Milanese
Encyclopedia
Milanese is the central variety
of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city
and province of Milan
.
In Italian-language contexts, Milanese is often (like most non-Italian languages spoken in Italy) called a "dialect
" and is, as a consequence, mistaken for a dialect of Italian. In fact, Milanese and Italian
are distinct Romance languages
and are not mutually intelligible
. Milanese is a particular prestigious Western Lombard variety and is intelligible to speakers of other neighbouring Western Lombard varieties.
Like all dialect
s of Western Lombard, Milanese is a Romance language
, related to French
, Romansh, and to other Gallo-Italian languages.
Various dictionaries, a few grammar books, an extensive literature and a recent translation of the Gospels are available in Milanese.
have developed. The oldest still in use, and probably the most widely used, is the convention adopted by the Milanese writer Carlo Porta
. Typical of this system is the trigraph oeu for the vowels [ø] and [œ]. See: Classical Milanese orthography
.
More recent conventions often try to:
A number of the alternative systems use ü and ö for /y/ and /ø/, instead of u and oeu, in order to avoid confusion between Milanese and Italian vowels. They also, in general, reduce the number of accents involved, often removing the circumflex
^.
es that have to be considered. The comparison is made quite natural by the fact that Milanese speakers are usually also speakers of Italian.
. Audio is available for this text with a native speaker from Milan (compare to the same text in Italian).
Text using the original orthography
, very close to the traditional orthography:
The same text in an alternative orthography, which could be used to render all Lombard varieties. Long vowels (both phonologically and phonetically long) are doubled, word-internal consonants are never doubled (in accordance with pronunciation), and final devoicing of obstruents is rendered orthographically:
And in English:
The number of speakers of Milanese last recorded in the city numbered at just 4,000 and is on the decline, with Italian being the dominant language.
Variety (linguistics)
In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself...
of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and province of Milan
Province of Milan
The Province of Milan : /) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Milan. The provincial territory is highly urbanized, resulting in the third highest population density among the Italian provinces with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, just behind the provinces of...
.
In Italian-language contexts, Milanese is often (like most non-Italian languages spoken in Italy) called a "dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
" and is, as a consequence, mistaken for a dialect of Italian. In fact, Milanese and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
are distinct Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
and are not mutually intelligible
Mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort...
. Milanese is a particular prestigious Western Lombard variety and is intelligible to speakers of other neighbouring Western Lombard varieties.
Like all dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s of Western Lombard, Milanese is a Romance language
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
, related to French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Romansh, and to other Gallo-Italian languages.
Various dictionaries, a few grammar books, an extensive literature and a recent translation of the Gospels are available in Milanese.
Orthography
Partly because of the unofficial status of Milanese, several different orthographic conventionsOrthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
have developed. The oldest still in use, and probably the most widely used, is the convention adopted by the Milanese writer Carlo Porta
Carlo Porta
Carlo Porta was an Italian poet, the most famous writer in Milanese .-Biography:...
. Typical of this system is the trigraph oeu for the vowels [ø] and [œ]. See: Classical Milanese orthography
Classical Milanese orthography
The classical Milanese orthography is the orthography used for the Western Lombard language, in particular for the Milanese dialect, by the major poets and writers of this literature, such as Carlo Porta, Carlo Maria Maggi, Delio Tessa etc....
.
More recent conventions often try to:
- simplify the rules (which are sometimes not very intuitive in the Porta system)
- make the correct reading of Milanese easier for native Italian speakers
- reduce the gap between the written forms of Milanese and of other Lombard dialects
A number of the alternative systems use ü and ö for /y/ and /ø/, instead of u and oeu, in order to avoid confusion between Milanese and Italian vowels. They also, in general, reduce the number of accents involved, often removing the circumflex
Circumflex
The circumflex is a diacritic used in the written forms of many languages, and is also commonly used in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from Latin circumflexus —a translation of the Greek περισπωμένη...
^.
A comparison with Italian
There are few differences between standard Italian and Milanese syntaxSyntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
es that have to be considered. The comparison is made quite natural by the fact that Milanese speakers are usually also speakers of Italian.
- More vowelVowelIn phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s occur in Milanese than in Italian. Milanese uses /ø/ and /y/ in addition to the 7 Standard Italian vowels, and it uses vowel lengthVowel lengthIn linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
. - Almost every polysyllabic Italian word ends in a vowel. Conversely, words ending in consonants are very common in Milanese. As a consequence, many paroxytoneParoxytoneParoxytone is a linguistic term for a word with stress on the penultimate syllable, that is, the syllable before the last syllable, e.g, the English word potato...
