieties separate from Latin, the spoken language had probably diverged long before the first written records appeared since those who were literate generally wrote in Latin even if they spoke other Romance varieties in person.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the use of standard Italian became increasingly widespread and was mirrored by a decline in the use of the dialects. An increase in literacy was one of the main driving factors (one can assume that only literates were capable of learning standard Italian, whereas those who were illiterate had access only to their native dialect). The percentage of literates rose from 25% in 1861 to 60% in 1911, and then on to 78.1% in 1951. [[Tullio De Mauro]], an Italian linguist, has asserted that in 1861, only 2.5% of the population of Italy could speak standard Italian. He reports that in 1951, that percentage had risen to 87%. The ability to speak Italian did not necessarily mean that it was in everyday use, and most people (63.5%) still usually spoke their native dialects. In addition, other factors such as mass emigration, industrialization, and urbanization, and internal migrations after [[World War II]], contributed to the proliferation of standard Italian. The Italians who emigrated during the [[Italian diaspora]] beginning in 1861 were often of the uneducated lower class, and thus the emigration had the effect of increasing the percentage of literates, who often knew and understood the importance of standard Italian back home in Italy. A large percentage of those who had emigrated also eventually returned to Italy, often more educated than when they had left.{{r|":0"|page=35}}

Although use of the Italian dialects has declined in the [[modern era]], as Italy unified under standard Italian and continues to do so aided by mass media from newspapers to radio to television, [[diglossia]] is still frequently encountered in Italy and [[triglossia]] is not uncommon in emigrant communities among older speakers. Both situations normally involve some degree of [[code-switching]] and [[code-mixing]].{{sfnp|Prifti|2014|}}

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Italian phonology}}
[[File:It-Vangeli.ogg|thumb|[[s:Bible (King James)/Luke#Chapter 2|Luke 2]], 1–7 of the Bible being read by a speaker of Italian from [[Milan]]]]
{{Excerpt|Italian phonology|Consonants}}
Italian has a seven-vowel system, consisting of {{IPA|/a, ɛ, e, i, ɔ, o, u/}}, and 23 consonants. Compared with most other Romance languages, Italian phonology is conservative, preserving many words nearly unchanged from [[Vulgar Latin]]. Some examples:
* Italian ''{{Wikt-lang|it|quattordici}}'' 'fourteen' < Latin {{smallcaps|{{Wikt-lang|la|quattuordecim}}}} (cf. Spanish ''{{Wikt-lang|es|catorce}}'', French ''{{Wikt-lang|fr|quatorze}}'' {{IPA|/katɔʁz/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{lang|pt|[[wikt:catorze|catorze]]|italic=yes}})
* Italian ''settimana'' 'week' < Latin {{smallcaps|septimāna}} (cf. Romanian ''săptămână'', Spanish and Portuguese ''semana'', French ''semaine'' {{IPA|/səmɛn/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''setmana'')
* Italian ''medesimo'' 'same' < Vulgar Latin *{{smallcaps|medi(p)simum}} (cf. Spanish ''mismo'', [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''mesmo'', French ''même'' {{IPA|/mɛm/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''mateix''; Italian usually prefers the shorter ''stesso'')
* Italian ''guadagnare'' 'to win, earn, gain' < Vulgar Latin *{{smallcaps|guadaniāre}} < [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] {{IPA|/waidanjan/}} (cf. Spanish ''ganar'', Portuguese ''ganhar'', French ''gagner'' {{IPA|/ɡaɲe/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''guanyar'').

The conservative nature of Italian phonology is partly explained by its origin. Italian stems from a literary language that is derived from the 13th-century speech of the city of [[Florence]] in the region of [[Tuscany]], and has changed little in the last 700 years or so. Furthermore, the Tuscan dialect is the most conservative of all [[Regional Italian|Italian dialects]], radically different from the [[Gallo-Italian languages]] less than {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip|-1}} to the north (across the [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]]).

The following are some of the conservative phonological features of Italian, as compared with the common [[Western Romance]] languages (French, Spanish, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Galician language|Galician]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]]). Some of these features are also present in [[Romanian language|Romanian]].
* Little or no [[phonemic]] [[lenition]] of consonants between vowels, e.g. {{smallcaps|vīta}} > ''vita'' 'life' (cf. Romanian ''viață'', Spanish ''vida'' {{IPA|[ˈbiða]}}, French ''vie''), {{smallcaps|pedem}} > ''piede'' 'foot' (cf. Spanish ''pie'', French ''pied'' {{IPA|/pje/}}).
** Words that are an exception to this rule exist, such as: {{smallcaps|scvtella}} > ''scodella'' 'bowl', {{smallcaps|recipere}} > ''ricevere'' 'receive', {{smallcaps|lacvs}} > ''lago'' 'lake', {{smallcaps|acvs}} > ''ago'' 'needle', (only in the [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] accent and historical standard Italian) {{smallcaps|vīsus}} > ''viso'' {{IPA|/vizo/}} 'face'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DOP: Dizionario di Ortografia e Pronunzia della lingua italiana |url=https://dop.netadcom.com/p.aspx?nID=lettera-S |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=dop.netadcom.com}}</ref>
* Preservation of geminate consonants, e.g. {{smallcaps|annum}} > {{IPA|/ˈanːo/}} {{lang|it|anno}} 'year' (cf. Spanish {{lang|es|año}} {{IPA|/ˈaɲo/}}, French {{lang|fr|an}} {{IPA|/ɑ̃/}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|an}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|ano}} {{IPA|/ˈɐnu/}}).
* Preservation of all [[Proto-Romance]] final vowels, e.g. {{smallcaps|pacem}} > {{lang|it|pace}} 'peace' (cf. Romanian {{lang|ro|pace}}, Spanish {{lang|es|paz}}, French {{lang|fr|paix}} {{IPA|/pɛ/}}), {{smallcaps|octō}} > {{lang|it|otto}} 'eight' (cf. Romanian {{lang|ro|opt}}, Spanish {{lang|es|ocho}}, French {{lang|fr|huit}} {{IPA|/ɥi(t)/}}), {{smallcaps|fēcī}} > {{lang|it|feci}} 'I did' (cf. Romanian dialectal {{lang|ro|feci}}, Spanish {{lang|es|hice}}, French {{lang|fr|fis}} {{IPA|/fi/}}).
* Preservation of most intertonic vowels (those between the stressed syllable and either the beginning or ending syllable). This accounts for some of the most noticeable differences, as in the forms ''quattordici'' and ''settimana'' given above.
* Slower consonant development, e.g. {{smallcaps|folia}} > Italo-Western {{IPA|/fɔʎʎa/}} > ''foglia'' {{IPA|/ˈfɔʎʎa/}} 'leaf' (cf. Romanian ''foaie'' {{IPA|/ˈfo̯aje/}}, Spanish ''hoja'' {{IPA|/ˈoxa/}}, French ''feuille'' {{IPA|/fœj/}}; but note Portuguese ''folha'' {{IPA|/ˈfoʎɐ/}}).

Compared with most other Romance languages, Italian has many inconsistent outcomes, where the same underlying sound produces different results in different words, e.g. {{smallcaps|laxāre}} > ''lasciare'' and ''lassare'', {{smallcaps|captiāre}} > ''cacciare'' and ''cazzare'', {{smallcaps|(ex)dēroteolāre}} > ''sdrucciolare'', ''druzzolare'' and ''ruzzolare'', {{smallcaps|rēgīna}} > ''regina'' and ''reina''. Although in all these examples the second form has fallen out of usage, the dimorphism is thought to reflect the several-hundred-year period during which Italian developed as a literary language divorced from any native-speaking population, with an origin in 12th/13th-century Tuscan but with many words borrowed from [[Languages of Italy|languages]] farther to the north, with different sound outcomes. (The [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]], the most important [[isogloss]] in the entire Romance-language area, passes only about {{convert|20|mi|km|-1|order=flip|disp=or}} north of Florence.) Dual outcomes of Latin {{IPA|/p t k/}} between vowels, such as {{smallcaps|lŏcvm}} > ''luogo'' but {{smallcaps|fŏcvm}} > ''fuoco'', was once thought to be due to borrowing of northern voiced forms, but is now generally viewed as the result of early phonetic variation within Tuscany.

