Origine della lingua italiana: dissertazione

The essay examines the origins and development of the Romance languages, focusing on the varieties that became Italian. It questions conventional labels, surveys historical theories about language ancestry, and argues that Romance tongues arose from a complex continuum of Latin speech rather than from a single rustic Latin. It analyzes substratal influences from indigenous and Germanic idioms, contrasts written and spoken Latin, discusses methods of etymology, and compiles early medieval documentary evidence across Italian regions to trace the formation of vernaculars. The discussion concludes by addressing literary consolidation culminating in Dante.