The Tuscan dialect is a dialect spoken in Tuscany, Italy. It wandered less than the other Italian dialects from Latin language, and evolved linearly and homogenously, without big influences from other foreign languages. Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. ... The Italic subfamily is a member of the Centum branch of the Indo-European language family. ... Romance languages in the world: Blue – French; Green – Spanish; Orange – Portuguese; Yellow – Italian; Red – Romanian The Romance languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, comprise all languages that descended from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Italian population generally indicates as Italian dialects all vernacular idioms spoken in Italy other than Italian and other recognized languages. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

It is the basis dialect for the Italian language, thanks to the masterpieces of Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca and Giovanni Boccaccio, but also thanks to Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini, that made it the "literary language" of the peninsula. Italian ( , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 80 million people, primarily in Italy. ... Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. ... From the c. ... Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (June 16, 1313 – December 21, 1375) was an Italian author and poet, a friend and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist in his own right and author of a number of notable works including On Famous Women, the Decameron and his poems in the vernacular. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Guicciardini Francesco Guicciardini (March 6, 1483 - May 22, 1540) was an Italian historian and statesman. ...

When Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861, a unique national language was needed to communicate among Italian regions, in which people spoke different dialects or languages. With the support of the writer Alessandro Manzoni, the literary version of Tuscan dialect was chosen. 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Alessandro Manzoni Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Manzoni (March 7, 1785–May 22, 1873) was an Italian poet and novelist. ...

Subdialects

The Tuscan dialect is an ensemble with many lesser local dialects, with small differences among them.

The main subdivision is between Northern Tuscan dialects and Southern Tuscan dialects.

The Northern Tuscan dialects are (from east to west):

• the Fiorentino, main dialect of the city of Florence, of Casentino and Mugello, also spoken in Prato and along the river Arno until the city of Fucecchio.
• the Pistoiese, spoken in the city of Pistoia and nearest zones (some linguists think this dialect is not independent from Fiorentino).
• the Pesciatino or Valdinievolese, spoken in Valdinievole valley, in the cities of Pescia and Montecatini Terme (some linguists think this dialect is not independent from Lucchese).
• the Lucchese, spoken in Lucca and nearest hills (named Lucchesia).
• the Viareggino spoken in Viareggio and the whole northern coast (named Versilia)
• the Pisano-Livornese spoken in Pisa and in Livorno and nearest zones along the southern coast until Piombino city.

The Southern Tuscan dialects are (from east to west): Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... The Casentino is the valley in which flows the river Arno in its first tract, till Subbiano. ... Prato is a city in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. ... Arno can refer to: the Arno River in Italy Arno Bay, South Australia the singer Arno Hintjens the American cartoonist Peter Arno the German sculptor Arno Breker Madame Arno, Parisian artist and fighter. ... Fucecchio is a town and comune (township) of the Firenze province in the Italian region of Tuscany, 43°44N 10°48E, at 25 m (82 ft) above sea-level. ... Pistoia (ancient Pistoria) is a city in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km (18 mi) west and north of Florence. ... Pescia is a small city in Tuscany, Italy of Province of Pistoia, at 65 m (213 ft) above sea level. ... Montecatini Terme is a city in Italy of 21. ... Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near (but not on) the Ligurian Sea. ... Viareggio is a town in the province of Lucca situated on the coast of the Ligurian Sea in the north of Tuscany, Italy. ... Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... Livorno, sometimes in English Leghorn, (population 170,000) is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. ... Piombino is a town and commune in the province of Livorno (Tuscany), Italy, on the medium coast of Tyrrhenian sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. ...

• The Aretino-Chianaiolo, spoken in Arezzo and Chiana-valley
• The Senese, spoken in Siena and its province
• The Grossetano spoken in Grosseto and its province

Arezzo (Latin Arretium) is an old city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. ... Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. ... Grosseto is a town and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Grosseto province. ...

Speakers

The speakers talking a Tuscan dialect are about 3,500,000 people, all inhabitants of Tuscany, without the inhabitants of Massa-Carrara province, that speak a not-Tuscan dialect. Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Massa-Carrara (It. ...

