Lonely Planet - Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook & Dictionary, 8th Edition

Musical words like virtuoso, opera and viola. Architectural terms such as studio and stucco. Artistic words such as maestro and fresco. Outside Italy, Italian is spoken by minorities in Switzerland, Slovenia and France, and more recently by large communities of immigrants in Australia, Argentina and the US. Italian has official status in the Istrian peninsula of Croatia where Italian-speaking communities have existed since the Venetians began colonising parts of the Dalmatian coast during the twelfth century. Another country where Italian is spoken is the African nation of Eritrea which remained a colony of Italy from 1880 until 1941.

Today most Eritreans speak Italian only as a second language. Around the world there are approximately 65 million Italian speakers, the majority of whom live in Italy. In Italy itself, most people also speak a local dialect. Dialects are spoken all over the country and some are so different from standard Italian as to be considered distinct languages in their own right. In fact, it wasnt until the nineteenth century that the Tuscan dialect the language of Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch and Macchiavelli was chosen to become the standard language of the nation. Standard Italian is the official language of schools, media and administration, and is the form that will take you from the top of the boot to the very toe.

All the language that we have provided here is in standard Italian. This book gives you the words you need to get by, as well as all the fun, spontaneous phrases that lead to a better experience of Italy and its people. Need more encouragement? Remember, the contact you make through using Italian will make your travels unique. Local knowledge, new relationships and a sense of satisfaction are on the tip of your tongue, so dont just stand there, say something! > abbreviations used in this book

They also tend not to run together to form vowel sound combinations (diphthongs), though it can often sound that way to English-speakers. The following table presents four vowel sounds that roughly correspond to diphthongs in English: