Editing Italian language (section)

== History ==

Italian developed from the regional forms of spoken Latin used after the decline of the Western Roman Empire. These forms gradually became the Italo-Romance languages spoken across the peninsula. Early written examples appeared during the Middle Ages, including the Placiti Cassinesi from the tenth century.

The Tuscan language gained literary prestige during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The works of [[Dante Alighieri]], [[Petrarch]], and [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] established the Florentine variety as an important written form. Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' demonstrated that a vernacular language could be used for major literary works instead of Latin.

Printing helped spread a more regular written form during the early modern period. The Accademia della Crusca published its first Italian dictionary in 1612. Tuscan-based literary Italian was increasingly used by writers and educated speakers, although regional languages remained dominant in everyday speech.

The creation of the [[Kingdom of Italy]] in 1861 gave Italian a national administrative role. Schools and state institutions expanded its use after [[Italian unification]]. Internal migration and national broadcasting later made standard Italian the main shared language across the country.