Some other features that distinguish Italian from the Western Romance languages:
* Latin {{smallcaps|ce-,ci-}} becomes {{IPA|/tʃe, tʃi/}} rather than {{IPA|/(t)se, (t)si/}}.
* Latin {{smallcaps|-ct-}} becomes {{IPA|/tt/}} rather than {{IPA|/jt/}} or {{IPA|/tʃ/}}: {{smallcaps|octō}} > ''otto'' 'eight' (cf. Spanish ''ocho'', French ''huit,'' Portuguese ''oito'').
* Vulgar Latin {{smallcaps|-cl-}} becomes ''cchi'' {{IPA|/kkj/}} rather than {{IPA|/ʎ/}}: {{smallcaps|oclum}} > ''occhio'' 'eye' (cf. Portuguese ''olho'' {{IPA|/ˈoʎu/}}, French ''œil'' {{IPA|/œj/}} < {{IPA|/œʎ/}}); but Romanian ''ochi'' {{IPA|/okʲ/}}.
* Final {{IPA|/s/}} is not preserved, and vowel changes rather than {{IPA|/s/}} are used to mark the plural: ''amico'', ''amici'' 'male friend(s)', ''amica'', ''amiche'' 'female friend(s)' (cf. Romanian ''amic'', ''amici'' and ''amică'', ''amice''; Spanish ''amigo(s)'' 'male friend(s)', ''amiga(s)'' 'female friend(s)'); {{smallcaps|trēs, sex}} → ''tre, sei'' 'three, six' (cf. Romanian ''trei'', ''șase''; Spanish ''tres'', ''seis'').

Standard Italian also differs in some respects from most nearby Italian languages:
* Perhaps most noticeable is the total lack of [[metaphony (Romance languages)|metaphony]], although metaphony is a feature characterizing nearly every other [[Languages of Italy|Italian language]].
* No simplification of original {{IPA|/nd/}}, {{IPA|/mb/}} (which often became {{IPA|/nn/, /mm/}} elsewhere).

=== Assimilation ===
Italian [[phonotactics]] do not usually permit verbs and polysyllabic nouns to end with consonants, except in poetry and song, so foreign words may receive [[Epenthetic vowel#Anaptyxis|extra terminal vowel sounds]].<!--(Maybe this should go under history?)--->

== Writing system ==
{{Main|Italian orthography}}
[[File:Corsivo- come scriverlo a mano in italiano, schede didattiche con alcuni esempi di Paolo Villa (prima edizione commons wikimedia org)-Letters-characters in italics-cursive- how to write it by hand in Italian.pdf|thumb|An Italian handwriting script, taught in primary school]]
<!--please don't use angle brackets at the beginning here because most readers wouldn't understand that the letters of the alphabet are meant -->

Italian has a [[shallow orthography]], meaning very regular spelling with an almost one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds. In linguistic terms, the writing system is close to being a [[phonemic orthography]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cossu |first=Giuseppe |date=1999 |editor-last1=Harris |editor-first1=Margaret |editor-last2=Hatano |editor-first2=Giyoo |title=Learning to Read and Write: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective (Cambridge Studies in Cognitive and Perceptual Development, Series Number 2) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=10–33 |chapter=Chapter 2: The acquisition of Italian orthography |isbn=978-0521621847 |quote=On a hypothetical 'transparency scale' of writing systems, Italian orthography should be placed close to one extreme |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wzer287R2hkC&dq=Italian+orthography&pg=PA10 |access-date=17 December 2023 |archive-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427114114/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wzer287R2hkC&dq=Italian+orthography&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q=Italian%20orthography&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The most important of the few exceptions are the following (see below for more details):
* The letter c represents the sound {{IPA|/k/}} at the end of words and before the letters a, o, and u but represents the sound {{IPAslink|tʃ}} (as the first sound in the English word ''chair'') before the letters e and i.
* The letter g represents the sound {{IPA|/ɡ/}} at the end of words and before the letters a, o, and u but represents the sound {{IPAslink|dʒ}} (as the first sound in the English word ''gem'') before the letters e and i.
* The letter n represents the phoneme {{IPA|/n/}}, which is pronounced {{IPA|[ŋ]}} (as in the English word ''sing'') before the letters c and g when these represent velar plosives {{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, as in ''banco'' {{IPA|[ˈbaŋko]}}, ''fungo'' {{IPA|[ˈfuŋɡo]}}. The letter q represents {{IPA|/k/}} pronounced [k], thus n also represents {{IPA|[ŋ]}} in the position preceding it: ''cinque'' {{IPA|[ˈt͡ʃiŋkwe]}}. Elsewhere the letter n represents {{IPA|/n/}} pronounced {{IPA|[n]}}, including before the [[affricate]]s {{IPA|/tʃ/}} or {{IPA|/dʒ/}} spelt with c or g before the letters i and e : ''mancia'' {{IPA|[ˈmant͡ʃa]}}, ''mangia'' {{IPA|[ˈmand͡ʒa]}}. 
* The letter ''h'' is always silent: ''hotel'' {{IPA|/oˈtɛl/}}; ''hanno'' 'they have' and ''anno'' 'year' both represent {{IPA|/ˈanno/}}. It is used to form a [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] with ''c'' or ''g'' to represent {{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/ɡ/}} before ''i'' or ''e'': ''chi'' {{IPA|/ki/}} 'who', ''che'' {{IPA|/ke/}} 'what'; ''aghi'' {{IPA|/ˈaɡi/}} 'needles', ''ghetto'' {{IPA|/ˈɡetto/}}.
* The spellings ''ci'' and ''gi'' before another vowel represent only {{IPA|/tʃ/}} or {{IPA|/dʒ/}} with no /i/ sound (''ciuccio'' {{IPA|/ˈtʃuttʃo/}} 'pacifier', ''Giorgio'' {{IPA|/ˈdʒordʒo/}}) unless ''c'' or ''g'' precede stressed {{IPA|/i/}} (''farmacia'' {{IPA|/farmaˈtʃi.a/}} 'pharmacy', ''biologia'' {{IPA|/bioloˈdʒi.a/}} 'biology'). Elsewhere ''ci'' and ''gi'' represent {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}} followed by {{IPA|/i/}}: ''cibo'' {{IPA|/ˈtʃibo/}} 'food', ''baci'' {{IPA|/ˈbatʃi/}} 'kisses'; ''gita'' {{IPA|/ˈdʒita/}} 'trip', ''Tamigi'' {{IPA|/taˈmidʒi/}} 'Thames'.*

