Ligurian language
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Ligurian / Genoese | |
---|---|
lìgure, zeneize | |
Pronunciation | [ˈliɡyre], [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)[1] |
Early forms | |
Dialects |
|
Official status | |
Official language in | Monaco (as Monégasque) • Liguria |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | lij |
Glottolog | ligu1248 |
Linguasphere | 51-AAA-oh & 51-AAA-og |
Ligurian is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Ligurian (
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 .
Geographic extent and status
Status
The Italian Government does not consider Ligurian its own language but rather as a dialect of Italian.[5] Hence, it is not protected by law.[6] 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.
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
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
As a Gallo-Italic language, Ligurian is most closely related to the
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)
- Ventimiglia)
- Monégasque (in Monaco)
- Novéize or Oltregiogo Ligurian (North of Genoa, mainly in Val Borbera and Novi Ligure)
- RoyaValley, between Italy and France)
- Spezzino (in La Spezia)
- Tabarchino (in Calasetta and Carloforte, Sardinia)
- Tendasc (in Tende)
Phonology
Consonants
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].[9]
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.[10][11][12][13] The other, proposed by the cultural association A Compagna and the Academia Ligustica do Brenno is the self-styled grafia ofiçiâ (official orthography).[14][15] 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
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[16][17]
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 | English | Italian | French | Spanish | Romanian | Catalan |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
péi or péia, pl. péie | pear, pears | pera, pere | poire, poires | pera, peras | pară, pere | pera, peres |
mei or méia, pl. méie | apple, apples | mela, mele | pomme, pommes | manzana, manzanas | măr, mere | poma, pomes |
çetrón | lemon | limone | citron | limón | lămâie | llimona/llima |
fîgo | fig | fico | figue | higo | smochină | figa |
pèrsego | peach | pesca | pêche | melocotón | piersică | préssec/bresquilla |
frambôasa | raspberry | lampone | framboise | frambuesa | zmeură | gerd |
çêxa | cherry | ciliegia | cerise | cereza | cireașă | cirera |
meréllo | strawberry | fragola | fraise | fresa | căpșună | maduixa, fraula |
nôxe | (wal)nut | noce | noix | nuez | nucă | nou |
nissêua | hazelnut | nocciola | noisette | avellana | alune | avellana |
bricòccalo | apricot | albicocca | abricot | albaricoque | caisă | albercoc |
ûga | grape | uva | raisin | uva | strugure | raïm |
pigneu | pine nut | pinolo | pignon de pin | piñón | sămânță de pin | pinyó |
tomâta | tomato | pomodoro | tomate | tomate | roșie | tomàquet, tomata |
articiòcca | artichoke | carciofo | artichaut | alcachofa | anghinare | escarxofa, carxofa |
êuvo | egg | uovo | œuf | huevo | ouă | ou |
cà or casa | home, house | casa | maison, domicile | casa | casă | casa or ca |
ciæo | clear or light | chiaro | clair | claro | clar | clar |
éuggio | eye | occhio | œil | ojo | ochi | ull |
bócca | mouth | bocca | bouche | boca | gură | boca |
tésta | head | testa | tête | cabeza | cap | cap |
schénn-a | back | schiena | dos | espalda | spate | esquena |
bràsso | arm | braccio | bras | brazo | braț | braç |
gànba | leg | gamba | jambe | pierna | picior | cama |
cheu | heart | cuore | cœur | corazón | inimă | cor |
arvî | to open | aprire | ouvrir | abrir | deschidere | obrir |
serrâ | to close | chiudere | fermer | cerrar | închidere | tancar |
References
- ^ Ligurian / Genoese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ "Ligurian". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
- ^ "Genoese". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
- ^ "Genoese". Omniglot. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15.
- ^ "Ligurian – CIDLeS". Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ Legge 482, voted on Dec 15, 1999 does not mention Ligurian as a regional language of Italy.
- ^ "L'uso della lingua italiana, dei dialetti e di altre lingue in Italia". Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (in Italian). 2018-03-09. Archived from the original on 2018-08-23. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
- ^ Duberti, Nicola. "L'Alta Val Tanaro: inquadramento linguistico" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2020-02-22. Retrieved 2021-10-09 – via Academia.edu.
- ^ Toso, Fiorenzo (1997). Grammatica del genovese: varietà urbana e di koiné. Recco: Le Mani.
- ^ Acquarone, Andrea (13 December 2015). "O sciòrte o libbro de Parlo Ciæo, pe chi gh'è cao a nòstra lengua" [The anthology of Parlo Ciæo is now out, for those who love our language]. Il Secolo XIX (in Ligurian). Genoa, Italy. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "GEPHRAS". GEPHRAS. University of Innsbruck. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Catalogo poesia" [Catalogue of poetry] (in Italian). Editrice Zona. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Biblioteca zeneise" [Genoese library] (in Italian and Ligurian). De Ferrari editore. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Grafîa ofiçiâ" [Official orthography] (in Ligurian). Academia Ligustica do Brenno. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
- ISBN 978-8889948163.
- ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Ligurian".
- ^ Nations, United. "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". United Nations. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
Further reading
- Sivèro, Dàvide, The Ligurian Dialect of the Padanian Language: A Concise Grammar (PDF), Romania Minor
- 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