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The story of the evolution of the Italian language: How long is the history from Latin to today's Italian?
Italian, as a romance language, has a long and deep history. Originating from the spoken Latin of the Roman Empire, Italian is one of the least evolved languages, along with Sardinian. According to statistics in 2024, Italian has approximately 85 million speakers, of which 67 million are native speakers. Italian ranks 21st in the global language rankings, but it has always been ranked fourth or fifth in the cultural and academic fields, which shows its influence and learning craze.
Italian is an official language in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland (Ticino and Grisons), Corsica and the Holy See.
History
Origin
In the Middle Ages, Latin was the written language of Europe, but most people were illiterate and only a few were proficient in the language. The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Italian peninsula speak local dialects that evolved gradually over the centuries from Vulgar Latin and lack formal standards or teaching. Therefore, these dialects are considered sister languages to Italian rather than "dialects" of standard Italian. The standard language of Italian was originally based on the Tuscan dialect and was widely promoted by literature and culture.
Early Vittorio Etymological sources such as the Laws of Cassini, dated 960–963, are considered the earliest written Italian. These documents show how Italian gradually evolved from Latin.
The development of Italian began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century. Tuscan literature, especially the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Boccaccio, provided the basis for the standardization of the Italian language. In this process, Dagite's Divine Comedy had an indelible influence on the approval and standardization of the Italian language.
Renaissance Changes
During the Renaissance, Italian began to be used in the courts of various states, and this period also saw the rapid development of printing technology, which further promoted the widespread use of Italian. The invention of the printing press made books easier to produce, which led to a flourishing of Italian-language literature.
Renaissance scholars had far-reaching discussions on how to establish the modern Italian language, forming the so-called "language problem".
Modern Development
With the conquests and unification during the Napoleonic era, Italian was strengthened as the language of administration and began to gradually replace local dialects. In the 19th century, Manzoni's novel The Promised Fiancée further defined the Italian language. Even so, at the beginning of Italian unification, only about 2.5% of the people could speak standard Italian fluently.
The process of establishing the Italian standard language reflects the integration and influence between local languages and the standard language.
Geographical distribution and current situation
Today, Italian remains a major language in Italy and surrounding areas. As globalization accelerates, the influence of Italian has even extended to immigrant communities in the United States, Canada, and Australia. While the United States has a population of over 17 million people of Italian descent, only slightly more than 1 million actually speak Italian.
Impact on linguisticsAs a romance language, Italian has deep lexical connections to other languages such as French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Many Italian musical terms have become universally used, demonstrating its cultural influence.
Italian is one of the minority languages under the European Charter and is also used in international music exchanges.
In summary, the evolution of Italian is the result of history and cultural integration. The language maintains its ancient roots while constantly accepting new elements and changes. Looking to the future, how will Italian continue to develop in the tide of digitalization and globalization?
