Western Lombard is a group of dialects of Lombard, a

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fa ...

spoken in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is widespread in the Lombard provinces of Milan,

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of M ...

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label=Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps has m ...

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco'') ...

Sondrio Sondrio (; lmo, Sùndri; rm, Sunder; archaic german: Sünders or ; la, Sundrium) is an Italian city and ''comune'' and Provincial Capital located in the heart of the Valtellina. , Sondrio counts approximately 21,876 inhabitants (2015) and it is ...

, a small part of Cremona (except Crema and its neighbours), Lodi and

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

, and the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

provinces of Novara,

Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (Italian: ''Provincia del Verbano Cusio Ossola'' ) is the northernmost province in the Italian region of Piedmont. It was created in 1992 through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previously been part of the ...

, the eastern part of the

Province of Alessandria The Province of Alessandria ( it, Provincia di Alessandria; pms, Provincia ëd Lissandria; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''Provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part o ...

(

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Histo ...

), a small part of Vercelli (

Valsesia Valsesia ( pms, Valsesia; Walser German: ''Tseschrutol''; it, Valle della Sesia) is a group of valleys in the north-east of Piedmont in the Province of Vercelli, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Repub ...

), and Switzerland (the Canton of

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

and part of the Canton of Graubünden). After the name of the region involved, land of the former

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sinc ...

, this language is often referred to as Insubric (see

Insubria Insubria ( Lombard: ''Insübria'') is a historical-geographical region which corresponds to the area inhabited in Classical antiquity by the Insubres; the name can also refer to the Duchy of Milan (1395–1810). For several centuries this name st ...

and

Insubres The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum (Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the resu ...

) or Milanese, or, after Clemente Merlo, (literally "of this side of

Adda River The Adda (Latin ''Abdua'', or ''Addua''; in Lombard ''Ada'' or, again, ''Adda'' in local dialects where the double consonants are marked) is a river in North Italy, a tributary of the Po. It rises in the Alps near the border with Switzerland ...

").

Western Lombard and Italian

In Italian-speaking contexts, Western Lombard is often incorrectly called a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. Western Lombard and Standard Italian are very different. Some speakers of Lombard varieties may have difficulty understanding one another and require a standard to communicate, but all Western Lombard varieties are mutually intelligible. Western Lombard is relatively homogeneous (much more so than

Eastern Lombard Eastern Lombard is a group of closely related variants of Lombard, a Gallo-Italic dialect spoken in Lombardy, mainly in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua, in the area around Cremona and in parts of Trentino. Its main variants are ...

), but it has a number of variations, mainly in relation to the

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (l ...

s , and the development of into . Western Lombard has no official status in Lombardy or anywhere else. The only

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

in Lombardy is

Grammar

The general lines of diachronics of Western Lombard plural declension are drawn here, with reference to

Milanese Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ') is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

orthography:

Feminine

Most feminine words end with the inflection ''-a''; the feminine plural is non-inflected (''la legora'' / ''i legor'' ; ''la cadrega'' / ''i cadregh''). The final vowel keeps its original length (non-final syllables have no difference), which is often long when it is followed by a voiced consonant and short when it is followed by a voiceless consonant. When the stem ends with a particular consonant cluster, there can be the addition of a final ''-i'' or of a schwa between consonants (for example: in

sing. ''scendra'', plur. ''scendr'' > ''scender''). For adjectives, the plural form and masculine form are often the same.

Masculine

Most masculine nouns lack inflections, and the plural masculine is always non-inflected (''el tramvaj''/''i tramvaj''; ''el lett''/''i lett'' ). When the word stem ends with a particular group of consonants, both singular and plural forms can add a schwa between consonants; otherwise, a final ''-o'' (pron. /u/) is added to singular nouns, ''-i'' for plurals. Masculine words ending in ''-in'' or, less commonly, in ''-ett'', have plurals in ''-itt'' (''fiolin''/''fiolitt''). Those ending in ''-ll'' have plurals in ''-j'', (''el sidell''/''i sidej'' ; ''el porscell''/''i porscej'' ; ''el cavall'' / ''i cavaj''). The same occurs in the determinate article: singular ''ell'' > ''el'', plural ''elli'' > ''ej'' > ''i''. Masculine words ending in ''-a'' are invariable and are proper nouns, words from Ancient Greek or idiomatic words such as ''pirla'', a derogatory term for a person.

Varieties

Western Lombard can be divided into four main varieties: ''lombardo alpino'' (spoken in the provinces of Sondrio and of Verbania,

Sopraceneri The Sopraceneri (''above the Ceneri'', lombard: ''Surascender'') is the part of the Swiss canton of Ticino that lies to the north of the Monte Ceneri Pass through the Lugano Prealps. It includes the whole of the valley of the Ticino river and it ...

