around 45,000 speakers. It is mutually intelligible with Catalan, and although both Standard Catalan and Alguerese have been influenced by Italian and Spanish, Alguerese has experienced a much closer relationship between the two.

Initially, Alguerese held sway as the dominant language in the region until Spanish took over. However, in the mid-eighteenth century, Italian supplanted Spanish, becoming the new official language. Notwithstanding, and with the