Venetian (vèneto)

Venetian is a Romance language spoken by about 2 million people mainly in Venice and the surrounding area, and also in Trieste, Croatia, Slovenia, Mexico and Brazil. The language is more closely related to French and Spanish than it is to Italian.

When Venice was an independent republic (between the 9th and 18th centuries), the Venetian language enjoyed considerable prestige. However literary Venetian lost out to the Tuscan dialect, which eventually became the national language of Italy.

Today Venetian has no official status in Italy but is recognised by the Regional Council of Vèneto. It is used mainly in informal contexts. In the municipality of Serafina Corrêa in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil the Talian dialect of Venetian holds co-official status with Portuguese.

Venetian alphabet
A a	B b	C c	Ç ç	D d	E e	F f	G g	H h
a	bé	cé	cé	dé	e	èfe	gé	aca
I i	J j	K k	L l	Ƚ ƚ	M m	N n	O o	P p
i	i lóngo	capa	èle	èle evanes- jente	ème	ène	o	pé
Q q	R r	S s	T t	U u	V v	X x	Y y	Z z
cu	ère	èse	té	vé	u	ics	fio	zéta

Venetian pronunciation (Grafia Veneta Unitaria)

Venetian pronunciation

Notes

There is more than one way to write some letters.
c = [ʧ] before e or i, [k] elsewhere
g = [ʤ] before e or i, [g] elsewhere
n = [ŋ] before a consonant and at the end of words

Sample text in Venetian (Venice dialect)

Tuti i eseri umani (i) xe nai (ƚ)iberi e conpagni par dignità e diriti. I xe dotai de raxon e de cosiensa e i gà da conportarse i uni co i altri co spirito de fradeƚansa.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Useful phrases in Venetian