Neapolitan is a Language not an italian dialect

Did you know that UNESCO has recognized the Neapolitan as an official language and as a great cultural heritage? What do you know about this language? As one of the most famous Italic idioms, this linguistic system was named so because people from all the areas of southern Italy which were formerly part of the kingdom of Naples (nowadays Napolitania), identified historically as "Neapolitans", while the term "partenopei" was more commonly used for the inhabitants of the city of Naples. Another more archaic name (used during the Renaissance was "Apulian"), you can find in Dante Alighieri's essay "De Vulgari Eloquentia" (written in Latin), on the "dialects of Latin".

Indeed its reputation remains strong all over the world with phrases such as “ 'O sole mio”, “ 'O surdato ´nnammurato”, and words such as “Pizza” and “Mandolino”. They may even be part of general knowledge and they could indeed be considered as international words.

Neapolitan originally derived from Latin, but there were already traces of this language before the Roman Empire, since some terms are ascribable to Oscan language and to Greek, which was spoken in southern Italy until the around the late 1st and early 2nd century. In fact, Greeks and Byzantines played an important role in shaping the culture and the language of this region during the Ancient Era, and at a later stage Arabs, Normans, French, Germans, Spanish and Americans came to contaminate and influence much of its linguistic evolution. Indeed, one can argue that many Neapolitan words are borrowed from the linguistic makeup of other languages. For example, the Latin phrase “intra sact”, which means “sudden” or “unexpected”, developed into “intrasatta” in Neapolitan. Moreover, from old Greek, the word “misalion”, which means “tablecloth”, evolved into “mesale”. Spanish and French language also influenced the language strongly with words such as “ayer” (yesterday), which came about as “ajére” in Neapolitan. From French, the term “boîte”, which is directly translated into the English word “can”, became “buàtta” for the Neapolitan language. Finally, there are expressions and phrases derived from Germanic languages such as “drincà” (to drink), which originated from the Old High German verb “trinkan”.

Throughout history Neapolitan has undergone many changes, but the language has nevertheless kept most of the borrowed words. In modern times, however, one of the most significant changes to Neapolitan arguably came from the large influx of English influence in the early 19th and mid-20th century. The first contact with the English language was during the Bourbonic Restoration, when Lord Horatio Nelson asked King Ferdinand IV for permission to send soldiers on a mission in order to stop Napoleon’s fleet in Toulon. Moreover, the Allied invasion of Italy during the Second World War also served to generate new terms in Neapolitan. For instance, as the occupying forces distributed American goods, such as cans of corned beef to the starving population, Neapolitan butchers began to use words such as “ 'o biif” to describe fresh pieces of cow or steer meat. Lastly, as the United States of America climbed to the top as a global power following the war, its soft power also skyrocketed and began to influence cultures all over the world. In particular, modern Neapolitan has seen the rise of new words such as “´o smartfon´” (smartphone) to describe new technological devices.

From UNESCO, it is clear that dialects and endangered languages are part of the cultural heritage of mankind. Indeed, Neapolitan may be identified as such. Experts identify two main threats to linguistic systems such as these. Firstly, external forces such as military, economic, cultural and religious factors play a large role in the evolution of a language. Secondly, internal forces such as the attitude of new generations in learning or preserving an old language may completely change the evolutionary path of a linguistic system. As a language, Neapolitan is spoken in Campania, but it may also be found among the population along its borders such as in Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Lazio, Marche and Molise, although its linguistic aspect may vary. Several measures have been taken to protect the language as a cultural heritage; for example, a bill was passed by the region of Campania to protect it in order to save the artistic and the literary prestige of this wonderful language.

Can we establish the birth date of Neapolitan? It's possible. Neapolitan (autonym: nnapulitano; Italian: napoletano) is a Romance language spoken in the city and region of Naples, Campania (Neapolitan: Nàpule, Italian: Napoli), as well as throughout most of southern Italy including the Gaeta and Sora districts of southern Lazio, most of Molise, Basilicata, northern Calabria, and northern and central Apulia. As of 1976, there were 7,047,399 native speakers (some recent estimates range as high as 9,000,000). For geographical, historical, and political reasons, "Neapolitan" is the name given to the Italiano meridionale-interno group of dialects in southern Italy, historically united around Naples during the reigns of the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies. The many varieties of this language group include Neapolitan proper (spoken in the center city of Naples), Irpino, Cilentano, Laziale Meridionale, Molisano, Dauno-Appenninico, Garganico, Apulo-Barese, Lucano Nord-Occidentale, Lucano Nord-Orientale, Lucano Centrale, Area Arcaica Lucano-Calabrese, and Calabrese Settentrionale. The language as a whole has often fallen victim of its status as a "language without prestige".


It is generally considered a western Romance language, although some postulate a southern Romance classification. There are some differences among the various dialects, but they are all mutually intelligible with Naples as the locus. Italian and Neapolitan are not wholly mutually comprehensible though with notable grammatical differences such as nouns in the neuter form and unique plural formation. Its evolution has been similar to that of Italian and other Romance languages from their roots in Vulgar Latin. The first trace of Neapolitan can been found in "Placiti Cassinesi" dated to 960-963.



It has also developed with a pre-Latin Oscan influence, which is noticeable in the pronunciation of the d sound as an r sound (rhotacism), but only when "d" is at the beginning of a word, or between two vowels (eg.- "doje" or "duje" (two, respectively feminine and masculine form), pronounced, and often spelled, as "roje"/"ruje", vedé (to see), pronounced as "veré", and often spelled so, same for cadé/caré (to fall), and Madonna/Maronna). Some think that the rhotacism is a more recent phenomenon, though. Other Oscan influence (more likely than the previous one) is considered the pronunciation of the group of consonants "nd" (of Latin) as "nn" (this generally is reflected in spelling more consistently) (eg.- "munno" (world, compare to Italian "mondo"), "quanno" (when, compare to Italian "quando"), etc.), and the pronunciation of the group of consonants "mb" (of Latin) as "mm" (eg.- tammuro (drum), cfr. Italian tamburo), also consistently reflected in spelling. Other effects of the Oscan substratum are postulated too. It must also be noted that Naples was a Greek speaking town up to the Ninth Century, and Greek also has affected the Neapolitan language. There have never been any successful attempts to standardize the language (eg.- consulting three different dictionaries, one finds three different spellings for the word for tree, arbero, arvero and àvaro).


Neapolitan has enjoyed a rich literary, musical and theatrical history (notably Giambattista Basile, Eduardo de Filippo, Salvatore di Giacomo and Totò).


The language has no legal status within Italy and thus may not be taught in state run schools. Efforts are being made to change this, including a bid in 2003 to have a Neapolitan curriculum offered at the Università Federico II in Naples. This attempt was defeated with the comment that Neapolitan was a "low-class" language. There are also ongoing legislative attempts at the national level to have it recognized as an official minority language of Italy. It is however an officially recognized ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee language with the language code of NAP.