Swiss Italian
Swiss Italian is the name for the form of the Italian language, which is predominant in Switzerland.
Approximately 500,000 Swiss speak Italian, which represents 6.5 % of the population. Italian is the main language in all parts of the canton of Ticino, but only in a small part of the canton of Graubünden ( Grisons about 15 % of the population speaks Italian). Together these areas the Italian Switzerland ( Svizzera italiana or ).
Official status and distribution
Italian is the third most common language of Switzerland and is the official language at the federal level. In the canton of Ticino and the southern valleys of the Grisons Italian serves local and cantonal level, as the sole official language.
The Italian language is also one of the most spoken languages in German-speaking Switzerland, as the idiom of Italian immigrants and their descendants, as well as a lingua franca between foreign workers of various nationalities, including Spaniards or Portuguese. Due to their numerical superiority translated Italian guest workers in the 1950s and 1960s by their languages in factories and on construction sites over the other foreign workers in Switzerland. This was primarily in Spanish immigrants the case, which the Italian easily learned, even if it was accompanied by some inevitable simplifications. Later, other language groups used the Italian language ( for example, workers from Greece and Yugoslavia, which was promoted by the fact that Italian knowledge in German or West Swiss are more widespread than in Germany or France). With the decline of the influx of Italian guest workers in the 1970s, the status of Italian as a lingua franca gradually declined.
However, as a third language Italian remains of significant importance. It is in each language region of Switzerland possible to receive radio and television programs in the local languages , and items of daily use are nationally labeled equally in Italian as in French or German. The same also applies to Medikamentenbeipackzettel.
The Swiss Italian is partially different from that which is common in Italy. Just as there are regional influences on the default language in Italy, so they are also available in Italian Switzerland. Recently some Helvetismen have been included in dictionaries of the Italian language. The most important difference lies in the influence of the other national languages, although these factors are not sufficient to explain all the peculiarities of the Swiss Italian.
Influences on the default language of Italian Switzerland
Influence of other languages
The Ticino since the 15th century to the federal territory since 1803 and forms its own canton. Therefore, it is obvious that the German and the French language have had an impact on the respective local language. This is for example the word medicamento the case, which was well known in Italy before it was no longer used and replaced by medicina or medicinale. In the Italian part of Switzerland, the term could, however, argue for similar names in other languages .
The following loan words originate from the French or German:
In the case of Azione was not about borrowed the word, but the meaning, Special 'which is absent in Italy.
Dialectal influence
As is usual in Italy, is dialectal forms often make noticeable in spoken standard language. Under the influence of galloitalischen dialects in northern Italy, the post -verbal negation to be found, which may affect the grammatical form of what is said in Italian ( as is often missing as non Questo è vero mica = This is not true ).
It is a phenomenon that occurs exclusively in the informal interaction. Similar simplifications were in Central or Southern Italy unlikely ( eg non l' ho bisogno rather than non ne ho bisogno = I did not need ).
The influences of the dialect can occasionally lead to misunderstandings: The word cocomero usually called in Italy a watermelon, while the Ticino thus usually mean a cucumber. Similar Pränomene come in northern Italian dialects also in question, albeit less frequently. It is also noted that the concepts of self- formed Swiss Italian language can be seen as a mistake, especially since the regional terms have often claimed in addition to the variants that are used in Italy.
Influence of the state
Switzerland's political system has led to names which are unknown in Italy: for example, the Consiglio degli Stati (Council of States ), the chamber of the federal parliament, in which politicians sit as representatives of the cantons.
Because the buses in Switzerland are operated to a large extent by the post office, has the Italian car postale naturalized as a designation for the bus stops.
What is called in Italy codice di avviamento postale, called in Switzerland following the example of the other national languages numero di postale avviamento (NPA; German to postcode).
Ticino dialects
The Ticino dialects of the Italian language belong to the Lombard dialect family. Lombard dominates in rural areas of Ticino and in the elderly, which also applies to the Lombardy. In contrast to the Lombardy but not a social stigma with the use of dialect is connected in southern Switzerland.
The koine Ticino ( Italian: Koine ticinese ) is that Lombard Koiné which of the speakers of local dialects ( particularly those even deviating from the koine, such as the Leventine dialect) is spoken when they talk among themselves.
The Ticinese dialect has received many terms from the German, French and Romansh parts of Switzerland and frequently has a Swiss German orthography. Swiss cities, regions, edibles and cultural assets have an Italian translation, which is not the case with non- national languages. For most Italian speakers of the local dialect is difficult to understand.
Examples of the Ticinese dialect:
Expressions and proverbs