Ligurian

== Overview ==
Ligurian (ligure or lengua ligure) is a Gallo-Italic language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. It is part of the Gallo-Italic and Western Romance dialect continuum. The Genoese (Zeneize), spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is the language's prestige dialect on which the standard is based.
== Status ==
Ligurian does not enjoy an official status in Italy. Hence, it is not protected by law. Historically, Genoese (the dialect spoken in the city of Genoa) is the written koine, owing to its semi-official role as language of the Republic of Genoa, its traditional importance in trade and commerce and its vast literature.
Like other regional languages in Italy, the use of Ligurian and its dialects is in rapid decline. ISTAT (the Italian central service of statistics) claims that in 2012, only 9% of the population used other than standard Italian with friends and family, which decreases to 1.8% with strangers. Furthermore, according to ISTAT, regional languages are more commonly spoken by uneducated people and the elderly, mostly in rural areas. Liguria is no exception. One can reasonably suppose the age pyramid to be strongly biased toward the elderly who were born before World War II, with proficiency rapidly approaching zero for newer generations. On a more positive note, Ligurian has not experienced in recent years as strong a decline in number of native speakers as other regional languages. That could be a consequence of its status or the early, catastrophic decline it underwent in the past. The language itself is actively preserved by various groups.
== Ligurian excerpt from Wikipedia article "Lengoa zeneize" ==
O zeneize, comme a gran parte de léngoe d'Italia, o l'é derivòu da-o latìn vorgâ, subendo pöi, into corso di sécoli, e influense de âtre léngoe neolatinn-e, comme o françeize ò l'italiàn; a ògni mòddo, a-a reversa de âtre léngoe gallo-italiche, o zeneize o l'é stæto asæ de ciù influensòu da-e léngoe do Meridion. A prìmma poêxîa in zenéize conosciûa a l'é stæta scrîta into 1291 da l'anònimo zenéize, conosciûo ascì comme Luchetto.
Category:Indo-European Languages
Category:Romance Languages
Category:Europe
Category:Italy