The term Lombard (or Lombardic) language refers to a group of related dialects spoken in Southern Switzerland (Tessin and the Grisons) and Northern Italy (most of Lombardy and some areas of neighbouring regions). Lombard is a Western Romance language related to French, Romansh, Italian, etc. Although Italian is generally used as a written language in Lombard-speaking areas, Lombard is not mutually intelligible with Italian and the two languages belong to different branches of the Romance language family tree. Unlike most Romance languages, many Western Lombard dialects have vowel quantity oppositions, e.g. [pa:s] 'peace' vs. [pas] 'step', [tSa'pa:] 'taken m.' vs. [tSa'pa] 'to take'. The use of Lombard is usually stigmatized in the Lombard-speaking areas politically belonging to Italy, while it is generally not so in the Swiss areas. Some radio and television programs in Lombard are occasionally broadcast by the Swiss Italian-speaking broadcasting company. The major research institution working on Lombard dialects is located in Bellinzona, Switzerland (CDE - Centro di dialettologia e di etnografia, a governmental (cantonal) institution).
