After linking the emergence of the various languages ​​with God's punishment of the great German and his followers (who have taken the construction of the impressive tower of Babylon), Dante explains the extinction of the human race far from his birthplace (Israel) as a consequence of the emergence of the the languages ​​with which the tribes served. A branch of the emigrant's stream is directed to the West and carries with it a three-dimensional dialect . The emigrants set up countries in the three directions of the continent of Europe - north, south and east. Thus the peoples settled in the West began to use three different dialects, each of which was shared by numerous local speakers. In southern Europe, the following native languages ​​are required: the language of "ok" (spoken in southern France and northern Spain); the language of "oil" (spoken in northern France) and the language of "your" (spoken in Italy).

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Opposed to the Hebrew, guarded by God's mercy and therefore unchanging language, unlike the tongues made by earthly people, the Latin, according to Dante, was invented before Christ to allow the spread of human knowledge among many people in different countries. It appears to be a very user-friendly language, which is commonly accepted by many people. After recognizing that the languages ​​of "ok", "ole" have enough reason to be proud of their superb qualities (here are recalled the sophisticated stylistic techniques developed in the circle of Italian poets "Sweet New Style"), Dante begins to list the merits of the various Italian dialects spoken on both sides of the Apennines. The author argues that among this diversity stands at least 14 widely used spoken words, and the total figure in which all local rural speakers are spoken is perhaps over one thousand.

The poet is committed to assessing the widespread spelling to determine who is the most decent and most popular Italian local language. Among the common dialects, particular attention is paid to the Sicilian, as it was used to create the earliest Italian love lyrics. Dante explains the superiority of the Sicilian local language to the blessed spiritual climate in which he is born thanks to the wise policy of Friedrich's culture and arts. The review of the local folk talk continues with the presentation of the artistic merits of the dialect spoken in the Puglia district, where the prominent poets Giacomo da Lentini and Rinaldo d'Aquino were born. Dante asserts the superb qualities of Tuscan language by referring to his already famous literary poets, thanks to which this common language achieves "the highest perfection". In the following chapters of his treatise, Dante presents and evaluates the Italian local dialects spoken on the eastern slope of the Apennines on the lands that extend to the Adriatic Sea.

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part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6