The Italian alphabet is typically considered to consist of 21 letters. The letters j, k, w, x, y are traditionally excluded, although they appear in loanwords such as ''jeans'', ''whisky'', ''taxi'', and ''xilofono''. The letter {{angle bracket|x}} has become common in standard Italian with the prefix ''extra-'', although ''(e)stra-'' is traditionally used; it is also common to use the Latin particle ''ex(-)'' to mean 'former(ly)' as in ''la mia ex'' ('my ex-girlfriend'), "Ex-Jugoslavia" ('Former Yugoslavia'). The letter {{angle bracket|j}} appears in the first name ''Jacopo'' and in some Italian place-names, such as [[Bajardo]], [[Bojano]], [[Joppolo]], [[Jerzu]], [[Jesolo]], [[Jesi]], [[Ajaccio]], among others, and in ''Mar Jonio'', an alternative spelling of ''Mar Ionio'' (the [[Ionian Sea]]). The letter {{angle bracket|j}} may appear in dialectal words, but its use is discouraged in contemporary standard Italian.<ref name="Clivio">{{cite book|title=The Sounds, Forms, and Uses of Italian: An Introduction to Italian Linguistics|first1=Gianrenzo|last1=Clivio|first2=Marcel|last2=Danesi|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2000|pages=21, 66}}</ref> Letters used in foreign words can be replaced with [[phonetically]] equivalent native Italian letters and [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]]: {{angle bracket|gi}}, {{angle bracket|ge}}, or {{angle bracket|i}} for {{angle bracket|j}}; {{angle bracket|c}} or {{angle bracket|ch}} for {{angle bracket|k}} (including in the standard prefix ''kilo-''); {{angle bracket|o}}, {{angle bracket|u}} or {{angle bracket|v}} for {{angle bracket|w}}; {{angle bracket|s}}, {{angle bracket|ss}}, {{angle bracket|z}}, {{angle bracket|zz}} or {{angle bracket|cs}} for {{angle bracket|x}}; and {{angle bracket|e}} or {{angle bracket|i}} for {{angle bracket|y}}.
* The [[acute accent]] is used over word-final {{angle bracket|e}} to indicate a stressed [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel|front close-mid vowel]], as in ''perché'' 'why, because'. In dictionaries, it is also used over {{angle bracket|o}} to indicate a stressed [[Close-mid back rounded vowel|back close-mid vowel]] (''azióne''). The [[grave accent]] is used over word-final {{angle bracket|e}} and {{angle bracket|o}} to indicate a [[Open-mid front unrounded vowel|front open-mid vowel]] and a [[Open-mid back rounded vowel|back open-mid vowel]] respectively, as in ''tè'' 'tea', and ''può'' '(he) can'. The grave accent is used over any vowel to indicate word-final stress, as in ''gioventù'' 'youth'. Unlike {{angle bracket|é}}, which is a ''close''-mid vowel, a stressed final {{angle bracket|o}} is almost always a [[Open-mid back rounded vowel|back open-mid vowel]] (''andrò''), with a few exceptions, such as ''metró'', with a stressed final [[close-mid back rounded vowel|back close-mid vowel]], making {{angle bracket|ó}} for the most part unnecessary outside of dictionaries. Most of the time, the penultimate syllable is stressed. But if the stressed vowel is the final letter of the word, the accent is mandatory, otherwise, it is virtually always omitted. Exceptions are typically either in dictionaries, where all or most stressed vowels are commonly marked. Accents can optionally be used to disambiguate words that differ only by stress, as for ''prìncipi'' 'princes' and ''princìpi'' 'principles', or ''àncora'' 'anchor' and ''ancóra'' 'still''/''yet'. For monosyllabic words, the rule is different: when two orthographically identical monosyllabic words with different meanings exist, one is accented and the other is not (example: ''è'' 'is', ''e'' 'and').
* The letter {{angle bracket|h}} distinguishes ''ho'', ''hai'', ''ha'', ''hanno'' (present indicative of ''avere'' 'to have') from ''o'' ('or'), ''ai'' ('to the'), ''a'' ('to'), ''anno'' ('year'). In the spoken language, the letter is always silent. The {{angle bracket|h}} in ''ho'' additionally marks the contrasting open pronunciation of the {{angle bracket|o}}. The letter {{angle bracket|h}} is also used in combinations with other letters. No [[phoneme]] {{IPA|/h/}} exists in Italian. In nativized foreign words, the {{angle bracket|h}} is silent. For example, ''hotel'' and ''hovercraft'' are pronounced {{IPA|/oˈtɛl/}} and {{IPA|/ˈɔverkraft/}} respectively. (Where {{angle bracket|h}} existed in Latin, it either disappeared or, in a few cases before a back vowel, changed to {{IPA|[ɡ]}}: ''traggo'' 'I pull' ← Lat. {{smallcaps|trahō}}.)
* The letters {{angle bracket|s}} and {{angle bracket|z}} can symbolize [[voiced]] or [[voiceless]] consonants. {{angle bracket|z}} symbolizes {{IPA|/dz/}} or {{IPA|/ts/}} depending on context, with few minimal pairs. For example: ''zanzara'' {{IPA|/dzanˈdzara/}} 'mosquito' and ''nazione'' {{IPA|/natˈtsjone/}} 'nation'. {{angle bracket|s}} symbolizes {{IPA|/s/}} word-initially before a vowel, when clustered with a voiceless consonant ({{angle bracket|p, f, c, ch}}), and when doubled; it symbolizes {{IPA|/z/}} when between vowels and when clustered with voiced consonants. Intervocalic {{angle bracket|s}} varies regionally between {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/z/}}, with {{IPA|/z/}} being more dominant in northern Italy and {{IPA|/s/}} in the south.
* The letters {{angle bracket|c}} and {{angle bracket|g}} vary in pronunciation between [[plosives]] and [[affricates]] depending on following vowels. The letter {{angle bracket|c}} symbolizes {{IPA|/k/}} when word-final and before the back vowels {{angle bracket|a, o, u}}. It symbolizes {{IPAslink|tʃ}} as in ''chair'' before the front vowels {{angle bracket|e, i}}. The letter {{angle bracket|g}} symbolizes {{IPA|/ɡ/}} when word-final and before the back vowels {{angle bracket|a, o, u}}. It symbolizes {{IPAslink|dʒ}} as in ''gem'' before the front vowels {{angle bracket|e, i}}. Other Romance languages and, to an extent, English have similar variations for {{angle bracket|c, g}}. Compare [[hard and soft C]], [[hard and soft G]]. (See also [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalization]].)
* The [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] {{angle bracket|ch}} and {{angle bracket|gh}} indicate ({{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}) before {{angle bracket|i, e}}. The digraphs {{angle bracket|ci}} and {{angle bracket|gi}} indicate 'softness' ({{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}}, the [[affricate consonant]]s of English ''church'' and ''judge'') before {{angle bracket|a, o, u}}. For example:

:{| class="wikitable"
!
! colspan="2" | Before back vowel (A, O, U)
! colspan="2" | Before front vowel (I, E)
|-
! rowspan="2" | Plosive
! C
| caramella {{IPA|/karaˈmɛlla/}} ''candy''
! CH
| china {{IPA|/ˈkina/}} ''[[India ink]]''
|-
! G
| gallo {{IPA|/ˈɡallo/}} ''[[rooster]]''
! GH
| ghiro {{IPA|/ˈɡiro/}} ''[[edible dormouse]]''
|-
! rowspan="2" | Affricate
! CI
| ciambella {{IPA|/tʃamˈbɛlla/}} ''[[donut]]''
! C
| Cina {{IPA|/ˈtʃina/}} ''China''
|-
! GI
| giallo {{IPA|/ˈdʒallo/}} ''yellow''
! G
| giro {{IPA|/ˈdʒiro/}} ''[[wikt:round|round]], [[wikt:tour|tour]]''
|}

:Note: {{angle bracket|h}} is [[silent letter|silent]] in the digraphs ''[[ch (digraph)|{{angle bracket|ch}}]]'', ''[[gh (digraph)|{{angle bracket|gh}}]]''; and {{angle bracket|i}} is silent in the digraphs {{angle bracket|ci}} and {{angle bracket|gi}} before {{angle bracket|a, o, u}} unless the {{angle bracket|i}} is stressed. For example, it is silent in ''[[ciao]]'' {{IPA|/ˈtʃa.o/}} and cielo {{IPA|/ˈtʃɛ.lo/}}, but it is pronounced in ''farmacia'' {{IPA|/ˌfar.maˈtʃi.a/}} and ''farmacie'' {{IPA|/ˌfar.maˈtʃi.e/}}.{{sfn|Berloco|2018}}
<!--
* There are three other special [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] in Italian: [[gn (digraph)|{{angle bracket|gn}}]], {{angle bracket|gl}} and {{angle bracket|sc}}. The digraph {{angle bracket|gn}} represents {{IPAslink|ɲ}}. {{angle bracket|gl}} represents {{IPAslink|ʎ}} before {{angle bracket|i}}, and never at the beginning of a word, except in the [[personal pronoun]] and [[definite article]] ''gli''. An exception is the word ''glicerina'' ("glycerin"), which is pronounced with a hard {{angle bracket|g}}. (Compare with Spanish {{angle bracket|ñ}} and {{angle bracket|ll}}, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{angle bracket|nh}} and {{angle bracket|lh}}.) {{angle bracket|sc}} represents a fricative {{IPAslink|ʃ}} before {{angle bracket|e, i}}. Except in the speech of some northern Italians, all of these are normally [[geminate]] between vowels.
* In general, there is a clear one-to-one correspondence between letters or digraphs and phonemes, as in Spanish; in standard varieties of Italian, there is little allophonic variation. The most notable exceptions are assimilation of /n/ in point of articulation before consonants, assimilatory voicing of /s/ to following voiced consonants, and vowel length (vowels are long in stressed open syllables, except at the end of words, and short elsewhere) — compare with the substantial number of [[allophone]]s of the English phoneme /t/. Spelling is mostly phonemic and usually difficult to mistake, given a clear pronunciation. Exceptions exist, especially in foreign borrowings. There are fewer cases of [[dyslexia]] than among speakers of languages such as English,<ref>E. Paulescu et al., Dyslexia – cultural diversity and biological unity, "Science", vol. 291, pp. 2165–2167.</ref> and the concept of a [[spelling bee]] is strange to Italians.

=== Common variations ===
Some variations in the usage of the writing system may be present in practical use. These are scorned by educated people and normal written language, but they are so common in certain limited contexts that knowledge of them may be useful.
* Usage of ''x'' instead of ''per'' "for". This is common among teenagers and in SMS abbreviations. The multiplication operator is read "per" in Italian. For example, ''per te'' ("for you") is shortened to ''x te'' (compared with English ''4 u''). The ''per'' within words can also be replaced with ''x''. For example: ''perché'' ("why, because") to ''xché'' or ''xké''; ''sapere'' ("to know") to ''saxe''). This usage is useful shorthand in quick notes or in SMS, but it is unacceptable in formal writing.
* Usage of foreign letters such as {{angle bracket|k}}, {{angle bracket|j}} and {{angle bracket|y}}, especially in nicknames and SMS language: ''ke'' instead of ''che'', ''Giusy'' instead of ''Giuseppina''. This is mirrored in the usage of ''i'' in English names such as ''Staci'' instead of ''Stacey'' or in the usage of ''c'' in Northern Europe (''Jacob'' instead of ''Jakob''). The use of {{angle bracket|k}} instead of {{angle bracket|ch}} or {{angle bracket|c}} to represent a plosive sound is documented in some historical texts from before the standardization of the Italian language. The usage is no longer standard in Italian. The letter {{angle bracket|k}} has sometimes been used in satire to suggest a political figure is an authoritarian or even a "pseudo-nazi". For example, [[Francesco Cossiga]] was famously nicknamed ''Kossiga'' by rioting students during his tenure as minister of internal affairs. Compare the [[satiric misspelling#"K" replacing "C"|politicized spelling ''Amerika'']] in the USA. Although not a letter in the standard Italian alphabet, the letter {{angle bracket|j}} is found in many of the languages of southern Italy, including [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]] and [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]]. In modern texts written in any such language, the {{angle bracket|j}} is often replaced with {{angle bracket|i}}.
* The following abbreviations are limited to electronic-communications media: ''nn'' for ''non'' "not"; ''cmq'' for ''comunque'' "anyway, however"; ''cm'' for ''come'' "how, like, as"; ''d'' for ''di'' "of"; ''(io/loro) sn'' for ''(io/loro) sono'' "I am, they are"; ''(io) dv'' for ''(io) devo'' "I must, I have to" or for ''dove'' "where"; ''(tu) 6'' for ''(tu) sei'' "you are"; ''dmn'' for ''domani'' "tomorrow".
* Whenever non-[[ASCII]] characters are unavailable or unreliable (as in e-mail), accents may be replaced with adjacent apostrophes. For example: in ''perche<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' instead of ''perché''. The practice was standard on manual typewriters that had no accents and is still common for uppercase accented letters. Uppercase {{angle bracket|[[È]]}} is rare and is absent from the [[Keyboard layout#Italian|Italian keyboard layout]]. It is often substituted with {{angle bracket|E<nowiki>'</nowiki>}}, even though there are [[:it:Aiuto:Manuale di stile#Scrivere È|several ways]] of producing the uppercase È on a computer.

