Ligurian language

This article is about the modern Ligurian language. For the ancient language, see Ligurian (ancient language).

Ligurian / Genoese
lìgure, zeneize
Pronunciation	[ˈliɡyɾe], [zeˈnejze]
Native to	Italy, Monaco, France
Region	Italy  • Liguria  • Southern Piedmont  • Southwestern Lombardy  • Western Emilia-Romagna  • Southwestern Sardinia France  • Southeastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  • Southern Corsica
Native speakers	600,000 (2002)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Romance Italo-Western Western Romance Gallo-Romance Gallo-Italic Ligurian / Genoese
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Italic Old Latin Vulgar Latin Proto-Romance
Dialects	Brigasc Genoese Intemelio Monégasque Royasc Tabarchino
Official status
Official language in	Monaco (as Monégasque) Italy • Liguria
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lij
Glottolog	ligu1248
Linguasphere	& 51-AAA-og 51-AAA-oh & 51-AAA-og
Ligurian is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Ligurian (/lɪˈɡjʊəriən/ lig-YOOR-ee-ən; endonym: lìgure) or Genoese (/ˌdʒɛnoʊˈiːz/ JEN-oh-EEZ; endonym: zeneise or zeneize) is a Gallo-Italic language spoken primarily in the territories of the former Republic of Genoa, now comprising the area of Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco (where it is called Monégasque), the village of Bonifacio in Corsica, and in the villages of Carloforte on San Pietro Island and Calasetta on Sant'Antioco Island off the coast of southwestern Sardinia. It is part of the Gallo-Italic and Western Romance dialect continuum. Although part of Gallo-Italic, it exhibits several features of the Italo-Romance group of central and southern Italy. Zeneize (literally "Genoese"), spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is the language's prestige dialect on which the standard is based.

There is a long literary tradition of Ligurian poets and writers that goes from the 13th century to the present, such as Luchetto (the Genoese Anonym), Martin Piaggio, and Gian Giacomo Cavalli.

A man speaking Ligurian, recorded in Italy

Geographic extent and status

Status

The Italian Government does not consider Ligurian a language, but rather a dialect of Italian. Hence, it is not protected by law. Historically, Genoese (the dialect spoken in the city of Genoa) is the written koiné, owing to its semi-official role as language of the Republic of Genoa, its traditional importance in trade and commerce, and its vast literature.

Like other regional languages in Italy, the use of Ligurian and its dialects is in rapid decline. ISTAT (the Italian Central Service of Statistics) claims that in 2012, only 9% of the population used a language other than standard Italian with friends and family, which decreases to 1.8% with strangers. Furthermore, according to ISTAT, regional languages are more commonly spoken by uneducated people and the elderly, mostly in rural areas. Liguria is no exception. One can reasonably suppose the age pyramid to be strongly biased toward the elderly who were born before World War II, with proficiency rapidly approaching zero for newer generations. Compared to other regional languages of Italy, Ligurian has experienced a significantly smaller decline which could have been a consequence of its status or the early decline it underwent in the past. The language itself is actively preserved by various groups.

Geographic extent

Because of the importance of Genoese trade, Ligurian was once spoken well beyond the borders of the modern province. It has since given way to standard varieties, such as Standard Italian and French. In particular, the language is traditionally spoken in coastal, northern Tuscany, southern Piedmont (part of the province of Alessandria, around the area of Novi Ligure, and the Province of Cuneo, in the municipalities of Ormea, Garessio, Alto and Caprauna), western extremes of Emilia-Romagna (some areas in the province of Piacenza), and in Carloforte on San Pietro Island and Calasetta on Sant'Antioco Island off of southwestern Sardinia (known as Tabarchino), where its use is ubiquitous and increasing. It is also spoken in the department of the Alpes-Maritimes of France (mostly the Côte d'Azur from the Italian border to and including Monaco), in the town of Bonifacio at the southern tip of the French island of Corsica, and by a large community in Gibraltar (UK). It has been adopted formally in Monaco under the name Monégasque – locally, Munegascu – but without the status of official language (that is French). Monaco is the only place where a variety of Ligurian is taught in school.

The Mentonasc dialect, spoken in the East of the County of Nice, is considered to be a transitional Occitan dialect to Ligurian; conversely, Roiasc and Pignasc spoken further North in the Eastern margin of the County are Ligurian dialects with Occitan influences.

Description

Chart of Romance languages based on structural and comparative criteria

As a Gallo-Italic language, Ligurian is most closely related to the Lombard, Piedmontese and Emilian-Romagnol languages, all of which are spoken in neighboring provinces. Unlike the aforementioned languages, however, it exhibits distinct Italian features. No link has, thus far, been demonstrated by linguistic evidence between Romance Ligurian and the Ligurian language of the ancient Ligurian populations, in the form of a substrate or otherwise. Very little is known about ancient Ligurian itself due to the lack of inscriptions and the unknown origin of the Ligurian people. Only onomastics and toponyms are known to have survived from ancient Ligurian, the name Liguria itself being the most obvious example.

