Do all Italians speak standard Italian? (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

Do all Italians speak standard Italian?
Tags: Italy \| Dialect \| Italian
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23 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

MrEsox
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Canada
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Speaks: Italian*
Studies: Japanese, Arabic (Gulf)

Message 17 of 23

11 August 2010 at 6:48pm | IP Logged

I am native of Italy, and I can confirm what most of people have already said: Standard Italian will be understood everywhere in Italy. I have never met any Italian which was unable to understand Standard Italian, and only a few people (mostly old people from little isolate villages) couldn't speak it good enough.
You'll find difference in accent, in choice of verbs and modes, but towards a simplification: for example, in many places (especially in the South) people prefer to use Imperfetto instead of Congiuntivo, reducing the amount of conjugations you'll need to learn to communicate effectively.
And most Italians will automatically switch from dialect to standard Italian anytime they are facing a "non-local" speaker.
I use to speak my hometown dialect only with people from my hometown, and use a broader provincial-regional variety of dialect with people from my "broad" area. And Italian with everybody else.

PS - in the South of Italy, Congiuntivo is so rarely used that is considered a "sign" of higher education (i.e. universitary degree). Imperfetto is used instead
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stelingo
Hexaglot
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United Kingdom
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Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian
Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin

Message 18 of 23

12 August 2010 at 12:51am | IP Logged

MrEsox wrote:

PS - in the South of Italy, Congiuntivo is so rarely used that is considered a "sign" of higher education (i.e. universitary degree). Imperfetto is used instead

So instead of saying, for example:

'Voglio che vengano domani'

people in the South would say

'Voglio che venivano domani'?
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vilas
Pentaglot
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Italy
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Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese

Message 19 of 23

12 August 2010 at 8:23pm | IP Logged

MrEsox wrote:

I am native of Italy, and I can confirm what most of people have already said: Standard Italian will be understood everywhere in Italy. I have never met any Italian which was unable to understand Standard Italian, and only a few people (mostly old people from little isolate villages) couldn't speak it good enough.
You'll find difference in accent, in choice of verbs and modes, but towards a simplification: for example, in many places (especially in the South) people prefer to use Imperfetto instead of Congiuntivo, reducing the amount of conjugations you'll need to learn to communicate effectively.
And most Italians will automatically switch from dialect to standard Italian anytime they are facing a "non-local" speaker.
I use to speak my hometown dialect only with people from my hometown, and use a broader provincial-regional variety of dialect with people from my "broad" area. And Italian with everybody else.
PS - in the South of Italy, Congiuntivo is so rarely used that is considered a "sign" of higher education (i.e. universitary degree). Imperfetto is used instead

There are typical mistakes of Southerns like there are typical mistakes of Southerns.
For instance in Lombardy they put the article before the name they say "il Mario"
"la Giovanna" instead of "Mario 2 " Giovanna" and there are people from provinces like Bergamo or Brescia that are very hard to understand because they speak with a very rough accent.And in the north most of people don't know how to use the absolute past.
The best Italian is spoken in Tuscany , Central Italy.

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vilas
Pentaglot
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Italy
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Message 20 of 23

12 August 2010 at 8:25pm | IP Logged

"like there are typical mistakes of Southerns
Sorry I meant " like there are typical mistakes of Northerns"
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vilas
Pentaglot
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Italy
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Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese

Message 21 of 23

12 August 2010 at 9:14pm | IP Logged

stelingo wrote:

MrEsox wrote:

PS - in the South of Italy, Congiuntivo is so rarely used that is considered a "sign" of higher education (i.e. universitary degree). Imperfetto is used instead

So instead of saying, for example:

'Voglio che vengano domani'

people in the South would say

'Voglio che venivano domani'?

Typical southern mistake is "s'accomodasse" instead of "Si accomodi"
Typical northern mistake is "prego venghi " instead of " prego venga"
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MrEsox
Newbie
Canada
Joined 5218 days ago
7 posts - 7 votes
Speaks: Italian*
Studies: Japanese, Arabic (Gulf)

Message 22 of 23

13 August 2010 at 12:01am | IP Logged

vilas wrote:

The best Italian is spoken in Tuscany , Central Italy.

well, because this is the dialect Standard Italian comes from. :)
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stelingo
Hexaglot
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United Kingdom
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Message 23 of 23

13 August 2010 at 12:41am | IP Logged

vilas wrote:

stelingo wrote:

MrEsox wrote:

PS - in the South of Italy, Congiuntivo is so rarely used that is considered a "sign" of higher education (i.e. universitary degree). Imperfetto is used instead

So instead of saying, for example:

'Voglio che vengano domani'

people in the South would say

'Voglio che venivano domani'?

Typical southern mistake is "s'accomodasse" instead of "Si accomodi"
Typical northern mistake is "prego venghi " instead of " prego venga"

So you were talking about the imperfect subjunctive, not the imperfect indicative.

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