101-589: Assisi ( / ə ˈ s iː s i / , also US : /- iː z i , ə ˈ s ɪ s i , - ɪ z i / , Italian: [asˈsiːzi] ; from Latin : Asisium ; Central Italian : Ascesi ) is a town and commune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region , on the western flank of Monte Subasio . It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius , born around 50–45 BC. It
202-707: A cot–caught merger , which is rapidly spreading throughout the whole country. However, the South, Inland North, and a Northeastern coastal corridor passing through Rhode Island, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore typically preserve an older cot–caught distinction. For that Northeastern corridor, the realization of the THOUGHT vowel is particularly marked , as depicted in humorous spellings, like in tawk and cawfee ( talk and coffee ), which intend to represent it being tense and diphthongal : [oə] . A split of TRAP into two separate phonemes , using different
303-520: A pronunciations for example in gap [æ] versus gas [eə] , further defines New York City as well as Philadelphia–Baltimore accents. Most Americans preserve all historical /r/ sounds, using what is known as a rhotic accent . The only traditional r -dropping (or non-rhoticity) in regional U.S. accents variably appears today in eastern New England , New York City , and some of the former plantation South primarily among older speakers (and, relatedly, some African-American Vernacular English across
404-536: A theatre , an amphitheatre and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva ). In 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well-preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in a condition rarely found outside sites such as Pompei . The Augustan age poet Propertius is considered to have been born in what is now the city of Assisi. In 238 AD Assisi
505-631: A complex phenomenon of "both convergence and divergence": some accents are homogenizing and leveling , while others are diversifying and deviating further away from one another. Having been settled longer than the American West Coast, the East Coast has had more time to develop unique accents, and it currently comprises three or four linguistically significant regions, each of which possesses English varieties both different from each other as well as quite internally diverse: New England ,
606-447: A consonant, such as in pearl , car and fort . Non-rhotic American accents, those that do not pronounce ⟨r⟩ except before a vowel, such as some accents of Eastern New England , New York City , and African-Americans , and a specific few (often older ones) spoken by Southerners , are often quickly noticed by General American listeners and perceived as sounding especially ethnic, regional, or antiquated. Rhoticity
707-494: A coup in 1385 and gradually unified the vast family domains scattered across Northern Italy . It is said that the territories subject to his dominion earned Gian Galeazzo in one year, in addition to the ordinary income of 1,200,000 gold florins , another 800,000 in extraordinary subsidies. The duchy was officially established on 11 May 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti , the Dominus Generalis of Milan, obtained
808-671: A few other lands. Defeated and taken prisoner in Novara in 1500, he was deported to France , to the Castle of Loches , where he died on 27 May 1508. Louis XII remained Duke of Milan until 1512, when the Swiss army expelled the French from Lombardy and placed Maximilian Sforza , son of Ludovico il Moro, on the Milanese throne. Between 1512 and 1515 the Swiss cantons de facto controlled
909-591: A merger with the THOUGHT ( caught ) set. Having taken place prior to the unrounding of the cot vowel, it results in lengthening and perhaps raising, merging the more recently separated vowel into the THOUGHT vowel in the following environments: before many instances of /f/ , /θ/ , and particularly /s/ (as in Austria, cloth, cost, loss, off, often, etc.), a few instances before /ŋ/ (as in strong, long, wrong ), and variably by region or speaker in gone , on , and certain other words. Unlike American accents,
1010-533: A much smaller extension than present-day Lombardy. The government of the Habsburgs of Austria was characterized by significant administrative reforms, which the sovereigns of the Austrian house - inspired by the principles of the so-called enlightened absolutism - also introduced in their Lombard territories: for example, the rearrangement of the land register , the suppression of ecclesiastical censorship and
1111-445: A new question for the succession to the throne. In this period, to be precise in 1532, Francesco II Sforza requested and obtained from Pope Clement VII the elevation of Vigevano , a city to which his family had always been deeply linked, to the capital of Vigevanasco , after it had obtained in 1530 the title of city and bishopric according to the same methods. The King Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor claimed
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#17327657712661212-636: A nice day , for sure); many are now distinctly old-fashioned (swell, groovy). Some English words now in general use, such as hijacking, disc jockey , boost, bulldoze and jazz , originated as American slang. American English has always shown a marked tendency to use words in different parts of speech and nouns are often used as verbs . Examples of nouns that are now also verbs are interview, advocate, vacuum, lobby, pressure, rear-end, transition, feature, profile, hashtag, head, divorce, loan, estimate, X-ray, spearhead, skyrocket, showcase, bad-mouth, vacation , major, and many others. Compounds coined in
1313-720: A niece of the King of Naples, who took the side of the legitimate heir. Ludovico il Moro responded by encouraging King Charles VIII of France to reclaim the Kingdom of Naples, as until 1442 the Neapolitan throne had belonged to Charles ancestors, the Capetian House of Anjou . In 1494 Charles VIII conquered Naples, upsetting the balance between the various Italian states and starting the Italian Wars . In 1495 Charles VIII
