The dialect of  Salento (salentino) was influenced  by the people who dominated this land during the centuries: Greek, Byzantines, Longobardi (German people), French, Spanish,  Albanians, Arabs.They are, however, spoken dialects, that in Middle Ages opposed the Hellenic dialects equally widespread in the area. The “salentino” lexis was much influenced by other strong languages as Spanish and French being effected only partially by the Greek dialects above mentioned. These ways of speaking created for centuries a bilingual area of which we still have attestation in the area of Grecìa Salentina.