venessián
In a way, Veneto is an unlucky place for foreigners, especially the areas outside the cities.
What I mean is the linguistic variety so typical to Italy. Veneto is one of the regions where the local dialect is still in booming everyday use. As the standard Italian is the one once used by Dante, more or less the Tuscan way of talking (without the particular "h" that they like to pronunce in every word), your average Venetian will speak something only remotely recogniseable. True, most of them will switch to Italian when they understand they're not talking to a local. But not all of them, and most of what is said will have passed already.
Among locals, Italian is used only as a written language and in highly official situations. Everywhere else from the marketplace to the bank, the things will be done in venessián. It's not political, though it might seem so. Simply, the people will use their first language by default unless something suggests otherwise. Italian connotes a distance, and thus will seem strange to speak in one's kitchen. Then, regardless of the education system and the media being all in Italian, without a regular speaking practice this average Venetian (if aged over 40), won't be able to speak the official language even if they tried.
I'm sharing a flat with two Italians. As cosmopolitan as they are, speaking Italian to each other merely due to my presence is too strange to do. Thus, even though everything spoken directly to me will be in Italian, I get a lot of passive venessián practice from day to day - from my flatmates, their families and friends. By now I understand almost all of it, am able to pretend to speak it to some extent, and have started to mix some words into my Italian without noticing. It was only a matter of hearing it enough - what at first sounded like a smooth babble broke into understandable words and phrases at one point with no effort whatsoever. I do think of this as my greatest linguistic achievement to date. And I've come to appreciate that a local talking to me in dialect is his/her way of introducing familiarity into the conversation, and to be taken as a compliment - it means I'm not acting the part of the stranger in the situation.
So what is the difference? Linguistically, venessián is closer to French (of 200 years ago) and Spanish than Italian. Obviously, with the influences of the media and everything else, the differences are smaller nowadays. But the heritage is still visible in a Venetian that speaks English with a hint of Spanish pronunciation and understands much more of spoken Portuguese than a Milanese would. Mainly, what happens to the official Italian in Veneto is that everything is softened down - ch (k) turns into ci (ch), z (ts) turns into ss; o is dropped off the end of the nouns (veneziano - venessia:n), the l and r is pronunced only halfway, the sharp past participle ending "-to" disappears in elongated vowels. I guess one has to hear it to know what I mean. By other Italians this is considered as one of the ugliest dialects of the whole country. I think of it as a sign of diversity and authenticity.
Then, apart from mere regional or linguistic differences, there is the half-political pride of the 1000 years of the Serenissima - Republic of Venice that still lives on in the Veneto. After all, once upon a time the Venetians controlled the market, a large part of the Mediterranean coast and the international communication of the time (venessián!). But this is something else.
The main possible practical value of the venessián is visible in the tourist-ridden money-making Venice. A ride in a gondola negotiated in English will cost x euros (depending on the mood, weather, season etc). The same ride negotiated in Italian will cost 2/3 of it. But if you know how to approach the gondoliere, and say in a stretched intonation, half-rolled r-s and with an air of not really caring about the response: "ció... mi porti to a San Marco?", you'll probably end up paying only a third of the tourist price.
Why would I mind learning a language that allows me to roam a place like Venice without the mark of a foreigner?
What I mean is the linguistic variety so typical to Italy. Veneto is one of the regions where the local dialect is still in booming everyday use. As the standard Italian is the one once used by Dante, more or less the Tuscan way of talking (without the particular "h" that they like to pronunce in every word), your average Venetian will speak something only remotely recogniseable. True, most of them will switch to Italian when they understand they're not talking to a local. But not all of them, and most of what is said will have passed already.
Among locals, Italian is used only as a written language and in highly official situations. Everywhere else from the marketplace to the bank, the things will be done in venessián. It's not political, though it might seem so. Simply, the people will use their first language by default unless something suggests otherwise. Italian connotes a distance, and thus will seem strange to speak in one's kitchen. Then, regardless of the education system and the media being all in Italian, without a regular speaking practice this average Venetian (if aged over 40), won't be able to speak the official language even if they tried.
I'm sharing a flat with two Italians. As cosmopolitan as they are, speaking Italian to each other merely due to my presence is too strange to do. Thus, even though everything spoken directly to me will be in Italian, I get a lot of passive venessián practice from day to day - from my flatmates, their families and friends. By now I understand almost all of it, am able to pretend to speak it to some extent, and have started to mix some words into my Italian without noticing. It was only a matter of hearing it enough - what at first sounded like a smooth babble broke into understandable words and phrases at one point with no effort whatsoever. I do think of this as my greatest linguistic achievement to date. And I've come to appreciate that a local talking to me in dialect is his/her way of introducing familiarity into the conversation, and to be taken as a compliment - it means I'm not acting the part of the stranger in the situation.
So what is the difference? Linguistically, venessián is closer to French (of 200 years ago) and Spanish than Italian. Obviously, with the influences of the media and everything else, the differences are smaller nowadays. But the heritage is still visible in a Venetian that speaks English with a hint of Spanish pronunciation and understands much more of spoken Portuguese than a Milanese would. Mainly, what happens to the official Italian in Veneto is that everything is softened down - ch (k) turns into ci (ch), z (ts) turns into ss; o is dropped off the end of the nouns (veneziano - venessia:n), the l and r is pronunced only halfway, the sharp past participle ending "-to" disappears in elongated vowels. I guess one has to hear it to know what I mean. By other Italians this is considered as one of the ugliest dialects of the whole country. I think of it as a sign of diversity and authenticity.
Then, apart from mere regional or linguistic differences, there is the half-political pride of the 1000 years of the Serenissima - Republic of Venice that still lives on in the Veneto. After all, once upon a time the Venetians controlled the market, a large part of the Mediterranean coast and the international communication of the time (venessián!). But this is something else.
The main possible practical value of the venessián is visible in the tourist-ridden money-making Venice. A ride in a gondola negotiated in English will cost x euros (depending on the mood, weather, season etc). The same ride negotiated in Italian will cost 2/3 of it. But if you know how to approach the gondoliere, and say in a stretched intonation, half-rolled r-s and with an air of not really caring about the response: "ció... mi porti to a San Marco?", you'll probably end up paying only a third of the tourist price.
Why would I mind learning a language that allows me to roam a place like Venice without the mark of a foreigner?
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