--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...> wrote:
> The various Italic languages have left no trace in Italian
> dialects AFAIK. This homogenization of Italian dialects, I think,
> goes back to two varieties of Late Latin, Christian Latin on a Greek
> substrate, from the Greek-speaking immigrants from the east,
> and 'Barracks Latin' on a Germanic/Celtic/NWB(?) substrate. Those
> are the sociological facts.
This topic is a huge and controversial one, yet one thing seems
certain to me, that is, that the causal factors of dialectal
differentiation in Italy cannot be reduced to the two sociolects you
mention (i.e., spoken Latin on a Greek substratum and 'Barracks
Latin').
Ever heard of the controversy on the "substratum theory" used by some
linguists and dialectologists to explain the evolution from (different
varieties of) Late/Vulgar Latin to the radically divergent dialects
spoken in different parts of Italy? Many interesting results can be
obtain if you make a search on Google Books using certain keywords:
http://tinyurl.com/apzy3j
http://tinyurl.com/aoezgq
http://tinyurl.com/daeaaj
http://tinyurl.com/d3594a
Regards,
Francesco