Canzés
Encyclopedia
Canzés is a variety of Brianzöö
(a Western Lombard language) spoken in the commune of Canzo
, Italy
.
. It is similar to common Brianzöö
, and to varieties of Vallassina
, of Como
, of Lecco
and of Monza
, but it also shares similarities with Milanese
because of historical ties with Milan
. Its lexicon is partially shared with Brianzöö
. In comparison with common Brianzöö
, Canzés has a broader variety of stylistic registers, from peasant style to courtly style. Because Canzo is in the northernmost zone of the Brianza
, Canzés preserves lexical archaisms better than modern Milanese
, and has changed less under the influence of Italian
.
ic substratum
due to the original inhabitants of the region, the Insubres
, Lambrani, Lepontii
, and Orobi (local populations already merged with Gaul
s). Langobardic
made an impact as a superstratum, as did the languages of later Spanish, French and Austrian rulers. Canzés is famous as the language of magicians and vagabonds and is seldom spoken today.
vowels in stressed syllables, but in unstressed
syllables the contrast is neutralized.
and /u/ have [ɪ] and [ʊ] respectively as allophones, when stressed and followed by a /ŋ/ and /y/ have [œ] as a rare allophone is pronounced closed; the open pronunciation is an allophone by analogy, when the vowel is unstressed and in another dialect there is an /i/ has [æ] and [ɑ] as allophones by analogy, when the vowel is unstressed and in another dialect there is an /a/ or a back vowel respectively
nasalization of vowel, there is a velar nasal
(written n) with abbreviation of the vowel. There aren't geminate consonants in words, excepting half-geminate affricate (written z), that never change to /s/. The final consonants are always voiceless. Written v have a very weak sound, almost semivocalic. There are also vowel allophones as [ɪ] and [ʊ], [æ] and [ɑ] (both written a) and more open [y] (written ü, sometimes i when variant of /i/), in addition to basic Western Lombard
vowels: /a/ (written a), /e/ (written é), /ɛ/ (written è), /i/ (written i), /o/ (written ó), /ɔ/ (written ò), /ø/ (written ö) with /œ/ (written ö, sometimes ü when variant of /y/), /u/ (written u) and normal /y/ (written ü). Vowels /uː/ and /oː/ are inverted (for example: cóo, head; cuut, whetstone) as to many others Brianzöö
and Milanese
varieties. Syllables closed by /l/ and based on vowel a, often change it with /ɔ/ (written ò), that, like other rounded consonants also in other Western Lombard
varieties, change to [u] when unstressed. Letter s before consonant is usually aspirated. There are many phaenomena of assimilation or adaptation, caused by meeting of two words, especially in crashes of consonants. In the word culzùn, trousers, you can see the adesinential plural, the use of /uŋ/, not /õː/, the conservation of z, the mutation cal- > còl- > cul-.
, bloomed in the 1970s basing on Brianzöö
and Milanese
literatures (born in the 13th century), it's used a simple orthography
, adherent to the pronunciation and based on Italian
and Milanese
ones, using dieresis, letter j for semivocalic i
, not applying the circumflex accent but the redoubling of long vowels, or the redoubling of consonant for short vowels.
The wide oral literature is composed by proverb
s, poems, legend
s, prayer
s, that have histories of several centuries. An important role of Canzés and other local languages is in toponyms, often derived from Celtic words, and traditional gentilics.
and from common Brianzöö
, in the second case from the neighbouring villages. You can say that every joint family has own dialect of Canzés because, until the half of 20th century, every joint family was very united and isolated in the cuurt (the local kind of courtyard) world.
Canzés, even if it has a consistent heritage of oral and written literature, besides high importance for the local identity, doesn't have an official recognisement, so it's getting uncommon in young generations. Western Lombard has a general recognisement, but no one from State. UNESCO
and Ethnologue
consider Lombard language as union of Western Lombard, Eastern Lombard and intermediate varieties.
Brianzöö
Brianzöö or Brianzoeu is a group of variants , of Western Lombard language variety of the Lombard language. It is spoken in Brianza, in many forms....