Variants

Most important variants of the Ligurian language are:

• Bonifacino (in Bonifacio, Corsica)
• Brigasc (in La Brigue and Briga Alta)
• †Figùn (in Provence)
• Genoese (main Ligurian variant, spoken in Genoa)
  • †Genoese of Gibraltar
  • †Genoese of Nueva Tabarca (Spain)
  • †Genoese Pörtoriàn (in Genoa)
• Intemelio (in Sanremo and Ventimiglia)
• Monégasque (in Monaco)
• Novéize or Oltregiogo Ligurian (North of Genoa, mainly in Val Borbera and Novi Ligure)
• Royasc (in Upper Roya Valley, between Italy and France)
• Spezzino (in La Spezia)
• Tabarchino (in Calasetta and Carloforte, Sardinia)
• Tendasc (in Tende)

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants in the Genovese dialect

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Stop	voiceless	p	t			k
	voiced	b	d			ɡ
Affricate	voiceless			t͡ʃ
	voiced			d͡ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ
	voiced	v	z	ʒ
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Trill			r
Approximant			l		j	w

Semivowels occur as allophones of /i/ and /u/, as well as in diphthongs. /u/ is realized as a semivowel [w] after a consonant, or before a vowel (i.e poeivan [pwejvaŋ]), as well as after /k/, when the sequence is spelled ⟨qu⟩.

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i iː	y yː		u uː
Mid	e eː	ø øː
	ɛ ɛː			ɔ ɔː
Open			a aː

Diphthong sounds include ⟨ei⟩ [ej] and ⟨òu⟩ [ɔw].

Alphabet

No universally accepted orthography exists for Ligurian. Genoese, the prestige dialect, has two main orthographic standards.

One, known as grafia unitäia (unitary orthography), has been adopted by the Ligurian-language press – including the Genoese column of the largest Ligurian press newspaper, Il Secolo XIX – as well as a number of other publishing houses and academic projects. The other, proposed by the cultural association A Compagna and the Academia Ligustica do Brenno is the self-styled grafia ofiçiâ (official orthography). The two orthographies mainly differ in their usage of diacritics and doubled consonants.

The Ligurian alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, and consists of 25 letters: ⟨a⟩, ⟨æ⟩, ⟨b⟩, ⟨c⟩, ⟨ç⟩, ⟨d⟩, ⟨e⟩, ⟨f⟩, ⟨g⟩, ⟨h⟩, ⟨i⟩, ⟨l⟩, ⟨m⟩, ⟨n⟩, ⟨ñ⟩ or ⟨nn-⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨p⟩, ⟨q⟩, ⟨r⟩, ⟨s⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨v⟩, ⟨x⟩, ⟨z⟩.

The ligature ⟨æ⟩ indicates the sound /ɛː/, as in çit(t)æ 'city' /siˈtɛː/. The c-cedilla ⟨ç⟩, used for the sound /s/, generally only occurs before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, as in riçetta 'recipe' /riˈsɛtta/. The letter ⟨ñ⟩, also written as ⟨nn-⟩ (or more rarely ⟨n-n⟩, ⟨n-⟩, ⟨nh⟩, or simply ⟨nn⟩), represents the velar nasal /ŋ/ before or after vowels, such as in canpaña 'bell' /kɑŋˈpɑŋŋɑ/, or the feminine indefinite pronoun uña /ˈyŋŋɑ/.

There are five diacritics, whose precise usage varies between orthographies. They are:

• The acute accent ⟨´⟩, can be used for ⟨é⟩ and ⟨ó⟩ to represent the sounds /e/ and /u/.
• The grave accent ⟨`⟩, can be used on the stressed vowels ⟨à⟩ /a/, ⟨è⟩ /ɛ/, ⟨ì⟩ /i/, ⟨ò⟩ /ɔ/, and ⟨ù⟩ /y/.
• The circumflex ⟨ˆ⟩, used for the long vowels ⟨â⟩ /aː/, ⟨ê⟩ /eː/, ⟨î⟩ /iː/, ⟨ô⟩ /uː/, and ⟨û⟩ /yː/ at the end of a word.
• The diaeresis ⟨¨⟩, used analogously to the circumflex to mark long vowels, but within a word: ⟨ä⟩ /aː/, ⟨ë⟩ /eː/, ⟨ï⟩ /iː/, and ⟨ü⟩ /yː/. It is also used to mark the long vowel ⟨ö⟩ /ɔː/, in any position.

The multigraphs are:

• ⟨cs⟩, used for the sound /ks/ as in bòcs 'box' /bɔks/.
• ⟨eu⟩, for /ø/.
• ⟨ou⟩, for /ɔw/.
• ⟨scc⟩ (written as ⟨sc-c⟩ in older orthographies) which indicates the sound /ʃtʃ/.

Sample Text

Ligurian

Articolo 1

Tutte e personn-e nascian libere e pæge in dignitæ e driti. Son dotæ de raxon e coscensa e gh'an da agî l'unn-a verso l'atra inte 'n spirito de fradelansa.

