italiano

Italiano, or Italian, is a Romance language in the Italo-Dalmatian subgroup, descended from Vulgar Latin. It is the official language of Italy and San Marino and one of the official languages of Switzerland; Italian-speaking communities exist in neighboring regions and around the world. Standard Italian is based largely on the Tuscan dialect, especially Florentine, but it coexists with numerous regional varieties that differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax.

Written Italian uses the Latin alphabet of 21 letters; j, k, w, x, and y appear mainly in loanwords. It is largely phonemic, with five vowel sounds and a system that includes frequent gemination of consonants. Nouns and adjectives have gender and number, with corresponding articles. The verb system inflects for person and number and features three regular conjugations (-are, -ere, -ire) plus many irregular forms. Tenses include present, imperfect, passato prossimo, and future, with the subjunctive, conditional, and imperative moods also used. Word order is usually subject–verb–object but remains flexible due to clitic pronouns and agreement.

History and usage: Italian evolved from Latin during the Middle Ages, with Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio contributing to its prestige and standardization. It achieved national status in the 19th century during the unification of Italy, when a standardized form based on Tuscan was promoted for education and administration. Since then, Italian has spread globally through migration, media, and culture, making it a major language of literature, cinema, music, and international communication.