Language
In addition to Italian, approximately a third of the population of western Lombardy can speak the Western Lombard language, also known as Insubric. In Milan, some natives of the city can speak the traditional Milanese language—that is to say the urban variety of Western Lombard, which is not to be confused with the Milanese-influenced regional variety of the Italian language.
In Italian-speaking contexts, Milanese is often (like most of the other non-Italian language varieties spoken within the borders of the Italian Republic) generically called a "dialect". This is often incorrectly understood as to mean a dialect of Italian, which actually is not the case. Milanese and Italian are distinct Romance languages and are not mutually intelligible. Milanese is a particular (and prestigious) Western Lombard variety and is intelligible to speakers of other neighbouring Western Lombard varieties. It should not be confused with the Milanese dialect of Italian, or with Western Lombard as a whole, which is sometimes referred to as "Milanese".
Like all other dialects of Western Lombard, Milanese is a Romance language, related to French, Romansh, and Italian.
Various dictionaries, a few grammar books, an extensive literature and a recent translation of the Gospels are available.
Read more about this topic: Milan Culture
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“The “sayings” of a community, its proverbs, are its characteristic comment upon life; they imply its history, suggest its attitude toward the world and its way of accepting life. Such an idiom makes the finest language any writer can have; and he can never get it with a notebook. He himself must be able to think and feel in that speech—it is a gift from heart to heart.”
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