Articolo 2

Ògni personn-a a gh'à tutti i driti e e libertæ proclamæ inte questa Diciaraçion, sensa nisciunn-a distinçion de razza, cô, sesso, lengoa, religion, òpinion politica ò d'atro tipo, òrigine naçionale ò sociale, poxiçion econòmica, nascimento, ò quæ se segge atra condiçion. Pe de ciù, no se faiâ nisciunn-a diferensa fondâ in sciâ condiçion politica, giuridica ò internaçionale do Paize ò do teritöio a-o quæ e personn-e apartegnan, segge pe-i Paixi indipendenti che pe-i teritöi sott'aministraçion fiduciaia, sens'outonomia, ò sotomissi a ògni atra limitaçion de sovranitæ.

English

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Vocabulary

Some basic vocabulary, in the spelling of the Genoese Academia Ligustica do Brenno:

Ligurian vocabulary with multiple translations

Ligurian	English	Italian	French	Spanish	Romanian	Catalan	Portuguese
péi or péia, pl. péie	pear, pears	pera, pere	poire, poires	pera, peras	pară, pere	pera, peres	pera, peras
mei or méia, pl. méie	apple, apples	mela, mele	pomme, pommes	manzana, manzanas	măr, mere	poma, pomes	maçã, maçãs
çetrón	lemon	limone	citron	limón	lămâie	llimona/llima	limão
fîgo	fig	fico	figue	higo	smochină	figa	figo
pèrsego	peach	pesca	pêche	melocotón	piersică	préssec/bresquilla	pêssego
frambôasa	raspberry	lampone	framboise	frambuesa	zmeură	gerd	framboesa
çêxa	cherry	ciliegia	cerise	cereza	cireașă	cirera	cereja
meréllo	strawberry	fragola	fraise	fresa	căpșună	maduixa, fraula	morango
nôxe	(wal)nut	noce	noix	nuez	nucă	nou	noz
nissêua	hazelnut	nocciola	noisette	avellana	alune	avellana	avelã
bricòccalo	apricot	albicocca	abricot	albaricoque	caisă	albercoc	damasco
ûga	grape	uva	raisin	uva	strugure	raïm	uva
pigneu	pine nut	pinolo	pignon de pin	piñón	sămânță de pin	pinyó	pinhão
tomâta	tomato	pomodoro	tomate	tomate	roșie	tomàquet, tomata	tomate
articiòcca	artichoke	carciofo	artichaut	alcachofa	anghinare	escarxofa, carxofa	alcachofra
êuvo	egg	uovo	œuf	huevo	ouă	ou	ovo
cà or casa	home, house	casa	maison, domicile	casa	casă	casa or ca	casa
ciæo	clear or light	chiaro	clair	claro	clar	clar	claro
éuggio	eye	occhio	œil	ojo	ochi	ull	olho
bócca	mouth	bocca	bouche	boca	gură	boca	boca
tésta	head	testa	tête	cabeza	cap	cap	cabeça
schénn-a	back	schiena	dos	espalda	spate	esquena	costas
bràsso	arm	braccio	bras	brazo	braț	braç	braço
gànba	leg	gamba	jambe	pierna	picior	cama	perna
cheu	heart	cuore	cœur	corazón	inimă	cor	coração
arvî	to open	aprire	ouvrir	abrir	deschidere	obrir	abrir
serrâ	to close	chiudere	fermer	cerrar	închidere	tancar	fechar

Further reading

• Sivèro, Dàvide, The Ligurian Dialect of the Padanian Language: A Concise Grammar (PDF), Romania Minor, archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-04
• Dalbera, Jean-Philippe (1984). Les parlers des Alpes Maritimes : étude comparative, essai de reconstruction (Thesis). Université de Toulouse 2.
  • Dalbera, Jean-Philippe (1994). Les parlers des Alpes Maritimes : étude comparative, essai de reconstruction. Londres: Association Internationale d'Études Occitanes.
• Werner Forner, "Le mentonnais entre toutes les chaises ? Regards comparatifs sur quelques mécanismes morphologiques" [Caserio & al. 2001: 11–23]
• Intemelion (revue), No. 1, Sanremo, 1995.

External links

  Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ligurian language wikisource

• Associazione O Castello (in Italian and Ligurian)
• Académia Ligùstica do Brénno (in Ligurian)
• "Official Orthography and Alphabet" proposed by the Académia Ligùstica do Brénno (in Ligurian)
• A Compagna (in Italian)
• GENOVÉS.com.ar (English version) – Ligurian language & culture, literature, photos and resources to learn Ligurian (in English)
• GENOVÉS.com.ar (Homepage in Ligurian and Spanish) (in Spanish)
• Ligurian poetry and prose
• Ligurian dictionaries in Spanish and English to download for free
• Ligurian basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• The Firefox browser in Ligurian
• The Opera browser in Ligurian