Romanesco ({{IPA|it|romaˈnesko}}) is one of the Central Italian dialects spoken in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, especially in the core city. It is linguistically close to Tuscan and Standard Italian, with some notable differences from these two. Rich in vivid expressions and sayings, Romanesco is used in a typical 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^th century}}) might be considered the earliest attestation,

{{Citation

| last = Sabatini

| first = Francesco

| title = Un'iscrizione volgare romana della prima metà del secolo IX

| series= Studi linguistici italiani

| year = 1966

}} is believed to have been regarded as low-prestige,

{{Citation

| last = Trifone

| first = Pietro

| authorlink = Pietro Trifone

| title = Roma e il Lazio

| publisher = UTET

| year = 1992

| language = it

}}{{rp|10}} as can be seen in the 11^th-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^th 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.

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”),

{{cite wikisource

| author-last = Alighieri

| author-first = Dante

| authorlink = Dante

| wslanguage = la

| title = De vulgari eloquentia

| wslink = De Vulgari Eloquentia

}} 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, instead of formal voi (something that had already been remarked by Salimbene di Adam in his chronicle,

{{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

}} written twenty-some years before).

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.

{{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

}}

During the last decades of the 14^th 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.{{rp|18–19}}

==Features==

An analysis published in 2022

{{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^st

| chapter = Introduzione al testo

}}

presents the following as defining characteristics of old Roman vernacular.

===Vowels===

Vowel breaking of original 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 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
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}}}} > falename (“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
: {{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)
Paragogic syllable -ne appended to oxytones (words stressed on the last syllable), e.g.:
: è (“[he/she/it] is”) > ene
Lack of voicing of voiceless plosives 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^th-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^th-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^nd- and 3^rd-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 enclitic personal possessive pronouns (e.g. patremo, “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^rd-person singular preterite endings -ao (1^st conjugation), -eo (2^nd conjugation), -io (3^rd 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 Medici popes (Leo X and Clement VII) and with the Sack of Rome in 1527, two events which provoked a large immigration from Tuscany.{{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}}{{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}} Therefore, current Romanesco has grammar and roots that are rather different from other dialects in Central Italy.

=Modern Period=

File:G G Belli.jpg

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 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

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}} (often weakened) 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;
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"). 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. This phenomenon presumably developed after 1870, as it was not present in the classical 19th century Romanesco of Belli;{{harvnb|Ravaro|2005|page=26}}
{{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}}).{{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}}
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]{{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}}

}}

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

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 Pasquinades posted on the talking statues of Rome use Italian, Romanesco or a mixture of both.{{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}}

References

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&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. 26–33 (it is a summary of the history of Romanesco from the origin to nowadays).

Category:Languages of Italy

Category:Culture in Rome

Category:Languages of Vatican City

Category:City colloquials