ITALIAN A ROMANCE LANGUAGE, the official language of Italy and an official language of Switzerland, also spoken by Italian communities in Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, the US, Venezuela, and elsewhere. The term refers to both the STANDARD and literary language in contrast to the many DIALECTS and the entire complex of standard language and dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible. In addition, some regional varieties, such as Friulian and Sardinian, are regarded as more or less distinct languages. Standard Italian is based on the medieval Tuscan dialect.

Italian in English

. The influence of Italian on English is almost entirely lexical and has continued over many centuries. Since medieval times, Italian has had a strong influence on FRENCH, as a result of which many borrowings into English have had a distinctly Gallic aspect, as with battalion (16c: from bataillon, from battaglione), caprice (17c: from caprice, from capriccio the skip of a goat, a sudden sharp movement), charlatan (16c: from charlatan, from ciarlatano, from ciarlare to chatter), frigate (16c: from frégate, from fregata), picturesque (17c: from pittoresque, from pittoresco, with assimilation to picture), tirade (c.1800, from tirade, from tirata volley, from tirade to pull, fire a shot). Direct borrowings fall into four broad categories: (1) Terms from the centuries-old pan-European tradition of using Italian to discuss and describe music: for example, adagio, alto, andante, arpeggio, bel canto, cello, coloratura, con brio, concerto, contralto, crescendo, diminuendo, divertimento, fortissimo, libretto, mezzosoprano, pianoforte, pizzicato, scherzo, solo, sonata. (2) Comparable literary, architectural, artistic, and cultural terms, such as canto, conversazione, cupola, extravaganza, fresco, intaglio, novella, palazzo, stanza, tarantella. (3) Internationalized culinary terms, such as lasagne, minestrone, mozzarella, pasta, pizza, ravioli, spaghetti, tagliatelle, vermicelli. (4) A variety of social words, including alfresco, bimbo, bordello, bravo, condottiere, confetti, fiasco, ghetto, gigolo, graffiti, imbroglio, mafia, piazza, regatta. Some loans have adapted spellings, as with macaroni (Italian maccheroni, earlier maccaroni), seraglio (Italian serraglio, ultimately from Persian). In addition, some words have moved to a greater or less extent from their original area of application into wider use, as with crescendo, extravaganza, piano, solo. Italian singular/plural inflections usually apply among terms restricted to musical, cultural, and culinary registers (concerto/concerti, scherzo/scherzi), but English inflections apply in general use (concerto/concertos, scherzo/scherzos).

English in Italian

. The influence of English on Italian is essentially lexical and relatively recent. Noticeable in the 1930s, it has accelerated greatly since the 1960s, encouraged not only by the growing international use and prestige of English, but also by the adoption after the Second World War of English (to replace French) as the first foreign language in schools. Recent borrowings, often described as contributions to Itangliano (highly Anglicized Italian), include: baby, boom, boy, budget, cartoon, catering, ceiling, club, control system, deadline, dee-jay, designer, egghead, fifty-fifty, flash, girl, happiness, identikit, killer, lady, leader, life-saver, market, partner, shop, shopping, show, spray, staff, standard, stop, style, target, trekking, trend. The assimilation and use of many borrowings resemble the processes by which English is absorbed into French, including: (1) The adaptation of words to fit the gender and inflectional systems: un bluff a bluff, bluffare to bluff; uno snob a snob, snobbare to snub; handicappati the handicapped. Compounds may be reversed to conform to Italian norms, a pocket radio becoming un radio-pocket. (2) The restriction and adaptation of senses: un flirt an affair; look used only as a noun; un mister a sports coach. (3) The clipping of compounds: un full a full hand (of cards); un night a night club.

See CANADIAN ENGLISH, EARLY MODERN ENGLISH, EUROPEAN UNION, INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES, LATIN, LINGUISTIC TYPOLOGY, MALTA, ROMANCE LANGUAGES.