▁the ▁native ▁languages ▁spoken ▁in ▁Italy ▁are ▁actual ▁" dia lect s " ▁of ▁standard ▁Italian ▁in ▁the ▁prev ail ing ▁lingu istic ▁sense ▁of ▁" vari eties ▁or ▁variations ▁of ▁a ▁language ". ▁This ▁is ▁not ▁the ▁case ▁of ▁Italy , ▁as ▁the ▁country ' s ▁long - standing ▁lingu istic ▁divers ity ▁does ▁not ▁actually ▁stem ▁from ▁Italian . ▁Most ▁of ▁Italy ' s ▁Rom ance ▁languages ▁pre date ▁Italian ▁and ▁evol ved ▁locally ▁from ▁V ul gar ▁Latin , ▁independently ▁of ▁what ▁would ▁become ▁the ▁standard ▁national ▁language , ▁long ▁before ▁the ▁fairly ▁recent ▁spread ▁of ▁Italian ▁throughout ▁Italy . ▁In ▁fact , ▁Italian ▁itself ▁can ▁be ▁thought ▁of ▁as ▁either ▁a ▁continu ation ▁of , ▁or ▁a ▁dialect ▁heavily ▁based ▁on , ▁the ▁Flor ent ine ▁dialect ▁of ▁T us can . ▁ ▁The ▁ind igen ous ▁Rom ance ▁languages ▁of ▁Italy ▁are ▁therefore ▁class ified ▁as ▁separate ▁languages ▁that ▁evol ved ▁from ▁Latin ▁just ▁like ▁Italian , ▁rather ▁than ▁" dia lect s " ▁or ▁variations ▁of ▁the ▁latter . ▁Con vers ely , ▁with ▁the ▁spread ▁of ▁Italian ▁throughout ▁Italy ▁in ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁century , ▁local ▁vari eties ▁of ▁Italian ▁have ▁also ▁developed ▁throughout ▁the ▁pen ins ula , ▁influenced ▁to ▁varying ▁ext ents ▁by ▁the ▁underlying ▁local ▁languages , ▁most ▁notice ably ▁at ▁the ▁ph on ological ▁level ; ▁though ▁regional ▁boundaries ▁s eld om ▁correspond ▁to ▁is og loss es ▁distingu ishing ▁these ▁vari eties , ▁these ▁variations ▁of ▁Italian ▁are ▁commonly