Dialectal features

The Tuscan dialect has homogenous features inside itself but all subdialects have some small differences among themselves.

Phonetics

Tuscan gorgia

Main article: Tuscan gorgia

The Tuscan gorgia is a phonetic phenomenon, which characterizes the Tuscan dialects, in Tuscany, Italy, most of all the northern ones. ...

Weakening of G and C

A phonetic phenomenon is the intervocalic weakening of the Italian soft g IPA [ʤ] (g in George) and soft c IPA [ʧ] (ch in church), known as attenuation. IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ...

Between two vowels, the voiced post-alveolar affricate consonant changes to voiced post-alveolar fricative:

This phenomenon is very evident and you can clearly listen to it in the daily speech (also in Umbria): the word la gente, the people, in standard Italian is spoken as /la 'ʤɛnte/ [la 'ʤɛn:te], but in Tuscan dialect is spoken as [la 'ʒɛn:te]. Umbria is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany to the west, the Marche to the east and Lazio to the south. ...

By this way, the voiceless post-alveolar affricate consonant changes to voiceless post-alveolar fricative between two vowels:

The word la cena, the dinner, in standard Italian is spoken as /la 'ʧena/ [la 'ʧe:na], but in Tuscan dialect it is spoken as [la 'ʃe:na].

Affrication of S

A common phonetical phenomenon is the transformation of voiceless s or voiceless alveolar fricative IPA [s] into the voiceless alveolar affricate IPA [ʦ] when preceded by a consonant. The voiceless alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ...

For example, "il sole" (the sun), pronounced in standard Italian /il 'sole/, it will be pronounced by a Tuscan speaker /il 'ʦole/; this changing can be heard also in the mid of the word as in "falso" (false) /'falso/ → /'falʦo/. It is a common phenomenon in Central Italy.

Monothongation of uò

This phenomenon involves the diphthong (rising, stressed, ending) uò (IPA /'^#…wɔ^#/), which comes from a single Latin phoneme ŏ /ɔ/ and which becomes again a monopthong, so: IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ...

Example:

The Latin word bŏnum /'bɔnʊ̃/ (good) becomes in (14th century dialect and so in) standard Italian buono /'bwɔno/, but in modern Tuscan dialect it comes again to be bono /'bɔno/ (Nowadays we know that the reduced form has always existed together with the literary diphtonged form). Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Morphology

Double dative pronoun

A morphological phenomenon, cited also by Alessandro Manzoni in his masterpiece "I promessi sposi" (The Betrothed), is the doubling of the dative pronoun. Alessandro Manzoni Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Manzoni (March 7, 1785–May 22, 1873) was an Italian poet and novelist. ...

For the use of a personal pronoun as indirect object (to someone, to something), also called dative case, the standard Italian makes use of a construction preposition + pronoun a me (to me), or it makes use of a syntethic pronoun form, mi (to me). The Tuscan dialect makes use of both them in the same sentence as a kind of intensifying of the dative/indirect object: The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given. ...

• in Standard Italian: [a me piace] or [mi piace] (I like it)
• in Tuscan: [a me mi piace] (I like it)

This form is widespread thrughout the central regions of Italy, not only in Tuscany, and until a recently, it was considered redundant and erroneous by Italian linguists. Nowadays linguists no longer inveigh against it. More on this issue (in Italian) can be found at article.

In some dialects the double accusative pronoun (me mi vedi (litt: You see me me) can be heard, but it is considered an archaic form and is nolonger current.

Noi + impersonal Si

A morphological phenomenon, spread in the whole Tuscan dialect, is the personal use of the particle impersonal Si (which has not to be confused with passive Si and the reflexive Si), at the first plural person.

It's possible to make use of the construction Si + Third person in singular, which can be joined by the first plural person pronoun Noi, because the particle "si" is no more perceived as an independent particle, but as a piece of verbal conjugation.

