The Italian Writing System

The Italian writing system is based on the Latin alphabet, excluding j, k, w, x and y, which can still appear in loan words.1

The Italian writing system in its modern form begins to emerge in the 13th Century with the writings of Dante Alighieri (The Divine Comedy), Petrarch and Boccaccio, all of whom wrote in the Tuscan dialect of Florence. According to omniglot.com, the popularization of the Florentine dialect by these authors caused it to catch on in political and cultural circles in Italy in the 14th Century, and it slowly overtook Latin as the standard written language by the 16th Century.2

Italian is now regulated by the Accademia della Crusca, which was established in Florence in 1583 and was responsible for publishing the first Italian dictionary in 1612.

Additional resources on the Italian writing system can be found on the Web at:

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/italian.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language#Writing_system

  1. "Italian language" Wikipedia
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language#Writing_system
    [Accessed November 11, 2004]
  2. "Italian (Italiano)" Omniglot: A Guide to Writing Systems
    http://www.omniglot.com/writing/italian.htm
    [Accessed December 11, 2004]