117-571: The Arengo was the name of the assembly that ruled San Marino from the fifth century A.D. to 1243, and of the popular councils which regulated the political life in Northern Italy free comuni in the Middle Ages as well. It was made up of the heads of San Marino 's Great families and had no leader or fixed meeting place. This made San Marino almost unique in the period as a state that had no Head of State . However this form of rule
234-689: A local language of Italy , most frequently the language spoken at home in their place of origin. Italian is a major language in Europe, being one of the official languages of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and one of the working languages of the Council of Europe . It is the third-most-widely spoken native language in the European Union (13% of the EU population) and it
351-400: A stonemason from the then- Roman island of Rab in present-day Croatia. According to legendary accounts, he was born in 275 AD, participated in the rebuilding of Rimini 's city walls after their destruction by Liburnian pirates , and later founded an independent monastic community on Monte Titano in 301 AD; thus, San Marino lays claim to being the oldest extant sovereign state, as well as
468-544: A 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 0.01/10, ranking it last globally out of 172 countries. San Marino has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfa ), with some continental influences. It has warm to hot summers and cool winters, typical of inland areas of the central Italian Peninsula . Precipitation is scattered throughout the year with no real dry month. Snowfalls are common and heavy almost every winter, especially above 400–500 m (1,300–1,600 feet) of elevation. San Marino has
585-513: A hostile view of Sammarinese neutrality, suspecting that San Marino could harbour Austrian spies who could be given access to its new radiotelegraph station. Italy tried to forcibly establish a detachment of Carabinieri in the republic and then cut the republic's telephone lines when it did not acquiesce. Two groups of ten volunteers joined the Italian forces in the fighting on the Italian front ,
702-510: A huge number of civil servants and soldiers recruited from all over the country introduced many more words and idioms from their home languages— ciao is derived from the Venetian word s-cia[v]o ("slave", that is "your servant"), panettone comes from the Lombard word panetton , etc. Only 2.5% of Italy's population could speak the Italian standardized language properly when
819-471: A little over one million people in the United States speak Italian at home. Nevertheless, an Italian language media market does exist in the country. In Canada, Italian is the second most spoken non-official language when varieties of Chinese are not grouped together, with 375,645 claiming Italian as their mother tongue in 2016. Italian immigrants to South America have also brought a presence of
936-589: A monastic community in San Marino dates to the 5th or 6th century AD, when a monk named Eugippus recorded that another monk had lived in a monastery in the area. In 1291, San Marino appealed to the bishop of Arezzo, Ildebrandino Guidi di Romena, against the contribution demands by the Vicario del Montefeltro . Jurist Palamede di Rimini decided in favour of San Marino and recognised its tax exemption from tributes demands of Montefeltro. In 1296, when Guglielmo Durante
1053-531: A patron saint of the republic. The advance of Napoleon 's army in 1797 presented a brief threat to the independence of San Marino, but the country was saved from losing its liberty by one of its regents, Antonio Onofri , who managed to gain the respect and friendship of Napoleon. Due to Onofri's intervention, Napoleon promised, in a letter to Gaspard Monge , scientist and commissary of the French Government for Science and Art, to guarantee and protect
1170-658: A poetic and literary origin in the works of Tuscan writers of the 12th century, and, although the grammar and core lexicon are basically unchanged from those used in Florence in the 13th century, the modern standard of the language was largely shaped by relatively recent events. However, Romance vernacular as language spoken in the Italian Peninsula has a longer history. In fact, the earliest surviving texts that can definitely be called vernacular (as distinct from its predecessor Vulgar Latin) are legal formulae known as
1287-417: A renewed interest in linguistics in the 16th century, sparked a debate that raged throughout Italy concerning the criteria that should govern the establishment of a modern Italian literary and spoken language. This discussion, known as questione della lingua (i.e., the problem of the language ), ran through the Italian culture until the end of the 19th century, often linked to the political debate on achieving
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#17327730470031404-522: A result. Starting in late medieval times in much of Europe and the Mediterranean, Latin was replaced as the primary commercial language by languages of Italy, especially Tuscan and Venetian. These varieties were consolidated during the Renaissance with the strength of Italy and the rise of humanism and the arts . Italy came to enjoy increasing artistic prestige within Europe. A mark of
1521-479: A single language is that they have evolved so that they are no longer mutually intelligible ; this diagnostic is effective if mutual intelligibility is minimal or absent (e.g. in Romance, Romanian and Portuguese), but it fails in cases such as Spanish-Portuguese or Spanish-Italian, as educated native speakers of either pairing can understand each other well if they choose to do so; however, the level of intelligibility
1638-513: A united Italian state. Renaissance scholars divided into three main factions: A fourth faction claimed that the best Italian was the one that the papal court adopted, which was a mixture of the Tuscan and Roman dialects. Eventually, Bembo's ideas prevailed, and the foundation of the Accademia della Crusca in Florence (1582–1583), the official legislative body of the Italian language, led to
1755-427: Is 89% with French, 87% with Catalan , 85% with Sardinian , 82% with Spanish, 80% with Portuguese , 78% with Ladin , 77% with Romanian . Estimates may differ according to sources. One study, analyzing the degree of differentiation of Romance languages in comparison to Latin (comparing phonology , inflection , discourse , syntax , vocabulary , and intonation ), estimated that distance between Italian and Latin