1414-480: A process of extensive dialect mixture and leveling in which English varieties across the colonies became more homogeneous compared with the varieties in Britain. English thus predominated in the colonies even by the end of the 17th century's first immigration of non-English speakers from Western Europe and Africa. Additionally, firsthand descriptions of a fairly uniform American English (particularly in contrast to
1515-680: A series of other vowel shifts in the same region, known by linguists as the " Inland North ". The Inland North shares with the Eastern New England dialect (including Boston accents ) a backer tongue positioning of the GOOSE /u/ vowel (to [u] ) and the MOUTH /aʊ/ vowel (to [ɑʊ~äʊ] ) in comparison to the rest of the country. Ranging from northern New England across the Great Lakes to Minnesota, another Northern regional marker
1616-525: A survey, completed in 2003, polling English speakers across the United States about their specific everyday word choices, hoping to identify regionalisms. The study found that most Americans prefer the term sub for a long sandwich, soda (but pop in the Great Lakes region and generic coke in the South) for a sweet and bubbly soft drink , you or you guys for the plural of you (but y'all in
1717-453: A variation of American English in these islands. In 2021, about 245 million Americans, aged 5 or above, spoke English at home: a majority of the United States total population of roughly 330 million people. The United States has never had an official language at the federal level, but English is commonly used at the federal level and in states without an official language. 32 of the 50 states, in some cases as part of what has been called
1818-495: Is a form of counted-thread embroidery which has been practised in Assisi since the 13th century. Today many groups gather in Assisi for a variety of cultural and religious activities. One such group restored an 11th-century room and added altars to the world's religions. Other organizations, such as Assisi Performing Arts, host musical performances and other cultural events. Assisi was the home of several saints , including: It
1919-454: Is a massive reconstruction by Cardinal Albornoz (1366) and expanded by popes Pius II (polygonal tower, 1458) and Paul III (the cylindrical bastion near the entrance, 1535–1538). The smaller of the two was built in Roman era : it has been only partially preserved, a small portion and three towers being open to the public. Other sights include: Assisi has had a rich tradition of art through
2020-654: Is also associated with the United States, perhaps mostly in the Midwest and the South. American accents that have not undergone the cot–caught merger (the lexical sets LOT and THOUGHT ) have instead retained a LOT – CLOTH split : a 17th-century distinction in which certain words (labeled as the CLOTH lexical set ) separated away from the LOT set. The split, which has now reversed in most British English, simultaneously shifts this relatively recent CLOTH set into
2121-664: Is also home to a creole language known commonly as Hawaiian Pidgin , and some Hawaii residents speak English with a Pidgin-influenced accent. American English also gave rise to some dialects outside the country, for example, Philippine English , beginning during the American occupation of the Philippines and subsequently the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands ; Thomasites first established
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#17327657712662222-581: Is also the final resting place of Blessed Carlo Acutis Assisi railway station , opened in 1866, forms part of the Foligno–Terontola railway, which also links Florence with Rome . The station is located at Piazza Dante Alighieri , in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli , about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southwest of the city centre. Assisi is twinned with: The two papal basilicas sited in Assisi (the only ones not in Rome) gave their name to
2323-538: Is common in most American accents despite being now rare in England because, during the 17th-century British colonization, nearly all dialects of English were rhotic, and most North American English simply remained that way. The preservation of rhoticity in North America was also supported by continuing waves of rhotic-accented Scotch-Irish immigrants, most intensely during the 18th century (and moderately during
2424-494: Is known in linguistics as General American ; it covers a fairly uniform accent continuum native to certain regions of the U.S. but especially associated with broadcast mass media and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not support the notion of there being one single mainstream American accent . The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in
2525-708: Is now Lombardy and parts of what are now Piedmont , Veneto, Tuscany , and Emilia-Romagna . Under the House of Sforza , Milan experienced a period of great prosperity with the introduction of the silk industry, becoming one of the wealthiest states during the Renaissance . From the late 15th century, the Duchy of Milan was contested between the forces of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of France . It
2626-420: Is often identified by Americans as a "country" accent, and is defined by the /aɪ/ vowel losing its gliding quality : [aː] , the initiation event for a complicated Southern vowel shift, including a " Southern drawl " that makes short front vowels into distinct-sounding gliding vowels . The fronting of the vowels of GOOSE , GOAT , MOUTH , and STRUT tends to also define Southern accents as well as
