[Karl F]

Larry!.. Were you skipping History in High School!

The Dialects..... many versions, no common language.. no speeky the same italiano..

For Example:
Moreover, the dialects of Rome, which comprised the Italiano Centrale, is a group of western Romance dialects spoken in Latium, Umbria, central Marche, extreme southern Tuscany, and a little part of Abruzzo in central Italy. These dialects may have slight differences among them, but all are closely related to Tuscan and are mutually intelligible with each other as well as with standard Italian.

Italiano Centrale dialects include Marchigiano (from the central part of Marche), Umbrian dialects (Umbria), Cicolano-Reatino-Aquilano (L'Aquila and Province of Rieti), Tuscia dialect (Tuscia, northern part of Latium), Romanesco (Rome), Romanaccio, Giudeo-Romanesco, Castelli Romani dialect (Castelli Romani), and Ciociaro (Ciociaria, southern part of Latium).

Italkian, another minority dialect in Rome, was spoken mainly in urban areas in Rome and in central and northern Italy (especially in Livorno) from the 10th to the 17th centuries in Italy. Described as a mix between Italian and Hebrew, it is estimated that only a tiny number of people speak Italkian fluently today and less than 4,000 people still use it in their everyday speech.

Italkian is not the only dialect that employs Hebrew. Others include Yiddish, which is a mix between German and Hebrew, and Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), a mix between Spanish and Hebrew. Linguists also make a distinction between such Jewish Italo-Romance dialects as Giudeo-Ferrarese, Giudeo-Mantovano, Giudeo-Modenese, Giudeo-Reggiano, and Giudeo-Veneto.

Also, with each conquest, came anothe language, another culture.. hyphenated Romans as it were..

I still like what Teddy Roosevelt said 100 years ago:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag.. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907