Italian words are oxytoneOxytoneAn oxytone is a word with the stress on the last syllable, such as the English words correct and reward. A paroxytone is stressed on the penultimate syllable. A proparoxytone is stressed on the antepenultimate syllable.-See also:*Barytone...
in Milanese. An example is the infinitive of verbs: In Italian, chiamare "to call" with stress on the second "a" is equivalent to Milanese ciamà. - While most Italian subject pronounPronounIn linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s derive directly from their LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
counterparts, Milanese subject pronouns derive from Latin dative pronouns. As a result, Milanese subject pronouns resemble Italian object and dative pronouns: mi (Italian mi), ti (Italian ti), lu (Italian lui), lee (Italian lei), numm (Italian noi), viálter (Italian voi), lór (Italian loro). - Subject pronouns are doubled in the 2nd- and 3rd-person singular. Singular "you are" ("thou art"; Italian tu sei) is ti te seet in Milanese. The first pronoun (ti in ti te seet) is the actual subject pronoun and is optional. The second pronoun (te in ti te seet), which is normally a dative pronoun, reinforces the subject and is compulsory. The 2nd-person verbal suffix -t derives from Latin "te", as well. So there are three subject pronouns a verb.
- NegationNegationIn logic and mathematics, negation, also called logical complement, is an operation on propositions, truth values, or semantic values more generally. Intuitively, the negation of a proposition is true when that proposition is false, and vice versa. In classical logic negation is normally identified...
follows the verbVerbA verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
in Milanese, while in Italian negation precedes the verb. For example, Italian non sei "you are not" is equivalent to Milanese ti te seet no or ti te seet minga. Minga is an alternative negational adverbAdverbAn adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
(probably derived from Latin mica "crumb"), various forms of which are common in other Italian dialects and also in colloquial Italian, with nonmica for reinforcing negations. FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
pas and TuscanTuscan dialectThe Tuscan language , or the Tuscan dialect is an Italo-Dalmatian language spoken in Tuscany, Italy.Standard Italian is based on Tuscan, specifically on its Florentine variety...
punto are examples of negations using words originally designating something small. Minga and no are about equally common in Milanese and are usually interchangeable, though one may be more euphonious in one sentence than the other. For slight differentiation, minga may deny the presence of countable things, whereas no simply negates, such as mi vegni no "I won't come" versus mi vegni minga "I really don't want to come and I won't" and gh'èn hoo minga "I have nothing (no money)", that is, "I'm poor" versus gh'èn hoo nò "I have no money with me".
Sample text
The text is from Luke 2:1-7Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
. Audio is available for this text with a native speaker from Milan (compare to the same text in Italian).
Text using the original orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
, very close to the traditional orthography:
2:1 In chi dì là, on decrett de Céser Augùst l'ordinava che se fasess on censiment de tutta la terra. 2 Sto primm censiment l'è staa faa quand Quirini l'era governador de la Siria. 3 Tucc andaven a fass registrà, ciaschedun in la soa città. 4 Anca Giusepp, che l'era de la cà e de la famiglia de David, da la città de Nazareth e da la Galilea l'è andaa sù in Giudea a la città de David, ciamada Betlemm, 5 per fass registrà insemma a Maria, soa sposa, che l'era gravida. 6 Ben, pròppi intanta che se trovaven in quell sit, s'hinn compii per lee i dì de partorì. 7 L'ha mettuu al mond el sò primm, l'ha faa sù in di fass e l'ha miss giò in d'ona gruppia perchè gh'era minga de post per lor in la locanda.
(Circolo Filologico Milanese, I Quatter Vangeli de Mattee, March, Luca e Gioann in dialett milanes, Milan 1995)
The same text in an alternative orthography, which could be used to render all Lombard varieties. Long vowels (both phonologically and phonetically long) are doubled, word-internal consonants are never doubled (in accordance with pronunciation), and final devoicing of obstruents is rendered orthographically:
2:1 In chi dí lá, un decrètt de Céser Aügüst l'urdinava che se fasèss un censiméent de tüta la tèra. 2 Stu primm censiméent l'è staa faa quaant Quirini l'éra guvernaduur de la Siria. 3 Tücc andaven a fass registrá, ciaschedün in la súa citá. 4 Anca Giüsèpp, che l'éra de la cá e de la famíglia de Davit, da la citá de Názareth e da la Galilèa l'è andaa sü in Giüdèa a la citá de Davit, ciamada Betlèmm, 5 per fass registrá insèma a María, súa spusa, che l'éra gràvida. 6 Bén, pròpi intanta che se truvaven in quèll sit, s'inn cumpii per lée i dí de parturí. 7 L'a mettüü al muunt el sò primm, l'a faa sü in di fass e l'a miss giò in d'una grüppia perchè gh'éra minga de pòst per luur in la lucanda.
And in English:
2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when [1] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (ESV)
The number of speakers of Milanese last recorded in the city numbered at just 4,000 and is on the decline, with Italian being the dominant language.