Abstract
The present paper focuses on the recent introduction, at the initiative of some municipal authorities of the province of Bergamo, of road signs displaying both the Italian and the local Italo-Romance dialect (Bergamasco) version of the place-names. The aim of the analysis is twofold. First, I will draw up a typology of the policies implemented in this domain by the various local municipal authorities: introduction of bilingual (Italian-Bergamasco dialect) road signs bearing the name of the main town or village; consistent use of bilingual road signs bearing the name of all the neighborhoods or suburbs under the municipal authority; introduction of bilingual road signs displaying micro-toponyms (i.e. place-names relating to smaller parts of a village or neighborhood); absence of bilingual road signs. Secondly, through the analysis of the graphic solutions adopted in order to write a language presently used almost exclusively in spoken form (i.e. the local Bergamasco dialect), I will offer a few observations on the significance of orthographic variation and on the symbolic, identity-related value of spelling choices.
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