French,
GermanThe official language of Italy is Standard Italian[1], a descendant of the Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin (some 75% of Italian words are of Latin origin), but several regional languages are also spoken to varying degrees. Other languages are spoken by a substantial percentage of the population due to immigration.
The Tuscan dialect (or Florentine dialect) spoken in Tuscany was promoted as the standard due to the socio-economic power associated with Florence as well as its literary heritage (Dante's Divine Comedy is often credited with the emergence of the Tuscan dialect as a standard). Pietro Bembo, a Venetian influenced by Petrarch, also promoted Tuscan as the standard literary language (volgare illustre). The spread of the printing press and literary movements (such as petrarchism and bembismo) also furthered Italian standardization.
When Italy was unified in 1861, Italian existed mainly as a literary language. Many Romance regional languages were spoken throughout the Italian Peninsula (Italian dialects), each with local variants. Following Italian unification Massimo Taparelli, marquis d'Azeglio, one of Cavour's ministers, is said to have stated that having created Italy, all that remained was to create Italians (a national identity).
