Italian is considered
by many to be the most beautiful of the world's languages. As the
transmitter of the great culture of the Renaissance, its influence
on the other languages of Western Europe has been profound.
Besides being spoken in Italy, it is one of the four official
languages of Switzerland, and is also widely spoken in the United
States, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. All told there are about 60
million speakers of Italian.
Italian is one of
the Romance languages, and has remained closer to the original
Latin than any of the others. its dialects, however, vary
tremendously, often to the point where communication becomes a
problem. The literary standard came into being in the 14th
century, largely through Dante's Divine Comedy and the
works of Petrarch and Boccaccio. Since these eminent authors
chiefly used the dialect of Tuscany (especially Florentine),
modern literary Italian is essentially Tuscan. Since 1870 the
dialect of Rome has gained considerable prestige but it has still
failed to eclipse the Florentine standard.
English words of
Italian origin include umbrella, spaghetti, macaroni, broccoli,
balcony, studio, casino, fresco, gusto, volcano, lava, stucco,
gondola, regatta, malaria, bandit, incognito, vendetta, and
inferno. In the field of music there are piano, viola, opera,
sonata, concerto, oratorio, soprano, aria, solo, trio, quartet,
allegro, andante, tempo, libretto, staccato, crescendo, maestro,
and virtuoso.
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