La comunità ucraina a Napoli tra italiano e dialetto: variazione di genere e napoletanità

This study investigates the influence of Neapolitan and regional Italian on the linguistic practices of first-generation Ukrainian migrants living in Naples, focusing on gender-related variation and the role of social and occupational networks. Drawing on approximately ten hours of recorded speech from 26 Ukrainian migrants (18 women and 8 men), collected within the PRIN PNRR *HELLO Campania!* project, the analysis examines selected phonetic and morphosyntactic features associated with Neapolitan and Campanian regional Italian. The findings reveal the presence of regional features in migrants’ Italian, although their distribution varies across linguistic variables and speaker groups. Men generally display higher frequencies of locally marked variants than women, particularly in the realization of sibilants and selected morphosyntactic constructions. These differences appear to be associated with gendered patterns of occupational participation, social network composition, and exposure to local linguistic varieties. Men, predominantly employed in construction and commerce, tend to experience more diversified contact with Neapolitan-speaking networks, whereas women, mainly employed in domestic and care work, are often exposed to more restricted communicative environments. The study highlights the importance of considering migrants’ social trajectories and everyday interactional contexts in understanding dialect contact and regional variation in second-language Italian. It also suggests that the adoption of local linguistic features is not simply a consequence of exposure but reflects the complex relationship between linguistic practices, social integration, and the construction of local belonging.