1872-527: Is a landlocked country ; however, its northeastern end is within ten kilometres (six miles) of the Adriatic coast through the Italian city of Rimini . The country's capital city, the City of San Marino , is located atop Monte Titano , while its largest settlement is Dogana , within the municipality of Serravalle . San Marino's official language is Italian . The country derives its name from Saint Marinus ,
1989-415: Is a balance of power. They serve a six-month term. The investiture of the captains regent takes place on 1 April and 1 October in every year. Once this term is over, citizens have three days in which to file complaints about the captains' activities. If they warrant it, judicial proceedings against the ex-head(s) of state can be initiated. The practice of having two heads of state chosen in frequent elections
2106-759: Is also spoken by a minority in Monaco and France, especially in the southeastern part of the country. Italian was the official language in Savoy and in Nice until 1860, when they were both annexed by France under the Treaty of Turin , a development that triggered the " Niçard exodus ", or the emigration of a quarter of the Niçard Italians to Italy, and the Niçard Vespers . Giuseppe Garibaldi complained about
2223-690: Is also spoken by large immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia . Italian is included under the languages covered by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Romania , although Italian is neither a co-official nor a protected language in these countries. Some speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both Italian (either in its standard form or regional varieties ) and
2340-532: Is derived directly from the customs of the Roman Republic . The council is equivalent to the Roman Senate ; the captains regent, to the consuls of ancient Rome . It is thought the inhabitants of the area came together as Roman rule collapsed to form a rudimentary government for their own protection from foreign rule. San Marino is a multi-party democratic republic. A new election law in 2008 raised
2457-534: Is higher than that between Sardinian and Latin. In particular, its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian . As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive. Italian is the official language of Italy and San Marino and is spoken fluently by the majority of the countries' populations. Italian is the third most spoken language in Switzerland (after German and French; see Swiss Italian ), although its use there has moderately declined since
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#17327730470032574-1073: Is led by a Castle Captain ( Italian : Capitano di Castello ) and a Castle Council ( Giunta di Castello ), elected every five years. The nine castelli are the City of San Marino , which is San Marino's capital city, Acquaviva , Borgo Maggiore , Chiesanuova , Domagnano , Faetano , Fiorentino , Montegiardino , and Serravalle . San Marino's 44 curazie are Cà Berlone , Cà Chiavello , Cà Giannino , Cà Melone , Cà Ragni , Cà Rigo , Cailungo (di Sopra and di Sotto), Caladino , Calligaria , Canepa , Capanne , Casole , Castellaro , Cerbaiola , Cinque Vie , Confine , Corianino , Crociale , Dogana , Falciano , Fiorina , Galavotto , Gualdicciolo , La Serra , Lesignano , Molarini , Montalbo , Monte Pulito , Murata , Pianacci , Piandivello , Poggio Casalino , Poggio Chiesanuova , Ponte Mellini , Rovereta , San Giovanni sotto le Penne , Santa Mustiola , Spaccio Giannoni , Teglio , Torraccia , Valdragone (di Sopra and di Sotto), Valgiurata , and Ventoso . San Marino's military forces are among
2691-460: Is markedly lower between Italian-Spanish, and considerably higher between the Iberian sister languages of Portuguese-Spanish. Speakers of this latter pair can communicate with one another with remarkable ease, each speaking to the other in his own native language without slang/jargon. Nevertheless, on the basis of accumulated differences in morphology, syntax, phonology, and to some extent lexicon, it
2808-462: Is not difficult to identify that for the Romance varieties of Italy, the first extant written evidence of languages that can no longer be considered Latin comes from the ninth and tenth centuries C.E. These written sources demonstrate certain vernacular characteristics and sometimes explicitly mention the use of the vernacular in Italy. Full literary manifestations of the vernacular began to surface around
2925-456: Is one of only three countries in the world to be completely surrounded by one other country. The other two are Vatican City , also surrounded by Italy, and Lesotho , surrounded by South Africa. It is the third smallest country in Europe, after Vatican City and Monaco , and the fifth-smallest country in the world. The terrestrial ecoregion of Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests lies within San Marino's territory. The country had
3042-499: Is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita , with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions. The country ranks 44th in the Human Development Index . According to legendary accounts that are first recorded centuries after he is suggested to have lived, Saint Marinus left the island of Rab in present-day Croatia with his lifelong friend Leo, and went to
3159-521: Is part of the Army Militia, and is the ceremonial military band of San Marino. It consists of approximately 60 musicians. The uniform is similar to that of the Army Militia. Military Ensemble music accompanies most state occasions in the republic. Established in 1842, the Gendarmerie of San Marino is a militarised law enforcement agency. Its members are full-time and have responsibility for
3276-594: Is spoken as a second language by 13.4 million EU citizens (3%). Including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries (such as Switzerland, Albania and the United Kingdom ) and on other continents, the total number of speakers is approximately 85 million. Italian is the main working language of the Holy See , serving as the lingua franca (common language) in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as
3393-527: Is the oldest existing representative republic and the European state with the smallest population, apart from Vatican City. It is surrounded by Italy . Located on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains , it is the fifth-smallest country in the world, with a land area of just over 61 km ( 23 + 1 ⁄ 2 sq mi) and a population of 33,642, as of 2023. San Marino
