Talk:Neapolitan language

The number of speakers cited in the article is for the Napoletano-Calabrese group as a whole. What is the number of speakers for straight up Neapolitan? There are around 1,100,000 inhabitants of the city proper with another million in the immediately girding communities (2001 census). In terms of number of speakers, at what point does the dialectical continuum flow so far out as to lose its Neapolitan-ness as such? E. abu Filumena

The Italic languages are these: -GALLO-ITALIAN: Venetian, Romagnolo, Emilian, Lombard, Piedmontese, Ligurian, Friulian -MEDIAN-ITALIAN: course, standard italian, Roman dialect, Umbrian, Tuscan -SOUTH-ITALIAN: Neapolitan, Apulian, Lucanian and Abruzzese -EXTREME SOUTH ITALIAN: sicilian, Calabrian, Salentine -SARDIANIAN In Italy these are the linguistic groups, the Neapolitan is not spoken in Puglia, Abruzzo and Basilicata, only in the Campania region. I'm Apulian and I do not speak Neapolitan, I speak Apulian. They are two distinct languages but belonging to the same family.

This article mixes up three discrete languoids: 1) the very Neapolitan language, which was co-official (besides Latin) within the Kingdom of Naples in 1442–1501, and was then largely spoken in that Kingdom until Italian unification; 2) the intermediate southern Italian dialects (the map actually refers to them), which stem straightforwardly from Latin and not from the Neapolitan language; 3) the Neapolitan dialect currently spoken within the metropolitan city of Naples. I would therefore propose splitting the current article into three ones, similarly to what Italian Wikipedia does (it:Lingua napoletana, it:Dialetti italiani meridionali, it:Dialetto napoletano).-- 3knolls (talk) 06:25, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

I would tend to disagree, the term "dialect" to describe the language currently spoken in Naples is extremely problematic. A tripartite division of that kind is based more on linguistic ideology than anything else.Boynamedsue (talk) 12:41, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Definitely confusing, because this article treats two related, yet distinct, concepts and realities. Unfortunately, 'dialect' is the briefest translation of dialetto, understood in Italy to mean 'local indigenous language'. Italian Wikipedia solves the quandary to some extent by having an article on Dialetto napoletano, i.e. the language of Naples, and one on Lingua napoletana, the historical-political situation of some time back. This article will remain inaccurate and confusing until the two are sorted out clearly so that readers understand that in current usage, napoletano refers to the language of Naples and immediate surroundings. See the first two paragraphs (at present) of Dialetto napoletano for clarification. Barefoot through the chollas (talk) 18:07, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

I support the split.

I would argue that the only unambiguous and least problematic way to resolve this is to limit the article to the dialect/language spoken in Naples (and the immediately surrounding comunes). A separate article could then be written on 'Southern Italo-Romance languages' or 'Continental Southern Italian dialects', making this effectively a split. The title of this new article could be decided afterwards through a move proposal. The article clearly needs to be restructured, and so would the two resulting articles. There needn't be a perfect correspondence between the Italian and English Wikipedias as they serve different audiences. IlmarisenVasara 14:47, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

The redirect South Italian language has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 March 7 § South Italian language until a consensus is reached. 1234qwer1234qwer4 03:53, 7 March 2025 (UTC)