ale . ▁ ▁References ▁ ▁Category : 1 9 4 7 ▁birth s ▁Category : L iving ▁people ▁Category : S war th more ▁College ▁al umn i ▁Category : Y ale ▁University ▁al umn i ▁Category : Y ale ▁University ▁fac ulty ▁Category : Univers ity ▁of ▁California , ▁Los ▁Angeles ▁fac ulty ▁Category : B oston ▁University ▁fac ulty ▁Category : 2 0 th - century ▁phil olog ists ▁Category : American ▁phil olog ists ▁Category : W omen ▁phil olog ists ▁Category : 2 1 st - century ▁phil olog ists ▁Category : F ell ows ▁of ▁the ▁American ▁Academy ▁of ▁Arts ▁and ▁Sciences <0x0A> </s> ▁There ▁are ▁approximately ▁thirty - four ▁native ▁living ▁spoken ▁languages ▁and ▁related ▁dialect s ▁in ▁Italy , ▁most ▁of ▁which ▁are ▁largely ▁independent ▁Rom ance ▁languages . ▁Although ▁they ▁are ▁sometimes ▁col lo qu ial ly ▁referred ▁to ▁as ▁dialect s ▁or ▁regional ▁languages , ▁they ▁are ▁almost ▁all ▁distributed ▁in ▁a ▁continu um ▁across ▁the ▁regions ' ▁administrative ▁boundaries , ▁and ▁speak ers ▁from ▁one ▁locale ▁within ▁a ▁single ▁region ▁are ▁typically ▁aware ▁of ▁the ▁features ▁distingu ishing ▁their ▁own ▁variety ▁from ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁other ▁places ▁nearby . ▁ ▁The ▁official ▁and ▁most ▁widely ▁spoken ▁language ▁across ▁the ▁country ▁is ▁Italian , ▁a ▁direct ▁desc endant ▁of ▁T us can . ▁However , ▁in ▁parallel , ▁most ▁It ali ans ▁also ▁communicate ▁in ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁regional ▁languages ▁that ▁are ▁ind igen ous ▁evolution s ▁of ▁V ul gar ▁Latin . ▁▁