3510-549: Is used, and the town of Chipilo near Puebla, Mexico; each continues to use a derived form of Venetian dating back to the 19th century. Other examples are Cocoliche , an Italian–Spanish pidgin once spoken in Argentina and especially in Buenos Aires , and Lunfardo . The Rioplatense Spanish dialect of Argentina and Uruguay today has thus been heavily influenced by both standard Italian and Italian regional languages as
3627-570: Is vested in both the government and the Grand and General Council . The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. San Marino is considered to have the earliest written governing documents still in effect, as the Statutes of 1600 are still at the core of its constitutional framework. San Marino was originally led by the Arengo , initially formed from the heads of each family. In
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3744-509: The Il Globo (Australia) and the La gazzetta del Sud Africa (South Africa). Italian is widely taught in many schools around the world, but rarely as the first foreign language. In the 21st century, technology also allows for the continual spread of the Italian language, as people have new ways to learn how to speak, read, and write languages at their own pace and at any given time. For example,
3861-991: The La Voce del Popolo ( Croatia ), the Corriere d'Italia (Germany), the L'italoeuropeo (United Kingdom), the Passaparola ( Luxembourg ), the America Oggi (United States), the Corriere Canadese and the Corriere Italiano (Canada), the Il punto d'incontro (Mexico), the L'Italia del Popolo ( Argentina ), the Fanfulla (Brazil), the Gente d'Italia ( Uruguay ), the La Voce d'Italia ( Venezuela ),
3978-592: The Adriatic coast at Rimini. Its hilly topography, with no substantial naturally flat ground, is part of the Apennine mountain range. The highest point in the country, the summit of Monte Titano , is 749 m (2,457 ft) above sea level ; the lowest, the Ausa River (ending in the Marecchia ), is 55 m (180 ft). San Marino has no still or contained bodies of water of any significant size. It
4095-702: The Gallo-Italic linguistic panorama of Northern Italy , the Italo-Dalmatian , Neapolitan and its related dialects were largely unaffected by the Franco- Occitan influences introduced to Italy mainly by bards from France during the Middle Ages, but after the Norman conquest of southern Italy , Sicily became the first Italian land to adopt Occitan lyric moods (and words) in poetry. Even in
4212-787: The Gothic Line . In September 1944, it was briefly occupied by German forces, who were defeated by the Allies in the Battle of San Marino . Allied troops occupied San Marino for two months before departing. San Marino had the world's first democratically elected communist government – a coalition between the Sammarinese Communist Party and the Sammarinese Socialist Party , which held office between 1945 and 1957. The coalition lost power through
4329-520: The Kingdom of Italy signed a Convention of Friendship in 1862. The government of San Marino made United States President Abraham Lincoln an honorary citizen. He wrote in reply, saying that the republic proved that "government founded on republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring". During World War I , when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 24 May 1915, San Marino remained neutral and Italy adopted
4446-620: The Kingdom of Italy in the Dodecanese ). Italian is widely spoken in Malta , where nearly two-thirds of the population can speak it fluently (see Maltese Italian ). Italian served as Malta's official language until 1934, when it was abolished by the British colonial administration amid strong local opposition. Italian language in Slovenia is an officially recognized minority language in
4563-773: The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ), although the masses kept speaking primarily their local vernaculars. Italian was also one of the many recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire . Italy has always had a distinctive dialect for each city because the cities, until recently, were thought of as city-states . Those dialects now have considerable variety . As Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian . The most characteristic differences, for instance, between Roman Italian and Milanese Italian are syntactic gemination of initial consonants in some contexts and
4680-974: The Middle Ages , the established written language in Europe was Latin, although the great majority of people were illiterate, and only few were well versed in the language. In the Italian Peninsula , as in most of Europe, most would instead speak a local vernacular. These dialects, as they are commonly referred to, evolved from Vulgar Latin over the course of centuries, unaffected by formal standards and teachings. They are not in any sense "dialects" of standard Italian, which itself started off as one of these local tongues, but sister languages of Italian. Mutual intelligibility with Italian varies widely, as it does with Romance languages in general. The Romance languages of Italy can differ greatly from Italian at all levels ( phonology , morphology , syntax , lexicon , pragmatics ) and are classified typologically as distinct languages. The standard Italian language has
4797-554: The Placiti Cassinesi from the province of Benevento that date from 960 to 963, although the Veronese Riddle , probably from the 8th or early 9th century, contains a late form of Vulgar Latin that can be seen as a very early sample of a vernacular dialect of Italy. The Commodilla catacomb inscription is also a similar case. The Italian language has progressed through a long and slow process, which started after
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4914-483: The United Kingdom on 17 September 1940. The Sammarinese government later transmitted a message to the British government stating that they had not actually declared war. On 28 July 1943, three days after the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy , PFS rule collapsed and the new government declared neutrality in the conflict. The PFS regained power on 1 April 1944, but kept neutrality intact. On 26 June 1944, San Marino
5031-528: The Western Roman Empire's fall in the 5th century. The language that came to be thought of as Italian developed in central Tuscany and was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri , written in his native Florentine . Dante's epic poems, known collectively as the Commedia , to which another Tuscan poet Giovanni Boccaccio later affixed
