Due to the Italian assimilation policies carried out since 1760 and the ongoing absorption into the Italian culture, over the course of time the once prevalent indigenous language has been increasingly losing ground to Italian and the process of ongoing language shift has led to its endangerment. In fact, according to the data published by ISTAT in 2006, 52.5% of the Sardinian population speaks just Italian in the family environment, while 29.3% alternates Italian and Sardinian and only 16.6% uses Sardinian or other non-Italian languages; outside the circle of family and friends, the last option drops to 5.2%. The resulting Italianization has produced a new non-standard variety of the now majority language: regional Italian of Sardinia ("IRS").