Central Marchigiano refers to a group of Romance varieties spoken in the central part of the Marche region of Italy, in an area that includes the provinces of Ancona, Macerata and Fermo. It is one of the Central Italian dialects and forms part of a continuum that also encompasses Umbrian and Tuscan. There are notable grammatical, lexical and idiomatic differences between Marchigiano and standard Italian, but it is considered, along with the rest of Central Italian dialects, to be fairly intelligible to a speaker of Standard Italian. According to internal variation, Marchigiano is divided into two main areas:

Common features

Features that distinguish Marchigiano in general from Italian include: The verbs meaning 'be' and 'have' inflect as follows in the present indicative:

Features of the three areas

Ancona dialect

The Ancona dialect is spoken only in Ancona and has only recently spread its influence elsewhere (Falconara, Osimo, Jesi, Chiaravalle, Porto Recanati, Loreto and Senigallia). Of the Marchigiano varieties, it is the one that shows the most Gallo-Italic traits. For instance, the masculine singular definite article is always el, without anything comparable to the Italian variation, according to phonetic context, between il and lo. Only the speakers from towns which are closer to Macerata (Osimo, Castelfidardo, Loreto, Porto Recanati) use the form lo as in Italian. These cities also undergo other influences from the Macerata dialect, due to proximity.

Fabriano dialect

The Fabriano dialect is spoken in Fabriano (closer to Umbria) and nearby towns. Rhotacism of occurs in this dialect, such that the local equivalents of Italian calza 'sock' and fulmine 'lightning' are carza and furmine.

Macerata dialect

The Macerata dialect is spoken in the provinces of Macerata and Fermo. Its speakers use lu (masculine singular) and lo (neuter singular) as definite articles. Notable features are rhotacism of and various assimilations that are absent from Italian:

Vocabulary

The following is a list of Marchigian words; note that the Anconitan forms do not show gemination (babu, ciambòtu, nèrtu, etc.)