View source for Romanesco dialect

{{Short description|Dialect of Italian spoken in Rome}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2007}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Romanesco
|nativename=Romano
|states=[[Italy]]<br>[[Vatican City]]
|region=[[Metropolitan City of Rome Capital]], [[Lazio]]
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Italic languages|Italic]]
|fam3=[[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
|fam4=[[Latin]]
|fam5=[[Romance languages|Romance]]
|fam6=[[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
|fam7=[[Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Dalmatian]]
|fam8=[[Italo-Dalmatian languages#Italo-Romance|Italo-Romance]]
|fam9=[[Central Italian]]
|isoexception=dialect
|glotto=none
|script=Latin
|lingua=51-AAA-rab
|map=Dialetti italiani centrali.jpg
|notice=IPA
}}
'''Romanesco''' ({{IPA|it|romaˈnesko}}) is one of the [[Central Italian]] dialects spoken in the [[Metropolitan City of Rome Capital]], especially in the [[Rome|core city]]. It is linguistically close to [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] and [[Italian language|Standard Italian]], with some notable differences from these two. Rich in vivid expressions and sayings, Romanesco is used in a typical [[diglossia|diglossic]] setting, mainly for informal/colloquial communication, with [[code-switching]] and [[translanguaging]] with the standard language.

==History==

===First traces===
The vernacular language of Rome, of which the short [[Commodilla catacomb inscription]] ({{CE|9<sup>th</sup> century}}) might be considered the earliest attestation,<ref name=Sabatini>
{{Citation
	| last = Sabatini
	| first = Francesco
	| title = Un'iscrizione volgare romana della prima metà del secolo IX
    | series= Studi linguistici italiani
	| year = 1966
}}</ref> is believed to have been regarded as low-[[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]],<ref name=Trifone>
{{Citation
	| last = Trifone
	| first = Pietro
    | authorlink = Pietro Trifone
	| title = Roma e il Lazio
    | publisher = UTET
	| year = 1992
    | language = it
}}</ref>{{rp|10}} as can be seen in the 11<sup>th</sup>-century [[Saint Clement and Sisinnius inscription]], featuring a dialogue wherein the saint is given higher moral ground by juxtaposing his [[liturgical language]] with the common speech employed by Sisinnius and his servants.

===Old Romanesco===
The 13<sup>th</sup> century saw the first works of literature written in Roman vernacular, such as ''Storie de Troja et de Roma'' (''Stories of Troy and of Rome'', an anonymous translation of ''Multae historiae et Troianae et Romanae'', a historical compilation by another anonymous author) and ''Le miracole de Roma'' (''The marvels of Rome'', translation of ''[[Mirabilia Urbis Romae]]''), characterized by a coexistence of Latin and vernacular elements.<br>
The status of the dialect as low-class was consolidated in the 1300s, when [[Dante Alighieri]] described it in his Latin essay ''[[De vulgari eloquentia]]'' as the worst one in Italy, a ''tristiloquium'' (“offensive speech”),<ref name="DVE">
{{cite wikisource
  | author-last = Alighieri
  | author-first = Dante
  | authorlink = Dante
  | wslanguage = la
  | title = De vulgari eloquentia
  | wslink = De Vulgari Eloquentia
}}</ref> linking it to the uncouthness of the people, criticizing their custom of addressing even people commonly perceived as socially superior by using the informal pronoun ''tu'', [[T–V distinction|instead of formal ''voi'']]<ref name="DVE"/> (something that had already been remarked by [[Salimbene di Adam]] in his chronicle,<ref>
{{citation
  | author-last = di Adam
  | author-first = Salimbene
  | authorlink = Salimbene di Adam
  | editor = Giuseppe Scalia
  | title = Chronica
  | language = la
  | year = 1998
  | publisher = Brepols
  | publication-place = Turnhout
  | orig-date = composed {{circa|1282}}–{{circa|1290}}
  | page = 172
}}</ref> written twenty-some years before).<br>
The work that best represents this phase of the dialect is a chronicle—known in Italian as the ''Cronica dell'Anonimo Romano'', and also by the title ''Vita di Cola di Rienzo'' (''Life of [[Cola di Rienzo]]'')—written in the latter half of the century by an anonymous Roman author.<ref name=sie>
{{cite web
  |title=La Parlata romana
  |language=it
  |url=http://online.unistrasi.it/Avvisi/Laparlataromana.pdf
  |website=online.unistrasi.it|publisher=Università per stranieri di Siena
  |access-date=6 February 2015
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206110011/http://online.unistrasi.it/Avvisi/Laparlataromana.pdf
  |archive-date=6 February 2015
}}</ref><br>
During the last decades of the 14<sup>th</sup> century, Romanesco came to be perceived, even among people of high social status, as having higher prestige than before, and started appearing in votive and burial inscriptions, as well as in notarial documents.<ref name=Trifone/>{{rp|18–19}}

