or standard Ladin is the standard written

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction ...

(

Dachsprache In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss ...

) based on the similarities of the five main

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

-groups of

Ladin Ladin may refer to: * Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language *Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy See also *Laden (disambiguation) * Ladino (disambigua ...

. It is the desired outcome of the project called SPELL ( – "service for the planning and preparation of the Ladin language") under the initiative of The Union Generala di Ladins dles Dolomites (

project owner In project management, an executive or project executive is a person who has ultimate responsibility for a project, and is a role defined in the recognized project management framework PRINCE2. It is appointed by the customer during the start of t ...

) and the Ladin cultural institutes '' Micurà de Rü,'' '' Majon di Fascegn'' and '' Istitut Pedagogich Ladin'' to create a unified standard written language.

History

The contract to work on the project was given in 1988 by representatives from the Dolomite Ladins to the Zurich Professor Heinrich Schmid, who had previously designed the

Rumantsch Grischun Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Putèr: ; Sutsilvan: , , ; Jauer: ) is a Gallo-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the ...

written language. Schmid accepted this challenge and in 1998 he published for standard Ladin its ''Guidelines for the Development of a Common Written Language of the Dolomite Ladins'' (), in which the outlines for the new written language were presented. All written forms of Ladin Dolomitan words are carried over from spoken forms already existing in the spoken dialects based on a principle of the lowest common denominator in language formation. Its popularity within the Ladin community varies by valley and dialect spoken.

Goals and current status

The goal of Ladin Dolomitan is ''not'' to replace or displace the existing Ladin languages of the different valleys but rather to serve as a

and standard language for communication between speakers of the different dialects. This may also reduce the administrative burden of authorities and organization, which are not only linked to a single valley. For example, it allows for the administration of the

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

to use a single Ladin language form for the communities in

Val Gardena Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...

and

Val Badia The Val Badia ( en, Badia Valley, Ladin: ''Val Badia''; it, Val Badia; german: Gadertal) is the valley of the Gran Ega river in South Tyrol, Italy. It stretches from the Sella massif northwards to the Puster Valley. The villages in the Val Badia ...

. Today, some institutions, such as the Union Generela di Ladins dles Dolomites (the umbrella organization of the Sella Ladin), the Comunanza Ladina de Bulsan, and the

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano The Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italian: ''Libera Università di Bolzano'', German: ''Freie Universität Bozen'', Ladin: ''Università Liedia de Bulsan'') is a university primarily located in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy. It was founded ...

use Ladin Dolomitan as the default language used in their publications.

Phonology

Morphology

Articles

Example: 'the father', 'a father', 'the house', 'a house'

Orthography

The proposed orthographic convetions largely follow the

Italian orthography Italian orthography (writing) uses a variant of the Latin alphabet consisting of 21 letters to write the Italian language. This article focuses on the writing of Standard Italian, based historically on the Florentine dialect. Italian orthography ...

. It is compartible with the unified orthography for the ladin dialects.

References

{{Rhaeto-Romance languages Ladin Dolomitan Standard languages