Italian (italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 63 million people,[4] primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino. It is the primary language of the Vatican City.[5] Standard Italian, adopted by the state after the unification of Italy, is based on Tuscan and is somewhat intermediate between Italo-Dalmatian languages of the South and Northern Italian dialects of the North.
Unlike most other Romance languages, Italian has retained the contrast between short and long consonants which existed in Latin. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive. Of the Romance languages, Italian is considered to be one of the closest resembling Latin in terms of vocabulary.[6] Lexical similarity is 89% with French, 87% with Catalan, 85% with Sardinian, 82% with Spanish, 78% with Rheto-Romance, 77% with Romanian, and 52% with Maltese.[7][8]
It is affectionately called il parlar gentile (the gentle language) by its speakers.