====Features====
An analysis published in 2022<ref>
{{citation
| author-last = Marazza
| author-first = Micol
| title = I diari in volgare romanesco di Stefano Caffari (1417–1452): riedizione e commento linguistico
| publisher = Aracne
| publication-date = 2022-04-04
| location = Rome
| language = Italian
| ISBN = 979-12-5994-905-9
| edition = 1<sup>st</sup>
| chapter = Introduzione al testo
}}
</ref> presents the following as defining characteristics of old Roman vernacular.

=====Vowels=====
* [[Vowel breaking]] of original [[Stress (linguistics)|stressed]] ⟨{{smallcaps|e, o}}⟩ > {{IPA|/jɛ, wɔ/}} e.g.:
*: {{wikt-lang|la|tempus|{{smallcaps|tempus}}}} > ''tiempo'' (“time”)
*:{{wikt-lang|la|mortuus|{{smallcaps|mortuus}}}} > ''muorto'' (“dead”)
* Lack of [[Raising (sound change)|raising]] of stressed vowels before {{IPA|[ŋ]}} (e.g. ''lengua'', “tongue”)
* Lack of raising of pretonic {{IPA|/e/}} (e.g. ''de Roma''; compare Tuscan ''di Roma'')
* Conservation of unstressed {{IPA|/a/}} when followed by a trill consonant (e.g. ''margarita''; compare Tuscan ''margherita'')

