Italy’s regional cultural diversity means that the country’s traditions, food and, indeed, way of speaking are manifold. Such variety also influences its Christmas traditions, with each region celebrating the festive season with unique customs and, indeed, expressions and words.

This linguistic variety stems from Italy’s complex history of regionalism and foreign dominations, which resulted in numerous dialects and idioms coexisting alongside standard Italian. The country’s geography and historical fragmentation into city-states and kingdoms allowed each area to develop its own distinct linguistic traditions, and even today, this diversity is a hallmark of Italian culture.