| Gallo-Italic | |
|---|---|
| Gallo-Italian Gallo-Cisalpine Cisalpine | |
| Geographic distribution | Italy,San Marino,Switzerland,Monaco,France |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | gall1279 |
 Geographic distribution of undisputed Gallo-Italic varieties | |
TheGallo-Italic,Gallo-Italian,Gallo-Cisalpine or simplyCisalpine languages constitute the majority of theRomance languagesof northern Italy:Piedmontese,Lombard,Emilian,Ligurian, andRomagnol.[3] In central Italy they are spoken in the northernMarches (Gallo-Italic of the Marches);[4] in southern Italy in somelanguage islands inBasilicata (Gallo-Italic of Basilicata) andSicily (Gallo-Italic of Sicily).[5]
Although most publications defineVenetian as part of theItalo-Dalmatian branch, bothEthnologue andGlottolog group it into the Gallo-Italic languages.[6][7]
The languages are spoken also in thedepartement of Alpes-Maritimes inFrance and inTicino and southernGrisons, both inSwitzerland, and themicrostates ofMonaco andSan Marino. They are still spoken to some extent by theItalian diaspora in countries with Italian immigrant communities.
Having aCelticsubstratum and aGermanic, mostlyLombardic,superstrate, Gallo-Italian descends from theLatin spoken innorthern part of Italia (formerCisalpine Gaul). The group had for part oflate antiquity and theearly Middle Ages a close linguistic link withGaul andRaetia, west and north to theAlps. From thelate Middle Ages, the group adopted various characteristics of theItalo-Dalmatian languages of the south.
As a result, the Gallo-Italic languages have characteristics of theGallo-Romance languages to the northwest (includingFrench andFranco-Provençal), theOccitano-Romance languages to the west (includingCatalan andOccitan) and the Italo-Dalmatian languages to thenorth-east,central andsouth Italy (Venetian,Dalmatian,Tuscan,Central Italian,Neapolitan,Sicilian). For this there is some debate over the proper grouping of the Gallo-Italic languages. They are sometimes grouped with Gallo-Romance,[8][9][10][11] but other linguists group them in Italo-Dalmatian.[12][13][14][15][16]
Most Gallo-Italic languages have to varying degrees given way in everyday use toregional varieties of Italian.[citation needed] The vast majority of current speakers arediglossic with Italian.
Among the regional languages of Italy, they are the most endangered, since in the main cities of their area (Milan,Turin,Genoa,Bologna) they are mainly used by the elderly.
Within this sub-family, the language with the largest geographic spread isLombard, spoken in the Italian region ofLombardy, in easternPiedmont and westernTrentino. Outside Italy it is widespread in Switzerland in the canton ofTicino, and some southern valleys of the canton of theGrisons.
Piedmontese refers to the languages spoken in the region of Piedmont and the north west corner ofLiguria. Historically, the Piedmontese-speaking area is the plain at the foot of theWestern Alps, and ends at the entrance to thevalleys where Occitan and Franco-Provençal are spoken. In recent centuries, the language has also spread into these valleys, where it is also more widely spoken than these two languages, thus the borders of Piedmontese have reached the western alpswatershed that is the border with France.
The speaking area ofLigurian orGenoese cover the territory of the formerRepublic of Genoa, which included much of nowadays Liguria, and some mountain areas of bordering regions near the Ligurian border, the upper valley ofRoya river nearNice, inCarloforte andCalasetta in SouthernSardinia, andBonifacio inCorsica.
Emilian is spoken in the historical-cultural region ofEmilia, which forms part ofEmilia-Romagna, but also in many areas of the bordering regions, including southern Lombardy, south-eastern Piedmont, around the town ofTortona,province of Massa and Carrara inTuscany andPolesine in Veneto, near thePo delta.WithRomagnol, spoken in the historical region ofRomagna, forms theEmilian-Romagnol linguistic continuum.
Gallo-Piceno (gallo-italic of the Marches orgallico-marchigiano) is spoken in theprovince of Pesaro and Urbino and in the northern part of theprovince of Ancona (the Marches).[4] Once classified as a dialect of Romagnol, now there is a debate about considering it a separated Gallo-Italic language.[17][18]
Varieties of Gallo-Italic languages are also found inSicily,[5] corresponding with the central-eastern parts of the island that received large numbers of immigrants from Northern Italy, calledLombards, during the decades following theNorman conquest of Sicily (around 1080 to 1120). Given the time that has lapsed and the influence from theSicilian language itself, these dialects are best generically described asSouthern Gallo-Italic. The major centres where these dialects can still be heard today includePiazza Armerina,Aidone,Sperlinga,San Fratello,Nicosia, andNovara di Sicilia. Northern Italian dialects did not survive in some towns in theprovince of Catania that developed largeLombard communities during this period, namelyRandazzo,Paternò andBronte. However, the Northern Italian influence in the local varieties of Sicilian are marked. In the case of San Fratello, some linguists suggested that the nowadays dialect hasProvençal as its basis, having been a fort manned by Provençal mercenaries in the early decades of the Norman conquest (bearing in mind that it took the Normans 30 years to conquer the whole of the island).
Other dialects, attested from 13th and 14th century, are also found inBasilicata,[5] more precisely in the province ofPotenza (Tito,Picerno,Pignola andVaglio Basilicata),Trecchina,Rivello,Nemoli andSan Costantino.[19]
Gallo-Italic languages are often said to resemble Western Romance languages like French, Spanish, or Portuguese, and in large part it is due to their phonology.The Gallo-Italic languages differ somewhat in their phonology from one language to another, but the following are the most important characteristics, as contrasted withItalian:[21]
| Numbers | Lombard | Istrian | Emilian | Piedmontese | Venetian | Ligurian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vyŋ / vœna | uŋ / una | oŋ / ona | yŋ / 'yŋa | uŋ / una | yŋ / yna |
| 2 | dy | dui | du / dʌu | dʊi̯/ 'dʊe̯ | due / dɔ | dui / duɛ |
| 3 | tri/tre | tri | tri / trai | trɛi̯ / trɛ | tri / trɛ | trei / trɛ |
| 4 | kwatr | kwatro | kwatr | kwatr | kwatro | kwatrʊ |
| 5 | ʃiŋk | siŋkwe | θeŋk | siŋk | siŋkwe | siŋkwɛ |
| 6 | ses | seje | sis | ses | sie | sei |
| 7 | sɛt | siete | sɛt | sɛt | sɛte | sɛtɛ |
| 8 | vɔt | wɔto | ɔt | œt | ɔto | øtʊ |
| 9 | nœf | nuve | nov | nœw | nove | nøvɛ |
| 10 | des | ʒize | diz | des | dieze | deʒɛ |
| Italian (reference) | (Lei) chiude sempre la finestra prima di cenare. |
| |
| Bergamasque (Eastern Lombard) | (Lé) La sèra sèmper sö ol balcù prima de senà. |
| Brescian (Eastern Lombard) | (Lé) La sèra semper sö la finèstra enacc de senà. |
| Milanese (Western Lombard) | (Lee) la sara semper sü la fenestra inans de zena. |
| Ludesan (Western Lombard) | lé la sarà semper sü la finèstra inans da disnà. |
| Piacentine (Emilian) | Le la sära sëimpar sö/sü la finestra (fnestra) prima da diśnä |
| Bolognese (Emilian) | (Lî) la sèra sänper la fnèstra prémma ed dṡnèr. |
| Cesenate (Romagnol) | (Lî) la ciöd sèmpar la fnèstra prèmma d' z'nèr. |
| Riminese (Romagnol) | (Léa) la ciùd sémpre la fnèstra prèima ad z'né. |
| Pesarese (Gallo-Piceno) | Lìa la chiód sénpre la fnèstra préma d' ć'nè. |
| Fanese (Gallo-Piceno) | Lìa chìud sèmper la fnestra prima d' c'né. |
| Piedmontese | (Chila) a sara sempe la fnestra dnans ëd fé sin-a. |
| Canavese (Piedmontese) | (Chilà) a sera sémper la fnestra doant ëd far sèina. |
| Ligurian | Lê a særa sénpre o barcón primma de çenâ. |
| Tabarchin (Ligurian dialect ofSardinia) | Lé a sère fissu u barcun primma de çenò. |
| Carrarese (transition dialect among Ligurian, Emilian and Tuscan) | Lê al sèr(e)/chiode sènpre la fnestra(paravento) prima de cena. |
| Romansh | Ella clauda/serra adina la fanestra avant ch'ella tschainia. |
| Friulian | Jê e siere simpri il barcon prin di cenâ. |
| Gherdëina Ladin | Ëila stluj for l vier dan cené. |
| Nones (Ladin) | (Ela) la sera semper la fenestra inant zenar. () |
| Solander (Ladin) | La sèra sempro (sèmper) la fenèstra prima (danànt) da cenàr. |
| |
| Venetian | Ła sàra/sèra senpre el balcón vanti senàr/dixnàr. |
| Trentine | Èla la sèra sèmper giò/zo la fenèstra prima de zenà. |
| Istriot (Rovignese) | Gila insiera senpro el balcon preîma da senà. |
| Florentine (Tuscan) | Lei la 'hiude sempre la finestra prima di cenà. |
| Corsican | Ella chjudi sempri a finestra primma di cenà. |
| Sardinian | Issa tancat semper sa ventana in antis de si esser chenada. |
| Neapolitan | Essa abbarrechée sempe 'a fenesta primma ca cene. |
| Salentino | Quiddhra chiude sèmpre a fenéscia prìma cu mancia te sira. |
| Sicilian | Idda chiudi sèmpri la finéstra prìma di manciari a la sira. |
| Perugian | Lia chiud sempre la fnestra prima d' cenè. |
| French | Elle ferme toujours la fenêtre avant de dîner. |
| Romanian | (Ea) închide totdeauna fereastra înainte de a cina. |
| Spanish | Ella siempre cierra la ventana antes de cenar. |
| Latin | (Illa) Claudit semper fenestram antequam cenet. |
