The Istitut Ladin Micurà de Rü is a government-financed cultural institute in

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, tasked with preserving and promoting the

Ladin language Ladin ( , ; autonym: ; ; ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Rhaeto-Romance languages, Rhaeto-Romance subgroup, mainly spoken in the Dolomites, Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino, an ...

and culture.

Foundation and name

The institute was set up by the Autonomous Province Bolzano – South Tyrol on 31 July 1976 and formally started its activity on 3 September 1977 in the Ladin village

San Martin de Tor San Martin de Tor ( ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northeast of the city of Bolzano. Geography As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 1,726 and an area of .All demographic ...

. The institute was named in honour of the Ladin linguist Micurà de Rü, who in 1833 published the first Ladin grammar ''"Versuch einer deütsch-ladinischen Sprachlehre"''. The institute's main objectives are: * to scientifically study the language, the history and the culture of the Ladin people. * to promote the use and teaching of the Ladin language in cooperation with the schools in Ladin communes and the Ladin Pedagogical Institute. * to preserve and cultivate the culture, customs and traditions, art and music of the Ladin people. * to support all venues that help to preserve the oral and written Ladin language i.e. radio transmissions, newspapers, books, cultural and-or educational events. * to set up a historical archive of the Ladin culture. * to set up a research library. * to coordinate, cooperate and support the scientific work and research of the Ladin language and culture carried out by other universities and other research institutions. * to improve the relationship and cultural exchange between the Ladins of the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

and those of Graubünden and

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

regions.

Today

Today, the institute's headquarters remains in San Martín de Tor and a branch has been opened in

Sëlva Sëlva (; ; ) is a (municipality) and a village in the Val Gardena in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about east of the city of Bolzano. The Ladin language, Ladin and Italian place names derive from the Latin word ("wood"). History Coat ...

in the

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

. The institute's task is to preserve, protect, and promote the Ladin language and culture. To achieve its aims, the institute cooperates with numerous national and international universities and supports scientific projects that focus on the Ladin language or culture. Since its founding, the institute has published over 230 books in various languages about the Ladin language and culture. Currently, the institute's main projects are: * the publication of Ladin vocabularies for the two main Ladin language varieties: the ''Badiot'' from the Val Badia and the ''Gherdëin'' from Val Gardena. * the creation of an online database named "VoLaNet", which will aid in the coinage of

neologisms In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

and will be accessible to everyone. * the creation of a detailed map of the Ladin valleys containing all Ladin

toponyms Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

. * archaeological excavations on ''Plan de Frea'' and on ''Sotciastel'' (in the municipality of

Santa Cristina Gherdëina Santa Cristina Gherdëina (; ; ) is a Ladin ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in Val Gardena in the South Tyrol of northern Italy. It is located about east of Bolzano. Its Saslong ski run is home of the Super-G and Downhill for men races ...

), with the aim to learn more about the Ladin history prior to the beginning of the second millennium A.D. * the creation of the "Linguistic Atlas of Dolomite Ladin and neighbouring dialects" based on

vocabulary A vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word ''vocabulary'' originated from the Latin , meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of languag ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and

syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...

of the Ladin languages. * and the support of cultural associations with the same aims as itself. Other activities include: information, consulting and translations services, Ladin teaching courses, organization of scientific conferences, concerts, theatre presentations and art exhibitions, support on doctoral thesis and publication of the annual scientific journal ''Ladinia – sföi cultural dai ladins dles Dolomites''.

References

External links

''Istitut Ladin Micurà de Rü'' Official website
(in Ladin, Italian, German, English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Istitut Ladin Micura De Ru Culture of South Tyrol Language regulators Organizations established in 1976 Government agencies of Italy Ladin language

Foundation and name

Today

See also

References

External links