Ligurian

Also known as Ligurian language, Lìgure

Gallo-Romance language (for the ancient extinct language use Q36104)

AI overview

Ligurian is a Romance language spoken in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy and nearby areas, belonging to the Gallo-Romance language family. It matters as a living example of linguistic diversity in Italy and as a distinct language with its own grammar and vocabulary, separate from standard Italian.

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Ligurian (/lɪˈɡjʊəriən/ lig-YOOR-ee-ən; endonym: lìgure) or Genoese (/ˌdʒɛnoʊˈiːz/ JEN-oh-EEZ; endonym: zeneise or zeneize) is a Gallo-Italic language spoken primarily in the territories of the former Republic of Genoa, now comprising the area of Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco (where it is called Monégasque), the village of Bonifacio in Corsica, and in the villages of Carloforte on San Pietro Island and Calasetta on Sant'Antioco Island off the coast of southwestern Sardinia. It is part of the Gallo-Italic and Western Romance dialect continuum. Although part of Gallo-Italic, it exhibits several features of the Italo-Romance group of central and southern Italy. Zeneize (literally "Genoese"), spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is the language's prestige dialect on which the standard is based.

There is a long literary tradition of Ligurian poets and writers that goes from the 13th century to the present, such as Luchetto (the Genoese Anonym), Martin Piaggio [it; lij], and Gian Giacomo Cavalli [it; lij].