The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
SIL code: CIM
ISO 639-2: gem
| Population | 2,230 including 500 in Lusernese Cimbrian in Trentino Alto Oolige 40 km. southeast from Trento, plus 1,500 Sette Comuni Cimbrian (40% of Roana (Rowan), 70% of Messaselva di Roana Rotzo) in Veneto around 60 km. north of Vicenza (1978 H. Kloss), and 230 or 65% of Giazza (Ijetzan) Veneto, 43 km. northeast of Verona (1992 R. Zamponi). There were 22,700 speakers in Sieben Gemainde and 12,400 in Dreizehn Gemeinde in 1854. |
| Region | Northeast Italy, Sette and Tredici Comuni (Sieben and Dreizehn Gemainde) south of Trent, towns of Giazza (Glietzen, Ljetzen), Roana (Rabam), Lusern, some in Venetia Province. |
| Alternate names | TZIMBRO, ZIMBRISCH |
| Dialects | LUSERNESE CIMBRIAN, TREDICI COMMUNI CIMBRIAN (TAUCH), SETTE COMUNI CIMBRIAN. |
| Classification | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Upper German, Bavarian-Austrian. |
| Comments | Structural and intelligibility differences indicate that the 3 dialects listed could be considered separate languages. Lusernese Cimbrian is heavily influenced by Italian. Heavily influenced by Bajuwarisch dialects. It is sometimes considered to be a dialect of south Bavarian. Different from Bavarian, Walser, and Mocheno. No written influence from Standard German. Speakers are all bilingual in Standard Italian and Venetian (Trentine), and many know Standard German. Pastors preached in Cimbrian until the late 19th century. Attempts to promote it have been increasing in recent decades. It is taught in some classes and is scheduled to become required. Newspapers. |
