Genoese dialect

Genoese
zeneize (Ligurian)
Pronunciation[zeˈnejze]
Native toItaly
RegionLiguria
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologgeno1240
Linguasphere... -ojb 51-AAA-ohd ... -ojb
IETFlij-u-sd-itge
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Genoese, locally called zeneise or zeneize (Ligurian: [zeˈnejze]), is the prestige dialect of Ligurian, spoken in and around the Italian city of Genoa, the capital of Liguria.

A majority of remaining speakers of Genoese are elderly. Several associations are dedicated to keeping the dialect alive, examples of which are A Compagna in Genoa and O Castello in Chiavari.[1][2]

Written literature has been produced in Genoese since the 13th century, and the orthography has evolved in-step with the language. There are currently two spelling systems in common use, with varying degrees of standardisation. One, proposed in 2008 by the cultural association A Compagna, attempts to closely match in writing the pronunciation of the now-extinct variant of Genoese which used to be spoken in the Portoria neighbourhood of Genoa.[3] Another spelling system was proposed by a group of writers, journalists and academics by standardising the traditional orthography of 19th- and 20th-century Genoese newspapers.[4] This is the spelling used, amongst others, by the academic world[5][6] as well as by Il Secolo XIX, the largest print newspaper in the region.[7]

Genoese has had an influence on the Llanito vernacular of Gibraltar.

  1. ^ "Statuto del 2019 – VIGENTE". www.acompagna.org. Archived from the original on 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  2. ^ "Home – Associazione Culturale O Castello". www.associazioneocastello.it. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  3. ^ "Grafia ofiçiâ" [Official orthography] (in Ligurian). Academia Ligustica do Brenno. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. ^ Parlo Ciæo. La lingua della Liguria. Grammatica, letteratura, storia, tradizioni (in Italian). De Ferrari. 2015. ISBN 978-88-6405-908-2.
  5. ^ "GEPHRAS: Genoese-Italian phraseological dictionary". University of Innsbruck. Archived from the original on 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  6. ^ Autelli, Erica (2021). "La langue génoise, expression de la terre et de la mer, langue d'ici et langue d'ailleurs". In Passet, Claude (ed.). Le nouveau dictionnaire phraséologique génois-italien online. Actes du 16e colloque international de langues dialectales.
  7. ^ Acquarone, Andrea (2015-12-13). "O sciòrte o libbro de Parlo Ciæo, pe chi gh'è cao a nòstra lengua". Il Secolo XIX (in Ligurian). Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2021-10-26.