2727-706: Is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature (his preaching to an audience of birds is one of the legends of his life). During World War II Assisi was occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1943. To save Jews in Italy the Catholic Church started the Assisi Network and hid Jews in the city. As the Allies moved up Italy, Germany declared Assisi an open city and pulled out, turning
2828-579: Is the birthplace of St. Francis , who founded the Order of Friars Minor in that town in 1208, and of St. Clare of Assisi ( Chiara d'Offreducci ), who, with St. Francis, founded the Order of Poor Ladies, which later became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. The 19th-century St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi. The earliest attested people of Assisi were the Umbri . In 77AD Pliny
2929-481: Is the common language at home, in public, and in government. Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( Italian : Ducato di Milano ; Lombard : Ducaa de Milan ) was a state in Northern Italy , created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti , then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family , which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, it included twenty-six towns and
3030-469: Is the variable fronting of /ɑ/ before /r/ , for example, appearing four times in the stereotypical Boston shibboleth Park the car in Harvard Yard . Several other phenomena serve to distinguish regional U.S. accents. Boston , Pittsburgh , Upper Midwestern , and Western U.S. accents have fully completed a merger of the LOT vowel with the THOUGHT vowel ( /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ , respectively):
3131-599: The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli . During the Renaissance and in later centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, as the 17th-century palazzi of the Bernabei and Giacobetti attest. Now the site of many a pilgrimage, Assisi is linked in legend with its native son, St. Francis. The gentle saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honours with St. Catherine of Siena as the patron saint of Italy. He
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3232-665: The Cispadane Republic in 1797 to form the Cisalpine Republic , of which Milan became the capital. After the defeat of Napoleon, on the basis of the decisions taken by the Congress of Vienna on 9 June 1815, the Duchy of Milan was not restored but became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia , a constituent land of the Austrian Empire . The kingdom ceased to exist when the remaining portion of it
3333-482: The English-only movement , have adopted legislation granting official or co-official status to English. Typically only "English" is specified, not a particular variety like American English. (From 1923 to 1969, the state of Illinois recognized its official language as "American", meaning American English.) Puerto Rico is the largest example of a United States territory in which another language – Spanish –
3434-616: The Gotthard Pass to the gates of Como (today's Canton of Ticino ). The Treaty of Noyon of 1516 confirmed the possession of the Duchy of Milan to the French. Francis of Valois governed the duchy until 1521, when Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor , raised Maximilian's young brother, Francesco II Sforza , to the throne of the duchy. After the decisive French defeat in the Battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525, which left
3535-622: The Mid-Atlantic states (including a New York accent as well as a unique Philadelphia–Baltimore accent ), and the South . As of the 20th century, the middle and eastern Great Lakes area , Chicago being the largest city with these speakers, also ushered in certain unique features, including the fronting of the LOT /ɑ/ vowel in the mouth toward [a] and tensing of the TRAP /æ/ vowel wholesale to [eə] . These sound changes have triggered
3636-551: The Native American languages . Examples of such names are opossum , raccoon , squash , moose (from Algonquian ), wigwam , and moccasin . American English speakers have integrated traditionally non-English terms and expressions into the mainstream cultural lexicon; for instance, en masse , from French ; cookie , from Dutch ; kindergarten from German , and rodeo from Spanish . Landscape features are often loanwords from French or Spanish, and
3737-855: The Ottoman Turks , however, endangered the structure of the Venetian possessions in the Aegean Sea and after 4 years of war the Peace of Lodi was signed in 1454. With this document Francesco Sforza and Alfonso of Aragon were recognized respectively as Duke of Milan and King of Naples, the Republic of Venice extended its dominion up to the Adda and the Holy Italian League against the Turks
3838-722: The francophile tastes of the 19th century Victorian era Britain (for example they preferred programme for program , manoeuvre for maneuver , cheque for check , etc.). AmE almost always uses -ize in words like realize . BrE prefers -ise , but also uses -ize on occasion (see: Oxford spelling ). There are a few differences in punctuation rules. British English is more tolerant of run-on sentences , called " comma splices " in American English, and American English prefers that periods and commas be placed inside closing quotation marks even in cases in which British rules would place them outside. American English also favors
3939-473: The 11th century. Constantly struggling with the Guelph Perugia , it was during one of those battles, the battle at Collestrada, that Giovanni di Bernardone (better known as St. Francis of Assisi ) was taken prisoner, setting in motion the events that eventually led him to live as a beggar, renounce the world and establish the Order of Friars Minor . The city, which had remained within the confines of
