Italian
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Official Language
- Croatia
- Italy
- San Marino
- Slovenia
- Switzerland
- Vatican City
Recognized Minority Language
- Albania
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria (Italian border only)
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil (São Paulo)
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- Egypt (Libyan border only)
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- France (Corsica and The Alps)
- Germany
- Greece (Dodecanese Islands)
- Guatemala
- Israel
- Japan
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Mexico (Chipilo)
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Romania
- Serbia
- Somalia
- South Africa (Italian communities only)
- Tunisia
- United States (New Jersey and New York)
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Italian Origins
Of the Romance languages, Italian is generally considered to be the one most closely resembling Latin in terms of vocabulary. Standard Italian was strongly influenced by the Tuscan dialect. The earliest surviving texts that can definitely be called Italian (as opposed to its predecessor Vulgar Latin) are legal formulae from the region of Benevento dating from 960–963.
Italian was first formalized in the first years of the 14th century through the works of Dante Alighieri, who mixed southern Italian languages, especially Sicilian, with his native Tuscan in his epic poems known collectively as the Commedia, to which Giovanni Boccaccio later affixed the title Divina. Dante's much-loved works were read throughout Italy and his written dialect became the “canonical standard” that others could all understand. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language.
Source: Wikipedia
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