'I LOST YOU!! (ti pessi)': il dialetto nella ricerca sociolinguistica in Italia

After a brief introduction of the Special issue “Sociolinguistic research in Italy” (Sociolinguistic Studies 11.2-4 2017), which aims at providing a general outline of the Italian sociolinguistic situation and research to an international readership, the last paper of the Special issue will be discussed in more detail. The main findings of a multi-year study on the use and functions of the local dialect among Sicilian youth, carried out by means of different methodological approaches and types of data, are discussed. What emerges is a strong functional specialization of the dialect in young speakers living in towns and with a high sociocultural background; the frequent use of ‘polylanguaging’ in CMC, a style aimed at expressing a multiple identity, made up of both local, national and globalized components