4040-764: The 18th century; apartment , shanty in the 19th century; project, condominium , townhouse , mobile home in the 20th century; and parts thereof ( driveway , breezeway, backyard ) . Industry and material innovations from the 19th century onwards provide distinctive new words, phrases, and idioms through railroading (see further at rail terminology ) and transportation terminology, ranging from types of roads ( dirt roads , freeways ) to infrastructure ( parking lot , overpass , rest area ), to automotive terminology often now standard in English internationally. Already existing English words—such as store , shop , lumber —underwent shifts in meaning; others remained in
4141-546: The 20th century. The use of English in the United States is a result of British colonization of the Americas . The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the early 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dialects from many different regions of England and the British Isles existed in every American colony, allowing
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4242-441: The 50 U.S. states . Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide. Varieties of American English include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other English dialects around the world. Any American or Canadian accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic, or cultural markers
4343-615: The Adda and Ticino rivers, but the dominions of Gian Galeazzo Visconti extended beyond, including 26 towns and spanned from Piedmont to Veneto and from present-day Canton of Ticino to Umbria . Milan thus became one of the five major states of the Italian peninsula in the 15th century. The House of Visconti had been expanding their dominions for nearly a century, under the reigns of Azzone Visconti , Luchino Visconti , Giovanni Visconti , Bernabò Visconti and Gian Galeazzo Visconti: during
4444-476: The Archbishop Giovanni , expanding the area of Visconti influence over the surrounding regions. An equal policy of enlargement and consolidation was pursued in the second half of the century by their successors: Matteo II , Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo . After a period marked by tensions between the various members of the powerful family, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, nephew of Bernabò, came to power with
4545-571: The Basilica includes a series of panels depicting the Crucifixion of Jesus , Deposition from the Cross , and Entombment of Christ . The figures Lorenzetti painted display emotions, yet the figures in these scenes are governed by geometric emotional interactions, unlike many prior depictions which appeared to be independent iconic aggregations. Lorenzetti's 1330 Madonna dei Tramonti also reflects
4646-627: The British form is a back-formation , such as AmE burglarize and BrE burgle (from burglar ). However, while individuals usually use one or the other, both forms will be widely understood and mostly used alongside each other within the two systems. While written American English is largely standardized across the country and spoken American English dialects are highly mutually intelligible, there are still several recognizable regional and ethnic accents and lexical distinctions. The regional sounds of present-day American English are reportedly engaged in
4747-413: The East Coast (perhaps in imitation of 19th-century London speech), even the East Coast has gradually begun to restore rhoticity, due to it becoming nationally prestigious in the 20th century. The pronunciation of ⟨r⟩ is a postalveolar approximant [ ɹ̠ ] or retroflex approximant [ ɻ ] , but a unique "bunched tongue" variant of the approximant r sound
4848-588: The Elder described Regio VI Umbria and said that the Umbri were thought to be the oldest inhabitants of Italy. The people of Assisi were mentioned by name. The Romans took control of central Italy after the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Monte Subasio . Roman remains can still be found in Assisi: city walls , the forum (now Piazza del Comune),
4949-571: The Inland North. Rather than one particular accent, General American is best defined as an umbrella covering an American accent that does not incorporate features associated with some particular region, ethnicity, or socioeconomic group. Typical General American features include rhoticity , the father–bother merger , Mary–marry–merry merger , pre-nasal "short a " tensing , and other particular vowel sounds . General American features are embraced most by Americans who are highly educated or in
5050-685: The Milanese declared the so-called Golden Ambrosian Republic , which soon faced revolts and attacks from its neighbors. In 1450 mercenary captain Francesco Sforza , having previously married Filippo Maria Visconti's illegitimate daughter Bianca Maria, conquered the city and restored the duchy, founding the House of Sforza . The Venetian republic had not abandoned its desire to expand into Lombardy and therefore entered into an alliance with Alfonso V of Aragon , King of Naples , and with Emperor Frederick III , against Francesco I Sforza and his allies. The fall of Constantinople , conquered by
5151-655: The Republic of Venice which ceded the entire Apulian coast ( Brindisi , Monopoli , Gallipoli , Polignano , Lecce , Bari and Trani ) in exchange for the withdrawal of imperial claims on Milan, also due to the fact that Charles V did not want to clash with the Venetians, and he knew he didn't have the means to succeed, because the Venetians were too concerned that Milan not fall into the hands of foreigners powers, given that they did not consider themselves "capable of occupying it nor proportionate to be able to hold it". Francesco II Sforza died without heirs in 1535, opening
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#17327657712665252-488: The Roman walls, began to expand outside these walls in the 13th century. In this period the city was under papal jurisdiction. The Rocca Maggiore , the imperial fortress on top of the hill above the city, which had been plundered by the people in 1189, was rebuilt in 1367 on orders of the papal legate , cardinal Gil de Albornoz . In the beginning, Assisi fell under the rule of Perugia and later under several despots, such as