== Sounds ==
{{Main|Italian phonology}}

=== Vowels ===
Italian has seven [[vowel]] phonemes: {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}, represented by five letters: "a, e, i, o, u". The pairs {{IPA|/e/}}-{{IPA|/ɛ/}}, and {{IPA|/o/}}-{{IPA|/ɔ/}} are seldom distinguished in writing and often confused, even though most varieties of Italian employ both phonemes consistently. Compare, for example standard "perché" {{IPA|[perˈke]}} (why, because) and "senti" {{IPA|[ˈsɛnti]}} (you hear), as pronounced by most central and southern speakers, with {{IPA|[perˈkɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ˈsenti]}}, employed by most northern speakers. As a result, the usage is strongly indicative of a person's origin. The standard (Tuscan) usage of these vowels is listed in vocabularies, and employed outside Tuscany mainly by specialists, especially actors and a few (television) journalists.
These are truly different [[phonemes]], however: compare {{IPA|/ˈpeska/}} (fishing) and {{IPA|/ˈpɛska/}} (peach), both spelled ''pesca'' ({{Audio|It-pesca.ogg|listen}}). Similarly {{IPA|/ˈbotte/}} ('barrel') and {{IPA|/ˈbɔtte/}} ('beatings'), both spelled ''botte'', discriminate {{IPA|/o/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}} ({{Audio|It-botte-mp.ogg|listen}}).

In general, vowel combinations usually pronounce each vowel separately. [[Diphthong]]s exist (e.g. ''uo'', ''iu'', ''ie'', ''ai''), but are limited to an unstressed ''u'' or ''i'' before or after a stressed vowel.

The unstressed ''u'' in a diphthong approximates the English semivowel ''w'', and the unstressed ''i'' approximates the semivowel ''y''. E.g.: ''buono'' {{IPA|[ˈbwɔːno]}}, ''ieri'' {{IPA|[ˈjɛːri]}}.

[[Triphthong]]s exist in Italian as well, like "contin''uia''mo" ("we continue"). Three vowel combinations exist only in the form semiconsonant ({{IPA|/j/}} or {{IPA|/w/}}), followed by a vowel, followed by a [[:wikt:desinence|desinence]] vowel (usually {{IPA|/i/}}), as in ''miei'', ''suoi'', or two semiconsonants followed by a vowel, as the group ''-uia-'' exemplified above, or ''-iuo-'' in the word ''aiuola''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Serianni | first=Luca | author2=Castelvecchi, Alberto |title=Italiano | publisher=Garzanti | year=1997 | page=15}}</ref>

=== Mobile diphthongs ===
Many Latin words with a short ''e'' or ''o'' have Italian counterparts with a so-called mobile diphthong (''ie'' and ''uo'' respectively). The mobility, however, is of stress: when the vowel sound is stressed, it is pronounced and written as a diphthong, e.g. ''buono'' 'good'; when not stressed, it is pronounced and written as a single vowel, as in ''bontà'' 'goodness'.

So Latin ''focus'' gave rise to Italian ''fuoco'' (meaning both "fire" and "optical focus"): when unstressed, as in ''focale'' ("focal") the "o" remains alone. Latin ''pes'' (more precisely its accusative form ''pedem'') is the source of Italian ''piede'' (foot): but unstressed "e" was left unchanged in ''pedone'' (pedestrian) and ''pedale'' (pedal). From Latin ''jocus'' comes Italian ''giuoco'' ("play", "game"), though in this case ''gioco'' is more common: ''giocare'' means "to play (a game)". From Latin ''homo'' comes Italian ''uomo'' (man), but also ''umano'' (human) and ''ominide'' (hominid). From Latin ''ovum'' comes Italian ''uovo'' (egg) and ''ovaie'' (ovaries). (The same phenomenon occurs in Spanish: ''juego'' (play, game) and ''jugar'' (to play), ''nieve'' (snow) and ''nevar'' (to snow)). Stress-conditioned historical diphthongization can also produce alternating verb stems, as in stem-stressed ''siedo'' 'I sit' and suffix-stressed ''sediamo'' 'we sit'.

=== Consonants ===
{{See also|Syntactic doubling}}
Two symbols in a table cell denote the voiceless and voiced consonants, respectively.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Consonants of Italian<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Rogers & d'Arcangeli|2004|p=117}}</ref>
!
! [[Bilabial]]
! [[labiodental consonant|Labio-<br />dental]]
! [[dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|m}}
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|ɱ}}
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|n}}
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|ɲ}}
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|ŋ}}*
|-
! [[Plosive]]
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|p}}, {{IPA|b}}
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|t̪}}, {{IPA|d̪}}
|
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|k}}, {{IPA|ɡ}}
|-
! [[Affricate]]
|
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|t͡s}}, {{IPA|d͡z}}
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|t͡ʃ}}, {{IPA|d͡ʒ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Fricative]]
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|f}}, {{IPA|v}}
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|s}}, {{IPA|z}}
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|ʃ}}
|
|
|-
! [[trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|r}}
|
|
|
|-
! [[lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|l}}
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|ʎ}}
|
|-
! [[Approximant]]
|
|
|
|
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|j}}
| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|w}}
|}

Note: unlike in standard English, {{IPA|ŋ}} is ''not'' a phoneme in standard Italian; instead, when preceding a velar ({{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/ɡ/}}) {{IPA|[ŋ]}} appears as an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/n/}}. More generally, nasals assimilate to the point of articulation of whatever consonant they precede. -->

Italian has geminate, or double, consonants, which are distinguished by [[Consonant length|length]] and intensity. Length is distinctive for all consonants except for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, {{IPA|/dz/}}, {{IPA|/ts/}}, {{IPA|/ʎ/}}, {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, which are always geminate when between vowels, and {{IPA|/z/}}, which is always single.
Geminate plosives and affricates are realized as lengthened closures. Geminate fricatives, nasals, and {{IPA|/l/}} are realized as lengthened [[continuant]]s. There is only one vibrant phoneme {{IPA|/r/}} but the actual pronunciation depends on the context and regional accent. Generally one can find a flap consonant {{IPA|[ɾ]}} in an unstressed position whereas {{IPA|[r]}} is more common in stressed syllables, but there may be exceptions. Especially people from the northern part of Italy ([[Parma]], Aosta Valley, [[South Tyrol]]) may pronounce {{IPA|/r/}} as {{IPA|[ʀ]}}, {{IPA|[ʁ]}}, or {{IPA|[ʋ]}}.<ref>{{cite book |last= Canepari |first= Luciano |title= Il MªPI – Manuale di pronuncia italiana |edition= second |date=January 1999 |publisher= [[Zanichelli]] |location= [[Bologna]] |isbn= 978-88-08-24624-0}}</ref>

Of special interest to the linguistic study of [[Regional Italian]] is the ''[[gorgia toscana]]'', or "Tuscan throat", the weakening or [[lenition]] of [[:wiktionary:intervocalic|intervocalic]] {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, and {{IPA|/k/}} in the [[Tuscan language]].

The [[voiced postalveolar fricative]] {{IPA|/ʒ/}} is present as a phoneme only in loanwords: for example, ''garage'' {{IPA|[ɡaˈraːʒ]}}. Phonetic {{IPA|[ʒ]}} is common in central and southern Italy as an intervocalic allophone of {{IPA|/dʒ/}}: ''gente'' {{IPA|[ˈdʒɛnte]}} 'people' but ''la gente'' {{IPA|[laˈʒɛnte]}} 'the people', ''ragione'' {{IPA|[raˈʒoːne]}} 'reason'.