5148-682: The fatti di Rovereta . San Marino became a member of the Council of Europe in 1988 and of the United Nations in 1992. It is not a member of the European Union , although it uses the euro as its currency (despite not legally being part of the Eurozone ). Before the introduction of the euro, the country's currency was the Sammarinese lira . As of June 2020, San Marino had the highest death rate per capita of any country, due to
5265-532: The 111 Italian lecturer sections belonging to foreign schools where Italian is taught as a language of culture. As of 2022, Australia had the highest number of students learning Italian in the world. This occurred because of support by the Italian community in Australia and the Italian Government and also because of successful educational reform efforts led by local governments in Australia. From
5382-510: The 13th century in the form of various religious texts and poetry. Although these are the first written records of Italian varieties separate from Latin, the spoken language had probably diverged long before the first written records appeared since those who were literate generally wrote in Latin even if they spoke other Romance varieties in person. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the use of Standard Italian became increasingly widespread and
5499-571: The 13th century, power was given to the Grand and General Council. In 1243, the first two captains regent were nominated by the council. Still today, Captains Regent are elected every six months by the council. The legislature of the republic is the Grand and General Council ( Consiglio grande e generale ). The council is a unicameral legislature with 60 members. There are elections every five years by proportional representation in all nine administrative districts. These districts (townships) correspond to
5616-562: The 1970s. It is official both on the national level and on regional level in two cantons : Ticino and Grisons . In the latter canton, however, it is only spoken by a small minority, in the Italian Grisons . Ticino, which includes Lugano , the largest Italian-speaking city outside Italy, is the only canton where Italian is predominant. Italian is also used in administration and official documents in Vatican City . Italian
5733-651: The Crossbow Corps is now a ceremonial force of approximately 80 volunteers. Since 1295, the Crossbow Corps has provided demonstrations of crossbow shooting at festivals. Its uniform design is medieval. While still a statutory military unit, the Crossbow Corps has no military function today. The Guard of the Rock is a front-line military unit in the San Marino armed forces, a state border patrol, with responsibility for patrolling borders and defending them. In their role as Fortress Guards they are responsible for guarding
5850-471: The Government Unions. The council also has the power to ratify treaties with other countries. The council is divided into five different Advising Commissions consisting of fifteen councilors who examine, propose, and discuss the implementation of new laws that are on their way to being presented on the floor of the council. Every six months, the council elects two captains regent to be the heads of state. The captains are chosen from opposing parties so that there
5967-428: The Guard of the Rock is a distinctive red and green. The Guard of the Grand and General Council commonly known as The Guard of the council or locally as the "Guard of Nobles", formed in 1741, is a volunteer unit with ceremonial duties. Due to its striking blue, white, and gold uniform, it is perhaps the best-known part of the Sammarinese military, and appears on countless postcard views of the republic. The functions of
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#17327730470036084-421: The Guard of the council are to protect the captains regent , and to defend the Grand and General Council during its formal sessions. They also act as ceremonial bodyguards to government officials at both state and church festivals. In former times, all families with two or more adult male members were required to enroll half of them in the Company of Uniformed Militia. This unit remains the basic fighting force of
6201-417: The Italian dialects has declined in the modern era , as Italy unified under Standard Italian and continues to do so aided by mass media from newspapers to radio to television, diglossia is still frequently encountered in Italy and triglossia is not uncommon in emigrant communities among older speakers. Both situations normally involve some degree of code-switching and code-mixing . Notes: Italian has
6318-439: The Italian language into a lingua franca used not only among clerks, nobility, and functionaries in the Italian courts but also by the bourgeoisie . Italian literature's first modern novel, I promessi sposi ( The Betrothed ) by Alessandro Manzoni , further defined the standard by "rinsing" his Milanese "in the waters of the Arno " ( Florence 's river), as he states in the preface to his 1840 edition. After unification,
6435-497: The Mediterranean. The increasing political and cultural relevance of Florence during the periods of the rise of the Medici Bank , humanism , and the Renaissance made its dialect, or rather a refined version of it, a standard in the arts. The Renaissance era, known as il Rinascimento in Italian, was seen as a time of rebirth, which is the literal meaning of both renaissance (from French) and rinascimento (Italian). During this time, long-existing beliefs stemming from
6552-400: The Palazzo Pubblico in San Marino City , the seat of national government. In this role they are the forces most visible to tourists and are known for their colourful ceremony of Changing the Guard . Under the 1987 statute the Guard of the Rock are all enrolled as "Criminal Police Officers" (in addition to their military role) and assist the police in investigating major crime. The uniform of
6669-479: The State did not pay taxes to the Montefeltro. In 1320, the community of Chiesanuova chose to join the country. In 1463, San Marino was enlarged by the inclusion of the communities of Faetano , Fiorentino , Montegiardino , and Serravalle ; since then, the country's borders have remained unchanged. In 1503, Cesare Borgia , the son of Pope Alexander VI , occupied the Republic for six months until his father's successor, Pope Julius II , intervened and restored
