Piedmontese

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A language of Italy

ISO 639-3

pms

Alternate Names

Piemontese

Autonym

Piemontèis

Population

700,000 in Italy (Regis 2012).

Location

Lombardy region: small communities along Po river north bank, across from Valenza; Piedmont region: all provinces except Novara province, excluding Occitan- and Arpitan-speaking Alpine valleys; Valle d’Aosta region.

Language Status

7 (Shifting).

Classification

Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Italian

Dialects

High Piedmontese (Alto Piemontese), Low Piedmontese (Basso Piemontese). Distinct enough from standard Italian [ita] to be considered a separate language. Considerable French [fra] influence.

Language Use

Use has diminished drastically among the young and in towns (Salminen 2007). Less than 27% of the informants in a 2012 census report use, within their family, a regional language of Northwestern Italy, including Piedmontese. All also use Italian [ita]. Used as L2 by Arpitan [frp], Occitan [oci], Walser [wae].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: 100% in Italian [ita]. NT: 1834.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Piedmontese

Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Also spoken in:

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Argentina

Language namePiedmontese

Population Full

No known L1 speakers in Argentina. The language ceased to be used daily in the 1950s in favor of Spanish (Giolitto 2016); it may still be in use in major cities as a heritage language.

Alternate Names

Piamontés, Piemontèis

Status

9 (Dormant).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Emigrants from the Cuneo and Turin areas of Italy settled in Córdoba and Santa Fe provinces, especially during the late 19th and early 20th century. Piedmontese was in daily use in this area into the 1950s (Giolitto 2016).

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Ethnologue

Piedmontese

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A language of Italy

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