Dalla devianza al continuum. L’italiano dei semicolti negli studi storico-linguistici: evoluzioni e linee di tendenza

Rita Fresu

2020-01-01

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Abstract

This paper traces the development of research on the Italian used by illiterate people, focusing in particular on innovative approaches developed over the last twenty years. These aimed at framing their productions within a gradation of writing skills while highlighting not only their deviations (the main goal in the first period of studies) but also their departures from the high, prestigious varieties. The second part of the essay presents a summary of current trends concerning the presence of sub-standard language in the contemporary linguistic repertoire and proposes a characterisation of the aforementioned illiterate people in present day.