| Corsican | |
|---|---|
| corsu, lingua corsa | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈkorsu] |
| Native to |
|
| Region | |
| Ethnicity | Corsicans |
Native speakers | 150,000 in Corsica (2013)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin script (Corsican alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | No official regulation |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | co |
| ISO 639-2 | cos |
| ISO 639-3 | cos – Corsican |
| Glottolog | cors1241 Corsicansass1235 Sassarese Sardinian |
| ELP | Corsican |
| Linguasphere | 51-AAA-p |
 Linguistic map of Corsica | |
 Corsican is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Corsican (corsu, pronounced [ˈkorsu], or lingua corsa, pronounced [ˈliŋɡwa ˈɡorsa]) is a Romance language consisting of the continuum of the Tuscan Italo-Dalmatian dialects spoken on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, a territory of France, and in the northern regions of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy.
Corsica, the island proper, is situated approximately 123.9 km (77.0 miles; 66 nautical miles) off the western coast of Tuscany; and with historical connections, the Corsican language is considered a part of Tuscan varieties, from that part of the Italian peninsula, and thus is related to the Florentine-based standard Italian.
Under the long-standing influence of Tuscany's Pisa, and the historic Republic of Genoa, over Corsica, the Corsican language once filled the role of a vernacular, with Italian functioning as the island's official language until France acquired the island from the Republic of Genoa (1768); by 1859, French had replaced Italian as Corsica's first language so much so that, by the time of the Liberation of France (1945), nearly every islander had at least a working-knowledge of French. The 20th century saw a vast language shift, with the islanders adapting and changing their communications to the extent that there were no monolingual Corsican-speakers left by the 1960s. By 1995, an estimated 65% of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican,[2] and a minority of around 10% used Corsican as a first language.[3]
- ^ Corsican at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020)
- ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Corsican in France". Euromosaic. Retrieved 13 June 2008. To access the data, click on List by languages, Corsican, Corsican in France, then scroll to Geographical and language background.
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