6786-449: The armed forces of San Marino, but is largely ceremonial. It is a matter of civic pride for many Sammarinese to belong to the force, and all citizens with at least six years' residence in the republic are entitled to enroll. The uniform is dark blue, with a kepi bearing a blue and white plume. The ceremonial form of the uniform includes a white cross-strap, and white and blue sash, white epaulets, and white decorated cuffs. Formally this
6903-444: The case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are careful not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages. The economic might and relatively advanced development of Tuscany at the time ( Late Middle Ages ) gave its language weight, although Venetian remained widespread in medieval Italian commercial life, and Ligurian (or Genoese) remained in use in maritime trade alongside
7020-433: The city of Rimini as a stonemason. After the Diocletianic Persecution following his Christian sermons, he escaped to the nearby Monte Titano , where he built a small church and thus founded what is now the city and state of San Marino. According to William Miller, these accounts of the origin of San Marino "are a mixture of fables and miracles, but perhaps contain some grains of fact". The earliest historical evidence for
7137-455: The colonial period. In the early 19th century, Eritrea was the country with the highest number of Italians abroad, and the Italian Eritreans grew from 4,000 during World War I to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II. In Asmara there are two Italian schools, the Italian School of Asmara (Italian primary school with a Montessori department) and the Liceo Sperimentale "G. Marconi" (Italian international senior high school). Italian
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#17327730470037254-405: The country (some 0.42% of the total population). Their numbers dropped dramatically after World War II following the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus , which caused the emigration of between 230,000 and 350,000 Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians. Italian was the official language of the Republic of Ragusa from 1492 to 1807. It formerly had official status in Albania due to the annexation of
7371-408: The country to the Kingdom of Italy (1939–1943). Albania has a large population of non-native speakers, with over half of the population having some knowledge of the Italian language. The Albanian government has pushed to make Italian a compulsory second language in schools. The Italian language is well-known and studied in Albania, due to its historical ties and geographical proximity to Italy and to
7488-402: The country's independence. On 4 June 1543, Fabiano di Monte San Savino, nephew of the later Pope Julius III , attempted to conquer the republic, but his infantry and cavalry failed as they got lost in a dense fog, which the Sammarinesi attributed to Saint Quirinus , whose feast day it was. After the Duchy of Urbino was annexed by the Papal States in 1625, San Marino became surrounded by
7605-446: The country. A few hundred Italian settlers returned to Libya in the 2000s. Italian was the official language of Eritrea during Italian colonisation . Italian is today used in commerce, and it is still spoken especially among elders; besides that, Italian words are incorporated as loan words in the main language spoken in the country (Tigrinya). The capital city of Eritrea, Asmara , still has several Italian schools, established during
7722-415: The country. The official census, carried out in 2002, reported 2,258 ethnic Italians ( Istrian Italians ) in Slovenia (0.11% of the total population). Italian language in Croatia is an official minority language in the country, with many schools and public announcements published in both languages. The 2001 census in Croatia reported 19,636 ethnic Italians (Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians ) in
7839-464: The design and fashion industries, in some sports such as football and especially in culinary terms. In Italy, almost all the other languages spoken as the vernacular —other than standard Italian and some languages spoken among immigrant communities—are often called " Italian dialects ", a label that can be very misleading if it is understood to mean "dialects of Italian". The Romance dialects of Italy are local evolutions of spoken Latin that pre-date
7956-420: The diffusion of Italian television in the country. Due to heavy Italian influence during the Italian colonial period , Italian is still understood by some in former colonies such as Libya. Although it was the primary language in Libya since colonial rule , Italian greatly declined under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi , who expelled the Italian Libyan population and made Arabic the sole official language of
8073-420: The educated gentlemen was to make the Grand Tour , visiting Italy to see its great historical monuments and works of art. It was expected that the visitor would learn at least some Italian, understood as language based on Florentine. In England, while the classical languages Latin and Greek were the first to be learned, Italian became the second most common modern language after French, a position it held until
8190-406: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic . In April 2021, it was reported that San Marino was using the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine rather than vaccines approved by the EU, following a slow rollout for the latter vaccines. On 31 August 2022, San Marino officials voted to legalize abortion in the republic, to be paid for by the public health system, "one of the last European states to have had
8307-409: The establishment of Italian, and as such are sister languages to the Tuscan that was the historical source of Italian. They can be quite different from Italian and from each other, with some belonging to different linguistic branches of Romance. The only exceptions to this are twelve groups considered " historical language minorities ", which are officially recognized as distinct minority languages by
8424-433: The fact that it was linguistically an intermediate between the northern and the southern Italian dialects. Thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the official language of Italy. Italian was progressively made an official language of most of the Italian states predating unification, slowly replacing Latin, even when ruled by foreign powers (such as Spain in the Kingdom of Naples , or Austria in
