Mòcheno (german: Fersentalerisch; bar, Bersntolerisch) is an

Upper German Upper German (german: Oberdeutsch ) is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in the southern German-speaking area (). History In the Old High German time, only Alemannic and Bairisch are grouped as Upper German. In the Middle High ...

variety spoken in three towns of the Bersntol (german: Fersental, it, Valle del Fersina), in

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

, northeastern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Mòcheno is closely related to Bavarian and is variously classified either as a Southern Bavarian

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 ...

or a separate language of its own. It has also been posited that it may be descended from Lombardic. Mòcheno speakers reportedly partially understand Bavarian, Cimbrian, or Standard German. However, many essential differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation render it difficult for speakers of standard German to understand.

Name

The name ''Mocheni'' used by bilingual

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

- and Ladin-speaking neighbours to refer to the speakers of the language has been coined from the verb ''mochen'' (to make), often used to build compound predicates in the language.

Geographic distribution

According to the census of 2001, the first in which data on native languages were recorded, Mòcheno was spoken by a majority in the following municipalities (numbers of members of the Mòcheno linguistic group):

Fierozzo Fierozzo ( Mócheno: ''Vlarotz'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about northeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 456 and an area of .All d ...

/Florutz/Vlarotz (423 people, 95.92%), Palù/Palai/Palae (184 people, 95.34%), Frassilongo/Gereut/Garait (340 people, 95.24%, including the village of Roveda/Eichleit/Oachlait). In other municipalities of Trentino 1,329 persons declared themselves members of the Mòcheno linguistic group, a total of 2,276 in Trentino. In the 2011 census, the total number of speakers in the Province decreased to 1,660.http://www.statistica.provincia.tn.it/binary/pat_statistica/demografia/15CensGenPopolazione.1340956277.pdf

Status

Mòcheno is officially recognised in Trentino by provincial and national law. Starting in the 1990s, various laws and regulations have been passed by the Italian parliament and provincial assembly that put the Mòcheno language and culture under protection. A cultural institute was founded by decree, whose purpose is to safeguard and raise awareness of the language. School curricula were adapted in order to teach in Mòcheno, and Italian street signs are being changed to bilingual Mòcheno/Italian.

Sample text

References

;Grammar *Anthony Rowley: ''Liacht as de sproch. Grammatica della lingua mòchena / Grammatik des Deutsch-Fersentalerischen.'' Istituto Culturale Mòcheno-Cimbro / Kulturinstitut für das Fersental und Lusern / Kulturinstitut Bersntol-Lusérn, Palù del Fèrsina (Trento) 2003, (Digitalisat
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;Dictionary *Anthony Rowley: ''Fersentaler Wörterbuch. Wörterverzeichnis der deutschen Sprachinselmundart des Fersentals in der Provinz Trient/Oberitalien''. Buske, Hamburg 1989 (= Bayreuther Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft, Dialektologie, 2), ;Secondary literature * Federica Cognola: ''Costruzioni infinitivali e fenomeni di trasparenza nel dialetto della Valle del Fèrsina'' In: Quaderni patavini di linguistica 22 (2006), pg. 3-48 * Hans Mirtes: ''Das Ferstental und die Fersentaler. Zur Geographie, Geschichte und Volkskunde einer deutschen Sprachinsel im Trentino/Norditalien.'' Institute für Geographie, Regensburg 1996 (= Regensburger geographische Schriften, Heft 26) * Giovanni Battista Pellegrini (ed.): ''La Valle del Fèrsina e le isole linguistiche di origine tedesca nel Trentino: Atti del convegno interdisciplinare, Sant'Orsola (Trento), 1 - 3 settembre 1978.'' Museo degli usi e costumi della gente trentina, S. Michele all'Adige 1979 * Anthony Rowley: ''Fersental (Val Fèrsina bei Trient/Oberitalien) - Untersuchung einer Sprachinselmundart.'' Niemeryer, Tübingen 1986 (= Phonai. Lautbibliothek der deutschen Sprachen und Mundarten, Deutsche Reihe, Bd. 28; Monographien, Bd. 18), * Anthony Rowley: ''Die Mundarten des Fersentals.'' In: Maria Hornung (ed.), ''Die deutschen Sprachinseln in den Südalpen. Mundarten und Volkstum'', Olms, Hildesheim / Zürich / New York, 1994 (= Studien zur Dialektologie, 3; Germanistische Linguistik, 124/125), pg. 145-160, * Anthony Rowley: ''Die Sprachinseln der Fersentaler und Zimbern.'' In: Robert Hinderling / Ludwig M. Eichinger (ed.): ''Handbuch der mitteleuropäischen Sprachminderheiten'', Narr, Tübingen 1996, pg. 263-285, * Anthony Rowley: ''"Mocheno e Cimbro". Von Dialekt(en) zu Sprache(n)?'' In: Dieter Stellmacher (ed.), ''Dialektologie zwischen Tradition und Neuansätzen: Beiträge der Internationalen Dialektologentagung, Göttingen, 19. - 21. Oktober 1998'', Steiner, Stuttgart 2000 (= Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik, Beiheft 109), pg. 213-221, * Bernhard Wurzer: ''Die deutschen Sprachinseln in Oberitalien.'' 5. erw. Aufl., Athesia, Bozen 1983,

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