=====Consonants=====
* [[Assimilation (phonology)|Assimilation]]
** progressive, e.g.:
**: ⟨{{smallcaps|nd}}⟩ > {{IPA|/nn/}}: {{wikt-lang|la|mundus|{{smallcaps|mundus}}}} > ''munno'' (“world”)
**: ⟨{{smallcaps|mb, nv}}⟩ > {{IPA|/mm/}}: {{wikt-lang|la|Reconstruction:Latin/combattere|{{smallcaps|combattere}}}} > ''commattere'' (“to fight”); {{wikt-lang|la|converto|{{smallcaps|convertit}}}} > ''(se) commerte'' (“he/she/it changes”)
**: ⟨{{smallcaps|ld}}⟩ > {{IPA|/ll/}}: {{wikt-lang|la|caldus|{{smallcaps|cal(i)dus}}}} > ''callo'' (“hot”)
** regressive, e.g.:
**: ⟨{{smallcaps|x}}⟩ {{IPA|/ks/}} > {{IPA|/ss/}}: {{wikt-lang|la|coxa|{{smallcaps|coxa}}}} > ''cossa'' (“thigh”)
**: ⟨{{smallcaps|-gn-}}⟩ {{IPA|/ŋn/}} > {{IPA|/n/}}: {{wikt-lang|la|lignamen|{{smallcaps|lignāmen}}}} > ''fa'''lename''''' (“carpenter”)
* [[Betacism]]
** ⟨{{smallcaps|b, v}}⟩ > {{IPA|/(b)b/}} when geminated or preceded by a consonant other than {{IPA|/r/}}: 
**: ''abbelenare'' (“to poison”) (compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|avvelenare}})
** ⟨{{smallcaps|b, v}}⟩ > {{IPA|/v/}} when word-initial, postvocalic, or preceded by {{IPA|/r/}}: 
**: {{wikt-lang|la|balneum|{{smallcaps|balneum}}}} > ''vagno'' (“bathroom”)
**: {{wikt-lang|la|parabola|{{smallcaps|parabola}}}} > ''paravola'' (“word”)
**: {{wikt-lang|la|barba|{{smallcaps|barba}}}} > ''varva'' (“beard”)
* [[Palatalization (phonetics)|Palatalization]]
*: {{smallcaps|-ssj-}} > {{IPA|/ʃʃ/}}, e.g.: ''{{smallcaps|russeus}}, {{smallcaps|russjus}}'' > ''roscio'' (“red”)
*: {{smallcaps|-pj-}} > {{IPA|/tt͡ʃ/}}, e.g.: {{wikt-lang|la|Appius|{{smallcaps|appia}}}} > ''Accia'' (“Appian”)
*: {{smallcaps|g(e)-}} > {{IPA|/j/}}, e.g.: ''{{wikt-lang|la|gelu|{{smallcaps|gelū}}}}'' > ''ielo'' (“frost”)
* Labiodentalization ⟨{{smallcaps|go-, gu-}}⟩ > {{IPA|/v/}}, e.g.:
*: {{wikt-lang|la|guerra|{{smallcaps|guerra}}}} > ''verra'' (“war”)
*: {{wikt-lang|la|gonella|{{smallcaps|gonella}}}} > ''vonnella'' (“skirt”)
* ⟨{{smallcaps|-mj-, -ng(e/i)-, -mbj-}}⟩ > {{IPA|/ɲɲ/}}
*: {{wikt-lang|la|simiae|{{smallcaps|sīmje}}}} > ''scignie'' (“monkeys”)
*: {{wikt-lang|la|adiungere|{{smallcaps|adjungere}}}} > ''aiognere'' (“to add”)
*: {{wikt-lang|la|cambium|{{smallcaps|cambjum}}}} > ''cagno'' (“change”)
* [[Affrication]] of {{IPA|/s/}} to {{IPA|/t͡s/}} after {{IPA|/l, r, n/}}
*: ''tuoizero'' (“[they] took”) (compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|tolsero}})
*: ''apparzo'' (“appeared”, past participle) (compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|apparso}})
*: ''menza'' (“table”) (compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|mensa}})
* ⟨{{smallcaps|-rj-, -sj-}}⟩ > {{IPA|/r, s/}}, e.g.:
*: {{wikt-lang|la|parius|{{smallcaps|parjus}}}} > ''paro'' (“even, equal”)
*: {{wikt-lang|la|camisia|{{smallcaps|camisja}}}} > ''camisa'' (“shirt”)
* Conservation of semiconsonantal ⟨{{smallcaps|i}}⟩, e.g.:
*: {{wikt-lang|la|iacet|{{smallcaps|iacet}}}} > ''iace'' (“[it] lies”) (compare It. {{wikt-lang|it|giace}}, having undergone [[affrication]])
* [[Paragoge|Paragogic]] syllable ''-ne'' appended to [[oxytone]]s (words stressed on the last syllable), e.g.:
*: ''è'' (“[he/she/it] is”) > ''ene''
* Lack of [[Voice (phonetics)|voicing]] of voiceless [[plosive]]s in intervocalic position, and between a vowel and a resonant:
*: {{wikt-lang|la|lacus|{{smallcaps|lacus}}}} > ''laco'' (“lake”) (compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|lago}})
*: {{wikt-lang|la|pater|{{smallcaps|patrem}}}} > ''patre'' (“father”) (compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|padre}})
*[[L-vocalization]], e.g.:
*:{{wikt-lang|la|alterum|{{smallcaps|alt(e)rum}}}} > ''aitro'' (“other”) (compare It. {{wikt-lang|it|altro}})

