Bolognese dialect

Bolognese (in Bolognese: bulgnaiś [bulˈɲaiz]) is a dialect of the Emiliano language, spoken in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and along the border of Tuscany to the south.

Terminology

Although the term dialetto is commonly used in reference to all minority languages native to modern-day Italy, the majority of these languages are not mutually intelligible with Standard Italian and have developed independently from Vulgar Latin. Bolognese is no exception and is therefore a dialect of the Emiliano-Romagnolo language, not the Italian language.

Classification

Bolognese is a dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo, one of the Gallo-Italic languages of the Romance family. It shares many common features with other Gallo-Italic languages such as Piedmontese, Lombard, Venetian, and Ligurian. Bolognese is closer to these languages than it is to Italian.

History

Middle Ages

Bolognese evolved a group of Gallo-Romance idioms, sharing features with neighboring northern Italian languages. It developed then, more distinctly into the Middle Ages as a sub-member of the Emiliano-Romagnolo language. During the high Middle Ages, A number of troubadours composing lyrical poetry were active in Bologna, especially during the 13th century. This served to raise cultural awareness to the possibility of composing songs, poems, and other works in vernacular neo-Latin languages. One of the first references to Bolognese as a distinct idiom was made by Dante Alighieri in his De Vulgari Eloquentia written in the beginning of the 14th century.

Modern history

During the a boom of interest in linguistic diversity during the 19th century, a number of efforts were made to create vocabularies, grammars, and collections of axioms, folk tales, and literature. The first dictionary was compiled in 1901 by Gaspare Ungarelli, who also attempted to create a writing system using the Italian alphabet. A period of stigmatization followed in the 20th century, where children were punished for speaking the dialect in school. It was considered to be a sign of uneducation and poor etiquette.

In 1964, Alberto Menarini proposed a writing system utilizing many of the same letters used to day. In recent times, Bolognese has enjoyed a period of rejuvenation.

Phonology

Some prominent features of Bolognese phonology are:

• Central vowels
• A phonemic distinction between short vowels and corresponding diphthongs.
• Nucleus vowel and coda consonant length have an inverse relationship
• The realization of labio-alveolar consonants
• Syncopation resulting in complex consonant clusters
• Frequent slacking of word-final voiceless obstruents
• A more exaggerated intonation in comparison with Italian

The phonemes of Bolognese are realized phonetically very differently depending on the area in or around Bologna. Significant free variation occurs in words due to complex phonological processes.

Consonant phonemes

Bolognese has 22 consonant phonemes.

References