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Passive knowledge of standard language in rural areas of Northern Italy on the evidence from 20th century
Abstract
According to some scholars, the passive language competence (the knowledge of Standard Italian) could be stimulated by the practice of collective reading of texts of administrative, literary or journalistic character. The most productive was the collective reading of texts in Italian during winter vigils in a village; these vigils were called “philos” in certain areas. The author has carried out a number of interviews with participants of such “philos”. They are rural residents born in the 1920s and 1930s. On the basis of these interviews the following conclusions are drawn: 1. The transition from the written language to the oral by means of the collective reading during village vigils served until the recent past as an instrument of spreading Italian among the population whose language was predominantly dialects. 2. The passive (as well as the active) command of Italian was related to the spread of education but had started to develop long before.
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