Linguists classify Sicilian and Neapolitan as distinct Romance languages with unique grammar and centuries of literature, not dialects of Italian. Sicilian has written works from the 1200s. Neapolitan was the administrative language of a kingdom. But Italy needed hierarchy. Standard Italian became “language” official and legitimate. Southern tongues became “dialects” inferior and backward. This was political, not linguistic. Calling something a dialect strips its legitimacy and history. UNESCO n

Italy banned Sicilian Napoletano Calabrese in schools after 1861 but protected German language rights in Alto Adige. Proves linguistic suppression of Southern languages was deliberate political choice not standardization. After unification Italy immediately banned Southern languages from schools government media. Children punished for speaking native languages. Alto Adige German speakers received linguistic protections bilingual education cultural autonomy. If Italy cared about linguistic unity