Italian is considered by many to be the most beautiful of the world’s languages. As the transmitter of the great culture of the Renaissance, its influence on the other languages of Western Europe has been profound. Besides being spoken in Italy, it is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, and is also widely spoken in the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. All told, there are about 60 million speakers.
Italian is one of the Romance languages, and has remained closer to the original Latin than any of the others. Its dialects, however, vary tremendously, often to the point where communication becomes a problem. The literary standard came into being in the 14th century, largely through Dante’s Divine Comedy and the works of Petrarch and Boccaccio. Since these eminent authors chiefly used the dialect of Tuscany (especially Florentine), modern literary Italian is essentially Tuscan. In modern times the dialect of Rome has gained considerable prestige, but it has still failed to eclipse the Florentine standard.
English words of Italian origin include umbrella, spaghetti, macaroni, broccoli, balcony, studio, casino, fresco, gusto, volcano, lava, stucco, gondola, regatta, malaria, bandit, incognito, vendetta, ghetto, and inferno. In the field of music there are piano, viola, opera, sonata, concerto, oratorio, soprano, aria, solo, trio, quartet, allegro, andante, tempo, libretto, staccato, crescendo, maestro, and virtuoso.
