This books examines the interrelation between language and society in contemporary Italy and provides an up-to-date account of linguistic diversity, social variation, special codes, and language varieties within Italian society, and in situations of language contact both within and outside Italy. Part 1 covers the evolution and variations of ordinary language. Part 2 analyzes the traditions and innovations in a number of special languages. Part 3 examines the origin, status, and mechanism of language contacts between Italian and English in three diverse domains. Each chapter has been structured to include an overall assessment of recent research in Italy and abroad, a brief historical description of the evolution of specific linguistic variations during the last 50 years, and the analysis of a short selection of significant texts showing some of the features of the variety examined. This book has been especially designed for students of Italian abroad who have little or no previous knowledge of linguistics. It should also appeal to students and researchers in linguistics who have little of no knowledge of Italian. The book is also expected to be of interest to scholars of European multilingualism and to those who wish to look at how language operates within the Italian communities of English-speaking countries. Name and general subject indexes are included. (Contains 293 references.) (KFT)