About the formation of the Divina Commedia language

Abstract

Dante’s language is defined here as the “romanic” neo-Latin of peninsular Italy permeated by the northitalian “italo-romance” neo-Latin. It originates following the colonization in the 12^th century of the Badia Fiorentina by Milan's Cistercian monks, which introduced characters of the “romance” idiom (i.e., western neo-Latin) into clerical Latin and then into the vernacular of Florence, subsequently enriched (e.g. with the romance diphthong iè, uò) by the economic influence of the wealthy Po Valley.