Storia degli Italiani, vol. 15 (di 15)

This volume takes listeners on a scholarly trek through the birth of the Italian tongue, situating the story of language within the broader sweep of the nation’s past. First published in the late‑19th century, the work opens by mapping the physiological, mental and social ingredients that let humans turn breath into meaning, and it sets up a central question: how did the ancient Latin of the Lazio region morph into the vernacular we recognize today?

The author examines three competing views on the language’s origin—whether barbarian invasions reshaped Latin, whether local tongues infused it, or whether it simply drifted along a natural line of evolution. By tracing dialectal evidence from the early Middle Ages to the rise of Tuscan writers, the narrative shows how linguistic shifts echo cultural and archaeological changes. Listeners will gain a clear sense of how scholars piece together the puzzle of Italy’s spoken heritage, without venturing beyond the first stage of this intricate investigation.