According to UNESCO, there are 6,000 dialects at risk of extinction worldwide! In Italy, there are 30 dialects at risk of extinction.
Dialects are a very important aspect of Italian culture. In attempts to preserve current dialects, UNESCO has created an atlas. This atlas contains information on endangered dialects, their origins, and the number of people who speak them.
These Italian dialects include: sardo campidanés, cimbriano, corso, emiliano, faetar, francoprovenzal, friulano, sardo galurés, griko calabrés, griko salentino, ladino, ligur, sardo, logudorés, lombardo, mócheno, piamontés, resiano, romaní, sasarés, siciliano, napolitano-calabrés, töitschu, veneciano, yiddish, alemánico, alguerés, provenzal alpino, arberés and bavaro.
The two main threats to dialects are external and internal forces. According to The Italian National Cultural Aggregator external forces include military, economic, cultural, and religious domination. Internal forces include negative attitudes younger generations have towards dialects.
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- Main Image: Photo by Viviana Rishe on Unsplash
