| Italo-Western | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Italian Peninsula,Switzerland,France,Istria,Channel Islands,Iberia |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European |
Early forms | |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | ital1285 |
 | |
Italo-Western is, in some classifications, the largest branch of theRomance languages. It comprises two of the branches of Romance languages:Italo-Dalmatian andWestern Romance. It excludes theSardinian language andEastern Romance.
Based on the criterion ofmutual intelligibility, Dalby lists four languages:Italian (Tuscan),Corsican,Neapolitan–Sicilian-Central Italian, andDalmatian.[1]
TheVenetian language is sometimes added to Italo-Dalmatian when excluded fromGallo-Italic, and then usually grouped with Istriot. However, Venetian is not grouped into the Italo-Dalmatian languages by Ethnologue[2] and Glottolog,[3] unlike Istriot.[4][5]
Italian is an official language inItaly,Switzerland,San Marino,Vatican City and westernIstria (inSlovenia andCroatia). It used to have official status inAlbania,Malta andMonaco, where it is still widely spoken, as well as in formerItalian East Africa andItalian North Africa regions where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by largeexpatriate communities in theAmericas andAustralia. TheItalian language was initially and primarily based onFlorentine: it has been then deeply influenced by almost allregional languages of Italy while its received pronunciation (known asPronuncia Fiorentina Emendata, Amended Florentine Pronunciation) is based on theaccent of theRoman dialect; these are the reasons whyItalian differs significantly fromTuscan and itsFlorentine variety.[7]
Central Italian, or in Italian linguistics "Median Italian", is spoken in the regions ofLazio,Umbria, CentralMarche, and in small parts ofAbruzzo andTuscany. It is mainly split across the Roma-Ancona line, which divides the Central dialects into a Northwestern Perimedian group and a Southeastern Median one.Romanesco, the historical dialect of Rome, has lost most of its Central peculiarities and is not a regular part of Central, as it historically is the product of the implantation of Florentine on Old Romanesco, the ancient Median dialect which was spoken in Rome prior to the 1500s.
TheNeapolitan language, or known in Italian linguistics as the "intermediate southern dialect group", is spoken in: southernMarche; southernmostLazio;Abruzzo;Molise;Campania (includingNaples);Basilicata; and the north of bothApulia andCalabria.
TheJudeo-Italian dialects are varieties of Italian used by Jewish communities, between the 10th and the 20th centuries, inItaly andGreece (Corfu andZakynthos).
Based onmutual intelligibility, Dalby lists a dozen languages:Portuguese,Spanish,Asturian-Leonese,Aragonese,Catalan,Gascon,Provençal,Gallo-Wallon,Piedmontese,Ligurian,Lombard,French,Arpitan (or Franco-Provençal),Romansh, andLadin.[1]
Gallo-Romance includes:
Gallo-Romance can include:
The Oïl languages, Arpitan, Occitano-Romance and Rhaeto-Romance languages are sometimes calledGallo-Rhaetian.