8541-445: The first as combatants and the second as a medical corps operating a Red Cross field hospital. The existence of this hospital later caused Austria-Hungary to suspend diplomatic relations with San Marino. After the war, San Marino suffered from high rates of unemployment and inflation, leading to increased tension between the lower and middle classes. The latter, fearing that the moderate government of San Marino would make concessions to
8658-476: The free website and application Duolingo has 4.94 million English speakers learning the Italian language. According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs , every year there are more than 200,000 foreign students who study the Italian language; they are distributed among the 90 Institutes of Italian Culture that are located around the world, in the 179 Italian schools located abroad, or in
8775-507: The hands of powerful landowners. The Sammarinese Socialist Party agitated for universal male suffrage by convening an arengo in 1906. The heads of the households agreed to let all adult male citizens vote. Many wealthy landowners opposed the changes and formed the Sammarinese Fascist Party in 1922. They would go on to rule the country until the end of World War II , when a Socialist- Communist coalition government
8892-554: The independence of the Republic, even offering to extend its territory according to its needs. The offer was declined by the regents, fearing future retaliation from other states' revanchism . During the later phase of the Italian unification process in the 19th century, San Marino served as a refuge for many people persecuted because of their support for unification, including Giuseppe Garibaldi and his wife Anita . Garibaldi allowed San Marino to remain independent. San Marino and
9009-489: The island of Corsica (but not in the neighbouring Sardinia , which on the contrary underwent Italianization well into the late 18th century, under Savoyard sway: the island's linguistic composition, roofed by the prestige of Spanish among the Sardinians , would therein make for a rather slow process of assimilation to the Italian cultural sphere ). The rediscovery of Dante's De vulgari eloquentia , as well as
9126-640: The language to that continent. According to some sources, Italian is the second most spoken language in Argentina after the official language of Spanish, although its number of speakers, mainly of the older generation, is decreasing. Italian bilingual speakers can be found scattered across the Southeast of Brazil as well as in the South. In Venezuela , Italian is the most spoken language after Spanish and Portuguese, with around 200,000 speakers. In Uruguay , people who speak Italian as their home language are 1.1% of
9243-498: The late 18th century when it tended to be replaced by German. John Milton , for instance, wrote some of his early poetry in Italian. Within the Catholic Church , Italian is known by a large part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and is used in substitution for Latin in some official documents. Italian loanwords continue to be used in most languages in matters of art and music (especially classical music including opera), in
9360-534: The late 19th to the mid-20th century, millions of Italians settled in Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Brazil and Venezuela, as well as in Canada and the United States, where they formed a physical and cultural presence. In some cases, colonies were established where variants of regional languages of Italy were used, and some continue to use this regional language. Examples are Rio Grande do Sul , Brazil, where Talian
9477-567: The law. On the other hand, Corsican (a language spoken on the French island of Corsica ) is closely related to medieval Tuscan , from which Standard Italian derives and evolved. The differences in the evolution of Latin in the different regions of Italy can be attributed to the natural changes that all languages in regular use are subject to, and to some extent to the presence of three other types of languages: substrata, superstrata, and adstrata . The most prevalent were substrata (the language of
9594-550: The lower class majority, began to show support for the Sammarinese Fascist Party ( Partito Fascista Sammarinese , PFS), founded in 1922 and styled largely on their Italian counterpart . PFS rule lasted from 1923 to 1943, and during this time they often sought support from Benito Mussolini 's fascist government in Italy. During World War II , San Marino remained neutral, although it was wrongly reported in an article in The New York Times that it had declared war on
9711-620: The most conservative Romance languages). Spoken by about 85 million people, including 67 million native speakers (2024), Italian is an official language in Italy , San Marino , Switzerland ( Ticino and the Grisons ), Corsica , and Vatican City . It has official minority status in Croatia , Slovenian Istria , and the municipalities of Santa Tereza and Encantado in Brazil . Italian
9828-412: The nation was unified in 1861. Italian is a Romance language , a descendant of Vulgar Latin (colloquial spoken Latin). Standard Italian is based on Tuscan , especially its Florentine dialect , and is, therefore, an Italo-Dalmatian language , a classification that includes most other central and southern Italian languages and the extinct Dalmatian . According to Ethnologue , lexical similarity
9945-408: The number of printing presses in Italy grew rapidly and by the year 1500 reached a total of 56, the biggest number of printing presses in all of Europe. This enabled the production of more pieces of literature at a lower cost and Italian, as the dominant language, spread. Italian became the language used in the courts of every state in the Italian Peninsula , as well as the prestige variety used on
10062-590: The official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta . Italian has a significant use in musical terminology and opera with numerous Italian words referring to music that have become international terms taken into various languages worldwide. Almost all native Italian words end with vowels , and the language has a 7-vowel sound system ('e' and 'o' have mid-low and mid-high sounds). Italian has contrast between short and long consonants and gemination (doubling) of consonants. During
10179-602: The old parishes of the republic. All citizens 18 years or older are eligible to vote. Besides general legislation, the Grand and General Council approves the budget and elects the captains regent, the State Congress (composed of ten secretaries with executive power), the Council of Twelve (which forms the judicial branch during the period of legislature of the council), the Advising Commissions, and