5353-449: The South), sneakers for athletic shoes (but often tennis shoes outside the Northeast), and shopping cart for a cart used for carrying supermarket goods. American English and British English (BrE) often differ at the levels of phonology, phonetics, vocabulary, and, to a much lesser extent, grammar and orthography. The first large American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language , known as Webster's Dictionary ,
5454-528: The U.S. Several verbs ending in -ize are of U.S. origin; for example, fetishize, prioritize, burglarize, accessorize, weatherize , etc.; and so are some back-formations (locate, fine-tune, curate, donate, emote, upholster and enthuse). Among syntactic constructions that arose are outside of, headed for, meet up with, back of, etc. Americanisms formed by alteration of some existing words include notably pesky, phony, rambunctious, buddy, sundae , skeeter, sashay and kitty-corner. Adjectives that arose in
5555-505: The U.S. are for instance foothill , landslide (in all senses), backdrop , teenager , brainstorm , bandwagon , hitchhike , smalltime, and a huge number of others. Other compound words have been founded based on industrialization and the wave of the automobile: five-passenger car, four-door sedan, two-door sedan, and station-wagon (called an estate car in British English). Some are euphemistic ( human resources , affirmative action , correctional facility ). Many compound nouns have
5656-551: The U.S. are, for example, lengthy, bossy, cute and cutesy, punk (in all senses), sticky (of the weather), through (as in "finished"), and many colloquial forms such as peppy or wacky . A number of words and meanings that originated in Middle English or Early Modern English and that have been in everyday use in the United States have since disappeared in most varieties of British English; some of these have cognates in Lowland Scots . Terms such as fall ("autumn"), faucet ("tap"), diaper ("nappy"; itself unused in
5757-530: The U.S. while changing in Britain. Science, urbanization, and democracy have been important factors in bringing about changes in the written and spoken language of the United States. From the world of business and finance came new terms ( merger , downsize , bottom line ), from sports and gambling terminology came, specific jargon aside, common everyday American idioms, including many idioms related to baseball . The names of some American inventions remained largely confined to North America ( elevator [except in
5858-427: The U.S.), candy ("sweets"), skillet , eyeglasses , and obligate are often regarded as Americanisms. Fall for example came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year." Gotten ( past participle of get ) is often considered to be largely an Americanism. Other words and meanings were brought back to Britain from
5959-541: The U.S., especially in the second half of the 20th century; these include hire ("to employ"), I guess (famously criticized by H. W. Fowler ), baggage , hit (a place), and the adverbs overly and presently ("currently"). Some of these, for example, monkey wrench and wastebasket , originated in 19th century Britain. The adjectives mad meaning "angry", smart meaning "intelligent", and sick meaning "ill" are also more frequent in American (and Irish) English than British English. Linguist Bert Vaux created
6060-474: The United States and the United Kingdom suggest that, while spoken American English deviated away from period British English in many ways, it is conservative in a few other ways, preserving certain features 21st-century British English has since lost. Full rhoticity (or "R-fulness") is typical of American accents, pronouncing the phoneme /r/ (corresponding to the letter ⟨r⟩ ) in all environments, including in syllable-final position or before
6161-499: The West and Midwest, and New York Latino English , spoken in the New York metropolitan area . Additionally, ethnic varieties such as Yeshiva English and " Yinglish " are spoken by some American Orthodox Jews , Cajun Vernacular English by some Cajuns in southern Louisiana , and Pennsylvania Dutch English by some Pennsylvania Dutch people. American Indian Englishes have been documented among diverse Indian tribes. The island state of Hawaii , though primarily English-speaking,
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#17327657712666262-488: The accents spoken in the " Midland ": a vast band of the country that constitutes an intermediate dialect region between the traditional North and South. Western U.S. accents mostly fall under the General American spectrum. Below, ten major American English accents are defined by their particular combinations of certain vowel sounds: In 2010, William Labov noted that Great Lakes, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and West Coast accents have undergone "vigorous new sound changes" since
6363-505: The aeronautical sense ], gasoline ) as did certain automotive terms ( truck , trunk ). New foreign loanwords came with 19th and early 20th century European immigration to the U.S.; notably, from Yiddish ( chutzpah , schmooze, bupkis, glitch ) and German ( hamburger , wiener ). A large number of English colloquialisms from various periods are American in origin; some have lost their American flavor (from OK and cool to nerd and 24/7 ), while others have not ( have
6464-399: The centuries and is now home to a number of well-known artistic works. Artists Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini worked shoulder to shoulder at Assisi. The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi includes a number of artistic works. Simone Martini's 1317 fresco there reflects the influence of Giotto in realism and the use of brilliant colours. Lorenzetti's fresco at the lower church of
