Ligurian:
# Primmi scrittoî da Rivea: Laude religiose de Saña, da Pria, de Arbenga (secc. XIV-XV)

A poexia religiosa da fin do Trexento, stæta pensâ pe ëse impreisa à memöia da-i oranti, i fræ de compagnie di ötöi, che se son dapeu acciammæ «Casasse», a se presenta de longo pægia à lê mæxima, con resegondâ fòrmole e tematiche, apreuvo che a poexia de unna çiviltæ inta seu öroa a no çerca l’originalitæ di autoî, ançi a se ne tëgne aluxi ciù ch’a peu, e a çerca in cangio a fidelitæ assolua a-i archetipi sensa cangiamento, e coscì i seu poeti arrestan sensa un nomme, ma son a voxe de un pòpolo, coscì comme inte unn’icòna bizantiña no se va à çercâ l’originalitæ e a smangiaxon individualista do pittô moderno, ch’o firma e seu euvie perché o veu «fâse un nomme», ma a seu aderensa a-a tradiçion sacrale ch’a l’é arrivâ fin a-i nòstri tempi e o respeto de scimboli sempre pægi. I primmi poeti da Rivea son donca anònimi e sacri; o F. Toso o parla giustamente in propòxito de unna suggestion «barbarica» che sti documenti n’appresentan.

Degne de nòtta inte ste laude a sccettessa da lengua e i uxi grafichi, in sostansa pægi à quelli do zeneise seu contemporaneo, sciben de netta esprescion locale, ch’a se peu ciæamente reconosce. O son palatale da ‹c› o vëgne reiso con ‹j› ò con ‹ih›: jama, ihamar pe-i moderni ciamma e ciammâ. I nessi ‹pi› e ‹bi› se prononçian ‹ci› e ‹gi›: pim o conresponde à cin; pianzando à cianzando; abi o se leze agi.

L’istòrico Poulo Accame, ch’o l’aiva descoerto sto laudäio inta parròcchia da Pria e o l’à pubricou do 1889, o fava osservâ come, inte sto frammento de lauda pe a festa de S. Gioane, l’anònimo autô, visciuo inte unn’epoca de sollevaçioin e guære çivile, o l’inseisce a seu preghea tanto che o Segnô o mande in sciâ sò patria «paxe e consolaciom» e pâ fiña ch’o segge gioso da «citae», chi conserva into seu dòmmo e relichie do Battista.

O F. Toso o fa osservâ, in relaçion à sta preghea do 1461, za into pin da decadensa do ligure quattroçentesco astorbiou da de forme toscanezzante, un lenguaggio ciù puo, con di træti dialettali sccettamente ingauni.

English translation:
# Early writers of the Riviera: Religious Lauds of Savona, Pietra Ligure, Albenga (14th–15th cent.)

The religious poetry of the end of the 14th century, designed to be learnt by heart by the orators, the memmbers of the companies of the oratories, later called “Casacce”, is always the same, repeating formulas and themes, since the poetry of a civilisation at its dawn does not demand originality from its authors. On the contrary, it keeps away from it as much as possible, and instead demands absolute fidelity to unchanging archetypes, so that its poets remain nameless, but are the voice of a people, just as in a Byzantine icon one does not look for the originality and individualistic eagerness of modern painters, who sign their works because they wants to “make a name for themselves”, but for their adherence to the sacred tradition that has come down to our times and respect for symbols that are always the same. The first poets of the Riviera are therefore anonymous and sacred. F. Toso rightly speaks of a “barbaric” evocation that these documents present to us.

What’s remarkable in these lauds is the purity of the language and the spelling style, which are essentially the same as those of the Genoese language of the time, albeit of clearly local expression. The palatal ‹c› sound is rendered with ‹j› or ‹ih›: jama, ihamar for the modern ciamma e ciammâ. The nexuses ‹pi› and ‹bi› are pronounced ‹ci› and ‹gi›: pim corresponds to cin; pianzando to cianzando; abi is read agi.

Historian Paolo Accame, who discovered these lauds in the parish of Pietra Ligure and published them in 1889, pointed out how, in this fragment of a laud for the feast of St. John, the anonymous author – who lived in a time of uprisings and civil wars – inserts his prayer for the Lord to send “peace and consolation” to his homeland and seems to feel almost envious of the “citae”, which preserves the relics of John the Baptist in its cathedral.

F. Toso notes, with regard to this prayer from 1461 (already in the midst of the decadence of 15th-century Ligurian clouded by Tuscan forms), a purer language, with genuine ingauni dialectal traits.