Obviously, unlike what is usually meant by the term "conlang," Standard German has a long historical and literary tradition.
However, when I look for information on its earliest history, unlike the Tuscan dialect that formed the basis for Standard Italian, I can't seem to find any organic regional German dialect mentioned as the basis of Standard German. Was its formation more "artificial" than that of Standard Italian?
Put another way, did it come about as a fairly balanced compromise among all the different West Germanic (or only High German) dialects spoken in what's now Germany, without favoring one dialect in particular?
It is well known that Italy was not unified until the 1860s/1870s and was a land of many dialects. In a Wikipedia article on the history of the language they state that in 1970 only 20%of Italians spoke fluent "Italian" in their day to day life, even though the Tuscan dialect was declared the official Italian language at the time of unification in 1861. Granted that the three greatest poets of Italy (Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch) were Tuscan, how did it come to be that the Tuscan dialect of Italian came to be accepted as the official version of Italian? The movers and shakers of the rebellion in the 1860s were not Tuscan and one might think that they would have supported their own regional dialect to be the official version.
For that matter, is there any free resource for me to read upon Italian dialects?
Hi,
Instead of learning standard italian, I decided to begin with a dialect. I have chosen Tuscan in its florentine variation, because I like how it sounds and it is relatively easy to understand for an Italian speaker. But I can't find any good resource on the net. Does anyone know a good website, radio channel, podcast or course of Tuscan?
So I've seen a bunch of comments by now questioning whether or not Uncle Nino presents himself genuinely and generally just challenging his authenticity as a real Sicilian/Italian, so I wanted to share some information regarding a few common points of confusion surrounding him. I've seen a lot of people allude to signs indicating his ostensible fraudulence and I think I might be able to help clear up some these very common (and completely understandable) misconceptions that people who haven't been exposed to these specific and sometimes pretty niche pieces of information would have no reason to already know.
- Vinny saying that Uncle Nino (in addition to not really speaking English) "doesn't really speak Italian either."
-This seems to me to likely be the result of the general confusion surrounding Standard Italian and the majority of regional "dialects" that even today still plagues most of the world including the people of Italy. If Uncle Nino is around 60-70 years old as he seems to be (which makes sense considering he came to the US at 15, and there was a sizeable wave of migration from Sicily to the Tri-State Area during the 1960s and early 70s), odds are low he went to school (primary education wasn't compulsory in Italy until the 1970s and few Southerners, especially rural folk ever went before then), which means his odds of knowing Standard Italian are pretty low, especially if they didn't have a TV (which was the primary way Standard Italian was learned by the majority of Italian citizens, beginning in the 1950s but not fully realized until the 1970s).
Based on the time and place he was raised, Nino likely grew up speaking Sicilian, a Romance language that is distinct from and not mutually intelligible with Standard Italian (aka the Medieval Tuscan language that was chosen as the Kingdom of Italy's lingua franca in the 1860s for practical and political reasons, and that at the time could only be spoken or understood by about 10% of the new nation's populace), and one that developed from Vulgar Latin over time with influence from many other languages (for more detail: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_language).
However despite Sicilian being older than Standard Italian (like nearly all of the regional languages throughout Italy that are referred to colloquially as "dialetti"), for many years the Italian government has propagated the mistruth that all regional languages are simply basterdized forms of Standard Italian that are crude/i
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Loud chatter filled the Chamber of Deputies as Prime Minister La Màrmora entered through a side door, removing his top hat to begin the snaking journey through the large crowd of parliamentarians. As was often the case, La Màrmora could not help but be struck by the diversity of accents that now filled the chamber. Tuscan, Emilian, Lombardian, Sicilian and Napolitan dialects which often verged on the point of unintelligibility were now as commonplace as his native Piedmontese. La Màrmora chuckled to himself as he made his way up to the address box. From Turin to Palermo, nearly all of the Italian nation was represented in a single room. In spite of the thick Sicilian accents which echoed throughout the room, La Màrmora’s was immensely proud of Italy’s unification. Clearing his throat as he reached the address box, he began what many would come to call a historic speech…
Honourable gentlemen…
##Binding the North and South - the ‘Counterpart’ Contract (Contratto di Controparte):
In the speech that followed, La Màrmora presented his plan for the administrative and socioeconomic marriage of the industrialised north to the underdeveloped south. His plan centers on a ‘contratto di controparte’, in which the wealth of the north is used to develop the south, enabling the south to join the north in repaying Italy’s debts (thereby building the wealth of the nation as a whole). According to La Màrmora, the national undertaking will not only help to balance the state budget in the medium term, but also to create a strong and unified Italy which can rely on both a southern and a northern industrial heartland in the long term.
