The Lausberg area is a part of southern Italy, covering much of Basilicata and the northern edge of Calabria, where Southern Italian dialects are spoken that show vowel developments atypical of Italo-Romance. The area is named after Heinrich Lausberg, who brought it to the attention of scholarship in 1939.
There are three main subdivisions, as can be seen on the map to the right.
Dubbed the German: Vorposten (“outpost”) by Lausberg, this area encompasses the towns of Castelmezzano, Potenza, and Picerno. Here the Latin vowel pronounced as //i// merged with pronounced as //eː//, while pronounced as //u// merged with pronounced as //uː//. The same asymmetric vowel development characterizes Balkan Romance languages such as Romanian.
The western part of Lausberg's German: Mittelzone (“central area”) encompasses the towns of Lauria, Maratea, Scalea, Diamante, and Verbicaro. Here the majority of words show a stressed vowel development similar to that of Sicilian, although many words show Sardinian-like outcomes as well.
The eastern part of the German: Mittelzone encompasses the towns of Senise, Tursi, and Oriolo. Here the tonic vowels developed approximately as in Sardinian. There is evidence, however, of an earlier distinction between Latin pronounced as //eː oː// and pronounced as //e o//. In the variety spoken in Senise, for instance, the outcomes of Latin pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //o// were subject to diphthongization when stressed and followed by a syllable containing a close vowel (namely pronounced as //i// or pronounced as //u//), while the outcomes of pronounced as //eː// and pronounced as //oː// were not. Cf. Latin pronounced as //fokum, nepoːteːs// > pronounced as /
Below are the (non-metaphonic) stressed vowel outcomes in the three regions, each represented here by one dialect.
| Latin | pronounced as /ˈfiːlum/ | pronounced as /ˈniwem/ | pronounced as /ˈteːlam/ | pronounced as /ˈpedem/ | pronounced as /ˈpaːnem/ | pronounced as /ˈkanem/ | pronounced as /ˈkor/ | pronounced as /ˈsoːlem/ | pronounced as /ˈkrukem/ | pronounced as /ˈluːnam/ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castelmezzano | pronounced as /ˈfilə/ | pronounced as /ˈnevə ˈtela ˈperə/ | pronounced as /ˈpanə ˈkanə/ | pronounced as /ˈkorə ˈsolə/ | pronounced as /ˈkrutʃə ˈlunə/ | ||||||
| Verbicaro | pronounced as /ˈfɪlə ˈnɪva ˈtɪla/ | pronounced as /ˈpɛtra/ | pronounced as /ˈpanə ˈkanə/ | pronounced as /ˈkɔrə/ | pronounced as /ˈsʊlə ˈkrʊtʃa ˈlʊna/ | ||||||
| Senise | pronounced as /ˈfilə ˈnivə/ | pronounced as /ˈtɛlə ˈpɛrə/ | pronounced as /ˈpanə ˈkanə/ | pronounced as /ˈkɔrə ˈsɔlə/ | pronounced as /ˈkrutʃə ˈlunə/ | ||||||
| English | thread | snow | canvas | foot | bread | dog | heart | sun | cross | moon | |
| San Chirico | Aliano | Castelluccio | Noepoli | Amendolara | Papasidero | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /ˈmɔrə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrəjə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrəkə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrə~ˈmuərə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrrə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔru/ | ||
| pronounced as /ˈmwerəsə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrəsə/ | pronounced as /ˈmuːrəsə/ | pronounced as /ˈmuərəsə/ | pronounced as /ˈmuːrəsə/ | pronounced as /ˈmuːrisi/ | ||
| pronounced as /ˈmwerətə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrətə/ | pronounced as /ˈmurə*/ | pronounced as /ˈmuərədə/ | pronounced as /ˈmuːrədə/ | pronounced as /ˈmuri*/ | ||
| pronounced as /muˈriəmə/ | pronounced as /muˈrɛmə/ | pronounced as /muˈrimə/ | pronounced as /muˈriəmə/ | pronounced as /muˈrimə/ | pronounced as /muˈrimu/ | ||
| pronounced as /muˈriəsə/ | pronounced as /muˈrɛsə/ | pronounced as /muˈrisə/ | pronounced as /muˈriətəsə/ | pronounced as /muˈritəsə/ | pronounced as /muˈrisi/ | ||
| pronounced as /ˈmɔrənə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrənə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrənə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrənə/ | pronounced as /ˈmuːrənə/ | pronounced as /ˈmɔrunu/ |