(a Western Lombard language) spoken in the commune of Canzo
Canzo
Canzo or Canz is a town and comune in the province of Como, in Lombardy. It has 5,192 citizens and an area of 11.8 km², with a density of 445 humans/km²...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Historical and Cultural Characteristics
Canzés is spoken by approximately 2000 people in and near the town of CanzoCanzo
Canzo or Canz is a town and comune in the province of Como, in Lombardy. It has 5,192 citizens and an area of 11.8 km², with a density of 445 humans/km²...
. It is similar to common Brianzöö
Brianzöö
Brianzöö or Brianzoeu is a group of variants , of Western Lombard language variety of the Lombard language. It is spoken in Brianza, in many forms....
, and to varieties of Vallassina
Vallassinese
Vallassinese is variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the Vallassina valley of Italy . It belongs to the Comasco-Lecchese group and it has many subdialects....
, of Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
, of Lecco
Lecco
Lecco is a town of c. 47,760 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan, the capital of the province of Lecco. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como...
and of Monza
Monza
Monza is a city and comune on the river Lambro, a tributary of the Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy some 15 km north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza. It is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.On June...
, but it also shares similarities with Milanese
Milanese
Milanese is the central variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city and province of Milan....
because of historical ties with Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. Its lexicon is partially shared with Brianzöö
Brianzöö
Brianzöö or Brianzoeu is a group of variants , of Western Lombard language variety of the Lombard language. It is spoken in Brianza, in many forms....
. In comparison with common Brianzöö
Brianzöö
Brianzöö or Brianzoeu is a group of variants , of Western Lombard language variety of the Lombard language. It is spoken in Brianza, in many forms....
, Canzés has a broader variety of stylistic registers, from peasant style to courtly style. Because Canzo is in the northernmost zone of the Brianza
Brianza
thumb|250px|The [[Corni di Canzo]].Brianza is a geographical area at the foot of the Alps, in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy.-Geography:...
, Canzés preserves lexical archaisms better than modern Milanese
Milanese
Milanese is the central variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city and province of Milan....
, and has changed less under the influence of Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
.
Historical origins
The language descends from Latin with some influence from a CeltCelt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic substratum
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
due to the original inhabitants of the region, the Insubres
Insubres
The Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy . They were the founders of Milan . Though ethnically Celtic at the time of Roman conquest , they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian, Celtic and "Italic" population strata with Gaulish...
, Lambrani, Lepontii
Lepontii
The Lepontii were an ancient people occupying portions of Rhaetia in the Alps during the time of the Roman conquest of that territory. The Lepontii have been variously described as a Celtic, Ligurian, Raetian, and Germanic tribe...
, and Orobi (local populations already merged with Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
s). Langobardic
Lombardic language
Lombardic or Langobardic is the extinct language of the Lombards , the Germanic speaking people who settled in Italy in the 6th century. The language declined rapidly already in the 7th century as the invaders quickly adopted the Latin vernacular spoken by the local Roman population. E.g...
made an impact as a superstratum, as did the languages of later Spanish, French and Austrian rulers. Canzés is famous as the language of magicians and vagabonds and is seldom spoken today.
Consonants
| bilabial | labiodental | alveolar | postalveolar | palatal | velar | |
| plosives | /p/ /b/ | /t/ /d/ | /k/ /ɡ/ | |||
| fricatives | /f/ /v/ | /s/ /z/ | /ʃ/ /ʒ/ | |||
| nasals | /m/ | /n/ | /ɲ/ | /ŋ/ | ||
| trills | /r/ | |||||
| laterals | /l/ | |||||
| affricates | /ts/ /dz/ | /tʃ/ /dʒ/ |
Vowels
Contrasts exist between long and shortVowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
vowels in stressed syllables, but in unstressed
Unstressed vowel
In English, vowel reduction is the centralization and weakening of an unstressed vowel, such as the characteristic change of many vowels at the ends of words to schwa. Stressed vowels are never reduced in English.-Reduced vowels :...
syllables the contrast is neutralized.
| close | close-mid | open-mid | open | |
| front | i y | e ø | ɛ | a |
| back | u | o | ɔ |
Semivowels
| front | back |
| /j/ | /w/ |
Comparison with related languages
Phonetically, it's evident, for example, the predominance of vowel /a/ or similar (written a), instead of unstressed /e/ (written e). In Canzés, instead of MilaneseMilanese
Milanese is the central variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city and province of Milan....
nasalization of vowel, there is a velar nasal
Velar nasal
The velar nasal is the sound of ng in English sing. It is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N....