The initial stages of the contratto place an emphasis on improving governance in the south through the expansion of law and order services and the standardisation of bureaucratic and legal standards. Future stages will then see innovations in the health, education, infrastructure and industrial domains.
At an ideological level, the contratto represents an interesting doctrinal shift for the ruling right faction. Traditionally supporters of austerity and high taxation as a means of balancing the budget (with a sub-faction of conservative southern landowners rejecting the implementation of taxes to pay for northern debts), the right would normally avoid policies which involve deficit spending. Through tactfu
... keep reading on reddit ➡So biblical Hebrew was spoken in the BC era, and afterwards used as a written language until it was revived as a widely spoken language from the 19th century onwards.
Similarly, the medieval Florentine dialect of Tuscan was spoken in the 13th century, and afterwards used as a written language (standard Italian) until it was revived as widely spoken language from the 19th century onwards.
So is it fair to say standard Italian is a revived historical language like Hebrew - which would explain why it is so much closer to Latin than most Romance languages?
[asked this in the small questions thread but I thought it's more than a yes/no question so would be worth a main thread]
At what point did Sicilianu acquire a written form? I am aware of Siculo-Arabic written in the Arabic Script (and it's surviving descendant, Maltese, in Latin) and I've seen references to (but no actually images/translations/reproductions of) Sicilianu written using the Etruscan script, but is there anything earlier - or better documented?
The funeral director was asking us what we think Mum should wear in her casket.
Mum always loved to wear sarongs (fabric wraps that go around the torso and drape downward a bit like a long skirt would), so my uncle suggested that she wear a sarong in there.
The funeral director looked a bit confused, as did some of our family members, to which my uncle added:
"What's sarong with that?"
I started laughing like an idiot. He was proud of it too. The funeral director was rather shocked. We assured her, and our more proper relatives, that Mum would've absolutely loved the joke (which is very true).
His delivery was perfect. I'll never forget the risk he took. We sometimes recall the moment as a way help cushion the blows of the grieving process.
--Edit-- I appreciate the condolences. I'm doing well and the worst is behind me and my family. But thanks :)
--Edit-- Massive thanks for all the awards and kind words. And the puns! Love 'em.
I would have a daughter
But Bill kept the Windows
This question gets asked about English alot on this sub and I was curious if it similarly applies to my own language of Italian. Now I am aware of the thousands of dialects too, which my true native language is Sardinian, but I assume the dialects are going to come into the context of this question as well. I've read Dante and understand it pretty well. I can read Latin somewhat ok too as it seems very familiar to Sardinian.
True story; it even happened last night. My 5-year-old son walks up behind me and out of the blue says, "hey."
I turn to him and say, "yeah, kiddo? What's up?"
He responds, "it's dead grass."
I'm really confused and trying to figure out what's wrong and what he wants from me. "What? There's dead grass? What's wrong with that?"
.
.
.
He says, totally straight-faced, "hay is dead grass," and runs off.
And then you will all be sorry.
Now it’s syncing.
He replied, "Well, stop going to those places then!"
I will find you. You have my Word.
She said how do you know he was headed to work?
“thank you for your cervix.”
Made me smile
Mods said I'm a cereal reposter...
But now I stand corrected.
Wait. Sorry, wrong sub.
Wookie mistake.
Theoretical Fizz-ics
Because you can’t ‘C’ in the dark
It seems to me that Italy, having been united by the incentive of a kingdom (Piedmont-Sardinia), and being previously comprised of multiple duchies, city-states, republics, and even another kingdom (Two Sicilies), was politically and culturally diverse enough to be considered an Empire.
On top of that, there doesn't seem to have been a true "Italian" language for quite some time after the unification, with local dialects (Tuscan, Venetian, Neapolitan, etc.) being used instead. This was probably due to Italian history of political fragmentation, which would further fortify the idea of different peoples being united under a common, although vaguer, Italian banner and therefore make a compelling case for the declaration of a greater Italian Empire. I feel like the existence of an Italian Emperor would have made sense - like with what happened in Germany, where the Kaiser was also the King of Prussia, one of the various constituent states that had previously been independent.
Why was it, then, that in 1861, or even after the capture of Rome, the already King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia didn't declare himself Emperor of Italy while keeping the title of King of Sardinia?
I said, “That makes two of us.”
