Comments by "Christina" (@MargaritaMagdalena) on "Italian Hand Gestures: A Short History | The New York Times" video.

  1. That's true for most countries. People who live tens or even hundreds of kilometers apart don't magically learn to talk the same language. A national language is only possible thanks to mass education and mass media, so it's very modern. Not uniquely Italian.
    2
  2.  @sicilianknicca_mickygreeneyes  Yes, dialects. But usually you don't need travel far and the other dialect becomes hard to understand, and impossible if you travel even further. That's why a uniform language is needed to have a modern society and economy.
    1
  3.  @sicilianknicca_mickygreeneyes  Actually, most languages in Europe and many in Asia like Farsi, Pashto, and Hindi are in the Indo-European family. So they're all related dialects. Russians and Afghans speak the same language as Italians, it's just hard to tell that it's the same language, because it changed so much over time in different areas.
    1
  4. Provided that you have hands and the other person can see you. Not standing with your back to you for example.
    1