Piemontese

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A language of Italy

ISO 639-3
pms
Alternate Names
Piedmontese, Piemontèis
Population

1,600,000 in Italy (2002).

Location

Piedmont region: central north-south swath, excluding Occitan- and Arpitan-speaking Alpine valleys; western half, Valle d’Aosta region; southwest Lombardy region: small communities along north bank of Po river, across from Valenza.

Language Status

5 (Developing).

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

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

Language Use

Use has dimished drastically among the young and in towns (Salminen 2007). Also use Italian [ita]. Used as L2 by Arpitan [frp], Occitan [oci].

Language Development
NT: 1834.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Piemontese
Writing

Latin script [Latn].