10296-464: The oldest constitutional republic . Uniquely, San Marino's constitution dictates that its democratically elected legislature , the Grand and General Council , must elect two heads of state every six months. Known as the Captains Regent , they serve concurrently and with equal powers. The country's economy is mainly based on finance , industry , services , retail , and tourism . It
10413-630: The openness of vowels, the length of the consonants, and influence of the local language (for example, in informal situations andà , annà and nare replace the standard Italian andare in the area of Tuscany, Rome and Venice respectively for the infinitive "to go"). There is no definitive date when the various Italian variants of Latin—including varieties that contributed to modern Standard Italian—began to be distinct enough from Latin to be considered separate languages. One criterion for determining that two language variants are to be considered separate languages rather than variants of
10530-584: The original inhabitants), as the Italian dialects were most probably simply Latin as spoken by native cultural groups. Superstrata and adstrata were both less important. Foreign conquerors of Italy that dominated different regions at different times left behind little to no influence on the dialects. Foreign cultures with which Italy engaged in peaceful relations with, such as trade, had no significant influence either. Throughout Italy, regional varieties of Standard Italian, called Regional Italian , are spoken. Regional differences can be recognized by various factors:
10647-458: The other hand, almost everyone still speaks the Corsican idiom , which, due to its linguistic proximity to the Italian standard language, appears both linguistically as an Italian dialect and therefore as a carrier of Italian culture, despite the French government's decades-long efforts to cut Corsica off from the Italian motherland. Italian was the official language in Monaco until 1860, when it
10764-472: The papal states. This led to its seeking the formal protection of the Papal States in 1631, but this never amounted to a de facto Papal control of the republic. The country was occupied on 17 October 1739 by the legate (Papal governor) of Ravenna , Cardinal Giulio Alberoni , but independence was restored by Pope Clement XII on 5 February 1740, the feast day of Saint Agatha , after which she became
10881-408: The political framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic : the captains regent are heads of state , and there is a pluriform multi-party system . Executive power is exercised by the government. Although there is no formal head of government, the secretary for foreign and political affairs is in many ways equal to the prime minister in other countries. Legislative power
10998-406: The population of Italy could speak Standard Italian. He reports that in 1951 that percentage had risen to 87%. The ability to speak Italian did not necessarily mean it was in everyday use, and most people (63.5%) still usually spoke their native dialects. In addition, other factors such as mass emigration, industrialization, and urbanization, and internal migrations after World War II , contributed to
11115-589: The procedure outlawed under all circumstances". Thirty-two members of the legislature approved the bill while 10 abstained and 7 voted against. San Marino is surrounded by Italy in Southern Europe , i.e. almost completely by the province of Rimini in the region of Emilia Romagna and, only on a stretch of about three kilometres in the south, by the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region. San Marino lies about ten kilometres (six miles) from
11232-469: The proliferation of Standard Italian. The Italians who emigrated during the Italian diaspora beginning in 1861 were often of the uneducated lower class, and thus the emigration had the effect of increasing the percentage of literates, who often knew and understood the importance of Standard Italian, back home in Italy. A large percentage of those who had emigrated also eventually returned to Italy, often more educated than when they had left. Although use of
11349-528: The pronunciation of stressed "e", and of "s" between vowels in many words: e.g. va bene "all right" is pronounced [vabˈbɛːne] by a Roman (and by any standard Italian speaker), [vaˈbeːne] by a Milanese (and by any speaker whose native dialect lies to the north of the La Spezia–Rimini Line ); a casa "at home" is [akˈkaːsa] for Roman, [akˈkaːsa] or [akˈkaːza] for standard, [aˈkaːza] for Milanese and generally northern. In contrast to
11466-682: The protection of citizens and property, and the preservation of law and order. Italian language Italian ( italiano , pronounced [itaˈljaːno] , or lingua italiana , pronounced [ˈliŋɡwa itaˈljaːna] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . Italian is the least divergent language from Latin , together with Sardinian (meaning that Italian and Sardinian are
11583-415: The publication of Agnolo Monosini 's Latin tome Floris italicae linguae libri novem in 1604 followed by the first Italian dictionary in 1612. An important event that helped the diffusion of Italian was the conquest and occupation of Italy by Napoleon in the early 19th century (who was himself of Italian-Corsican descent). This conquest propelled the unification of Italy some decades after and pushed
11700-542: The referendum that allowed France to annex Savoy and Nice, and a group of his followers (among the Italian Savoyards ) took refuge in Italy in the following years. Corsica passed from the Republic of Genoa to France in 1769 after the Treaty of Versailles . Italian was the official language of Corsica until 1859. Giuseppe Garibaldi called for the inclusion of the " Corsican Italians " within Italy when Rome
11817-648: The saint's protection and blessing against the Goths. This laid the foundation for modern San Marino with its nine municipalities. With such a large expansion of population it became clear that San Marino could not remain without a central structure so the Arengo was formed; based on the original Roman Senate, it was made of the head of each of the Great Families. Since the 17th century, the Grand and General Council became more oligarchic, with political power resting in