== Grammar ==
{{Main|Italian grammar}}
{{See also|Italian verbs}}
Italian [[grammar]] is typical of the grammar of [[Romance languages]] in general. [[Grammatical case|Cases]] exist for personal pronouns ([[nominative]], [[Oblique case|oblique]], [[accusative]], [[dative]]), but not for nouns.

There are two basic classes of nouns in Italian, referred to as [[Grammatical gender|genders]], masculine and feminine. Gender may be [[Natural gender|natural]] (''ragazzo'' 'boy', ''ragazza'' 'girl') or simply grammatical with no possible reference to biological gender (masculine ''costo'' 'cost', feminine ''costa'' 'coast'). Masculine nouns typically end in ''-o'' (''ragazzo'' 'boy'), with plural marked by ''-i'' (''ragazzi'' 'boys'), and feminine nouns typically end in ''-a'', with plural marked by ''-e'' (''ragazza'' 'girl', ''ragazze'' 'girls'). For a group composed of boys and girls, ''ragazzi'' is the plural, suggesting that ''-i'' is a general neutral plural. A third category of nouns is [[Marker (linguistics)|unmarked]] for gender, ending in ''-e'' in the singular and ''-i'' in the plural: ''legge'' 'law, f. sg.', ''leggi'' 'laws, f. pl.'; ''fiume'' 'river, m. sg.', ''fiumi'' 'rivers, m. pl.', thus assignment of gender is arbitrary in terms of form, enough so that terms may be identical but of distinct genders: ''fine'' meaning 'aim', 'purpose' is masculine, while ''fine'' meaning 'end, ending' (e.g. of a movie) is feminine, and both are ''fini'' in the plural, a clear instance of ''-i'' as a non-gendered default plural marker. These nouns often, but not always, denote [[Animacy|inanimates]]. There are a number of nouns that have a masculine singular and a feminine plural, most commonly of the pattern m. sg. ''-o'', f. pl. ''-a'' (''miglio'' 'mile, m. sg.', ''miglia'' 'miles, f. pl.'; ''paio'' 'pair, m. sg.', ''paia'' 'pairs, f. pl.'), and thus are sometimes considered neuter (these are usually derived from [[Grammatical gender|neuter]] Latin nouns). An instance of neuter gender also exists in pronouns of the third person singular.{{sfn|Simone|2010}}

Examples:<ref name=":6" />
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Definition
!Gender
!Singular Form
!Plural Form
|-
|Son
|Masculine
|Figlio
|Figli
|-
|House
|Feminine
|Casa
|Case
|-
|Love
|Masculine
|Amore
|Amori
|-
|Art
|Feminine
|Arte
|Arti
|}
Nouns, adjectives, and articles [[inflect]] for gender and number (singular and plural).

Like in English, common nouns are capitalized when occurring at the beginning of a sentence. Unlike English, nouns referring to languages (e.g. Italian) and adjectives pertaining to ethnicity are never capitalized, while speakers of languages, or inhabitants of an area (e.g. Italians) used to always be capitalized, but, starting from the 19th century, this convention has been subject to various changes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=etnici, maiuscole negli [prontuario] - Enciclopedia |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/maiuscole-negli-prontuario-etnici_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/ |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Treccani |language=it}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

There are three types of [[adjective]]s: descriptive, invariable and form-changing. Descriptive adjectives are the most common, and their endings change to match the number and gender of the noun they modify. Invariable adjectives are adjectives whose endings do not change. The form-changing adjectives ''buono'' 'good', ''bello'' 'beautiful', ''grande'' 'big', and ''santo'' 'saint/holy' change in form when placed before different types of nouns. Italian has three degrees for comparison of adjectives: positive, comparative, and superlative.<ref name=":5" />

The order of words in the phrase is relatively free compared to most European languages.<ref name="Clivio" /> The position of the verb in the phrase is highly mobile. Word order often has a lesser grammatical function in Italian than in English. Adjectives are sometimes placed before their noun and sometimes after. Subject nouns generally come before the verb. Italian is a [[null-subject language]], so nominative pronouns are usually absent, with subject indicated by verbal [[inflection]]s (e.g. ''amo'' 'I love', ''ama'' '(s)he loves', ''amano'' 'they love'). Noun objects normally come after the verb, as do pronoun objects after imperative verbs, infinitives and gerunds, but otherwise, pronoun objects come before the verb.

There are both indefinite and definite [[Article (grammar)|articles]] in Italian. There are four indefinite articles, selected by the gender of the noun they modify and by the phonological structure of the word that immediately follows the article. ''Uno'' is masculine singular, used before ''z'' ({{IPA|/ts/}} or {{IPA|/dz/}}), ''s+consonant'', ''gn'' ({{IPA|/ɲ/}}), ''pn'' or ''ps'', while masculine singular ''un'' is used before a word beginning with any other sound. The noun ''zio'' 'uncle' selects masculine singular, thus ''uno zio'' 'an uncle' or ''uno zio anziano'' 'an old uncle,' but ''un mio zio'' 'an uncle of mine'. The feminine singular indefinite articles are ''una'', used before any consonant sound, and its abbreviated form, written ''un','' used before vowels: ''una camicia'' 'a shirt', ''una camicia bianca'' 'a white shirt', ''un'altra camicia'' 'a different shirt'. There are seven forms for definite articles, both singular and plural. In the singular: ''lo'', which corresponds to the uses of ''uno''; ''il'', which corresponds to the uses with the consonant of ''un''; ''la,'' which corresponds to the uses of ''una''; ''l','' used for both masculine and feminine singular before vowels. In the plural: ''gli'' is the masculine plural of ''lo and l<nowiki>'</nowiki>''; ''i'' is the plural of ''il''; and ''le'' is the plural of feminine ''la'' and ''l''<nowiki/>'.<ref name=":5" />

There are numerous [[Contraction (grammar)|contractions]] of [[preposition]]s with subsequent [[Article (grammar)|articles]]. There are numerous productive [[suffix]]es for [[Italian diminutive|diminutive]], [[Augmentative#Italian|augmentative]], pejorative, attenuating, etc., which are also used to create [[neologism]]s.

There are 27 pronouns, grouped in [[clitic]] and tonic pronouns. Personal pronouns are separated into three groups: subject, object (which takes the place of both direct and indirect objects), and reflexive. Second-person subject pronouns have both a polite and a familiar form. These two different types of addresses are very important in Italian social distinctions. All object pronouns have two forms: stressed and unstressed (clitics). Unstressed object pronouns are much more frequently used, and come before a verb conjugated for subject-verb (''la vedi'': 'you see her'), after (in writing, attached to) non-conjugated verbs (''vedendola'': 'seeing her'). Stressed object pronouns come after the verb, and are used when the emphasis is required, for contrast, or to avoid ambiguity (''vedo lui, ma non lei'': 'I see him, but not her'). Aside from personal pronouns, Italian also has demonstrative, interrogative, possessive, and relative pronouns. There are two types of demonstrative pronouns: relatively near (this) and relatively far (that); there exists a third type of demonstrative denoting vicinity only to the listener, but it has fallen out of use. Demonstratives in Italian are repeated before each noun, unlike in English.<ref name=":5" />

There are three regular sets of verbal [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugations]], and various verbs are irregularly conjugated. Within each of these sets of conjugations, there are four simple (one-word) verbal conjugations by person/number in the [[indicative mood]] ([[present tense]]; [[past tense]] with [[imperfective aspect]], past tense with [[perfective aspect]], and [[future tense]]), two simple conjugations in the [[subjunctive mood]] (present tense and past tense), one simple conjugation in the [[conditional mood]], and one simple conjugation in the [[imperative mood]]. Corresponding to each of the simple conjugations, there is a compound conjugation involving a simple conjugation of "to be" or "to have" followed by a [[past participle]]. "To have" is used to form compound conjugation when the verb is transitive (''ha detto, ha fatto'': 'he/she has said, he/she has made/done'), while "to be" is used in the case of verbs of motion and some other intransitive verbs (''è andato, è stato'': 'he has gone, he has been'). "To be" may be used with transitive verbs, but in such a case it makes the verb passive (''è detto, è fatto'': 'it is said, it is made/done'). This rule is not absolute, and some exceptions do exist.

