Ligurian language

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) says that in 2012 only 9% of the population used a language other than standard Italian with friends and family, which decreased 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 areas of Novi Ligure and Ovada, 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 Southwest 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. It was spoken by a large community in Gibraltar (UK) until about 1970. It has been adopted formally in Monaco under the name Monégasque – locally, – but without the status of official language (that is French). Monaco is the only place where a variety of Ligurian is taught in school, being mandatory in ground 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 ==

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==

The most important variants of the Ligurian language (†=extinct) 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, Novi Ligure and Ovada) • Royasc (in Upper Roya Valley, between Italy and France) • Spezzino (in La Spezia) • Tabarchino (in Calasetta and Carloforte, Sardinia) • Tendasc (in Tende) == Phonology ==

Consonants Semivowels occur as allophones of and , as well as in diphthongs. is realized as a semivowel after a consonant, or before a vowel (i.e ), as well as after , when the sequence is spelled . Vowels Diphthong sounds include and . == Alphabet ==

No universally accepted orthography exists for Ligurian. Genoese, the prestige dialect, has two main orthographic standards. One, known as (unitary orthography), has been adopted by the Ligurian-language press – including the Genoese column of the largest Ligurian press newspaper, – 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 (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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or , , , , , , , , , , . The ligature indicates the sound , as in 'city' . The c-cedilla , used for the sound , generally only occurs before or , as in 'recipe' . The letter , also written as (or more rarely , , , or simply ), represents the velar nasal before or after vowels, such as in 'bell' , or the feminine indefinite pronoun . There are five diacritics, whose precise usage varies between orthographies. They are: • The acute accent , can be used for and to represent the sounds and . • The grave accent , can be used on the stressed vowels , , , , and . • The circumflex , used for the long vowels , , , , and at the end of a word. • The diaeresis , used analogously to the circumflex to mark long vowels, but within a word: , , , and . It is also used to mark the long vowel , in any position. The multigraphs are: • , used for the sound as in 'box' . • , for . • , for . • (written as in older orthographies) which indicates the sound . == Sample Text ==

Sources: Ligurian Articolo 1 Articolo 2 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: == References ==