<P> During the Middle Ages , the established written language in Europe was Latin . With the great majority of people being illiterate , however , only a handful were well versed in the language . In the Italian peninsula , as in most of Europe , the majority would instead speak a local vernacular . These dialects ( as they are commonly referred to as ) were born to Vulgar Latin over the course of centuries , evolving naturally unaffected by formal standards and teachings , and are not truly `` dialects '' of Standard Italian , that itself started off being one of these local tongues . Since they often provide poor mutual intelligibility with standard Italian , they are better classified as distinct languages . </P>
<P> During the Middle Ages , the established written language in Europe was Latin . With the great majority of people being illiterate , however , only a handful were well versed in the language . In the Italian peninsula , as in most of Europe , the majority would instead speak a local vernacular . These dialects ( as they are commonly referred to as ) were born to Vulgar Latin over the course of centuries , evolving naturally unaffected by formal standards and teachings , and are not truly `` dialects '' of Standard Italian , that itself started off being one of these local tongues . Since they often provide poor mutual intelligibility with standard Italian , they are better classified as distinct languages . </P>
what language was spoken in italy before italian
what language was spoken in italy before italian
dialects ( as they are commonly referred to as ) were born to Vulgar Latin over the course of centuries , evolving naturally unaffected by formal standards and teachings
dialects ( as they are commonly referred to as ) were born to Vulgar Latin over the course of centuries , evolving naturally unaffected by formal standards and teachings