6565-426: The city over to Italian partisans . The 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales) entered the city on 17 June 1944. Colonel Valentin Müller, a German medical officer and a Catholic, was able to make Assisi a German hospital city for German troops in Italy in the summer of 1944, helping save Assisi from destruction, unlike Cassino . Assisi was hit by two devastating earthquakes that shook Umbria in September 1997. But
6666-408: The conquest of the Venetian cities of Verona (1387), Vicenza (1387), Feltre (1388), Belluno (1388) and Padua (briefly, from 1388 to 1390), and later southwards, conquering Lucca , Pisa and Siena in Tuscany in 1399, Perugia in Umbria in 1400, Bologna in Emilia in 1402, and Assisi in Umbria also in 1402. When the last Visconti duke, Filippo Maria , died in 1447 without a male heir,
6767-406: The country), though the vowel-consonant cluster found in "bird", "work", "hurt", "learn", etc. usually retains its r pronunciation, even in these non-rhotic American accents. Non-rhoticity among such speakers is presumed to have arisen from their upper classes' close historical contact with England, imitating London's r -dropping, a feature that has continued to gain prestige throughout England from
6868-402: The defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 restored many other states which he had destroyed, but not the Duchy of Milan. Instead, its former territory became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia , with the Emperor of Austria as its king. In 1859, Lombardy was ceded to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia , which became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The fate of the city of Milan
6969-422: The development of the silk industry. Following Napoleon Bonaparte 's victorious campaign in northern Italy in 1796, the duchy, entrusted to an interim government junta, was ceded to the French Republic by the Habsburgs with the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. But already in 1796 the French had established the vassal state of the Transpadane Republic on the territories of the Duchy of Milan, which merged with
7070-614: The diverse regional dialects of British English) became common after the mid-18th century, while at the same time speakers' identification with this new variety increased. Since the 18th century, American English has developed into some new varieties, including regional dialects that retain minor influences from waves of immigrant speakers of diverse languages, primarily European languages. Some racial and regional variation in American English reflects these groups' geographic settlement, their de jure or de facto segregation, and patterns in their resettlement. This can be seen, for example, in
7171-742: The double quotation mark ("like this") over the single ('as here'). Vocabulary differences vary by region. For example, autumn is used more commonly in the United Kingdom, whereas fall is more common in American English. Some other differences include: aerial (United Kingdom) vs. antenna, biscuit (United Kingdom) vs. cookie/cracker, car park (United Kingdom) vs. parking lot, caravan (United Kingdom) vs. trailer, city centre (United Kingdom) vs. downtown, flat (United Kingdom) vs. apartment, fringe (United Kingdom) vs. bangs, and holiday (United Kingdom) vs. vacation. AmE sometimes favors words that are morphologically more complex, whereas BrE uses clipped forms, such as AmE transportation and BrE transport or where
7272-606: The duchy by making war. The latter, claiming it as an imperial fief upon the extinction of the Sforza, obtained control of the duchy and installed his son Philip II there with an imperial diploma signed in Brussels on 11 October 1540 and made public in 1554. Philip's possession of the duchy was finally recognized by King Henry II of France in 1559, with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis . The duchy, having lost all forms of independence,
7373-513: The duchy. Under the reign of King Francis I , the French Crown managed to re-establish its sovereignty over the Milanese duchy. In 1515, after the bloody Battle of Marignano , which saw the defeat of the Swiss army, the French sovereign deposed Maximilian and installed himself on the ducal throne. Despite the defeat, the Swiss managed to retain the territories along the road that leads from
7474-571: The event of the extinction of the Visconti dynasty, the title of Duke of Milan went to Valentina's descendants. Louis XII, claiming to be the legitimate heir of the Viscontis, invaded the Milanese state in 1499, driving out Ludovico il Moro. The former Sforza ruler tried in vain to counter the transalpine troops, even asking the Emperor for help, but only managed to briefly recapture the capital and
7575-517: The following two centuries) when this ethnic group eventually made up one-seventh of the colonial population. Scotch-Irish settlers spread from Delaware and Pennsylvania throughout the larger Mid-Atlantic region, the inland regions of both the South and North, and throughout the West: American dialect areas that were all uninfluenced by upper-class non-rhoticity and that consequently have remained consistently rhotic. While non-rhoticity spread on
7676-581: The forces of Charles V in a strong position within the Italian peninsula, Francesco II Sforza joined the League of Cognac against Charles: together with him, the Republic of Venice , the Florentine Republic , Pope Clement VII and the Kingdom of France . The Duke was quickly overwhelmed by Charles troops, but managed to maintain control over some cities and strongholds of the duchy. Thanks to
7777-944: The hospital , BrE to hospital ; contrast, however, AmE actress Elizabeth Taylor , BrE the actress Elizabeth Taylor ). Often, these differences are a matter of relative preferences rather than absolute rules; and most are not stable since the two varieties are constantly influencing each other, and American English is not a standardized set of dialects. Differences in orthography are also minor. The main differences are that American English usually uses spellings such as flavor for British flavour , fiber for fibre , defense for defence , analyze for analyse , license for licence , catalog for catalogue and traveling for travelling . Noah Webster popularized such spellings in America, but he did not invent most of them. Rather, "he chose already existing options on such grounds as simplicity, analogy or etymology." Other differences are due to
7878-674: The influence of 18th-century Protestant Ulster Scots immigrants (known in the U.S. as the Scotch-Irish ) in Appalachia developing Appalachian English and the 20th-century Great Migration bringing African-American Vernacular English to the Great Lakes urban centers. Any phonologically unmarked North American accent falls under an umbrella known as General American. This section mostly refers to such General American features. Studies on historical usage of English in both
7979-438: The late 18th century onwards, but which has conversely lost prestige in the U.S. since at least the early 20th century. Non-rhoticity makes a word like car sound like cah or source like sauce . New York City and Southern accents are the most prominent regional accents of the country, as well as the most stigmatized and socially disfavored. Southern speech, strongest in southern Appalachia and certain areas of Texas,
8080-427: The mid-nineteenth century onwards, so they "are now more different from each other than they were 50 or 100 years ago", while other accents, like of New York City and Boston, have remained stable in that same time-frame. However, a General American sound system also has some debated degree of influence nationwide, for example, gradually beginning to oust the regional accent in urban areas of the South and at least some in
8181-617: The most formal contexts, and regional accents with the most General American native features include North Midland, Western New England, and Western accents. Although no longer region-specific, African-American Vernacular English , which remains the native variety of most working- and middle-class African Americans , has a close relationship to Southern dialects and has greatly influenced everyday speech of many Americans, including hip hop culture . Hispanic and Latino Americans have also developed native-speaker varieties of English. The best-studied Latino Englishes are Chicano English , spoken in
8282-524: The ongoing influence of Giotto on his Marian art , midway through his career. The Calendimaggio Festival takes place on the first four days of May ending on a Saturday. The festival is a re-enactment of medieval and Renaissance life in the form of a challenge between the upper faction (parte de sopra) with a blue flag and the lower faction of the town (parte de sotto) with a red flag. It includes processions, theatrical presentations, choirs, crossbow , flag-waving and dancing contests. Assisi Embroidery
8383-402: The past forms of a few verbs (for example, AmE/BrE: learned / learnt , burned / burnt , snuck/sneaked , dove/dived ) although the purportedly "British" forms can occasionally be seen in American English writing as well; different prepositions and adverbs in certain contexts (for example, AmE in school, BrE at school ); and whether or not a definite article is used, in very few cases (AmE to
8484-426: The recovery and restoration have been remarkable, although much remains to be done. Massive damage was caused to many historical sites, but the major attraction, the Basilica di San Francesco , reopened less than 2 years later. UNESCO collectively designated the Franciscan structures of Assisi as a World Heritage Site in 2000. The town is dominated by two medieval castles . The larger, called Rocca Maggiore ,
8585-1082: The rule of Azzone Visconti, the Ossola in Piedmont had been conquered in 1331, followed by Bergamo and Pavia (Lombardy) and Novara (Piedmont) in 1332, Pontremoli (Tuscany) in 1333, Vercelli (Piedmont) and Cremona (Lombardy) in 1334, the Lombard cities of Como , Crema , Lodi and the Valtellina in 1335, Bormio (Lombardy) and Piacenza (Emilia) in 1336, and Brescia and the Val Camonica in 1337. The brothers Luchino and Giovanni Visconti added Bellinzona (present-day Switzerland in 1342, Parma (Emilia) in 1346 and several territories in southwestern Piedmont in 1347: Tortona , Alessandria , Asti , and Mondovì . Bernabò conquered Reggio Emilia in 1371 and Riva del Garda in 1380, and Gian Galeazzo greatly expanded Milan's dominions, first eastwards, with
8686-470: The soldier of fortune Biordo Michelotti , Gian Galeazzo Visconti and his successor Francesco I Sforza , dukes of Milan , Jacopo Piccinino and Federico II da Montefeltro , lord of Urbino . The city went into a deep decline through the plague of the Black Death in 1348. The city came again under papal jurisdiction under the rule of Pope Pius II (1458–1464). In 1569 construction was started of
8787-509: The title of Duke of Milan by means of a diploma signed in Prague by Wenceslaus of Bohemia . The nomination was ratified and celebrated in Milan on 5 September 1395. Gian Galeazzo Visconti also obtained the license to quarter the Visconti's biscione with the imperial eagle in the new ducal flag. The duchy, as defined in the diploma of 1395, included the territory surrounding Milan, between
8888-570: The traditional standard accent of (southern) England, Received Pronunciation (RP), has evolved a trap–bath split . Moreover, American accents preserve /h/ at the start of syllables, while perhaps a majority of the regional dialects of England participate in /h/ dropping , particularly in informal contexts. However, General American is also innovative in a number of its own ways: The process of coining new lexical items started as soon as English-speaking British-American colonists began borrowing names for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from
