Lombard (linguistics)
Encyclopedia : L : LO : LOM : Lombard (linguistics)
The term Lombard refers to a group of related dialects spoken mainly in Southern Switzerland (Ticino and Graubünden) and in Northern Italy (most of Lombardy and some areas of neighbouring regions).
Contents
Status
Denomination
Speakers of the various Lombard idioms identify their own parlance usually as "dialect" (as opposed to Italian), specifying which one only when necessary. Others consider Lombard to be a single minority language. In particular, the Ethnologue and the UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages consider it structurally separated from Italian.Varieties
A major distinction is usually made between Western (Insubrian) and Eastern (Orobic) varieties. The varieties of Swiss canton Ticino, of Milan, Varese, Como, Lecco belong to the former, while the ones of Bergamo, Brescia and Crema belong to the latter. The varieties of the Valchiavenna and the Valtellina—together with the three Lombard valleys of Swiss canton Graubünden, although showing some peculiarities of their own and some traits in common with Eastern Lombard, should be considered as Western.The Lombard variety with the oldest literary tradition (dating back to the thirteenth century) is that of Milan, where nowadays Milanese, the native Lombard variety of the area, has almost completely been superseded by Italian. Ticinese is a comprehensive denomination for the Lombard varieties spoken in Canton Ticino (Tessin), while the Ticinese koiné is the Western Lombard koiné used by speakers of local dialects (particularly those diverging from the koinè itself) when communicating with speakers of other Lombard dialects of Ticino, the Grisons or Italian Lombardy.
Lombard varieties are not mutually intelligible with Italian, and the more distant Lombard varieties (particularly across the East-West distinction) are neither.
Absence of a single written standard
Lombard-speaking communities (or, more precisely, the exiguous percentage of their members who could read and write) have been using for centuries some form of Latin or Tuscan (later known as Italian) as the language of written communication, not developing a standard written Lombard variety.Interestengly, the Lombard edition of Wikipedia has coped with this problem by offering a front page that can be switched between Western and Eastern Lombard, and accepting writing in all dialects and orthographies with a system of templates to mark them.
Position on the Romance tree
On the other hand, from the point of view of language genealogy, Lombard idioms and Italian are not so closely related, having in common only the fact of being Italo-Western Romance. Romansh, Friulian, French, Provençal, Catalan and even Castilian or Portuguese are linguistically speaking closer relatives of Lombard idioms than Italian.Features
- Note: unless otherwise specified, all examples below are forms common to most Western Lombard varieties, including the Ticinese koiné. The orthography is a compromise between traditional orthographies and a recently proposed unified system for all Lombard varieties, with phonetic transcriptions (when given) in IPA.
Usage
Standard Italian is widely used in Lombard-speaking areas. However, the status of Lombard is quite different between the Swiss and Italian areas. This justifies the view that nowadays the Swiss areas (sometimes referred to as Swiss Lombardy (Lombardia svizzera)) have become the real stronghold of Lombard.In Switzerland
In the Swiss areas, the local Lombard varieties are generally better preserved and more vital than in Italy. No negative feelings are associated with the use of Lombard in everyday life, even when interacting with complete strangers. Some radio and television programmes in Lombard, particularly comedies, are occasionally broadcast by the [Swiss Italian-speaking broadcasting company]. Moreover, it is not uncommon for people from the street to answer in Lombard in spontaneous interviews. Even some television ads in Lombard have been reported. The major research institution working on Lombard dialects is located in Bellinzona, Switzerland (CDE - Centro di dialettologia e di etnografia, a governmental (cantonal) institution); there is no comparable institution in Italy. In December 2004, the CDE released the [LSI], a dictionary in 5 volumes covering all the Lombard varieties spoken in the Swiss areas. This is so far the most comprehensive Lombard language resource ever published (more than 4,500 pages and about 57,000 lexemes with over 190,000 spoken variants).In Italy
The usage of Lombard dialects is generally scarce in present-day Italy. This is due to a number of historical and social reasons: speaking a non-standard variety is considered a sign of poor schooling or low social status, and its usage has been historically discouraged by Italian politicians, probably as it was regarded as an obstacle to the attempt to create a 'national identity'. Such and related issues are also the reason why speaking a non-standard dialect is politically controversial in Italy, as presently the political party most supportive of Lombard (and of the varielies of Northern Italy in general) is the Northern League (in the past, on the other hand, the leftist parties were the ones giving support to local varieties). Today, in most areas of Italian Lombardy, people below forty years old speak almost exclusively Standard Italian in their daily lives, because of schooling and television broadcasts in Standard Italian. People who speak a Lombard dialect will almost always speak Standard Italian (or an approximation of it) to an outsider. A certain revival of the use of Lombard has been observed in the last decade, when the use of Lombard has become a way to express one's local identity and to distantiate oneself from Mediterranean-oriented mainstream Italian culture.The popularity of modern artists singing their lyrics in some Lombard variety ("rock dialettale") is a relatively new but growing phenomenon involving both the Swiss and Italian areas. The most well-known of such artists is probably [Davide Van de Sfroos] (aka. Davide Bernasconi).
External links
- [Ethnologue report for Lombard] (the Ethnologue report for Lombard in Switzerland contains a patent error: Ticinese cannot be "the form of Lombard used in the home in Italy" as it is spoken only in Switzerland!)
- [Centro di dialettologia e di etnografia del Cantone Ticino].
- [Istituto di dialettologia e di etnografia valtellinese e valchiavennasca].
- [LSI - Lessico dialettale della Svizzera italiana].
- [VSI - Vocabolario dei dialetti della Svizzera italiana].
- [DOSI - Documenti orali della Svizzera italiana].
- [RTSI: Acquarelli popolari], some video and audio documents (interviews, recordings, etc. of writers from Ticino) in Ticinese varieties (please notice that the metalanguage of this site is Italian, and that some of the interviews are in Italian rather than in Ticinese Lombard).
- [UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages: Europe. Potentially endangered languages], where Lombard is classified as a potentially endangered language.
- [Il galloitalico di Sicilia], varieties with Gallo-Romance traits spoken in 5 provinces and 24 villages in Sicily by the descendants of Lombard emigrants.
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