Canton Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

and Grigioni in Switzerland), ''lombardo-prealpino occidentale'' (spoken in the provinces of Como, Varese and Lecco, Lugano and its neighbors in Canton Ticino), ''basso-lombardo occidentale'' (Pavia and Lodi), and ''macromilanese'' (provinces of Milan, Monza, Novara and Valsesia of Vercelli). The boundaries are obviously schematic, since the political division in provinces and municipalities are usually independent from languages spoken. Examples of Western Lombard language are: * Milanese or Meneghin (''macromilanese'') *

Bustocco and Legnanese Bustocco and Legnanese (natively and ) are two dialects of Western Lombard, spoken respectively in the cities of Busto Arsizio (Province of Varese) and Legnano ( Province of Milan), Lombardy. Although there is little evidence of Ligurian settl ...

* Brianzöö (''lombardo-prealpino occidentale'' - ''macromilanese'') *Monzese *

Comasco-Lecchese The group of dialects Comasco-Lecchese is part of the Western Lombard language and is spoken in the province of Como and province of Lecco in Italy, especially around the capital cities and north of them. In other parts of this provinces, other ...

(''lombardo-prealpino occidentale'') **

Comasco Comasco or Comasque is a dialect of Western Lombard language spoken in the city and suburbs of Como. It belongs to the Comasco-Lecchese group. Characteristics It shares similarities with Milanese, but more precisely consists of a transiti ...

** Laghée **Intelvese ** Vallassinese ** Lecchese **Valsassinese ** Ossolano * Varesino or Bosin (''lombardo-prealpino occidentale'') *Alpine Lombard (''lombardo alpino'', influence from

Ladin_language Ladin (, also ; autonym: , it, ladino; german: Ladinisch) is a Romance language of the Rhaeto-Romance subgroup, mainly spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino, and Belluno, by the ...

) **Valtellinese **Chiavennasco * Ticinese (''lombardo alpino'') (influence from

) *

Southwestern Lombard Southwestern Lombard is a group of dialects of Western Lombard language spoken in the provinces of Pavia, Lodi, Novara, Cremona, in the south of the historic Insubria Insubria ( Lombard: ''Insübria'') is a historical-geographical region whi ...

(''basso-lombardo occidentale'') **

Paves Paves or Pavese was a Lombard troubadour of the first half of the 13th century, only a single ''cobla'' of whose work survives. The work is preserved in one chansonnier of late 13th-century Italian provenance, now known as "troubadour manuscript ...

(influences from

Emiliano-Romagnolo language Emilian-Romagnol is a linguistic continuum part of the Gallo-Romance languages spoken in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. It is divided into two main varieties: Emilian and Romagnol. While first registered under a single code in ...

Piedmontese language Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...

, and

Ligurian_language Ligurian () or Genoese () (locally called or ) is a Gallo-Italic language spoken primarily in the territories of the former Republic of Genoa, now comprising the area of Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of Fran ...

) **Ludesan (influence from

Emilian_dialects Emilian ( egl, emigliàn, links=no, ; it, emiliano, links=no) is a Gallo-Italic language spoken in the historical region of Emilia, which is now in the northwestern part of Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy. There is no standardised version o ...

) ** Nuaresat (''lombardo-prealpino occidentale'' - ''macromilanese'') ** Cremunéez (influence from

) *Slangs **

Spasell Spasell is a slang of Insubric language, spoken until the 19th century by inhabitants of Vallassina, when they used to go out from the valley for business and they didn't want to be understood by the people. It is characterized by code-words con ...

Phonology

The following information is based on the Milanese dialect:

Consonants

* occurs only as a nasal sound before velar stops. * The central approximant sounds are mainly heard as allophones of when preceding vowels. * is not typically pronounced, and only occurs in a few words from Italian.

Vowels

* A double vowel ''aa'' is pronounced as or . may also be pronounced as .

Orthography

The most important orthography in Western Lombard literature is the

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. It ...

. It was used by

Carlo Porta Carlo Porta (June 15, 1775 – January 5, 1821) was an Italian poet, the most famous writer in Milanese (the prestige dialect of the Lombard language). Biography Porta was born in Milan to Giuseppe Porta and Violante Gottieri, a merchant famil ...

(1775–1821) and Delio Tessa (1886–1939). It was perfected by the Circolo Filologico di Milano. Other orthographies are the Ticinese, the Comasca, the Bosina, the Nuaresat, and the Lecchese.

Literature

An extensive Western Lombard literature is available. Texts include various dictionaries, a few grammars, and a recent translation of the Gospels.

References

Bibliography

* Andrea Rognoni, ''Grammatica dei dialetti della Lombardia'', Oscar Mondadori, 2005. * AA. VV., ''Parlate e dialetti della Lombardia. Lessico comparato'', Mondadori, Milano 2003. {{Romance languages Western Lombard language Endangered Romance languages