8989-700: The two major cities in California : San Francisco and St. Mary of the Angels at the Porziuncula . American English American English , sometimes called United States English or U.S. English , is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States ; the de facto common language used in government, education, and commerce; and an official language in 32 of
9090-417: The verb-and-preposition combination: stopover, lineup, tryout, spin-off, shootout , holdup, hideout, comeback, makeover , and many more. Some prepositional and phrasal verbs are in fact of American origin ( win out, hold up, back up/off/down/out, face up to and many others). Noun endings such as -ee (retiree), -ery (bakery), -ster (gangster) and -cian (beautician) are also particularly productive in
9191-543: The wide rural area of the middle Padan Plain east of the hills of Montferrat . During much of its existence, it was wedged between Savoy to the west, Republic of Venice to the east, the Swiss Confederacy to the north, and separated from the Mediterranean by Republic of Genoa to the south. The duchy was at its largest at the beginning of the 15th century, at which time it included almost all of what
9292-826: The word corn , used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the maize plant, the most important crop in the U.S. Most Mexican Spanish contributions came after the War of 1812 , with the opening of the West, like ranch (now a common house style ). Due to Mexican culinary influence, many Spanish words are incorporated in general use when talking about certain popular dishes: cilantro (instead of coriander), queso, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, fajitas, burritos, and guacamole. These words usually lack an English equivalent and are found in popular restaurants. New forms of dwelling created new terms ( lot , waterfront) and types of homes like log cabin , adobe in
9393-548: Was converted to Christianity by bishop Rufino , who was martyred at Costano . According to tradition, his remains rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino in Assisi. The Ostrogoths of king Totila destroyed most of the town in 545. Assisi then came under the rule of the Lombards as part of the Lombard and then Frankish Duchy of Spoleto . The thriving commune became an independent Ghibelline commune in
9494-472: Was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. Under the Spanish viceroys from 1535, Milan became one of the contributors to the Spanish king's army. At the time Lombardy had the most developed manufacturing and commercial economy anywhere in the world, making it a valuable tool for the Spanish military: an armory of paramount strategic importance. In addition to resources, Milan also provided soldiers. During
9595-527: Was concluded. The political balance achieved with the Peace of Lodi lasted until the death of Lorenzo de' Medici , ruler of the Florentine Republic , and the incursion of King Charles VIII of France into Italy in 1494, except for some Swiss incursions which resulted in the Peace of Lucerne. Galeazzo Maria , son of Francesco Sforza, due to his government considered by many to be tyrannical,
9696-717: Was expelled from the Peninsula by a League composed of many Italian states, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of England , but only three years later, in 1498, the Duke of Orléans, who had become King of France with the name of Louis XII , assert his claims on the Duchy of Milan: one of his ancestors, Louis of Orleans , had in fact married Valentina Visconti , daughter of Duke Gian Galeazzo, in 1389, whose marriage contract established that, in
9797-614: Was intertwined since the 13th century with that of the Visconti family , who resumed the policy of territorial expansionism inherited from the city's municipality. One of the first Visconti exponents to lead the Lombard city was Ottone Visconti , elected archbishop in 1262 and who defeated the Della Torre family in the Battle of Desio in 1277. In the first half of the following century, his nephews and great-grandsons who came to govern Milan: Matteo I , Galeazzo I , Azzone and
9898-629: Was murdered in a conspiracy. His son, Gian Galeazzo , governed under the regency of his mother Bona of Savoy , until his uncle, Ludovico il Moro usurped the throne of the duchy. Ludovico il Moro, son of Francesco Sforza, managed to obtain the guardianship of his nephew Gian Galeazzo and confine him to the Visconti Castle of Pavia , where in 1494 he died in such mysterious circumstances that many suspicions gathered around Ludovico himself. Relations between Ludovico and Ferdinand II of Aragon therefore deteriorated: Gian Galeazzo had in fact married
9999-483: Was ruled by Habsburg Spain from 1556 and it passed to Habsburg Austria in 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession as a vacant Imperial fief . The duchy remained an Austrian possession until 1796 when a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it, and it ceased to exist a year later as a result of the Treaty of Campo Formio , when Austria ceded it to the new Cisalpine Republic . After
10100-521: Was then reduced to a regional state subjected to foreign domination. With the Treaty of Baden , which ended the War of the Spanish Succession , the Duchy of Milan was ceded to the Austrian Habsburgs . During the 18th century, the surface area of the duchy - despite its unification in 1745 with the Duchy of Mantua , which however had strong autonomy from Milan - was further reduced, reaching
10201-469: Was written by Noah Webster in 1828, codifying several of these spellings. Differences in grammar are relatively minor, and do not normally affect mutual intelligibility; these include: typically a lack of differentiation between adjectives and adverbs, employing the equivalent adjectives as adverbs he ran quick / he ran quickly ; different use of some auxiliary verbs ; formal (rather than notional) agreement with collective nouns ; different preferences for
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