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Concept
Lombard language
Summary
The Lombard language (native name: lombard, lumbaart, lumbart or lombart, depending on the orthography; pronunciation: lũˈbaːrt, lomˈbart) belongs to the Gallo-Italic family, and consists of a cluster of homogeneous dialects spoken by millions of speakers in Northern Italy and southern Switzerland, including most of Lombardy and some areas of the neighbouring regions, notably the eastern side of Piedmont and the western side of Trentino, and in Switzerland in the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden. It is a language also spoken in Santa Catarina in Brazil by Lombard immigrants from the Province of Bergamo.
The most ancient linguistic substratum that has left a mark on the Lombard language is that of the ancient Ligures. However, available information about the ancient language and its influence on modern Lombard is extremely vague and limited. This is in sharp contrast to the influence left by the Celts, who settled in Northern Italy and brought their Celtic languages and also culturally and linguistically Celticised the Ligures. The Celtic substratum of modern Lombard and the neighbouring languages of Northern Italy is self-evident, so the Lombard language is classified as a Gallo-Italic language (from the ancient Roman name for the Celts, Gauls).
Roman domination shaped the dialects spoken in the area, which was called Cisalpine Gaul by the Romans, and much of the lexicon and grammar of the Lombard language have their origin in Latin. However, this influence was not homogeneous; idioms of different areas were influenced by previous linguistic substrata and each area was marked by a stronger or weaker Latinisation, or the preservation of ancient Celtic characteristics.
The Germanic Lombardic language also left strong traces in modern Lombard, as it was the variety of Germanic spoken by the Germanic Lombards (or Longobards), who settled in Northern Italy (called Greater Lombardy after them) and other parts of the Italian Peninsula after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Official source
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