(written n) with abbreviation of the vowel. There aren't geminate consonants in words, excepting half-geminate affricate (written z), that never change to /s/. The final consonants are always voiceless. Written v have a very weak sound, almost semivocalic. There are also vowel allophones as [ɪ] and [ʊ], [æ] and [ɑ] (both written a) and more open [y] (written ü, sometimes i when variant of /i/), in addition to basic Western Lombard
Western Lombard
Western Lombard is a Romance language spoken in Italy, in the Lombard provinces of Milan, Monza, Varese, Como, Lecco, Sondrio, a small part of Cremona , Lodi and Pavia, and the Piedmont provinces of Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and a small part of Vercelli , and Switzerland...
vowels: /a/ (written a), /e/ (written é), /ɛ/ (written è), /i/ (written i), /o/ (written ó), /ɔ/ (written ò), /ø/ (written ö) with /œ/ (written ö, sometimes ü when variant of /y/), /u/ (written u) and normal /y/ (written ü). Vowels /uː/ and /oː/ are inverted (for example: cóo, head; cuut, whetstone) as to many others Brianzöö
Brianzöö
Brianzöö or Brianzoeu is a group of variants , of Western Lombard language variety of the Lombard language. It is spoken in Brianza, in many forms....
and Milanese
Milanese
Milanese is the central variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city and province of Milan....
varieties. Syllables closed by /l/ and based on vowel a, often change it with /ɔ/ (written ò), that, like other rounded consonants also in other Western Lombard
Western Lombard
Western Lombard is a Romance language spoken in Italy, in the Lombard provinces of Milan, Monza, Varese, Como, Lecco, Sondrio, a small part of Cremona , Lodi and Pavia, and the Piedmont provinces of Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and a small part of Vercelli , and Switzerland...
varieties, change to [u] when unstressed. Letter s before consonant is usually aspirated. There are many phaenomena of assimilation or adaptation, caused by meeting of two words, especially in crashes of consonants. In the word culzùn, trousers, you can see the adesinential plural, the use of /uŋ/, not /õː/, the conservation of z, the mutation cal- > còl- > cul-.
Literature
In the little written literature, almost totally poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, bloomed in the 1970s basing on Brianzöö
Brianzöö
Brianzöö or Brianzoeu is a group of variants , of Western Lombard language variety of the Lombard language. It is spoken in Brianza, in many forms....
and Milanese
Milanese
Milanese is the central variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city and province of Milan....
literatures (born in the 13th century), it's used a simple orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
, adherent to the pronunciation and based on Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Milanese
Milanese
Milanese is the central variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city and province of Milan....
ones, using dieresis, letter j for semivocalic i
Palatal approximant
The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is '...
, not applying the circumflex accent but the redoubling of long vowels, or the redoubling of consonant for short vowels.
The wide oral literature is composed by proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
s, poems, legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
s, prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s, that have histories of several centuries. An important role of Canzés and other local languages is in toponyms, often derived from Celtic words, and traditional gentilics.
Examples
There are some examples of written and oral literature.Use
There are variants also within the borough, according to the social class and the zone, for influence in the first case from MilaneseMilanese
Milanese is the central variety of the Western Lombard language spoken in the city and province of Milan....
and from common Brianzöö
Brianzöö
Brianzöö or Brianzoeu is a group of variants , of Western Lombard language variety of the Lombard language. It is spoken in Brianza, in many forms....
, in the second case from the neighbouring villages. You can say that every joint family has own dialect of Canzés because, until the half of 20th century, every joint family was very united and isolated in the cuurt (the local kind of courtyard) world.
Canzés, even if it has a consistent heritage of oral and written literature, besides high importance for the local identity, doesn't have an official recognisement, so it's getting uncommon in young generations. Western Lombard has a general recognisement, but no one from State. UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
consider Lombard language as union of Western Lombard, Eastern Lombard and intermediate varieties.