Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It is a standardised form of literary Florentine Tuscan and, together with Sardinian, is the least differentiated language from Latin. Current estimates indicate that between 68 and 85 million people speak Italian, including approximately 64 million native speakers as of 2024.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Bologna the rich (or fat), Florence the beautiful, Genoa the superb, Lucca the busy, Mantua the glorious, Milan the grand, Padua the strong, Pavia the learned, Venice the great beggar, Verona the worthy.”
— The cities of North Italy, with their distinguishing titles.
“A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see.”
— Samuel Johnson, Boswell, Life of Johnson.
“In Italia, chi si fa valere all'estero non viene considerato.”
— In Italy, those who make a name for themselves in other countries are ignored.
“Italy, having entered the war for gain and paid dearly in the outcome, emerged from the peace conference with a strong sense of grievance and with its system of government profoundly undermined. Steadily there after it became the endorser and ally of international gangsterism.”
— Robin Prior & Trevor Wilson, The First World War (1999), 2001 paperback edition; ISBN 0–304-35984-X (even though Wikiquote is registering this as an invalid ISBN), p. 213
“Enough, enough, enough! Say no more! Lump the whole thing! say the Creator made Italy from designs by Michael Angelo!”
— Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad. Twain humorously depicts tourists being told that most every monument in Italy was designed or painted by "Michael Angelo", oblivious to the historic significance of Michelangelo.
“In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed - they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love and five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock!”
— Orson Welles, as the character Harry Lime in the Graham Greene film, The Third Man (1949).

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It is a standardised form of literary Florentine Tuscan and, together with Sardinian, is the least differentiated language from Latin. Current estimates indicate that between 68 and 85 million people speak Italian, including approximately 64 million native speakers as of 2024.

Overview

Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It is a standardised form of literary Florentine Tuscan and, together with Sardinian, is the least differentiated language from Latin. Current estimates indicate that between 68 and 85 million people speak Italian, including approximately 64 million native speakers as of 2024.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Not who you're looking for? Others named Italian: country in southern Europe

Notable quotes

“Bologna the rich (or fat), Florence the beautiful, Genoa the superb, Lucca the busy, Mantua the glorious, Milan the grand, Padua the strong, Pavia the learned, Venice the great beggar, Verona the worthy.”
— The cities of North Italy, with their distinguishing titles.
“A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see.”
— Samuel Johnson, Boswell, Life of Johnson.
“In Italia, chi si fa valere all'estero non viene considerato.”
— In Italy, those who make a name for themselves in other countries are ignored.
“Italy, having entered the war for gain and paid dearly in the outcome, emerged from the peace conference with a strong sense of grievance and with its system of government profoundly undermined. Steadily there after it became the endorser and ally of international gangsterism.”
— Robin Prior & Trevor Wilson, The First World War (1999), 2001 paperback edition; ISBN 0–304-35984-X (even though Wikiquote is registering this as an invalid ISBN), p. 213
“Enough, enough, enough! Say no more! Lump the whole thing! say the Creator made Italy from designs by Michael Angelo!”
— Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad. Twain humorously depicts tourists being told that most every monument in Italy was designed or painted by "Michael Angelo", oblivious to the historic significance of Michelangelo.
“In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed - they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love and five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock!”
— Orson Welles, as the character Harry Lime in the Graham Greene film, The Third Man (1949).

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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