“The linguistic history of Italian is an interesting case study for reflecting upon the concept of a standard language and its nature, diffusion and impact. Whereas in other European countries the process of linguistic standardization was predominantly related to political or religious factors, in Italy, in the absence of a unified country (until 1861) and of a commonly spoken language, the standardization of Italian was founded on literature. The elitist norm that prevailed was based on archaic literary models, notably on Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, which raised long-lasting issues concerning the homogeneity/heterogeneity and rigidity/flexibility of the standard, as well as questions related to its share-ability and incisiveness. It is only from the twentieth century onwards, when the process of Italianization reached completion and Italian became the language of all Italians, that we can speak of the norm as an ‘average of individual realizations’; that is, as a norm that comes mainly from below. Certain phenomena previously considered ‘substandard’, many of which derive from a new relationship of give and take between written and spoken language, have finally been accepted, hence the configuration of a neo-standard which is at least partly different with respect to the ‘historical’ one.”

The last of this generation of scholars outlived Cosimo (d. 1574) by a few years. A survey of the intellectual community of those years and beyond shows continuity and gradual change. New academies appear,includingthe Alterati and the Accademia della Crusca, which were also devoted to vernacular language and letters. The study of vernacular began to appear at universities, first Siena and then Pisa, as did some lectures in vernacular. The legacy of this generation extended to the successful construction of the narrative of the Renaissance itself.