Italian language

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This article is about the Italian language. For the regional varieties of
standard Italian, see Regional Italian.
"Italiano" redirects here. For other uses, see Italiano (disambiguation).

Italian
italiano, lingua italiana
Pronunciation [itaˈljaːno]
Native to Italy, Ticino and Italian Grisons
(Switzerland), San Marino,
Vatican City, Slovene Istria
(Slovenia), Istria County
(Croatia)
Region Italy, Ticino and Italian
Grisons, Slovenian Littoral,
Western Istria
Ethnicity Italians
Native speakers 67 million native speakers in
the European Union (2020)[1]
[2]
L2 speakers in the European
Union: 13.4 million
c. 85 million total speakers
Language family Indo-European
• Italic
◦ Romance
▪ Italo-
Western
▪
Italo
-Dal
mati
an
▪

I
t
a
l
i
 the European Union (2020)[1]
[2]
L2 speakers in the European
Union: 13.4 million
c. 85 million total speakers
Language family Indo-European
• Italic
◦ Romance
▪ Italo-
Western
▪
Italo
-Dal
mati
an
▪

I
t
a
l
i
a
n
Early forms Old Latin
• Classical Latin
◦ Vulgar Latin
▪ Tuscan
▪
Flor
enti
ne
Dialects Tuscan dialects, Central
italian dialects, various
forms of regional Italian
Writing system Latin (Italian alphabet)
Italian Braille
Signed forms Italiano segnato "(Signed
Italian)"[3]
italiano segnato esatto
"(Signed Exact Italian)"[4]
Official status
Official language in hide
4 countries

 Italy

 San Marino

  Switzerland

  Vatican City
Signed forms Italiano segnato "(Signed
Italian)"[3]
italiano segnato esatto
"(Signed Exact Italian)"[4]
Official status
Official language in hide
4 countries

 Italy

 San Marino

  Switzerland

  Vatican City

hide
2 regions

Slovene Istria
(Slovenia)

 Istria County
(Croatia)

show
An order and various
organisations
Recognised
minority  Croatia
language in
 Slovenia
Regulated by Accademia della Crusca (de
facto)
Language codes
ISO 639-1 it
ISO 639-2 ita
ISO 639-3 ita
Glottolog ital1282
Linguasphere 51-AAA-q

  Official language
  Former co-official language
  Presence of Italian-speaking communities
ISO 639-2 ita
ISO 639-3 ita
Glottolog ital1282
Linguasphere 51-AAA-q

  Official language
  Former co-official language
  Presence of Italian-speaking communities
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols.
Without proper rendering support, you may see
question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of
Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on
IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

This article is part of the series on

the
Italian language
Italo-Dalmatian languages
Judeo-Italian languages
Tuscan (Florentine)
Regional Italian
Accademia della Crusca
Enciclopedia Treccani
History
Veronese Riddle
Placiti Cassinesi
Sicilian School
Dolce Stil Novo
The Divine Comedy
Pontifical Academy of
Arcadia
Italian Purism
The Last Letters of Jacopo
Ortis
The Betrothed
Literature and other
Culture
Literature
Music
Philosophy
Poetry
Comics
Italophilia
 Italian Purism
The Last Letters of Jacopo
Ortis
The Betrothed
Literature and other
Culture
Literature
Music
Philosophy
Poetry
Comics
Italophilia
Grammar
Verb conjugation
Alphabet
Orthography
Braille
Phonology
Syntactic gemination
Tuscan gorgia
vte

Italian (italiano [itaˈljaːno] ( listen) or lingua italiana [ˈliŋɡwa itaˈljaːna]) is a

Romance language of the Indo-European language family. Italian descends
from the vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Taking into account both
national and regional languages, it is seen that Italian and Sardinian are
together the least differentiated from Latin.[6] Italian is an official language
in Italy, Switzerland (Ticino and the Grisons), San Marino, and Vatican City.
It has an official minority status in western Istria (Croatia and Slovenia).
It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro
(Kotor), Greece (Ionian Islands and Dodecanese), and is generally
understood in Corsica by Corsican speakers (many linguists classify
Corsican as an Italian dialect). It used to be an official language in the
former colonial areas of Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it
still has a significant role in various sectors.
Italian is also spoken by large immigrant and expatriate communities in the
Americas and Australia.[7] Italian is included under the languages covered
by the European Charter for Regional or Minority languages in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and in Romania, although Italian is neither a co-official nor a
protected language in these countries.[8][9] Many speakers of Italian are
native bilinguals of both Italian (either in its standard form or regional
varieties) and another regional language of Italy.[10]
Italian is a major European language, 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 second most widely
spoken native language in the European Union with 67 million speakers
(15% of the EU population) and it is spoken as a second language by 13.4
million EU citizens (3%).[1][2] Including Italian speakers in non-EU
European countries (such as Switzerland, Albania and the United Kingdom)
and on other continents, the total number of speakers is approximately 85
million.[11] Italian is the main working language of the Holy See, serving as
the lingua franca (common language) in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as
well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian
is known as the language of music because of its use in musical
terminology and opera; numerous Italian words referring to music have
become international terms taken into various languages worldwide.[12] Its
influence is also widespread in the arts and in the food and luxury goods
markets.