venetian language 953
can be tangibly appreciated by examining texts of various types in the
MidV period. as a general rule, the higher the register the greater was the
influence of italian. in consciously high-register texts, the transition was
usually complete by 1600, although some educated Venetians such as the
poet Maffio Venier (1550–86), the art-critic Marco Boschini (1605–81), the
playwright Carlo goldoni (1707–93), and the patrician chronicler Fran-
cesco Zorzi Muazzo (1732–75) continued, at this time and beyond, to
deliberately employ written Venetian. artefacts such as the traditional
painted and inscribed craft guild-boards (insegne < Lat. insĭgniae), now
housed in the Museo Correr, remained strongly Venetian in character
until the 18th century, even when they were periodically refurbished. this
linguistic conservatism is also noticeable on some guild inscriptions on
public buildings. typical are the inscription, dated 1580, on the right-hand
pillar of the shoemaker’s guild-house in Campo San tomà and the plaque
of the german cobblers (calegheri todeschi), dated 1658, at Crosera no.
3128 at San Stefano. Similarly, the language of gondoliers’ guild regulations
continued to be markedly Venetian until the end of the Republic.55 Public
signs emanating from the authorities were more quickly italianized, yet
retained strong Venetian lexical elements. Characteristic is the plaque on
the side of the church of San Stefano, dated 1632, prohibiting ball-games,
trading, and swearing in the vicinity of the church: it consistently uses
the Venetian term biastema “swear-word” (< Lat. blastemam, a variant
of blasphemiam) and is dated XX zugn. (20 June), using Venetian zugno
rather than italian giugno. among publications of a practical or materi-
alistic nature, the use of Venetian remained strong throughout most of
the period.
indeed, far from being stigmatized in any way by the encroachment
of written italian, spoken Venetian paradoxically reached its apogee of
external influence in the MidV period. this is the time of the expansion
and consolidation of venexian in north-eastern italy. the prestige spo-
ken language of Venice became the pole of attraction for the upwardly
mobile throughout the dominions of the Venetian state. Venexian radi-
cally restructured the urban dialects of the Veneto between 1500 and
1900, especially those of Padua, Vicenza, and treviso. it formed the basis
of the Common Veneto lingua franca that was constantly renewed from
the mother-city and that survived into the 21st century. it Venetianized
55 See the Mariegola del traghetto del Ponte della Paggia in the archivio di Stato, Prov-
veditori di Comun, B. 63.