Genoese dialect
Encyclopedia
Genoese is a dialect of the Ligurian language, the one spoken in Genoa
(the principal city of the Liguria
region in Italy
).
Ligurian is listed by Ethnologue
as a language in its own right, of the Romance
branch, and not to be confused with the ancient Ligurian language. Like the languages of Lombardy
, Piedmont
, and surrounding regions, it is of Gallo-Italic
derivation.
In its differences from standard Italian
, Genoese is somewhat similar to French
. The language is far from dying out. While most remaining speakers of it are elderly, many young people still speak the language. Further, there are several
associations dedicated to keeping the language alive. One such association is O Castello in Chiavari
, Genoa
, Italy
.
Written literature has been produced in Genoese since the thirteenth century, but the spelling has never been regularized. However, since 2008 there is an official orthography set up by the Académia Ligùstica do Brénno, which attempts to put its script in order based on citizen speech of the Portoria area. Their rules, which may be seen here, are useful to write in all Ligurian language
varieties.
Genoese phonology
includes a number of similarities with French. One of these is the heavily nasalized vowels before nasal consonants (i.e. in VN(C) sequences). This also occurs when Genoese speakers speak standard Italian. There used to be an alveolar approximant (English-like) /ɹ/ opposed to an alveolar trill
/r/ (using the eighteenth century genoese spelling: caro [ˈkaːɹu] "dear" vs. carro [ˈkaːru] "cart"), but it is no longer heard in the city. It may still survive in some rural areas of Liguria, such as Calizzano
and Sassello
. Audio samples may be heard here. By far the most widespread type of /r/ today is the alveolar tap
[ɾ] (identical to unstressed Standard Italian /r/). There are several distinctive local accent
s of Genoese. Nervi, Quinto and Quarto are heard to the east of Genoa. Voltri, Prà, Pegli and Sestri are heard to the west. There are also accents of the central Polcevera Valley and Bisagno.
Genoese is also an influence on the Llanito
vernacular of Gibraltar
.
Vowels: barba /ˈbarba/ (uncle, beard) tésta /ˈtesta/ (head) ægoa /ˈɛɡwa/ (water) bibin /biˈbiŋ/ (turkey) cöse /ˈkoːse/ (what?) anchêu /anˈkøː/ (today) comme /ˈkumme/ (how?) fugassa /fyˈɡassa/ (focaccia
, a kind of Italian bread)
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
(the principal city of the Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
region in 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...
).
Ligurian is listed by 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...
as a language in its own right, of the Romance
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
branch, and not to be confused with the ancient Ligurian language. Like the languages of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, and surrounding regions, it is of Gallo-Italic
Gallo-Italic languages
The Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian is a linguistic set of Romance languages. In accordance with a source such as Ethnologue is a subset of the Gallo-Romance languages, which also include French and Occitan, among others; in accordance with the major Italian linguists and dialectologists The...
derivation.
In its differences from standard 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...
, Genoese is somewhat similar to French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. The language is far from dying out. While most remaining speakers of it are elderly, many young people still speak the language. Further, there are several
associations dedicated to keeping the language alive. One such association is O Castello in Chiavari
Chiavari
Chiavari is a town and comune on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Genoa, region of Liguria. It is situated near the mouth of the Entella River, in the center of a fertile plain surrounded by mountains except on the southwest, where it comes down to the Mediterranean Sea...
, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, 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...
.
Written literature has been produced in Genoese since the thirteenth century, but the spelling has never been regularized. However, since 2008 there is an official orthography set up by the Académia Ligùstica do Brénno, which attempts to put its script in order based on citizen speech of the Portoria area. Their rules, which may be seen here, are useful to write in all Ligurian language
Ligurian language (Romance)
Ligurian is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. Genoese , spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is its most important dialect...
varieties.
