Most regions in Italy have their own accent, dialect, and sometimes their own language. The various languages and dialects spoken in Italy evolved over centuries and remained distinct from standard Italian for a variety of reasons. Here are some statistics relating to the Italian language.
How Many Italian Speakers Are There?
Italian is classified as an Indo-European language. According to Ethnologue: Languages of Italy there are 55,000,000 speakers of Italian in Italy. These include individuals who are bilingual in Italian and regional varieties as well as those for whom Italian is a second language. There are an additional 6,500,000 speakers of Italian in other countries.
Where is Italian Spoken?
Besides Italy, Italian is spoken in 30 other countries, including:
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Germany, Israel, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Paraguay, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Vatican State.
Italian is also recognized as an official language in Croatia, San Marino, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
What Are the Major Dialects of Italian?
There are dialects of Italian (regional varieties) and there are dialects of Italy (distinct local languages). To further muddy the Tiber, the phrase dialetti italiani is often used to describe both phenomena. The major dialects (regional varieties) of Italian include: toscano, abruzzese, pugliese, umbro, laziale, marchigiano centrale, cicolano-reatino-aquilano, and molisano.
What Other Languages Are Spoken in Italy?
There are several distinct local languages in Italy, including emiliano-romagnolo (emiliano, emilian, sammarinese), friulano (alternate names include furlan, frioulan, frioulian, priulian), ligure (lìguru), lombardo, napoletano (nnapulitano), piemontese (piemontéis), sardarese (a language of Central Sardinian also known as sard or logudorese), sardu (a language of Southern Sardinian also known as campidanese or campidese), siciliano (sicilianu), and veneto (venet).
