The Tuscan language (lingua toscana) or Tuscan dialect (dialetto toscano) is an Italo-Dalmatian language spoken in Tuscany, Italy.
Standard Italian is based on Tuscan, specifically on its Florentine variety. Italian became the language of culture for all the people of Italy, thanks to the prestige of the masterpieces of Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini. It would later become the official language of all the Italian states and of the Kingdom of Italy, when it was formed. At no time, however, has Standard Italian been identical to genuine Tuscan.
Read more about Tuscan Language: Subdialects, Speakers, Dialectal Features, See Also
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“I invented the colors of the vowels!—A black, E white, I red, O blue, U green—I made rules for the form and movement of each consonant, and, and with instinctive rhythms, I flattered myself that I had created a poetic language accessible, some day, to all the senses.”
—Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891)