=====Morphology=====
* Presence of nouns with plural endings ''-a'', ''-ora'' (e.g. ''cervella'', “brains”; ''tempora'', “times”)
* Presence of nouns with plural ending ''-o'', reflecting the Latin 4<sup>th</sup>-declension ending (e.g. ''mano'', “hands”; compare Latin {{wikt-lang|la|manus|{{smallcaps|manūs}}}})
* Presence of nouns with singular ending ''-e'', reflecting the Latin 5<sup>th</sup>-declension ending (e.g. ''bellezze'', “beauty”; implies Vulgar Latin ''{{smallcaps|*bellitjēm}}'')
* {{wikt-lang|it|lo}} as the masculine definite article (plural {{wikt-lang|it|gli}})
* 2<sup>nd</sup>- and 3<sup>rd</sup>-person singular possessive pronouns — ''tio'' (“your(s)”), ''sio'' (“his/her/its”) — analogically reshaped on the basis of ''mio'' (“my, mine”); compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|mio}}, {{wikt-lang|it|tuo}}, {{wikt-lang|it|suo}}
* Presence of [[Clitic|enclitic]] personal possessive pronouns (e.g. ''patre'''mo''''', “'''my''' father”)
* Accusative singular personal pronouns ''mi'', ''ti'', ''si'' (compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|me}}, {{wikt-lang|it|te}}, {{wikt-lang|it|sé}})
* Presence of the numeral ''doi'' (“two”; compare Tuscan {{wikt-lang|it|due}})
* 3<sup>rd</sup>-person singular [[preterite]] endings ''-ao'' (1<sup>st</sup> conjugation), ''-eo'' (2<sup>nd</sup> conjugation), ''-io'' (3<sup>rd</sup> conjugation)

===Early Modern period===
Starting with the 16th century, the Roman dialect underwent an increasingly stronger influence from the [[Tuscan dialect]] (from which modern Italian derives) starting with the reigns of the two [[House of Medici|Medici]] popes ([[Leo X]] and [[Clement VII]]) and with the [[Sack of Rome (1527)|Sack of Rome in 1527]], two events which provoked a large immigration from [[Tuscany]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=D'Achille|first1=Paolo|title=Italiano di Roma|language=it|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/italiano-di-roma_(Enciclopedia_dell'Italiano)/|website=www.treccani.it|publisher=Treccani|access-date=6 February 2015}}</ref><ref name=dia>{{cite web|title=Dialetti|language=it|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/dialetti_(Enciclopedia_dell'Italiano)/|website=www.treccani.it|publisher=Treccani|access-date=6 February 2015}}</ref> Therefore, current Romanesco has grammar and roots that are rather different from other dialects in Central Italy.<ref name=dia/>

===Modern Period===
[[File:G G Belli.jpg|thumb|The young Giuseppe Gioachino Belli]]

The path towards a progressive Tuscanization of the dialect can be observed in the works of the major Romanesco writers and poets of the past two centuries: [[Giuseppe Gioachino Belli]] (1791–1863), whose ''[[sonnet|sonetti]] romaneschi'' represent the most important work in this dialect and an eternal monument to 19th century Roman people; [[Cesare Pascarella]] (1858–1940); Giggi Zanazzo (1860–1911); and [[Carlo Alberto Salustri]] (1871–1950), nicknamed Trilussa.

==Diffusion==
[[Image:Nove-bone.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Advertisement for nine European destinations by low-cost air travel in Romanesco at a subway station in Rome. Text: "Sò nnove, / sò bbone!" {{!(}}There are nine, they are good!{{)!}}]]

Before [[Rome]] became the capital city of Italy, Romanesco was spoken only inside the walls of the city, while the little towns surrounding Rome had their own dialects.  Nowadays, these dialects have been replaced with a variant of Romanesco, which therefore is now spoken in an area larger than the original one. It slightly pervades the everyday language of most of the immigrants who live in the large city.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

