Western Lombard is a Romance language spoken in Italy, in the Lombard provinces of Milan, Monza, Varese, Como, Lecco, Sondrio, a little part of Cremona (except Crema and its neighbours), Lodi and Pavia, and the Piedmont provinces of Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and a small part of Vercelli (Valsesia), and Switzerland (Canton Ticino and part of Grischun). After the name of the region involved, land of the former Duchy of Milan, this language is often referred to as Insubric (see Insubria and Insubres) or Milanese, or, after Clemente Merlo, Cisabduano (literally "of this side of Adda River").

In Italian-speaking contexts, Western Lombard is often incorrectly called a dialect of Italian language, but actually it is a separate language. It has more than a few similarities to French. Insubric and Italian are different languages and are not mutually intelligible, because of lexical, phonetic, and grammatical differences. Western Lombard, more than many other languages spoken in Italy, has many varieties, because of the mountain geography and history of various political divisions.

Western Lombard is divided into four main classes, called by many Italian linguists lombardo alpino (provinces of Sondrio and of Verbania, Sopraceneri of Canton Ticino and Grigioni in Switzerland), lombardo-prealpino occidentale (provinces of Como, Varese and Lecco, Lugano and its neighbors in Canton Ticino), basso-lombardo occidentale (Pavia and Lodi), and macromilanese (provinces of Milan, Monza, Novara and Valsesia of Vercelli). The boundaries are obviously schematic, since the political division in provinces and municipalities are usually independent from languages spoken.

The linguistic classification of Western Lombard is

Romance languages (derived from Latin).

• Italo-Western group (Hispania-Gallia-Italia; including nearly all Romance languages).
  • Gallo-Iberian group (Hispania-Gallia).
    • Gallo-Romance group (Gallia; the eastern section of the Gallo-Iberian group).
      • Gallo-Italic group (Gallia Cisalpina; Italy's part of the Gallo-Romance group).
        • Lombard group (part of Langobardia).

At the present time, Western Lombard has no official status in Lombardy or anywhere else. The only official language in Lombardy is Italian.

Some texts in Western Lombard are available: various dictionaries, a few grammars, extensive literature (see Insubric literature), and a recent translation of the Gospels.

Examples of Western Lombard dialects are:

• Milanese or Meneghin (macromilanese)
• Bustocco and Legnanese
• Brianzöö (lombardo-prealpino occidentale - macromilanese)
  • Canzés
  • Canturino
  • Monzese
• Comasco-Lecchese (lombardo-prealpino occidentale)
  • Comasco
  • Laghée
  • Intelvese
  • Vallassinese
  • Lecchese
  • Valsassinese
• Ticinese (lombardo alpino)
  • Ossolano
• Varesino or Bosin (lombardo-prealpino occidentale)
• Alpine Lombard (lombardo alpino, strong influence from Eastern Lombard language)
  • Valtellinese
  • Chiavennasco
• Southwestern Lombard (basso-lombardo occidentale)
  • Pavese
  • Lodigiano (strong influence from Emiliano-Romagnolo language)
  • Nuaresat (lombardo-prealpino occidentale - macromilanese)
  • Cremunéez (strong influence from Emiliano-Romagnolo language)
• Slangs
  • Spasell

The most important orthography in Western Lombard literature is the Classical Milanese orthography. It was used by Carlo Porta (1775-1821) and Delio Tessa (1886-1939). It was perfected by the Circolo Filologico di Milano. Other orthographies are the Ticinese, the Comasca, the Bosina, the Nuaresat, and the Lecchese.

References

See also

• Languages of Italy
• Dialects of Italy
• Plural inflection in Western Lombard
• Milanese dialect
• Insubric literature

Bibliography

• Andrea Rognoni, Grammatica dei dialetti della Lombardia, Oscar Mondadori, 2005.
• AA. VV., Parlate e dialetti della Lombardia. Lessico comparato, Mondadori, Milano 2003.

ca:Llombard occidental it:Dialetto lombardo occidentale la:Lingua Insubris