== Words ==

=== Conversation ===
Note: the plural form of verbs could also be used as an extremely formal (for example to [[Nobility|noble]] people in monarchies) singular form (see [[royal we]]).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English ({{Lang|it|inglese}}) || Italian ({{Lang|it|italiano}}) || Pronunciation
|-
| Yes || {{Lang|it|Sì}} || ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/It-s%C3%AC.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/ˈsi/}}
|-
| No || {{Lang|it|No}} || ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/It-no.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/ˈnɔ/}}
|-
| Of course! || {{Lang|it|Certo!}} / {{Lang|it|Certamente!}} / {{Lang|it|Naturalmente!}} || {{IPA|/ˈtʃɛrto/}} {{IPA|/ˌtʃertaˈmente/}} {{IPA|/naturalˈmente/}}
|-
| Hello! || {{Lang|it|[[Ciao]]!}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|Salve!}} (semi-formal) || {{IPA|/ˈtʃao/}}
|-
| Cheers! || {{Lang|it|Salute!}} || {{IPA|/saˈlute/}}
|-
| How are you? || {{Lang|it|Come stai?}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|Come sta?}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|Come state?}} (plural) / {{Lang|it|Come va?}} (general, informal) || {{IPA|/ˌkomeˈstai/}}; {{IPA|/ˌkomeˈsta/}} {{IPA|/ˌkome ˈstate/}} {{IPA|/ˌkome va/}}
|-
| Good morning! || {{Lang|it|Buongiorno!}} (= Good day!) || {{IPA|/ˌbwɔnˈdʒorno/}}
|-
| Good evening! || {{Lang|it|Buonasera!}} || {{IPA|/ˌbwɔnaˈsera/}}
|-
| Good night! || {{Lang|it|Buonanotte!}} (for a good night sleeping) / {{Lang|it|Buona serata!}} (for a good night awake) || {{IPA|/ˌbwɔnaˈnɔtte/}} {{IPA|/ˌbwɔna seˈrata/}}
|-
| Have a nice day! || {{Lang|it|Buona giornata!}} (formal) || {{IPA|/ˌbwɔna dʒorˈnata/}}
|-
| Enjoy the meal! || {{Lang|it|Buon appetito!}} || {{IPA|/ˌbwɔn‿appeˈtito/}}
|-
| Goodbye! || {{Lang|it|Arrivederci}} (general) / {{Lang|it|Arrivederla}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|Ciao!}} (informal) || ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/It-arrivederci.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/arriveˈdertʃi/}}
|-
| Good luck! || {{Lang|it|Buona fortuna!}} (general) || {{IPA|/ˌbwɔna forˈtuna/}}
|-
| I love you || {{Lang|it|Ti amo}} (between lovers only) / {{Lang|it|Ti voglio bene}} (in the sense of "I am fond of you", between lovers, friends, relatives etc.) || {{IPA|/ti ˈamo/}}; {{IPA|/ti ˌvɔʎʎo ˈbɛne/}}
|-
| Welcome [to...] || {{Lang|it|Benvenuto/-i}} (for male/males or mixed) {{Lang|it|/ Benvenuta/-e}} (for female/females) [''a / in...''] || {{IPA|/benveˈnuto/}}{{IPA|/benveˈnuti/}}{{IPA|/benveˈnuta/}} {{IPA|/benveˈnute/}}
|-
| Please || {{Lang|it|Per favore}} / {{Lang|it|Per piacere}} / {{Lang|it|Per cortesia}} || ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/It-per_favore.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/per faˈvore/}} {{IPA|/per pjaˈtʃere/}} {{IPA|/per korteˈzia/}}
|-
| Thank you! || {{Lang|it|Grazie!}} (general) / {{Lang|it|Ti ringrazio!}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|La ringrazio!}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|Vi ringrazio!}} (plural) || {{IPA|/ˈɡrattsje/}} {{IPA|/ti rinˈɡrattsjo/}}
|-
| You are welcome! || {{Lang|it|Prego!}} || {{IPA|/ˈprɛɡo/}}
|-
| Excuse me / I am sorry || {{Lang|it|Mi dispiace}} (only "I am sorry") / {{Lang|it|Scusa(mi)}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|Mi scusi}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|Scusatemi}} (plural) / {{Lang|it|Sono desolato}} ("I am sorry", if male) / {{Lang|it|Sono desolata}} ("I am sorry", if female) || {{IPA|/ˈskuzi/}}; {{IPA|/ˈskuza/}}; {{IPA|/mi disˈpjatʃe/}}
|-
| Who? || {{Lang|it|Chi?}} || {{IPA|/ki/}}
|-
| What? || {{Lang|it|Che cosa?}} / {{Lang|it|Cosa?}} / {{Lang|it|Che?}} || {{IPA|/kekˈkɔza/}} or {{IPA|/kekˈkɔsa/}} {{IPA|/ˈkɔza/}} or {{IPA|/kɔsa/}} {{IPA|/ˈke/}}
|-
| When? || {{Lang|it|Quando?}} || {{IPA|/ˈkwando/}}
|-
| Where? || {{Lang|it|Dove?}} || {{IPA|/ˈdove/}}
|-
| How? || {{Lang|it|Come?}} || {{IPA|/ˈkome/}}
|-
| Why / Because || {{Lang|it|Perché}} || {{IPA|/perˈke/}}
|-
| Again || {{Lang|it|Di nuovo}} / {{Lang|it|Ancora}} || {{IPA|/di ˈnwɔvo/}}; {{IPA|/anˈkora/}}
|-
| How much? / How many? || {{Lang|it|Quanto?}} / {{Lang|it|Quanta?}} / {{Lang|it|Quanti?}} / {{Lang|it|Quante?}} || {{IPA|/ˈkwanto/}}
|-
| What is your name? || {{Lang|it|Come ti chiami?}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|Qual è il suo nome?}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|Come si chiama?}} (formal) || {{IPA|/ˌkome tiˈkjami/}} {{IPA|/kwal ˈɛ il ˌsu.o ˈnome/}}
|-
| My name is... || {{Lang|it|Mi chiamo...}} || {{IPA|/mi ˈkjamo/}}
|-
| This is... || {{Lang|it|Questo è...}} (masculine) / {{Lang|it|Questa è...}} (feminine) || {{IPA|/ˌkwesto ˈɛ/}} {{IPA|/ˌkwesta ˈɛ/}}
|-
| Yes, I understand. || {{Lang|it|Sì, capisco.}} / {{Lang|it|Ho capito.}} || {{IPA|/si kaˈpisko/}} {{IPA|/ɔkkaˈpito/}}
|-
| I do not understand. || {{Lang|it|Non capisco.}} / {{Lang|it|Non ho capito.}} || ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/It-non_capisco.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/non kaˈpisko/}} {{IPA|/nonˌɔkkaˈpito/}}
|-
| Do you speak English? || {{Lang|it|Parli inglese?}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|Parla inglese?}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|Parlate inglese?}} (plural) || ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/It-parlate_inglese.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/parˌlate inˈɡleːse/}} ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Parla_inglese.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/ˌparla inˈɡlese/}}
|-
| I do not understand Italian. || {{Lang|it|Non capisco l'italiano.}} || {{IPA|/non kaˌpisko litaˈljano/}}
|-
| Help me! || {{Lang|it|Aiutami!}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|Mi aiuti!}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|Aiutatemi!}} (plural) / {{Lang|it|Aiuto!}} (general) || {{IPA|/aˈjutami/}} {{IPA|/ajuˈtatemi/}} {{IPA|/aˈjuto/}}
|-
| You are right/wrong! || {{Lang|it|(Tu) hai ragione/torto!}} (informal) / {{Lang|it|(Lei) ha ragione/torto!}} (formal) / {{Lang|it|(Voi) avete ragione/torto!}} (plural) ||
|-
| What time is it? || {{Lang|it|Che ora è?}} / {{Lang|it|Che ore sono?}} || {{IPA|/ke ˌora ˈɛ/}} {{IPA|/ke ˌore ˈsono/}}
|-
| Where is the bathroom? || {{Lang|it|Dov'è il bagno?}} || ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/It-dov%27%C3%A8_il_bagno.ogg listen]) {{IPA|/doˌvɛ il ˈbaɲɲo/}}
|-
| How much is it? || {{Lang|it|Quanto costa?}} || {{IPA|/ˌkwanto ˈkɔsta/}}
|-
| The bill, please. || {{Lang|it|Il conto, per favore.}} || {{IPA|/il ˌkonto per faˈvore/}}
|-
| The study of Italian sharpens the mind. || {{Lang|it|Lo studio dell'italiano aguzza l'ingegno.}} || {{IPA|/loˈstudjo dellitaˈljano aˈɡuttsa linˈdʒeɲɲo/}}
|-
| Where are you from? || {{Lang|it|Di dove sei?}} (general, informal)/ {{Lang|it|Di dove è?}} (formal) || {{IPA|/di dove ssˈɛi/ /di dove ˈɛ/}}
|-
| I like || {{Lang|it|Mi piace}} (for one object) / {{Lang|it|Mi piacciono}} (for multiple objects) || {{IPA|/mi pjatʃe/ /mi pjattʃono/}}
|}

=== Question words ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Italian<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Italian Grammar, Premium Second Edition|last=Danesi|first=Marcel|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|year=2008|isbn=978-1-259-58772-6|location=New York}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english-italian|title=Collins Italian Dictionary {{!}} Translations, Definitions and Pronunciations|website=www.collinsdictionary.com|language=en-US|access-date=28 July 2017|archive-date=15 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715175922/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english-italian|url-status=live}}</ref>
!IPA
|-
|what (adj.)
|che
|/ke/
|-
|what (standalone)
|cosa
|/ˈkɔza/, /ˈkɔsa/
|-
|who
|chi
|/ki/
|-
|how
|come
|/ˈkome/
|-
|where
|dove
|/ˈdove/
|-
|why, because
|perché
|/perˈke/
|-
|which
|quale
|/ˈkwale/
|-
|when
|quando
|/ˈkwando/
|-
|how much
|quanto
|/ˈkwanto/
|}