==Pronunciation==
Romanesco pronunciation and spelling differs from Standard Italian in these cases:
*{{IPAslink|j}} (lengthened) is used where standard Italian uses {{IPA|it|ʎ|}}. This {{IPA|it|j|}} is spelt {{angbr|[[j]]}}, a letter seldom used in present-day Italian. Compare Italian {{lang|it|figlio}} {{IPA|it|ˈfiʎʎo|}} "son" and Romanesco {{lang|it|fijo}} {{IPA|it-IT-RM|ˈfijːo|}} or {{lang|it|fìo}} {{IPA|it-IT-RM|ˈfio|}} thanks to assimilation;
*[[geminated consonant|geminate]] {{IPAslink|r}} ("rolled r" or alveolar trill) does not exist anymore: for example, {{lang|it|azzurro}} {{IPA|it-IT-RM|aˈdːzuːɾo|}}; ({{langx|it|azzurro|links=no}} "light blue"), {{lang|it|verrebbe}} {{IPA|it-IT-RM|veˈɾebːe|}} ({{langx|it|verrebbe|links=no}} "he/she would come").<ref name=ra27/> A Roman pun recites: "{{lang|it|Tera, chitara e guera, co' ddu' ere, sinnò è erore}}" ({{langx|en|"Ground, guitar and war with two R's, otherwise there is a mistake"}}): {{lang|it|ere}} and {{lang|it|erore}} are also "wrong", as they are {{lang|it|erre}} and {{lang|it|errore}} in Standard Italian.<ref name=ra27/> This phenomenon presumably developed [[Capture of Rome|after 1870]], as it was not present in the classical 19th century Romanesco of Belli;<ref name=ra27>{{harvnb|Ravaro|2005|page=26}}</ref>
*{{IPAslink|l}} becomes {{IPA|/r/}} before another consonant: {{lang|it|sòrdi}} {{IPA|it-IT-RM|ˈsɔɾdi|}}, Italian {{lang|it|soldi}} "money";
*in Romanesco, as in most Central and Southern Italian languages and dialects, {{IPAslink|b}} and {{IPAslink|dʒ}} are always [[geminated]] where permissible: e.g. {{lang|it|libbro}} {{IPA|it-IT-RM|ˈlibːɾo|}} for Standard Italian {{lang|it|libro}} {{IPA|it|ˈliːbro|}} "book", {{lang|it|aggenda}} for {{lang|it|agenda}} "diary, agenda".
*the dropping of vowels at the beginning of a word when followed by a nasal consonant (m, n, gn), for example 'nzomma (Standard Italian {{lang|it|insomma}}), 'n (Standard Italian {{lang|it|un/in}}), 'mparà (Standard Italian {{lang|it|imparare}}), gni (Standard Italian {{lang|it|ogni}}).<ref>{{cite book|last=Canepari|first=Luciano|title=Manuale di pronuncia italiana: con un pronunciario di oltre 30000 voci e due audiocassette C45|language=it|location=Bologna|publisher=Zanichelli|year=1992|isbn=88-08-10888-0}}</ref>
*assimilation with different consonant groups. (typically a Central-Southern phenomenon) For example, {{IPA|/nd/}} turns into {{IPA|/nn/}} (Standard Italian {{lang|it|quando}} turns into {{lang|it|quanno}}), {{IPA|/ld/}} turns into {{IPA|/ll/}} (Standard Italian {{lang|it|caldo}} turns into {{lang|it|callo}}), {{IPA|/mb/}} turns into {{IPA|/mm/}} (Standard Italian {{lang|it|piombo}} turns into {{lang|it|piommo}}).

