Ligurian:
# Reixe da lengua ligure

De comm’a foïse a lengua di liguri avanti a conquista romaña no se sa guæi ninte, quello pöco o se soppoñe da-a toponomastica – comme l’avvoxâ terminaçion in -asko/a de un muggio de localitæ, ch’a vorrieiva dî «casa» – e da quarche ræa testemoniansa di autoî clascichi, comme saliunka, «qualitæ de serzetto», e sigynnai, «mercanti». No se peu desumme guæi manco da-e scrite – con di caratteri derivæ da l’etrusco – in scê statue-menhir da Lunexaña, levou quarche nomme, comme a poula Mezunemushus in sce uña de ste chì, che tanti an çercou à interpretâ à varie mainee.

Incangio, o primmo documento donde se peu osservâ a presensa de poule do vorgâ ligure, inte un contesto latin, o l’é o Testamento de Raimondo Pictenado do 1156, stæto seguio de lì à quarche anno da-a Diciaraçion de Paxia (1178-1182) à Saña; doî elenchi de oggetti donde se desfiguan, sotta a forma latinizzante, i nommi liguri originäi. Za à quelli tempi se peu nottâ e caratteristiche de unna grafia che son continuæ scin ancheu; «x» pe-a fricativa palatale sonöa: rexentar mod. «ruxentâ», «ç» pe l’affricâ palatale sorda: lençoles mod. lençeu e atre scimile.

Dapeu, beseugna aspëtâ o 1269 pe avei a primma attestaçion de antigo zeneise inte un scrito pubrico: in sciâ pria tombâ di doî fræ Scimonetta e Perçivalle Lercæ, stæta attrovâ do 1873 à S. Gioane de Pré, che oua a se peu ammiâ into Museo de S. Agostin, e ch’a dixe:

Dòppo o testo in latin ch’o dixe chi gh’é assotterrou lì de sotta, o vëgne un distico de senäi rimmæ in zeneise, reservou à desciâ a pietæ de chi leze in sce un ton tòsto confidençiâ.

Trovatô proensâ, o l’é stæto o primmo à deuviâ o zeneise con intençioin letteräie, mæximo se parodistiche e còmiche. O zeneise do Raimbaut o l’é mescciou de proensaliximi e no se sa manco guæi ben se lê o segge mai stæto à Zena, ò s’o se segge basou in sce di elementi reportæ da quarchidun. Into Contrasto co-a Dònna Zeneise un zogoâ, ch’o çerca à conquistâ unna dònna, o se piggia di belli legnetti. A-e deciaraçioin d’amô, tutte in proensâ, a dònna a ghe responde seccamente picche e, dòppo un longo battibecco, a manda o poeta à quello paise: a l’é unna parodia da mòdda letteräia e de costumme de l’amô corteise in veuga à quelli tempi, e i zeneixi, co-a seu lengua aspia e a seu sveuga, za fin da aloa, de gente dua e diretta, vegnivan à taggio pe mette un pittin in rie e convençioin poetiche raffinatiscime de corte nobiliare. A-e domande d’amô, a dònna a reprica de coscì:

Sta canson, stæta descoverta do 1951 da-o R. Giazotto, a remonta a-o 1269 (sciben che gh’é quarche problema inta transcriçion do testo) e no solo a testemònia l’existensa de unna produçion poetica in zeneise de quarche anno avanti quella de l’Anònimo, ma a l’é ascì a primma canson in zeneise che conoscemmo. L’annotaçion in fondo a-o testo a ne dixe dapeu che ghe n’ea de atre, d’argomento amoso, inta forma metrica do strambòtto, smersa de canto de grande diffuxon in aria italiaña. De sto testo gh’é a ciù bella verscion in muxica, stæta cantâ da-a Roberta Alloisio e inseia into seu albo Lengua Serpentina (2007).

English translation:
# Origins of the Ligurian language

Little or nothing is known of the Ligurian language before the Roman conquest. What little is known is deduced from toponymy – such as the famous ending in -asko/a of many place names, supposedly meaning “house” – and from a few rare testimonies by classical authors, such as saliunka, “species of valerian”, and sigynnai, “merchants”. Nor can much be deduced from the inscriptions – written with characters derived from Etruscan – on the statues-stelae in Lunigiana, apart from a few names such as the word Mezunemushus on one of them, about which many hypotheses have been made.

On the other hand, the first document where the presence of terms in the Ligurian vernacular can be observed, in a Latin context, is the Testament of Raimondo Pictenado from 1156, followed a few years later by the Paxia declaration (1178-82) in Savona, two lists of objects in which the original Ligurian names can be recognised in their Latinised form. Already at that time, one can observe the characteristics of a spelling system that have continued to this day; “x” for the voiced palatal fricative: rexentar (contemporary Genoese: ruxentâ ), “ç” for the voiceless palatal affricate: lençoles (contemporary Genoese: lençeu ) and other analogous examples.

Following this, it is only in 1269 that we have the first evidence of ancient Genoese in a public record, on the tombstone of the two brothers Simonetta and Percivalle Lercari, found in 1873 in S. Giovanni di Pré, which can now be seen in the Museum of S. Agostino, and which reads:

After the Latin text explaining who is buried there, comes a couplet of rhymed senari in Genoese, intended to arouse the reader’s pity, in an almost informal tone.

Raimbaut was a Provençal troubadour, the first to use Genoese with a literary, albeit parodistic and comical intent. His Genoese is mixed with Provençalisms and we are not even sure whether he had ever been to Genoa, or whether he relied on elements reported by someone. In Contrasto con la donna genovese, a jester, who tries to seduce a woman, receives only dry rebukes. To the declarations of love, all in Provençal, the woman replies with rejection and, after a long squabble, the woman tells the poet to go to hell: it is a parody of the literary fashion and customs of courtly love in vogue at the time, and the Genoese with their harsh language and their reputation, even then, as tough and direct people, were well suited to mocking the refined poetic conventions of the noble courts. The woman replies as follows to the propositions:

This song, discovered in 1951 by R. Giazotto, dates back to 1269 (although there are some problems in the transcription of the text) and not only testifies to the existence of a poetic production in Genoese a few years before that of the Genoese Anonym, but it is also the first song in Genoese that we know of. The note at the end of the text also tells us that there were other songs, on the subject of love, in the metrical form of the strambotto, a kind of song that was widespread in the Italian area. There is a beautiful version of this text in music, sung by Roberta Alloisio and included in her album Lingua serpentina (2007).