thumb|350px|Historical (yellow) and current (orange) distribution of the Cimbrian dialects
Cimbrian (, ; ; ) is any of several local Upper German varieties spoken in parts of the Italian regions of Trentino and Veneto. The speakers of the language are known as in German.
Cimbrian is a Germanic language related to Bavarian most probably deriving from a Southern Bavarian dialect. It is also related to the Mòcheno language. Its many essential differences in grammar as well as in vocabulary and pronunciation make it practically unintelligible for people speaking Standard German, being problematic even for many people speaking Bavarian. The use of Italian throughout the country and the influence of nearby Venetian have both had large effects on the number of speakers of Cimbrian throughout past centuries. This effect has been large enough to cause Cimbrian to be deemed an endangered language.
History
The earliest record of the movement of Bavarians to Verona dates to ca. 1050 (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Cod. lat. 4547). The settlement continued during the 11th and 12th centuries.
A theory of Lombardic origin of the Zimbern was proposed in 1948 by Bruno Schweizer and again in 1974 by Alfonso Bellotto. The debate was again revived in 2004 by Cimbrian linguist Ermenegildo Bidese.
The majority of linguists remain committed to the hypothesis of medieval (11th to 12th century) immigration.
The presence of Germanic-speaking communities in Italy was discovered in the 14th century by the Italian humanists, who associated them with the Cimbri who arrived in the region in the 2nd century BC. This is the likely origin of the current endonym (Zimbar). In reality, although the ancient Cimbri are considered to have been a Germanic tribe, there is no reason to connect the speakers of Cimbrian specifically with them, linguistically or otherwise.
An alternative hypothesis derives the name from a term for 'carpenter', cognate with English timber (lit. 'timberer').
Dialects and status
The three major dialects of Cimbrian are spoken in:
- The Seven Communities (), currently only the village of Roana (Robàan)
- Luserna (Lusern), in Trentino
- The Thirteen Communities (), currently only the village of Giazza (Ljetzan)
- Some villages in the Carnic Alps such as Sappada, Sauris and Timau
Cimbrian is in danger of extinction both from standard Italian, which is often used in public, and the neighboring regional Venetian language. It is estimated that about 2,220 people speak Cimbrian.
In Trentino, according to the census of 2001, the first in which data on native languages were recorded, Cimbrian was spoken by a majority in the municipality of Lusérn (267 people, 89.9%). In other municipalities of Trentino 615 persons declared themselves members of the Cimbrian linguistic group, a total of 882 in Trentino. With this, it is seen that the most thriving variety of Cimbrian is that of Lusern with most of the community able to speak Cimbrian, whereas in Giazza and Roana only a few elderly speakers remain.
Cimbrian is officially recognised in Trentino by provincial and national law. Beginning in the 1990s, various laws and regulations have been passed by the Italian parliament and provincial assembly that put the Cimbrian language and culture under protection. School curricula were adapted in order to teach in Cimbrian, and bilingual street signs are being developed. A cultural institute (Istituto Cimbro/Kulturinstitut Lusérn) was founded by decree in 1987, whose purpose is to "...safeguard, promote and exploit the ethnographic and cultural heritage of the German speaking minority of the municipality of Luserna while paying special attention to historic and linguistic expressions, to the protection of the environment, and to the economic-cultural development of the Cimbrian community territory." The cultural institute hosts literature competitions for children as well as immersion summer camps.
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|i / y
|ɨ / ʉ
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|e / ø
|ə / ɵ
|/ o
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|ɛ / œ
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|ɐ /
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Consonant inventory || Major value<br />(IPA) || Examples of major value || Minor values<br />(IPA) || Examples of minor value || Exceptions
|-
| rowspan="2" | b || usually || || rowspan="2" | , , , , , , , , , , , || || ||
|-
| sometimes || , || || ||
|-
| c || || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |ch
| usually || ||, , || || ||
|-
|after a short vowel|| ||, || || ||
|-
| d || elsewhere || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | f || ||, , , , , , , , , || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" |ff
|
|,
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|
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|-
| rowspan="3" | g || before e, i, y || || || || ||
|-
| initially/medially elsewhere || || || || ||
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| finally || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | gg || before e, i, y || || || || ||
|-
| elsewhere || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | gn || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | h || Ø || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | j || || |||| ||
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| colspan="2" | k || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | kh || || , , || || ||
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| colspan="2" | l, ll || || || || ||
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| colspan="2" | m, mm || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | n, nn || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | ng (in loanwords) || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | p, pp || elsewhere || || || || ||
|-
| finally || Ø || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | ph || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | q (see qu) || || || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" | r, rr || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | s || initially<br />medially next to a consonant<br />or after a nasal vowel || || || || ||
|-
| elsewhere between two vowels || || || || ||
|-
| finally || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | sc || before e, i, y || || || || ||
|-
| elsewhere || || || || ||
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| colspan="2" | sch || || || // || ||
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| colspan="2" | ss || || || || ||
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| colspan="2" | -st || // || || Ø || ||
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| rowspan="2" | t, tt || elsewhere || || || || ||
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| finally || || || || ||
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| colspan="2" | tch || || || || ||
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| colspan="2" | v || || || || ||
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| colspan="2" | w || || || || ||
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| rowspan="3" | x || initially<br>next to a voiceless consonant<br>phonologically finally|| // || || // || ||
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| medially elsewhere || // || || <br /><br />//|| ||
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| finally || || || // || ||
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| rowspan="2" | z || elsewhere || || || || ||
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| finally || Ø || || || ||
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|}
Morphology and syntax
Nouns in Cimbrian, as in German and other German dialects, have three genders - masculine, feminine and neuter. Cimbrian makes use of the nominative, dative, and accusative cases. The genitive case was formerly used but has now been replaced by the dative + vo ('of'), a similar case which can also be seen in modern German.
- My friend* believes that he can win. (En)
- . (Cimbrian)
- . (Italian)
- . ( can also mean 'My boyfriend') (German)
- My brother went on vacation in order to relax. (English)
- . (Cimbrian)
- . (Italian)
- . (German)
Cimbrian, in most sentences, uses subject–verb–object (SVO) word ordering, similar to Romance languages; however, in some cases it adopts some German syntax.
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