=== Time ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Italian<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />
!IPA
|-
|today
|{{Lang|it|oggi}}
|/ˈɔddʒi/
|-
|yesterday
|{{Lang|it|ieri}}
|/ˈjɛri/
|-
|tomorrow
|{{Lang|it|domani}}
|/doˈmani/
|-
|second
|{{Lang|it|secondo}}
|/seˈkondo/
|-
|minute
|{{Lang|it|minuto}}
|/miˈnuto/
|-
|hour
|{{Lang|it|ora}}
|/ˈora/
|-
|day
|{{Lang|it|giorno}}
|/ˈdʒorno/
|-
|week
|{{Lang|it|settimana}}
|/settiˈmana/
|-
|month
|{{Lang|it|mese}}
|/ˈmeze/, /ˈmese/
|-
|year
|{{Lang|it|anno}}
|/ˈanno/
|}

=== Numbers ===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English || Italian || [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
| one || ''uno'' || {{IPA|/ˈuno/}}
|-
| two || ''due'' || {{IPA|/ˈdue/}}
|-
| three || ''tre'' || {{IPA|/ˈtre/}}
|-
| four || ''quattro'' || {{IPA|/ˈkwattro/}}
|-
| five || ''cinque'' || {{IPA|/ˈtʃinkwe/}}
|-
| six || ''sei'' || {{IPA|/ˈsɛi/}}
|-
| seven || ''sette'' || {{IPA|/ˈsɛtte/}}
|-
| eight || ''otto'' || {{IPA|/ˈɔtto/}}
|-
| nine || ''nove'' || {{IPA|/ˈnɔve/}}
|-
| ten || ''dieci'' || {{IPA|/ˈdjɛtʃi/}}
|}

{{col-break}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English || Italian || IPA
|-
| eleven || ''undici'' || {{IPA|/ˈunditʃi/}}
|-
| twelve || ''dodici'' || {{IPA|/ˈdoditʃi/}}
|-
| thirteen || ''tredici'' || {{IPA|/ˈtreditʃi/}}
|-
| fourteen || ''quattordici'' || {{IPA|/kwatˈtorditʃi/}}
|-
| fifteen || ''quindici'' || {{IPA|/ˈkwinditʃi/}}
|-
| sixteen || ''sedici'' || {{IPA|/ˈseditʃi/}}
|-
| seventeen || ''diciassette'' || {{IPA|/ditʃasˈsɛtte/}}
|-
| eighteen || ''diciotto'' || {{IPA|/diˈtʃɔtto/}}
|-
| nineteen || ''diciannove'' || {{IPA|/ditʃanˈnɔve/}}
|-
| twenty || ''venti'' || {{IPA|/ˈventi/}}
|}

{{col-break}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English || Italian || IPA
|-
| twenty-one || ''ventuno'' || {{IPA|/venˈtuno/}}
|-
| twenty-two || ''ventidue'' || {{IPA|/ˌventiˈdue/}}
|-
| twenty-three || ''ventitré'' || {{IPA|/ˌventiˈtre/}}
|-
| twenty-four || ''ventiquattro'' || {{IPA|/ˌventiˈkwattro/}}
|-
| twenty-five || ''venticinque'' || {{IPA|/ˌventiˈtʃinkwe/}}
|-
| twenty-six || ''ventisei'' || {{IPA|/ˌventiˈsɛi/}}
|-
| twenty-seven || ''ventisette'' || {{IPA|/ˌventiˈsɛtte/}}
|-
| twenty-eight || ''ventotto'' || {{IPA|/venˈtɔtto/}}
|-
| twenty-nine || ''ventinove'' || {{IPA|/ˌventiˈnɔve/}}
|-
| thirty || ''trenta'' || {{IPA|/ˈtrenta/}}
|}

{{col-end}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English !! Italian !! IPA
|-
| one hundred || cento || {{IPA|/ˈtʃɛnto/}}
|-
| one thousand || mille || {{IPA|/ˈmille/}}
|-
| two thousand || duemila || {{IPA|/ˌdueˈmila/}}
|-
| two thousand (and) twenty-five (2025) || duemilaventicinque ||{{IPA|/dueˌmilaˈventitʃinkwe/}}
|-
| one million
| un milione
| /miˈljone/
|-
| one billion
| un miliardo
| /miˈljardo/
|-
|one trillion
|mille miliardi
|/ˈmilleˈmiˈljardi/
|}

=== Days of the week ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English || Italian || IPA
|-
| Monday || ''lunedì'' || {{IPA|/luneˈdi/}}
|-
| Tuesday || ''martedì'' || {{IPA|/marteˈdi/}}
|-
| Wednesday || ''mercoledì'' || {{IPA|/ˌmerkoleˈdi/}}
|-
| Thursday || ''giovedì'' || {{IPA|/dʒoveˈdi/}}
|-
| Friday || ''venerdì'' || {{IPA|/venerˈdi/}}
|-
| Saturday || ''sabato'' || {{IPA|/ˈsabato/}}
|-
| Sunday || ''domenica'' || {{IPA|/doˈmenika/}}
|}

=== Months of the year ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English || Italian || IPA
|-
| January || ''gennaio'' || {{IPA|/dʒenˈnajo/}}
|-
| February || ''febbraio'' || {{IPA|/febˈbrajo/}}
|-
| March || ''marzo'' || {{IPA|/ˈmartso/}}
|-
| April || ''aprile'' || {{IPA|/aˈprile/}}
|-
| May || ''maggio'' || {{IPA|/ˈmaddʒo/}}
|-
| June || ''giugno'' || {{IPA|/ˈdʒuɲɲo/}}
|-
| July || ''luglio'' || {{IPA|/ˈluʎʎo/}}
|-
| August || ''agosto'' || {{IPA|/aˈɡosto/}}
|-
| September || ''settembre'' || {{IPA|/setˈtɛmbre/}}
|-
| October || ''ottobre'' || {{IPA|/otˈtobre/}}
|-
| November || ''novembre'' || {{IPA|/noˈvɛmbre/}}
|-
| December || ''dicembre'' || {{IPA|/diˈtʃɛmbre/}}<ref>{{cite web|author1=Kellogg, Michael|title=Dizionario italiano-inglese WordReference|url=http://www.wordreference.com/iten|website=WordReference.com|access-date=7 August 2015|language=it, en|archive-date=7 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807190722/http://www.wordreference.com/iten/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

== Example text ==
[[File:Universal Declaration of Human Rights - ita - dan - Art1.ogg|thumb|Italian pronunciation]]
Article 1 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] in Italian:

: '''''Tutti gli esseri umani nascono liberi ed eguali in dignità e diritti. Essi sono dotati di ragione e di coscienza e devono agire gli uni verso gli altri in spirito di fratellanza.'''''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/udhr/pages/Language.aspx?LangID=ita |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107194140/https://www.ohchr.org/en/udhr/pages/Language.aspx?LangID=ita |archive-date=2022-01-07 |website=ohchr.org}}</ref>

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:

: ''All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731212304/https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights |archive-date=31 July 2021 |access-date=7 January 2022 |website=un.org}}</ref>

[[International Phonetic Alphabet]] transcription:

: [ˈtut.ti‿ʎ.ʎ‿ˈɛs.seri̯‿uˈmaːni ˈnaskono ˈliːberi e.d‿eˈgwaːli̯‿in diɲ.ɲiˈta e‿diˈrit.ti ‖ ˈɛs.si ˈsoːno doˈtaːti di raˈd͡ʒoːn‿e‿di koʃˈʃɛnt͡sa e‿ˈdɛːvono aˈd͡ʒiːre‿ʎ.ʎ‿ˈuːni ˈvɛr.so‿ʎ.ʎ‿ˈaltri̯‿in ˈspiːrito di fratelˈlant͡sa ‖]