==Quote==
{{verse translation|lang=it
|''Ma nun c'è lingua come la romana''
''Pe' dì una cosa co' ttanto divario''
''Che ppare un magazzino de dogana.''
	
|But there is no language like the Roman one
To express a concept with so many variants
So that it seems a customs warehouse.
|attr1=G. G. Belli, "Le lingue der monno" [Languages of the world]<ref>{{Cite book |first=Giuseppe Gioachino |last=Belli |editor-first1=Carlo |editor-last1=Muscetta |editor-first2=Maria Teresa |editor-last2=Lanza |title=I sonetti |oclc=459505006 |publisher=Feltrinelli |location=Milano |date=1965 |url={{GBurl|id=uSlMAAAAMAAJ|q=gioacchino+belli%22+me+cojoni+baraonna}} |access-date=31 March 2024 |language=it}}</ref>
}}

==Noteworthy figures==
Today, Romanesco is generally considered more of a regional idiom than a true language. Classical Romanesco, which reached high literature with [[Giuseppe Gioachino Belli]], has disappeared.

External forces such as immigration and the dominance of Italian are playing a role in the dissolution.

==Notable artists using Romanesco==
{{BLP sources section|date=February 2025}}
* [[Ferruccio Amendola]], voice actor
* [[Mario Brega]], actor and comedian
* [[Enrico Brignano]], comedian
* [[Franco Califano]], lyricist, musician, 
* [[Paola Cortellesi]], actress
* [[Christian De Sica]], actor and singer
* [[Carlo Emilio Gadda]], author
* [[Elena Fabrizi]], actor and cook
* [[Aldo Fabrizi]], actor and director
* [[Sabrina Ferilli]], actress
* [[Gabriella Ferri]], singer
* [[Lando Fiorini]], actor and singer
* [[Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli]], poet
* [[Anna Magnani]], actress
* [[Nino Manfredi]], actor
* [[Tomas Milian]], actor
* [[Enrico Montesano]], actor and comedian
* [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]], poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright
* [[Cesare Pascarella]], poet, painter
* [[Ettore Petrolini]], actor
* [[Gigi Proietti]], actor, director and comedian
* [[Enzo Salvi]], actor
* [[Alberto Sordi]], actor and director
* [[Trilussa]], poet ([[Carlo Alberto Salustri]]'s pen name)
* [[Antonello Venditti]], singer
* [[Carlo Verdone]], actor and director
* [[Zerocalcare]], comics author
* The anonymous writers of the [[Pasquinade]]s posted on the [[talking statues of Rome]] use Italian, Romanesco or a mixture of both.<ref name="Vidal">{{cite news |last1=Vidal |first1=José Manuel |title=Pasquines contra Francisco, el Papa que atemoriza a los poderosos |url=https://www.periodistadigital.com/cultura/religion/20170210/pasquines-francisco-papa-atemoriza-poderosos-noticia-689400173085/ |work=Periodista Digital |date=10 February 2017 |language=es}}</ref>

==See also==
* Belli's ''[[The Sovrans of the Old World]]'' (1831)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book
 | last=Ravaro
 | first= Fernando
 | title=Dizionario romanesco
 | publisher= Newton Compton
 | location = Roma
 | year=2005
 | language=it
 | isbn=88-541-1792-7
 
}}

==External links==
*[http://roma.andreapollett.com/S8/dialect.htm A description of the Roman dialect]
* {{in lang|it}} Lucio Felici, [http://www.archiviocapitolinorisorsedigitali.it/search/view_res_fulltext.php?res=?file=archivio_69_index/4282_1_47_1972_04_28-35_00001.txt&amp;q=dahana%2C+ma+untcamente+una+sua++ ''Le vicende del dialetto romanesco''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220094315/http://www.archiviocapitolinorisorsedigitali.it/search/view_res_fulltext.php?res=%3Ffile%3Darchivio_69_index%2F4282_1_47_1972_04_28-35_00001.txt&q=dahana%2C+ma+untcamente+una+sua++ |date=2012-02-20 }}, in "Capitolium", 1972 (XLVII), n° 4, pp.&nbsp;26–33 (it is a summary of the history of Romanesco from the origin to nowadays).

{{Languages of Italy}}
{{Romance languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages of Italy]]
[[Category:Culture in Rome]]
[[Category:Languages of Vatican City]]
[[Category:City colloquials]]