Talian is mainly a Venetian dialect mixed with Italian dialects from theVeneto region as well asLombardy and other Italian regions, influenced by localPortuguese.[10][11][12]
Italian settlers first began arriving into these regions in a wave of immigration lasting from approximately 1875 to 1914.[13][14] These settlers were mainly fromVeneto, a region inNorthern Italy, whereVenetian was spoken, but also fromTrentino andFriuli-Venezia Giulia.[13][14] In the south of Brazil these immigrants settled as smallholders in the region of Encosta da Serra. There they created three settlements: Conde D'Eu (nowGaribaldi), Dona Isabel (nowBento Gonçalves), and Campo dos Bugres (nowCaxias do Sul).[15] As more people arrived, the Italian settlement expanded beyond these localities.[15] Approximately 100,000 immigrants from Northern Italy arrived between 1875 and 1910. As time went by, a uniquely southern Brazilian dialect emerged. Veneto became the basis for Italian-Brazilian regionalism.
Talian has been very much influenced not only by other Italian languages but alsoPortuguese, the national language of Brazil; this can be seen in the employment of numerous non-Venetianloanwords. It has been estimated that there have been 130 books published in Talian, including works of both poetry and prose.[16]
Similar toRiograndenser Hunsrückisch (hunsriqueano riograndense), the mainGerman dialect spoken by southern Brazilians of German origin, Talian has suffered great deprecation since the 1940s. At that time, presidentGetúlio Vargas started the so-calledNationalization Campaign to force non-Portuguese speakers of Brazil to "better integrate" into the national mainstream culture. Speaking Talian or German in public, especially in education and press, was forbidden.[17][18]
Talian has historically been spoken mainly in thesouthern Brazilian states ofRio Grande do Sul,Santa Catarina andParaná, as well as inEspírito Santo.[4][5][6][7][8] Nowadays, there are approximately 3 million people of Italian ancestry in Rio Grande do Sul, about 30% of the local population,[15] and approximately 1.7 million people in Espírito Santo, which accounts for 65% of the local population.[21] According to some estimates, there are up to one million Italian descendants; Ethnologue reported 4,000,000 Italian descendants in the year 2006,[22] but these numbers do not reflect absolutely the number of Talian speakers. During the "Estado Novo" period of the government ofGetúlio Vargas, the use of Talian was declared illegal.[23] As a result of the traumas of Vargas' policies, there is, even to this day, a stigma attached to speaking these languages.
In 2009, the legislative assemblies of the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina approved laws declaring the Talian dialect to be an integral part of the historical heritage of their respective states.[15][24][25] In 2009, the city ofSerafina Corrêa, in Rio Grande do Sul, elected Talian as co-official language, alongsidePortuguese.[26][27] Finally, in 2014 Talian was declared to be part of the cultural heritage of Brazil (Língua e referência cultural brasileira) by theNational Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage.
^Tonial, Honório (26 June 2009)."Subsídios para o reconhecimento do Talian" [Subsidies for the recognition of Talian].Instituto de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Política Linguística (IPOL) (in Portuguese). Archived fromthe original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved21 August 2011.
^Law No. 13.178Archived 2021-04-22 at theWayback Machine, of 10 June 2009. "Declaring the Talian dialect as historical and cultural patrimony of the State, originating from Italians and descendants living in Rio Grande do Sul". DOE No. 109, of 12 June 2009
^Law No. 14.951Archived 2018-09-03 at theWayback Machine, of 11 November 2009. "Declaring the Talian dialect as historical and cultural patrimony of the State, originating from Italians and descendants living in Santa Catarina". DO No. 18.728, of 11 November 2009
^abLei n. 2.729/2025 - Do Município de Anta Gorda / RS, Declara Patrimônio Histórico e Cultural Imaterial do Município de Anta Gorda a cultura do Talian, reconhece o Talian como segunda língua oficial do Município de Anta Gorda/RS e dá outras providências. Repositório Brasileiro de Legislações Linguísticas (RBLL)
^Lei n. 1.534/2025 - Do Município de Gentil / RS, Dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua "Talian" à Língua Portuguesa no Município de Gentil - RS. Repositório Brasileiro de Legislações Linguísticas
^Lei n. 4.727/2025 - Do Município de Guaporé / RS, Institui a cooficialização da língua do "Talian" à Lingua Portuguesa no Município de Guaporé e dá outras providências. Repositório Brasileiro de Legislações Linguísticas
^LEI Nº 1.676/2024, DISPÕE SOBRE A COOFICIALIZAÇÃO DA LÍNGUA ITALIANA E O DIALETO TALIAN, À LÍNGUA PORTUGUESA, NO MUNICÍPIO DE VENDA NOVA DO IMIGRANTE/ES. Prefeitura Municipal de Venda Nova do Imigrante
^Lei n. 3.496/2023 - Do Município de Capinzal, dispõe sobre o reconhecimento da Língua "Talian" e da cultura "Taliana" como Patrimônio Histórico Imaterial do Município de Capinzal - SC. Repositório Brasileiro de Legislações Linguísticas
Portuguese essay, written by Bernardette Soldatelli OliboniA estigmatização como fator determinante dos bloqueios de fala de descendentes de italianos no nordeste do Rio Grande do Sul ("Stigmatization as a determining impeding factor to the language of descendants of Italians in the northeast of Rio Grande do Sul")