Genoese phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
includes a number of similarities with French. One of these is the heavily nasalized vowels before nasal consonants (i.e. in VN(C) sequences). This also occurs when Genoese speakers speak standard Italian. There used to be an alveolar approximant (English-like) /ɹ/ opposed to an alveolar trill
Alveolar trill
The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is commonly called the rolled R, rolling R, or trilled R...
/r/ (using the eighteenth century genoese spelling: caro [ˈkaːɹu] "dear" vs. carro [ˈkaːru] "cart"), but it is no longer heard in the city. It may still survive in some rural areas of Liguria, such as Calizzano
Calizzano
Calizzano is a comune in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 70 km southwest of Genoa and about 30 km west of Savona...
and Sassello
Sassello
Sassello is a comune in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 58 km west of Genoa and about 26 km north of Savona in the northern side of the Ligurian Apennines.-History:...
. Audio samples may be heard here. By far the most widespread type of /r/ today is the alveolar tap
Alveolar tap
The alveolar flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar flaps is .-Definition:...
[ɾ] (identical to unstressed Standard Italian /r/). There are several distinctive local accent
Accent (linguistics)
In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside , the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language In...
s of Genoese. Nervi, Quinto and Quarto are heard to the east of Genoa. Voltri, Prà, Pegli and Sestri are heard to the west. There are also accents of the central Polcevera Valley and Bisagno.
Genoese is also an influence on the Llanito
Llanito
Llanito or Yanito is an Andalusian Spanish based creole spoken in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It consists of an eclectic mix of Andalusian Spanish and British English, marked by a great deal of code switching and loanwords from many other Mediterranean languages.Gibraltarians also...
vernacular of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
.
Tongue twisters
- Sò asæ s'a sâ a sä asæ pe sâ a säsissa. = I don't have a clue whether the salt is going to be enough to salt the sausage.
- Scia scîe scignôa, sciando scia xêua inscî scî. = Ski, madam, skying you fly on skis.
- A-o mêu nêuo gh'è nêue nâe nêue; a ciû nêua de nêue nâe nêue a n'êu anâ. = At the new pier there are nine new ships; the newest of the nine new ships doesn't want to go.
- Gi'angiai g'han gi'oggi gi'uegge gi'unge cume gi'atri? = Do angels have eyes, ears, and (finger)nails like everyone else? (variant of the Cogorno comune)
Expressions
- Son zeneize, rizo ræo, strenzo i denti e parlo ciæo. = "I'm Genoese, I seldom laugh, I grind my teeth, and I say what I mean" (literally, "speak clearly").
- The child complains: Ò famme. = I'm hungry. The mother answers: Gràttite e zenogge e fatte e lasagne. = Scratch your knees and make lasagna.
- Chi veû vive da bon crestiàn, da-i begghìn o stagghe lontàn. = If you want to live as a good Christian, stay away from those who pretend to be devout; a traditional warning to beware of fanatics and hypocrites.
- Sciuscià e sciurbì nu se peu. = You can't have or do two contradicting things at the same time (literally, "you can't aspire * and blow").
- Belìn! = Wow!
Phonology
Genoese has eight vowels, twenty consonants, and three semivowels.Vowels: barba /ˈbarba/ (uncle, beard) tésta /ˈtesta/ (head) ægoa /ˈɛɡwa/ (water) bibin /biˈbiŋ/ (turkey) cöse /ˈkoːse/ (what?) anchêu /anˈkøː/ (today) comme /ˈkumme/ (how?) fugassa /fyˈɡassa/ (focaccia
Focaccia
Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. It is related to pizza, but not considered to be the same....
, a kind of Italian bread)
External links
- Genoese/Ligurian at Ethnologue.com
- Genoese phonology
- Do you want to learn Genoese??
- Asterix speaks Genoese
- Audio samples of several Italian dialects
- ACADÉMIA LIGÙSTICA DO BRÉNNO (in Genoese)
- Official Orthography and Alphabet (in Genoese)
- A Compagna
- Genoves.com.ar - Bilingual website in Spanish and Genoese, with resources to learn Genoese, Ligurian literature with Spanish version, texts, photos, etc.