Ligurian:
# Domande frequente

Sta pagina a l’arrecheugge çerteduñe de domande ciù frequente che ne ven fæto in sciô ligure.

Scià l’an de atre domande? Scià peuan scrivine à l’adresso [info@conseggio-ligure.org](mailto:info@conseggio-ligure.org).

## Cös’o l’é o ligure?

Pe «ligure» s’intende l’insemme di parlæ da Liguria, compreiso e forme locale do Prinçipato de Monego e de communitæ tabarchiñe inte isoe da Sardegna.

Sciben che a denominaçion stòrica pe-e varietæ linguistiche da Liguria a l’é «zeneise», a-a giornâ d’ancheu a forma «ligure» a l’é apreuvo à guägnâse unna çerta preferensa, mascime into mondo scientifico.

## Comme fâ pe imprende o zeneise e i atri parlæ da Liguria?

O zeneise e i atri parlæ da Liguria en façili da imprende, mascime pe unna persoña ch’a parle za unn’atra lengua romansa comme l’italian, o franseise ò o spagnòllo. O ligammo da basso o ve portià a-a nòstra lista de libbri conseggiæ pe chi veu imprende: diçionäi, grammatiche e atri testi d’introduçion.

Stæte impreise e base, a megio strategia a l’é quella de bollâse e mettise à leze e sentî di contegnui, e provâ à parlâ e scrive ascì.

Ben ben de prinçipianti, mascime quelli che no an a poscibilitæ de sentî parlâ in cà, se conçentran sorvetutto in sciô scrito sensa dâ a mente a-o parlâ. Comme pe tutte e lengue, compreiso l’italian, o scistema de scrittua o no peu arrivâ à representâ tutte e sfummatue de prononçia e da còcina de un locutô de lengua moæ. Ascì ben che gh’é unna gran quantitæ de propòste pe scistemi de grafia ciù o meno fonetichi, passâ tròppo tempo à conçentrâse in sce questi aspeti o l’à o reisego de portâ à un fäso senso de seguessa e à de fòrte mancanse inta seu competensa da lengua. O nòstro conseggio o l’é donca quello de no stâ à trascuâ a lengua parlâ.

Inta pagina de lettue conseggiæ emmo arrecuggeito dötræ tra e lettue in zeneise che n’en ciù cae, conseggiæ ascì pe chi veu imprende: libbri, reviste, arrecuggeite stöie curte e contegnui de atra natua.

## Quæ o l’é o ligure che se deuvia chì?

Inte sto scito se deuvia a varietæ de ligure parlâ inta primma çittæ da region: o zeneise çittadin. A l’é a sola varietæ de ligure con unna produçion letteräia continua da-o secolo XIII fin a-a giornâ d’ancheu. Pe-o prestigio ch’o s’é guägno into corso di secoli, o zeneise o l’à de fæto, tra i parlæ da Liguria, a poxiçion de lengua letteräia e de parlâ commun.

## Comme se scrive o ligure?

A longa stöia do zeneise comme lengua scrita a l’à portou inti secoli a-o formâse e à l’evoluçion de un scistema de scrittua. A grafia deuviâ inte sto scito a l’é donca quella da tradiçion letteräia da Liguria, basâ in sce quella di giornali zeneixi di urtimi trei secoli.

E normative ortografiche preçise deuviæ en quelle stæte misse à ponto da un comitato de giornalisti, scrittoî e academichi pe-a pagina in zeneise do giornale «Il Secolo XIX» e pe atre iniçiative (_Parlo Ciæo: la lingua della Liguria_, à cua de A. Acquarone, 2015, De Ferrari).

## Gh’é de differense tra «ligure» e «zeneise»?

Comm’emmo mensunou chì de d’ato, fin à unn’epoca assæ reçente l’aggettivo «zeneise» (in italian _genovese_ , franseise _génois_, etc.) o se deuviava ancon pe referîse à l’insemme di parlæ da Liguria, da Spezza à Ventemiggia (ò fiña Monego). Ancheu, in cangio (mascime a-o livello scientifico), se tende à ciammâ «zeneixi» quelle varietæ do çentro da region ciù influensæ da-a varietæ da capitale, mentre «ligure» o l’é deuviou pe fâ referensa a-i parlæ da region in areo. Ma ancon a-a giornâ d’ancheu, giusto pe fâ un exempio, no l’é infrequente (mascime inte de atre lengue che no l’italian) leze _les parlers génois_ pe «i parlæ da Liguria».

