Northern Italian

Map of the languages and dialects of Italy. Dark yellow the Galloital , light green the Venetian .

As Nord Italian ( ital. Italiano settentrionale ) Oberitalienisch (ital. Alto Italiano ) Cis alpinisch (ital. Cisalpino ) or Padanisch (ital. Padano ) in the are Roman linguistics the autochthonous Roman varieties ( dialects or dialects ) of the largest part of Northern Italy denotes which form an area type that is independent from the neighboring varieties , but without having a common standard variety or a common common glottonym (= the name of the language used).

Northern Italian is divided into Gallo-Italian (also Gallo-Italian ; ital. Gallo-italico ), which includes several regional varieties of western and central northern Italy, and Venetian (also Venetian or Venedian ; ital. Veneto ) in the northeast.

classification

The northern Italian varieties occupy a transitional position within the Romance dialect continuum between Gallo-Roman ( French , Franco-Provençal and Occitan ) on the one hand and Italian-Romance in the narrower sense (the varieties of central and southern Italy including the standard Italian language ) on the other.

In their older language development, the northern Italian varieties have more in common with the Gallo-Roman and the Rhaeto-Romanic varieties of the Alps than with the Italo-Romanic in the narrower sense. The bundle of isoglosses of the La Spezia-Rimini line , which runs roughly along the line La Spezia - Rimini across the Apennine peninsula and separates the northern Italian varieties from Tuscan and central Italian, is one of the most important older dividing lines in the phonological and morphological field within the Romance languages . The varieties spoken to the north and west of this line, including northern Italian, are known as Western Romansh , and the varieties spoken to the south and east of this line are known as Eastern Romance . However, other features distinguish northern Italian from both Gallo-Roman and Rhaeto-Romanic, some of which are similarities with Italo-Romansh in the narrower sense, and some of which are independent special developments of northern Italian or individual northern Italian varieties.

Within northern Italian, the Galloital varieties have more in common with Gallo-Roman, especially in the phonological field (common or similar phonetic innovations), while the Venetic here - as well as the Italo-Roman in the narrower sense - is far more conservative.

distribution

The distribution area of the northern Italian varieties extends over the entire Po Valley. It includes most of the Italian regions of Piedmont , Lombardy , Liguria , Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, as well as Trentino , but also parts of north-western Tuscany , the northern part of the Marche and the Friuli-Venezia Giulia coastline . In addition, northern Italian varieties are spoken in Italian-speaking Switzerland and San Marino and in parts of the coastal areas of Istria ( Slovenia and Croatia ). There are also individual linguistic islands on the Côte d'Azur in France , in Monaco as well as on Corsica and off Sardinia .

In the west of Piedmont, the distribution area of the northern Italian varieties borders on the Occitan and the Franco-Provençal .

In the north of Piedmont and in Ticino and Graubünden it has contact with Swiss German ( Valais German ), in Graubünden it also has contact with Romansh . In Trentino-South Tyrol it borders on German ( Bavarian , Cimbrian ), and in Trentino-South Tyrol and Veneto it is also bordered by Ladin . For some dialects in this area it is disputed whether they can be assigned to Ladin or Northern Italian.

In Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the distribution area of the northern Italian varieties borders on the Furlan and Slovenian . The Slovenian coastal strip, it also has contact with the Slovenian and on the Croatian coast to Chakavian and Štokavischen , for Istriotischen and Istrorumänischen .

In a southerly direction, beyond a line La Spezia - Pistoia - Rimini, the Tuscan and the Marchigian, which belongs to central Italian, join.

There is also contact with Corsican and Sardinian via the linguistic islands on Corsica and off Sardinia .

Sociolinguistic status

The northern Italian varieties are considered soziolinguistisch today for the most part by the Italian standard language covered . In some of the larger industrial cities in particular, they have largely been displaced by slang forms of standard Italian, while in other areas they are still spoken by the majority of the population. Numerous northern Italian varieties are also used as written languages with local and, in some cases, regional scope, without, however, calling into question the predominance of the standard Italian language.

Varieties

The northern Italian varieties can be divided into two groups, the Galloital (also Galloitalian , it. Gallo-italico ), which includes several regional varieties of western and central northern Italy, and the Venetian (also Venetian , it. Veneto ) in the northeast.

Galloital

The Galloital includes the following four groups of varieties:

The Piedmontese ( Piemontèis , ital. Piemontese ), spoken in the heartland of Piedmont . Under dialects are Hochpiemontesisch and Niederpiemontesisch .
The Lombard ( lombart or lumbaart , ital. Lombardo ), spoken in most of the Lombardy , eastern Piedmont in the provinces of Novara , Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Alessandria , in the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Graubünden and in the western and central part of Trentino . Subdialects are Westlombardisch , Ostlombardisch , Westtrentinisch , Alpinlombardisch , Novaresisch , Anaunico-Ladinisch ( Nonstal ) Fiamazzo-Ladinisch .
The Ligurian ( líguru , ital. Ligure ), spoken in Liguria , on the French Riviera , in Monaco , as well as in Bonifacio on Corsica and San Pietro and Sant'Antioco, off Sardinia .
The Emilian ( emiglian , ital. Emiliano ), spoken in Emilia-Romagna , in the Lombard provinces of Pavia and Mantua , in Tuscany in the area of the cities of Pontremoli and Carrara ( Lunigiana ), and in the northern part of the province of Florence , in San Marino and in the north of the Marche . Under dialects are Westemilianisch , Ostemilianisch , Vogheresisch-Pavesisch , Mantuan , Lunigianisch , Romagnol , Nordmarchigianisch .

Venetic

The Venetian (also Venetian or Venedian , ven. Vèneto , Italian. Veneto ) is spoken in Veneto , in eastern Trentino and along the coast of Friuli Venezia Giulia , Slovenia and Croatia . Sub-dialects are Lagunar or Venetian (the city dialect of Venice , which for a long time played the role of a Koine ), South Venetian , Central and North Venetian , Veronese , Trieste-Julian , East Trentine , Veneto-Ladin .

literature

Corrado Grassi, Alberto A. Sobrero, Tullio Telmon: Fondamenti di dialettologia italiana . - 1st ed. - Roma [u. a.]: Laterza, 1997. ISBN 88-420-5131-4 . (Manuali Laterza; 82)
Lexicon of Romance Linguistics : (LRL). Edited by Günter Holtus et al. - Vol. 4. Italian, Corsican, Sardinian. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1988. ISBN 3-484-50234-7
Carlo Tagliavini: Introduction to Romance Philology . From d. Ital. transfer by Reinhard Meisterfeld u. Uwe Petersen. 2., verb. Ed., Tübingen [u. a.]: Francke, 1998. ISBN 3-8252-8137-X
Sergio Salvi: La lingua padana ei suoi dialetti , 1999