Defining Italian

This chapter seeks to define the very notion of the ‘Italian language’. What phonological, morphological, syntactic, and lexical characteristics differentiate Italian from other languages and from so-called ‘Italian dialects’? To what extent can Italian be identified with the Tuscan, and more specifically with the Florentine, dialect? What is the earliest written evidence for Italian? When, and under what circumstances, did Italian become distinct from Tuscan/Florentine?