L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano H ow beautiful are our Alps, a n d h o w much can we l e a r n f r o m them and their people? Well, here in Italy, among other things, you can add a foreign language or two to the mix! Take Valle d'Aosta and Trentino-Alto Adige/ Süd- tirol, for instance: they are both known for their land- scapes, tourism and strong regional identities, but it's perhaps another element that stands out immediately to vis- itors: signs, schools and insti- tutions function in more than o n e l a n g u a g e . F r e n c h r e m a i n s o f f i c i a l i n V a l l e d'Aosta, while German and Ladin coexist with Italian in South Tyrol. These multilin- gual settings are the outcome of centuries of political affilia- tions, administrative practices and cultural exchange, deve- loped on long-standing con- n e c t i o n s a n d m o v e m e n t s a l o n g m a j o r t r a n s a l p i n e routes that linked together different cultural spheres. Today, bilingualism is pro- tected by law, and multilin- gual identity forms an integral p a r t o f d a i l y l i f e i n b o t h regions. Valle d'Aosta's linguistic situation has its roots in the M i d d l e A g e s : t h e v a l l e y belonged to the Kingdom of Burgundy before entering the orbit of the House of Savoy in the 11th century. Over time, administrative and legal prac- t i c e s w e r e c a r r i e d o u t i n French, which became the language of notaries, educa- t i o n a n d p u b l i c l i f e . T h e region's position on the route connecting the Po Valley to Savoy meant constant contact with French-speaking territo- ries; alongside French, the population also used Fran- co-Provençal (Valdôtain), a local Alpine Romance lan- guage spoken in villages and rural communities. Italian appeared later as state admin- i s t r a t i o n e x p a n d e d , b u t French retained official status because of its long institution- al continuity. Trentino-Alto Adige/ Südtirol, on the other hand, is composed of two distinct areas, with separate linguistic histories. Trentino is histori- cally Italian-speaking and was governed for centuries by the Prince-Bishopric of Tren- to under the Holy Roman Empire and later the Habs- b u r g M o n a r c h y . A l t o Adige/Südtirol, by contrast, was part of the County of T y r o l a n d p r e d o m i n a n t l y German-speaking. The lin- guistic boundary between Italian and German was well established by the early mod- ern period and is still largely visible today around the area of Salorno/Salurn, consid- ered a traditional demarca- tion line. T h e f a c t t h a t I t a l y i s a "young" country plays a role in these regions' linguistic history, too: in the end, the modern borders of Italy were established only in the 1 9 t h a n d 2 0 t h c e n t u r i e s . Valle d'Aosta became part o f I t a l y i n 1 8 6 1 w h e n t h e House of Savoy unified its territories under the new Ital- i a n s t a t e ; S o u t h T y r o l became Italian even later – and despite its overwhelm- ingly German-speaking pop- u l a t i o n – a f t e r t h e F i r s t World War, following the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Ger- main. These political changes created situations in which the state border did not cor- respond to linguistic bound- aries and, as a result, two A l p i n e r e g i o n s t h a t h a d developed within different cultural spheres found them- selves inside the same nation- al framework. D u r i n g t h e F a s c i s t period, both regions experi- enced strong pressure toward linguistic assimilation: in Valle d'Aosta, French-lan- guage schooling and publica- tions were restricted, while in S o u t h T y r o l , G e r m a n toponyms were replaced with Italian ones, and German- language education was sup- pressed. After the Second World War , Italy intro- duced a new constitutional framework that recognized the specificities of its border r e g i o n s : V a l l e d ' A o s t a received a Special Statute in 1948 that guaranteed the equal status of French and Italian in administration, education and public com- munication. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol also received a Special Statute in 1948, later strengthened by the 1972 Second Statute, which transferred extensive powers t o t h e t w o a u t o n o m o u s provinces. In the Province of Bolzano/Bozen, German and Italian have equal legal value, and Ladin is protected in the valleys where it has a histori- cal presence. Public employ- ees must pass certification exams that demonstrate com- petence in both German and Italian, ensuring that admin- istrative services are accessi- ble to all linguistic groups. This system is often cited in international discussions on autonomy as an example of structured coexistence based o n l e g a l g u a r a n t e e s a n d regional self-government. But multilingualism is also a matter of geography, in a way that many of us may not t h i n k a b o u t , b e c a u s e t h e mountains are not always barriers; sometimes, they are a place of sharing. For cen- turies, the Alps functioned as corridors rather than walls, with trade, transhumance and seasonal migration brin- ging communities into regu- lar contact. Valle d'Aosta maintained strong ties with Savoy and French-speaking Tarentaise and Maurienne; s i m i l a r l y , S o u t h T y r o l remained closely connected w i t h N o r t h T y r o l a n d Bavaria. In both instances, these exchanges profoundly shaped customs, agricultural practices and daily habits of the communities involved. Cuisine provides a clear example of this: for instance, the use of rye bread, high- a l t i t u d e d a i r y p r o d u c t s , soups, herbal infusions and preservation methods occurs on both sides of the Alpine border. Cheeses such as Fon- tina and Beaufort, Graukäse and similar fermented vari- eties in Austrian and Bavari- an areas illustrate how tech- n i q u e s c i r c u l a t e a c r o s s regions. Polenta variants, chestnut-based dishes and similar festive preparations a l s o s h o w t h e d e g r e e o f shared practices. T h e s e c o n n e c t i o n s a r e further demonstrated by agri- cultural and pastoral habits, as in the case of high-altitude cattle breeding, methods of haymaking and the use of mountain pastures, which follow similar rhythms across t h e W e s t e r n a n d C e n t r a l Alps. Transhumance routes h i s t o r i c a l l y l i n k e d V a l l e d'Aosta with Savoy and the Swiss Valais, while South Tyrol shared practices with North Tyrol. In the present, multilin- gualism shapes cultural iden- tity and institutional life in both regions: Valle d'Aosta promotes its bilingual charac- ter through education, cultur- al events and tourism; French r e m a i n s p a r t o f p u b l i c administration, and cultural institutions highlight the region's links with the broad- e r F r a n c o p h o n e A l p i n e world. In South Tyrol, Ger- man-speaking institutions o p e r a t e a l o n g s i d e I t a l i a n ones, and cultural production reflects this duality. Ladin communities maintain their o w n s c h o o l s , m e d i a a n d administrative structures, supported by dedicated legal protections. Last but not least, bilin- gualism also provides practi- cal benefits: businesses oper- ate in cross-border markets, schools offer multiple linguis- tic paths, and residents often work or study in neighboring countries; tourism relies on the ability to communicate with visitors from France, Switzerland, Austria and Ger- many. The regions' multilingual c h a r a c t e r c o n t r i b u t e s t o m o b i l i t y a n d e c o n o m i c exchange, reinforcing the idea that Alpine identity is shaped by interaction rather than separation. GIULIA FRANCESCHINI French in Aosta, German in South Tyrol: how did it happen? Traditional Valle d'Aosta costumes (Photo: Flavio Vallenari/iStock) NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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