11934-400: The smallest in the world. National defence is, by arrangement, the responsibility of Italy's armed forces . Different branches have varied functions, including performing ceremonial duties, patrolling borders, mounting guard at government buildings, and assisting police in major criminal cases. The police are not included in the military of San Marino. Once at the heart of San Marino's army,
12051-407: The supreme body of San Marino . After the death of the founders, the community was governed by a small leaderless collection of monks based around the church of St. Agatha on the top of Monte Titano. However, around a hundred years later when Rome looked close to collapse and the Goths were threatening Italy, eight neighbouring towns joined the 'land of San (saint) Marino (the founder)' seeking
12168-473: The teachings of the Roman Catholic Church began to be understood from new perspectives as humanists —individuals who placed emphasis on the human body and its full potential—began to shift focus from the church to human beings themselves. The continual advancements in technology play a crucial role in the diffusion of languages. After the invention of the printing press in the 15th century,
12285-633: The threshold for small parties entering Parliament, causing political parties to organise themselves into two alliances: the right-wing Pact for San Marino , led by the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party ; and the left-wing Reforms and Freedom , led by the Party of Socialists and Democrats , a merger of the Socialist Party of San Marino and the former communist Party of Democrats . The 2008 general election
12402-469: The title Divina , were read throughout the peninsula and his written dialect became the "canonical standard" that all educated Italians could understand. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language. In addition to the widespread exposure gained through literature, the Florentine dialect also gained prestige due to the political and cultural significance of Florence at the time and
12519-542: The total population of the country. In Australia, Italian is the second most spoken foreign language after Chinese, with 1.4% of the population speaking it as their home language. The main Italian-language newspapers published outside Italy are the L'Osservatore Romano ( Vatican City ), the L'Informazione di San Marino ( San Marino ), the Corriere del Ticino and the laRegione Ticino ( Switzerland ),
12636-561: Was also introduced to Somalia through colonialism and was the sole official language of administration and education during the colonial period but fell out of use after government, educational and economic infrastructure were destroyed in the Somali Civil War . Italian is also spoken by large immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. Although over 17 million Americans are of Italian descent , only
12753-525: Was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy , but King Victor Emmanuel II did not agree to it. Italian is generally understood in Corsica by the population resident therein who speak Corsican , which is an Italo-Romance idiom similar to Tuscan. Francization occurred in Nice case, and caused a near-disappearance of the Italian language as many of the Italian speakers in these areas migrated to Italy. In Corsica, on
12870-427: Was bombed by four waves of Allied bombers under the belief that San Marino had been occupied by German forces and was being used to amass stores and ammunition. The Sammarinese government declared on the same day that no military installations or equipment were located on its territory, and that no belligerent forces had been allowed to enter. San Marino accepted thousands of civilian refugees when Allied forces overran
12987-451: Was cumbersome and the Arengo was crippled by feuds between the Great Families. By the early 13th century the Arengo had become so dysfunctional that the citizens of San Marino decided to elect their own assembly, which they called the Grand and General Council . This assembly became very powerful, and by 1243 the Pope , who was the nominal ruler of San Marino, made the Grand and General Council
13104-519: Was elected as one of the two captains regent. He had previously been the Ambassador to the United States and is the world's first openly gay head of state. San Marino is geographically divided into nine castelli ( lit. ' castles ' , equivalent to a municipality ), each of which contains a capital ( capoluogo ), with other population centres sorted into curazie (equivalent to Italian frazioni ). Each castello
13221-573: Was elected. San Marino in Europe (dark grey) San Marino ( / ˌ s æ n m ə ˈ r iː n oʊ / SAN mə- REE -noh , Italian: [sam maˈriːno] ; Romagnol : San Maréin or San Maroin ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( Italian : Repubblica di San Marino ) and also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino ),
13338-443: Was mirrored by a decline in the use of the dialects. An increase in literacy was one of the main driving factors (one can assume that only literates were capable of learning Standard Italian, whereas those who were illiterate had access only to their native dialect). The percentage of literates rose from 25% in 1861 to 60% in 1911, and then on to 78.1% in 1951. Tullio De Mauro , an Italian linguist, has asserted that in 1861 only 2.5% of
13455-658: Was replaced by the French. This was due to the annexation of the surrounding County of Nice to France following the Treaty of Turin (1860) . It formerly had official status in Montenegro (because of the Venetian Albania ), parts of Slovenia and Croatia (because of the Venetian Istria and Venetian Dalmatia ), parts of Greece (because of the Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands and by
13572-462: Was the governor of Romagna, Sammarinesi appealed to Pope Boniface VIII against the further requests by the Montefeltro podestas regarding tributes. Abbot Ranieri di Sant'Anastasio was assigned to judge the dispute. A long process was held using various witnesses and sources to determine San Marino tax's exemption status. The verdict was probably in favour of the autonomy of San Marino, as later
13689-541: Was won by the Pact for San Marino with 35 seats in the Grand and General Council against the Reforms and Freedom party's 25. On 1 October 2007, Mirko Tomassoni was elected as captain regent, making him the first disabled person elected to that office. San Marino has had more female heads of state than any other country: 15 as of October 2014, including three who served twice. On 1 April 2022, 58-year-old Paolo Rondelli
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