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Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:54 am Post subject: Italian becomes official language ... of Italy |
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Italian becomes official language ... of Italy Fri Mar 30, 12:47 PM ET
ROME (Reuters) - It's official. The language of Italy is Italian -- but not everyone is happy about it.
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While it might seem obvious, the Italian-ness of Italian has only just been enshrined in the constitution, with parliament voting this week to state that: "The Italian language is the official language of the Republic".
The seemingly uncontroversial statement was opposed by 75 members of parliament, including leftists who said it smacked of cultural imperialism and northern separatists who are suspicious of pretty much any diktat from Rome.
One deputy, Federico Bricolo from the Northern League party, said his nationality, and therefore his language, was not Italian but Venetian. He said the dialect of Venice was spoken by "millions of men and women around the world".
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070330/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_italy_language |
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