== Nobel Prizes for Italian language literature ==
{{Main|List of Italian Nobel laureates}}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ {{sronly|Swiss Nobel laureates}}
|-
! scope="col" | Year 
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Image 
! scope="col" | Laureate 
! scope="col" | Born 
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Died 
! scope="col" | Field 
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Rationale
|-
| [[1906 Nobel Prize in Literature|1906]]
|[[File:Giosuè Carducci2.jpg|frameless|upright=0.4|alt=Portrait of Giosuè Carducci]]
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Giosuè|Carducci}}
|{{date table sorting|27 July 1835}} in [[Valdicastello]]
|{{date table sorting|16 February 1907}} in [[Bologna]]
|[[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]]
|"not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces"<ref>{{cite web | title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1906 | website=NobelPrize.org | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1906/carducci/facts/ | access-date=3 July 2024 | archive-date=5 April 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405024107/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1906/carducci/facts/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[1926 Nobel Prize in Literature|1926]]
|[[File:Grazia Deledda 1926.jpg|frameless|upright=0.4|alt=Portrait of Grazia Deledda]]
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Grazia|Deledda}}
|{{date table sorting|27 September 1871}} in [[Nuoro]]
|{{date table sorting|15 August 1936}} in [[Rome]]
|[[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]]
|"for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on [[Sardinia|her native island]] and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general"<ref>{{cite web | title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1926 | website=NobelPrize.org | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1926/deledda/facts/ | access-date=3 July 2024 | archive-date=10 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810191949/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1926/deledda/facts/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[1934 Nobel Prize in Literature|1934]]
|[[File:Luigi Pirandello 1932.jpg|frameless|upright=0.4|alt=Portrait of Luigi Pirandello]]
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Luigi|Pirandello}}
|{{date table sorting|28 June 1867}} in [[Agrigento]]
|{{date table sorting|10 December 1936}} in [[Rome]]
|[[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]]
|"for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art"<ref>{{cite web | title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1934 | website=NobelPrize.org | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1934/pirandello/facts/ | access-date=3 July 2024 | archive-date=5 April 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405023925/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1934/pirandello/facts/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[1959 Nobel Prize in Literature|1959]]
|[[File:Salvatore Quasimodo 1959.jpg|frameless|upright=0.4|alt=Portrait of Salvatore Quasimodo]]
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Salvatore|Quasimodo}}
|{{date table sorting|20 August 1901}} in [[Modica]]
|{{date table sorting|14 June 1968}} in [[Naples]]
|[[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]]
|"for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times"<ref>{{cite web | title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1959 | website=NobelPrize.org | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1959/quasimodo/facts/ | access-date=7 July 2024 | archive-date=15 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515015611/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1959/quasimodo/facts/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[1975 Nobel Prize in Literature|1975]]
|[[File:Eugenio Montale.jpg|frameless|upright=0.4|alt=Portrait of Eugenio Montale]]
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Eugenio|Montale}}
|{{date table sorting|12 October 1896}} in [[Genoa]]
|{{date table sorting|12 September 1981}} in [[Milan]]
|[[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]]
|"for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions"<ref>{{cite web | title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1975 | website=NobelPrize.org | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1975/montale/facts/ | access-date=7 July 2024 | archive-date=20 September 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920112359/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1975/montale/facts/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[1997 Nobel Prize in Literature|1997]]
|[[File:Dario Fo, Italian playwright.jpg|frameless|upright=0.4|alt=Portrait of Dario Fo]]
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Dario|Fo}}
|{{date table sorting|24 March 1926}} in [[Leggiuno]]-[[Sangiano]]
|{{date table sorting|13 October 2016}} in [[Milan]]
|[[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]]
|"who emulates the [[jester]]s of the [[Middle Ages]] in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden"<ref>{{cite web | title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1997 | website=NobelPrize.org| url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1997/fo/facts/ | access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref>
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Italy|Vatican City|Switzerland|Language}}
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Languages of Italy]] (includes "Italian dialects", {{lang|it|dialetti}})
* [[CELI]]
* [[CILS (Qualification)]]
* [[Italian alphabet]]
* [[Regional Italian]]
* [[Italian exonyms]]
* [[Italian grammar]]
* [[Italian honorifics]]
* [[List of countries and territories where Italian is an official language]]
* [[The Italian Language Foundation]] (in the United States)
* [[Italian language in Brazil]]
* [[Italian language in Croatia]]
* [[Italian language in Slovenia]]
* [[Italian language in the United States]]
* [[Italian language in Venezuela]]
* [[Italian literature]]
* [[Italian music terminology|Italian musical terms]]
* [[Italian phonology]]
* [[Italian profanity]]
* [[Italian Sign Language]]
* [[Italian Studies]]
* [[Italian-language international radio stations]]
* ''[[Lessico etimologico italiano]]''
* [[Sicilian School]]
* [[Veronese Riddle]]
* [[Languages of the Vatican City]]
* [[Talian dialect|Talian]]
* [[List of English words of Italian origin]]
* [[List of Italian musical terms used in English]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation
 |last=Ashby
 |first=Patricia
 |title=Understanding Phonetics
 |year=2011
 |publisher=Routledge
 |series=Understanding Language series
 |isbn=978-0340928271
}}
* {{cite journal
 |last1=Bertinetto
 |first1=Pier Marco
 |last2=Loporcaro
 |first2=Michele
 |year=2005
 |title=The sound pattern of Standard Italian, as compared with the varieties spoken in Florence, Milan and Rome
 |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association
 |volume=35
 |issue=2
 |pages=131–151
 |doi=10.1017/S0025100305002148
 |s2cid=6479830
 |doi-access=free
 }}
* {{citation
 |last=Canepari
 |first=Luciano
 |year=1992
 |title=Il MªPi – Manuale di pronuncia italiana
 |trans-title=Handbook of Italian Pronunciation
 |language=it
 |location=Bologna
 |publisher=Zanichelli
 |isbn=978-88-08-24624-0
}}
* {{cite book |last=Berloco |first=Fabrizio |year=2018 |title=The Big Book of Italian Verbs: 900 Fully Conjugated Verbs in All Tenses. With IPA Transcription, 2nd Edition |publisher=Lengu |isbn=978-8894034813 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYynDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |access-date=5 November 2019 |archive-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427114203/https://books.google.com/books?id=DYynDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book|last=Palermo |first=Massimo |year=2015 |title=Linguistica italiana |publisher=Il Mulino |isbn=978-8815258847 }}
* {{cite book|last=Simone |first=Raffaele |year=2010 |title=Enciclopedia dell'italiano |publisher=Treccani }}
* {{cite journal
 |last=Hall
 |first=Robert A. Jr.
 |year=1944
 |title=Italian phonemes and orthography
 |journal=Italica
 |volume=21
 |issue=2
 |pages=72–82
 |doi=10.2307/475860
 |jstor=475860
 |publisher=American Association of Teachers of Italian
}}
* {{SOWL}}
* {{cite journal
 |last=Prifti
 |first=Elton
 |year=2014
 |title=Enèrgeia in trasformazione: elementi analitici di linguistica migrazionale
 |journal=Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie
 |volume=130
 |issue=1
 |pages=1–22
|doi=10.1515/zrp-2014-0001
 |s2cid=142121342
 }}
* {{Citation
 |last=Recasens
 |first=Daniel
 |year=2013
 |title=On the articulatory classification of (alveolo)palatal consonants
 |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association
 |volume=43
 |issue=1
 |pages=1–22
 |url=http://pagines.uab.cat/danielrecasens/sites/pagines.uab.cat.danielrecasens/files/Alveolopalatals%20JIPA.pdf
 |doi=10.1017/S0025100312000199
 |s2cid=145463946
 |access-date=2019-03-21
 |archive-date=2021-05-06
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506145007/http://pagines.uab.cat/danielrecasens/sites/pagines.uab.cat.danielrecasens/files/Alveolopalatals%20JIPA.pdf
 |url-status=dead
 }}
* {{Cite journal
| doi        = 10.1017/S0025100304001628
| last1       = Rogers
| first1      = Derek
| last2      = d'Arcangeli
| first2     = Luciana
| year       = 2004
| title      = Italian
| journal    = Journal of the International Phonetic Association
| volume     = 34
| issue      = 1
| pages      = 117–121
| doi-access= free
}}
* M. Vitale, ''Studi di Storia della Lingua Italiana'', LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 1992, {{ISBN|88-7916-015-X}}
* S. Morgana, ''Capitoli di Storia Linguistica Italiana'', LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 2003, {{ISBN|88-7916-211-X}}
* J. Kinder, ''CLIC: Cultura e Lingua d'Italia in CD-ROM / Culture and Language of Italy on CD-ROM'', Interlinea, Novara, 2008, {{ISBN|978-88-8212-637-7}}
* {{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/VocabolarioTreccaniDiItaliano | title = Treccani Italian Dictionary | language = it | publisher = it | format = iso | via = [[archive.org]] }} (with a similar list of other Italian-modern languages dictionaries)
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{InterWiki|code=it}}
* [https://accademiadellacrusca.it/ Accademia della Crusca] {{in lang|it}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.gdli.it/|title=Grande dizionario della lingua italiana. Prototipo edizione digitale|author=Salvatore Battaglia|year=1961–2002|publisher=UTET}}
* [https://www.treccani.it/ Treccani] {{in lang|it}}
* [https://dizionario.internazionale.it/ Il Nuovo De Mauro] {{in lang|it}}
* [[:wikiquote:Italian proverbs|Italian proverbs]]
* "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/ Learn Italian]", [[BBC]]
* [[:wikt:Appendix:Italian Swadesh list|Swadesh list in English and Italian]]
* [http://xeno.it/ Xeno Italia]
* [https://omniglot.com/conscripts/italorussian.htm Italorussian (Италоруссо)] at ''Omniglot''

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