This inaugural volume in a new series offers an overview of current research in Italian linguistics by specialists in Great Britiain. Topics range from the formation, present state and future prospects of Italian dialects, to the notion of 'standard' in the context of the European tradition. Further contributions cover the different strands of Renaissance Italian, the problem of language death and the presence of Italian as lingua franca in the Mediterranean area. Research into contemporary language includes gender issues in Italian lexicography and the ambivalent 'politically correct' forms referring to minorities. The volume concludes with studies on the translation of legal texts and on the status accorded to different languages within the European Union. The book will be invaluable for university students of Italian or of linguistics and will provide a comprehensive survey for all interested in the Italian language and its history.

This volume provides an overview of research on Italian communities abroad, and, thus, represents an important contribution to the recent wave of paradigm renewal in the field of migration (socio)linguistics of Italian. The contributors here are some of the most active and rigorous exponents of this renewal tendency, and here they discuss new approaches and paradigms for the sociolinguistic study of migrations.

This book examines the interrelation between language and society in contemporary Italy. It aims to provide an up to date account of linguistic diversity, social variation, special codes and language varieties within Italian society, and in situations of language contact both within and outside Italy.

This volume focuses on early modern Italy and some of its key multilingual zones: Venice, Florence, and Rome. It offers a novel insight into the interplay and dynamic exchange of languages in the Italian peninsula, from the early fifteenth to the early seventeenth centuries. In particular, it examines the flexible linguistic practices of both the social and intellectual elite, and the men and women from the street. The point of departure of this project is the realization that most of the early modern speakers and authors demonstrate strong self-awareness as multilingual communicators. From the foul-mouthed gondolier to the learned humanist, language choice and use were carefully performed, and often justified, in order to overcome (or affirm) linguistic and social differences. The urban social spaces, the princely court, and the elite centres of learning such as universities and academies all shared similar concerns about the value, effectiveness, and impact of languages. As the contributions in this book demonstrate, early modern communicators — including gondoliers, preachers, humanists, architects, doctors of medicine, translators, and teachers—made explicit and argued choices about their use of language. The textual and oral performance of languages—and self-aware discussions on languages—consolidated the identity of early modern Italian multilingual communities.

Multilingualism in Italian Migrant Settings investigates the plural linguistic practices of the migrants in a particular refugee centre in Italy, the CAS (centri di accoglienza straordinaria; “extraordinary refugee centre”). This book offers a practical and rigorous study of contact situations surrounding migrants from areas with complex repertoires. Language is inherently connected to migration, especially through its role as a principal tool for communication. This volume places multilingualism in migratory contexts to comprehend how plurilingual migrants move freely between languages, and to evaluate their role in the linguistic landscape of the host country. This monograph will appeal to scholars specialising in sociolinguistics and contact linguistics. The volume will also be informative for postgraduate students in the field of sociolinguistics, with a focus on migration and language use.

"Multilingualism in Italian Migrant Settings investigates the plural linguistic practices of the migrants in a particular refugee centre in Italy, the CAS ('extraordinary refugee centre'). This book offers a practical and rigorous study of contact situations surrounding migrants from areas with complex repertoires. Language is inherently connected to migration, especially through its role as a principal tool for communication. This volume places multilingualism in migratory contexts to comprehend how plurilingual migrants move freely between languages, and to evaluate their role in the linguistic landscape of the host country. This monograph will appeal to scholars specialising in sociolinguistics and contact linguistics. The volume will also be informative for postgraduate students in the field of sociolinguistics, with a focus on migration and language use"--

The first full length volume to approach the premodern Mediterranean from a fully interdisciplinary perspective, this collection defines the Mediterranean as a coherent region with distinct patterns of social, political, and cultural exchange. The essays explore the production, modification, and circulation of identities based on religion, ethnicity, profession, gender, and status as free or slave within three distinctive Mediterranean geographies: islands, entrepôts and empires. Individual essays explore such topics as interreligious conflict and accommodation; immigration and diaspora; polylingualism; classical imitation and canon formation; traffic in sacred objects; Mediterranean slavery; and the dream of a reintegrated Roman empire. Integrating environmental, social, political, religious, literary, artistic, and linguistic concerns, this collection offers a new model for approaching a distinct geographical region as a unique site of cultural and social exchange.

This edited book brings together experts on the sociolinguistics of immigration with a focus on the Italo-Romance dialects. Sociolinguistic research on immigrant communities in Italy has widely studied the acquisition and use of Italian as L2 by first-generation immigrants, the maintenance of immigrant languages and code-switching between Italian and the immigrant languages. However, these studies have mostly ignored or neglected to investigate immigrant speakers’ use of Italo-Romance dialects, their awareness of the sociolinguistic situation of majority and minority languages, and their attitudes towards them. Given the important role of Italo-Romance dialects in everyday communication and as a marker of regional identity, this book aims to fill this gap and understand more about the role that these languages play in the linguistic repertoire of immigrants. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociolinguistics, minority languages, multilingualism, migration, and social anthropology.

As Europe continues to expand and integrate through the European Union, it faces the challenge of ever increasing multilingual and multicultural contact, within and across its borders. This volume presents recent research on European language policy, language contact and multiculturalism that explores how Europe is meeting this challenge. Inspired by intersections and conflicts in language and cultural identity in Europe, the volume transcends disciplinary boundaries by enhancing sociolinguistic research with chapters on cultural identity and language in contemporary European cinema. The book considers the relationships between language and cultural identity in Europe at a time of increasing multicultural complexity, with contributions on Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine, and the linguistic and imaginative spaces between and beyond. The volume highlights the ongoing significance of language and identity for an expanding Europe, and the ways in which situations of linguistic hybridity, interlocution and language contact continue to define Europe and its others.

This book investigates Italian foreign cultural policy from the 1947 Constitution to the present. How has Italy conveyed its language and culture to the outside world? Where does the Italian experience fit into a wider international context? Finally, what can be learned from the answers to such questions in relation to the Italian experience in Australia?