Ligurian, also called Genoese after its prestige form spoken in Genoa, is a Gallo-Italic language native to the historical territory of the Republic of Genoa. It is spoken in the Italian region of Liguria, parts of southeastern France, Monaco, where it is called Monegasque, the Corsican village of Bonifacio, and the Sardinian towns of Carloforte and Calasetta, and it had roughly 600,000 native speakers as of 2002. Though classified within the Gallo-Italic group, it also shows features of the Italo-Romance languages, and the Italian government treats it as a dialect of Italian rather than an independent language, leaving it without legal protection.
Facts
RegionLigurian is 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. 1 Speaker CommunityISTAT (the Italian Central Service of Statistics) says that in 2012 only 9% of the population used a language other than standard Italian with friends and family, which decreased to 1.8% with strangers. 1 Distinguishing FeaturesAlthough part of Gallo-Italic, it exhibits several features of the Italo-Romance group of central and southern Italy. 1 Classification
Variety Kind Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ligurian
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, geographic-extent sentence
Ligurian is 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.
Status section, ISTAT sentence
ISTAT (the Italian Central Service of Statistics) says that in 2012 only 9% of the population used a language other than standard Italian with friends and family, which decreased to 1.8% with strangers.
Lead section, classification sentence
Although part of Gallo-Italic, it exhibits several features of the Italo-Romance group of central and southern Italy.
Variety kind, Ligurian entity page
Ligurian, also called Genoese after its prestige form spoken in Genoa, is a Gallo-Italic language native to the historical territory of the Republic of Genoa.
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