• Standard Italian: [Andiamo a mangiare] (We go eating), [Noi andiamo là] (We go there)
• Tuscan: [Si va a mangiare] (We go eating), [Noi si va là] (We go there)

The phenomenon happens in every verbal tense, also in composed tenses. In these tenses, the substitution of noi with si compel the speaker to use the verb essere (to be) as auxiliary verb, even if the verb would require avere (to have) as auxiliary verb. The past participle must agree with the subject in genre and number if the verb usually would require essere as auxiliary, while it does not agree in genre and number if the verb usually require avere as auxiliary.

• Italian: [Siamo andate a sciare], [Abbiamo mangiato al ristorante]
• Tuscan: [S'è andate a sciare], [S'è mangiato al ristorante]

Usually Si becomes S' before è.

"Fare (Facere)" and "Andare"

Another morphological phenomenon in the Tuscan dialect is the shortening of the first singular persons for the present tense of the verbs fare (to do, to make) and andare (to go).

• Fare: faccio → fo (I do, I make)
• Andare: vado → vo (I go)

These shortenings of these verbs are due to the continuous use of these forms in all day speech, and it caused a loss of internal sounds between the first consonant and the personal ending -o, taking as model:

• Latin: sapio → Italian so (I know)

Possessive adjectives

Another morphological phenomenon in Tuscan dialect is the loss of number and gender endings in the 3rd singular persons possessive adjectives in proclitic position:

• mio, mia, miei, mie → mi’, (my)
• tuo, tua, tuoi, tue → tu’, (your singular)
• suo, sua, suoi, sue → su’. (his, her, its)

This loss looks very much like that one which formed the Spanish possessive adjectives (they are identical in the appearance).

Possessive pronouns do not undergo these changing, as the same adjectives if used after a verb or after their substantives (Italian adjectives can follow their nouns):

In Tuscan: la casa è mia (the house is mine), a casa mia (to my house), but la mi’ casa (my house) [Italian possessive adjectives allow the use of defined and undefined articles].

Loss of infinitival "-re"

A phonological phenomenon that might appear morphological, quite naturally native to Tuscany, is the loss of the infinitival ending -re of verbs.

• andàre → andà
• pèrdere → pèrde
• finìre → finì

An important feature of this loss is that main stress does not shift to the new penultimate syllable, as phonological rules of Italian might suggest. Thus infinitive forms can come to coincide with various conjugated singulars: pèrde 'to lose', pèrde 's/he loses'; finì 'to finish', finì 's/he finished'. Distinctions in syntax assure that this homophony seldom, if ever, causes confusion.

The motionless stress can be explained with an intermediate form in -r (as the Spanish verbal infinitive).

This phenomenon does not happen in the zones of Florence and Prato. Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... Prato is a city in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. ...

Syntax

The belief (even amongst ardent linguists) that there are not syntactic differences between the Tuscan dialect and Standard Italian is misguided. It probably stems from the fact that there is no such thing as a 'Tuscan Dialect' and as we see above there are a number of dialects within this Tuscan Dialect. Grossetano (better referred to as Maremmano) has a number of syntactic differences which can be shown by differences between standard and non-standard clitic movement, agreement and verb movement generally, and of course, notoriously the [a me mi].

This is hardly studied and thus patience is asked for, a section on Grossetano (Maremmano) is forthcoming, it will not include dialect phenomena in common which are shared with all the other dialect phenomena (as found on this page) but will highliht syntactic differences in the language.

Lexicon

The biggest differences among dialects are in the lexicon, which also distinguishes the different subdialects. Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The Tuscan lexicon share with standard Italian the almost totality of its words, but has a good number of only regional words.

We show now only the most known Tuscan words in Italy:

• garbare for piacere (to like) (but also piacere is widely used in Tuscany)
• babbo (which was since now considered the only real Italian form) for papà (daddy)
• gota (which is a literary form in standard Italian) for guancia (cheek)
• in some dialects ire for andare (to go) (only some forms as ito (gone))

See also

• Pinocchio is written in Italian but has frequent Florentinisms.

Art by Fritz Kredel (1900-73) The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le Avventure di Pinocchio) is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi. ...

External links

• Atlante lessicale toscano (ALT) - Dialectometry
• The Linguasphere Register