{"id":32678,"date":"2021-10-16T12:44:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-16T10:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/?page_id=32678"},"modified":"2026-10-07T20:43:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:43:38","slug":"the-dialects-of-italy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"The dialects of Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It was only a few decades ago that <strong>Italian<\/strong> became widespread across the peninsula; previously, diverse dialects, specific to certain geographical areas, were often the only language spoken. However, these dialects are still very much alive, and in places are more commonly used than Italian in everyday life.<br \/>\nThus in 2005, 44% of Italians spoke exclusively or mainly Italian, 51% alternated it with a dialect, while only 5% spoke solely in dialect or in another idiom.<\/p>\n<p>The many Italo-Romance dialects can be classified by their common linguistic roots.<br \/>\nThey share a common origin with Latin, but the languages that preceded the Roman era, the substrates, differ from region to region.<\/p>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg\" alt=\"Italian dialects\" width=\"425\" height=\"482\" \/><br \/>\nSecondary languages and groups of dialects spoken in Italy <\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"Style10\">Dialectological classification of the speech varieties of northern Italian<\/h2>\n<p>The northern dialects, also called Northern Italian, form a dialect group in the peninsula.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian<\/strong> (Celtic substrate)\n<ul>\n<li>Piedmontese (Piedmont, Turin)<\/li>\n<li>Lombard (Lombardy, Milan; southern Switzerland, Ticino, Lake Maggiore region)<\/li>\n<li>Ligurian or Genoese (including enclaves in Monaco, in Bonifacio and on the islands of San Pietro and Sant&#8217;Antioco in Sardinia)\n<ul>\n<li>Royasc (including Brigasc), a dialect of the upper Roya, transitional toward Occitan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Emilian-Romagnol (Emilia-Romagna, Bologna, Modena, Parma, Piacenza; northern Marche; San Marino)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Venetian<\/strong> (Venice, Padua, Verona, Trento)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Istrian<\/strong> (Istria in Croatia)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rhaeto-Romance languages<\/strong> :\n<ul>\n<li>Ladin<\/li>\n<li>Friulian<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"Style10\">Central Italy<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tuscan dialects<\/strong> (hypothetical Etruscan substrate)\n<ul>\n<li>Tuscan (Florence, Pisa, Siena), the dialect on which standard Italian is based<\/li>\n<li>Roman (Romanesco, in Rome)<\/li>\n<li>Sassarese (a transitional language with Sardinian) (northwestern Sardinia, distinct from Sardinian and Corsican).<\/li>\n<li>Corsican and its variants belong to this group<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Central-Southern dialects<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Roman (Latium), different from Romanesco, the Tuscan dialect spoken in Rome<\/li>\n<li>Umbrian (Umbria)<\/li>\n<li>Marchigiano (Marche)<\/li>\n<li>Ciociaro<\/li>\n<li>Viterbese<\/li>\n<li>Cicolano-Reatino-Aquilano<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"Style10\">Southern dialects<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>South<\/strong> (Oscan or Messapian substrates):\n<ul>\n<li>Abruzzese (Abruzzo)<\/li>\n<li>Molisan (Molise)<\/li>\n<li>Apulian (northern and central Puglia)<\/li>\n<li>Campanian (Naples, Neapolitan) or Southern<\/li>\n<li>Lucan or Lucanian (Potenza)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Far South<\/strong> (Greek substrate):\n<ul>\n<li>Salentine (southern Puglia)<\/li>\n<li>Calabrian (Calabria)<\/li>\n<li>Sicilian (Sicily), also an Arabic substrate<\/li>\n<li>Tarantino<\/li>\n<li>Pantesco<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"Style10\">Sardinian dialects<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Logudorese\n<ul>\n<li>Logudorese<\/li>\n<li>Campidanese<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Campidanese\n<ul>\n<li>Gallurese<\/li>\n<li>Sassarese<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Statistics on the dialects and languages spoken in the Italian peninsula <\/strong><\/h2>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr bgcolor=\"#FFCC99\">\n<th>Group<\/th>\n<th>Population<\/th>\n<th>Language of origin<\/th>\n<th>Region<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sicilian<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">5,158,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sicilian, Arabic-Turkish and Spanish<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sicily<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sardinian<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">1,348,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sardinian<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sardinia (80.72%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Friulian<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">653,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Friulian<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Friuli Venezia Giulia and part of Veneto<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Tyrolean<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">251,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">German<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Alto Adige (69.15%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Occitan<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">178,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Occitan<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Piedmont in the Cuneo valley (4.76%) and Turin, Liguria in Imperia, Calabria and Guardia Piemontese<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sassarese<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">120,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sassarese<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Province of Sassari (36%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Corsican Gallurese<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">100,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Gallurese<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Province of Olbia-Tempio (64%), Province of Sassari (1.8%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Arberesh<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">98,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Albanian<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Southern Italy, Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Molise, Campania, Basilicata and part of Abruzzo<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Franco-Proven\u00e7al<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">90,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Franco-Proven\u00e7al<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Piedmont in Turin (0.89%), Aosta Valley in Aosta (60%), Puglia in Foggia (0.23%), etc<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Ladin<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">55,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Ladin<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Trentino-Alto Adige in Bolzano (4.19%), in Trento (1.69%), Veneto in Belluno (10%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Slovene<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">50,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Slovene<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Friuli Venezia Giulia in Trieste (9.6%), in Gorizia (8%), in Udine (3%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Catalan<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">26,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Dialect of Alghero<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sardinia in Alghero (60%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">French<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">20,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">French<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Aosta Valley (17.33%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Greek<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">20,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Greek of Italy<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Calabria in Reggio Calabria (0.88%) and Puglia in Salento (1.88%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Bavarian<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">3,100<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">German<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Veneto (Province of Vicenza and Verona) and Trentino (Province of Trento)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Croatian<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">2,600<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Croatian<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Molise (0.79%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Carinthian<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">2,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">German<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Friuli Venezia Giulia in Udine (0.38%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Carnic<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">1,400<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Friulian<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Friuli Venezia Giulia in Belluno (0.66%)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Tyrolean<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">700<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">German<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Veneto, Val Pusteria<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Romaniska<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><span class=\"Style10\">100<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Romaniska<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span class=\"Style10\">Sardinia in Isili (CA)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span class=\"Style7\">Sources: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca\/europe\/italieacc.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca\/europe\/italieacc.htm<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Italian_language\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">en.wikipedia.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was only a few decades ago that Italian became widespread across the peninsula; previously, diverse dialects, specific to certain geographical areas, were often the only language spoken. However, these dialects are still very much alive, and in places are more commonly used than Italian in everyday life. Thus in 2005, 44% of Italians spoke [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":32663,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categorie_page":[173],"region_italie":[],"class_list":["post-32678","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","categorie_page-culture-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The dialects of Italy - Bellitalie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The dialects of Italy - Bellitalie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was only a few decades ago that Italian became widespread across the peninsula; previously, diverse dialects, specific to certain geographical areas, were often the only language spoken. However, these dialects are still very much alive, and in places are more commonly used than Italian in everyday life. Thus in 2005, 44% of Italians spoke [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bellitalie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T18:43:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/\",\"name\":\"The dialects of Italy - Bellitalie\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-16T10:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-07T18:43:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Culture\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/category_page\/culture-2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The dialects of Italy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Bellitalie\",\"description\":\"Regions, cities and heritage of Italy from north to south\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The dialects of Italy - Bellitalie","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The dialects of Italy - Bellitalie","og_description":"It was only a few decades ago that Italian became widespread across the peninsula; previously, diverse dialects, specific to certain geographical areas, were often the only language spoken. However, these dialects are still very much alive, and in places are more commonly used than Italian in everyday life. Thus in 2005, 44% of Italians spoke [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/","og_site_name":"Bellitalie","article_modified_time":"2026-10-07T18:43:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/","name":"The dialects of Italy - Bellitalie","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-16T10:44:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-07T18:43:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/cartes\/dialectes-italiens.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/culture\/the-dialects-of-italy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Culture","item":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/category_page\/culture-2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The dialects of Italy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/","name":"Bellitalie","description":"Regions, cities and heritage of Italy from north to south","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32678"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32680,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32678\/revisions\/32680"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categorie_page","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorie_page?post=32678"},{"taxonomy":"region_italie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellitalie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region_italie?post=32678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}