Italian(s) Abroad

Italy is known for its history of emigration, with millions leaving its borders to find new beginnings elsewhere. They take with them their languages (including Italian) and establish themselves mostly in urban settings (i.e., cities). At the same time, the Italian language is widely studied outside of Italy owing to its prestige and historical links. Indeed, Italian is used every day around the world in the domains of food, fashion and design.

This volume provides an overview of Italian in and beyond Italian migrant communities in a range of urban settings around the world. It brings together researchers working on Italian from a sociolinguistic perspective and/or on language maintenance and use of Italian in Italian immigrant communities worldwide. The number of Italians emigrating has risen again in the last decade, with Italians joining established communities (e.g. in Melbourne and New York) or forming new communities (e.g. in Barcelona). While all of these locations are being explored in the current volume, it also includes the discussion of lesser-known Italian language communities, some of which no longer exist (e.g. Italian(s) in Asmara and Mogadishu).