Italian
Italiano
Italian is the Romance language closest to Latin in form. Almost all its words end in a vowel, which gives it its particular music and makes it recognisable at a glance. Its written standard rests on the Tuscan of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, settled long before the country was politically unified. The regional varieties, usually called dialects, are in fact sister languages descended directly from Latin.
- Family
- Romance
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- ≈ 65 million
- Where
- Italy, Switzerland, San Marino
- In the game
- Common language
How to spot it
Almost every word ends in a vowel. Frequent double consonants (bello, mamma) and the clusters gli, gn, sc.
A few sentences
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Domani mattina devo alzarmi presto per andare al lavoro.
Tomorrow morning I have to get up early for work.
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I bambini giocano in cortile tutto il pomeriggio.
The children play in the courtyard all afternoon.
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Ho dimenticato l’ombrello a casa.
I left the umbrella at home.
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Fuori c’è un gran traffico.
There is heavy traffic outside.
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La festa è finita molto tardi.
The party ended very late.