{"id":15638,"date":"2021-09-06T09:09:44","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T07:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waitaly.net\/dialects-italian-language\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T11:47:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T09:47:29","slug":"dialects-italian-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waitaly.net\/en\/dialects-italian-language\/","title":{"rendered":"The Countless Dialects of the Italian Language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In previous articles, we\u2019ve discussed both the Italian language\u2014the official one\u2014and idioms<\/a>. In everyday conversations and informal situations, however, dialects play a very important role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Dialects are not taught in school, and if a foreigner<\/a> studies Italian, they certainly won\u2019t learn any dialect other than the Tuscan one. In fact, the literary Tuscan dialect used in Florence as early as the 13th century by great poets such as Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch is the one that was later established as standard Italian.
Every town, every area, and every village has its own way of speaking, its own local dialect words, and its own cadence and accent, which differ from those of the neighboring village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dialect Categories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although they are quite diverse, Italian dialects can be divided into the following broad categories:
– the northern or Upper Italian dialects;
– the Tuscan and central dialects;
– the southern and extreme southern dialects.
Certain dialects, such as Sardinian, for example, cannot be classified into any category because they are distinct languages that have little in common with Standard Italian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in a dialect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in dialect feels much more natural and instinctive. People usually do it in informal situations\u2014with family or among friends. It\u2019s like when you come home, take off your dress shoes or high heels, slip into a pair of comfortable slippers, and finally feel at ease.
Perhaps this is why many authors, such as Trilussa, or singer-songwriters like Pino Daniele, Fabrizio De Andr\u00e9, and Franco Battiato, have written works in dialect. Perhaps they felt freer and were able to convey their emotions more accurately.
For tourists<\/a> or foreign residents<\/a> coming to Italy, it might be a bit difficult to get used to living in a place where dialects are widely spoken, because they often differ greatly from the language they studied in school. It\u2019s easy to get used to it, though\u2014in fact, adapting to the local environment comes very naturally, and you feel more integrated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In previous articles, we\u2019ve discussed both the Italian language\u2014the official one\u2014and idioms. In everyday conversations and informal situations, however, dialects play a very important role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-italian"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Countless Dialects of the Italian Language - WAI Association Italy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dialects are a very important part of Italian culture. 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