## Gh’é de differense tra o zeneise e o savoneise?

Sciben che in antigo o savoneise o l’ea ciù vixin a-e varietæ parlæ inta porçion ponentiña da region che a-o zeneise, a-a giornâ d’ancheu o parlâ de Zena e quello de Saña en squæxi pægi apreuvo à l’influensa e a-o prestigio do zeneise (inteiso, inte sto caxo, comme parlâ da capitale da region). Tra o parlâ de Zena e quello de Saña d’ancheu no gh’é ciù differense che tra quello de Zena e quello de Ciavai, e ben de spesso çerte caratteristiche do savoneise d’ancheu (comme a velarizzaçion de -[aː]-) s’attreuvan inte tante atre parte da region ascì, anche inti ponti assæ vexin à Zena.

English translation:
# Frequently asked questions

This page collects some of the most commonly asked questions on the topic of Ligurian.

Do you have more questions? You are welcome to contact us at the address [info@conseggio-ligure.org](mailto:info@conseggio-ligure.org).

## What’s Ligurian?

The term “Ligurian” denotes the set of Romance varieties spoken in Liguria, including the local forms spoken in the Principality of Monaco and by the Tabarkin communities in the Sardinian islands.

Even though the name for the linguistic varieties of Liguria has historically been “Genoese”, nowadays the term Ligurian is increasingly used, especially in the scientific world.

## How to learn Genoese and other Ligurian varieties?

Genoese and other Ligurian varieties are easy to learn, especially for those who already speak another Romance language such as Italian, French or Spanish. The link below will take you to our list of books recommended for students of the language: dictionaries, grammars and other introductory texts.

Once you have the fundamentals down, the best strategy is to jump in and start reading and listening to content, as well as trying to speak and write.

Many beginners, especially those who are unable to hear spoken Ligurian at home, end up mostly focussing on the written form and neglect the oral aspects. As with all languages, including Italian or English, the writing system cannot possibly represent all the nuances of the pronunciation and accent of a native speaker. Even though there are several proposals for spelling systems with claims of being more or less phonetic, spending too much time focussing exclusively on the written form can lead to a false sense of security and a lack of linguistic proficiency. Our advice is therefore not to neglect the spoken language.

On our page on recommended readings we have collected a reading list of some of our favourite content in Ligurian, also recommended for those who are starting: books, magazines, songs, collections of short stories and various other pieces of content.

## What kind of Ligurian is used in this website?

This website uses the variety of Ligurian spoken in the first city of the region: urban Genoese. It is the only variety of Ligurian with a continuous literary production from the 13th century until the present day. Because of the prestige it has earned over the centuries, Genoese has the de facto position of literary language and common tongue among the varieties spoken in Liguria.

## How is Ligurian written?

The long history of Genoese as a written language has led to the formation and evolution of a writing system over the centuries. The spelling used on this website is therefore that of the literary tradition of Liguria, based on the spelling of the Genoese newspapers of the past three centuries.

The precise spelling rules in use are those developed by a committee of journalists, writers and academics for the Genoese-language page of the newspaper “Il Secolo XIX” and for other projects (_Parlo Ciæo: la lingua della Liguria_, edited by A. Acquarone, 2015, De Ferrari).

## What’s the difference between “Ligurian” and “Genoese”?

As already mentioned above, until recently the adjective “Genoese” (in Italian _genovese_, in French _génois_, etc.) has been used to refer to the whole set of varieties spoken in Liguria, from La Spezia to Ventimiglia (or even Monaco). Nowadays, instead (especially in the scientific world), there is a tendency to use “Genoese” for those varieties spoken in the central part of the region, more influenced by the language of the capital, while “Ligurian” is used to refer to the varieties spoken in the region as a whole. However, still to this day, for example, it’s not uncommon (especially in languages other than Italian) to read e.g. _les parlers génois_ to mean “the spoken languages of Liguria”.

## Are there any differences between Genoese and Savonese?

Even though in antiquity Savonese was closer to the variety spoken in the western part of the region than to Genoese, nowadays the varieties spoken in Genoa and Savona are almost identical due to the influence and prestige of Genoese (meaning here the language spoken in the capital of the region). Nowadays the differences between the varieties spoken in Genoa and Savona are no greater than those betweeen the varieties of Genoa and Chiavari, and often certain characteristics of contemporary Savonese (such as the velarisation of -[aː]-) are found in many other parts of the region, including places quite close to Genoa.