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Italian language

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Portrait of Dante Alighieri from the 1530s, holding a book, a classic example of Renaissance art.

Italian Language

Italian, or italiano, is a beautiful language spoken by many people around the world. It belongs to the Romance language family, which includes languages like French and Spanish. Italian grew from the old Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman Empire.

Today, Italian is an official language in several countries. You can hear it in Italy, San Marino, parts of Switzerland like Ticino, and in Vatican City. Many people in places like Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and even in parts of Brazil know Italian, too.

Italian is very important in Europe. It is one of the official languages in big groups like the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe. People love Italian words in music, fashion, and food. You might hear Italian words when you enjoy pasta or listen to opera!

The Italian language started to grow during the Middle Ages. It came from Latin, the language of the old Roman Empire. Over time, people in different parts of Italy began speaking their own ways of saying things, called dialects. But in the 1300s, a writer named Dante Alighieri helped make one standard Italian language with his famous poems. His work made Italian special and loved by many.

Italian became even more popular during the Renaissance. This was a time when people in Italy loved art, music, and new ideas. With the help of the printing press, books in Italian became easier to make and more people could read them. Italian was spoken in many courts and even on the island of Corsica.

Today, almost everyone in Italy speaks Italian. It is also one of the most popular languages for people to learn around the world. Italian words are used in many places, making our world a little more connected and beautiful.

Images

An illuminated manuscript from the Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona, showcasing beautiful early medieval art.
Portrait of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian writer, painted in 1841 by Francesco Hayez.
A map showing where Italian is spoken in Switzerland.
A colorful map showing where Italian-speaking people lived in the Istria region in 1991.
Italian High School in Rijeka
A colorful welcome sign in three languages—Spanish, Italian, and Piedmontese—in Córdoba, Argentina.
Portrait of Giosuè Carducci, an important Italian poet from the late 1800s.
Portrait of Grazia Deledda, the Italian author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1926.
Portrait of Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello from 1932.
Portrait of the Italian poet Eugenio Montale.
Map showing different Italian dialects in Italy before 1939.
Portrait of the Italian poet Salvatore Quasimodo from 1959.

Related articles

Italy
France
Spain
Roman Empire
Official language
San Marino

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Italian language, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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