Genoese, locally called or (), is the prestige dialect of Ligurian, spoken in and around the Italian city of Genoa, the capital of Liguria.
A majority of remaining speakers of Genoese are elderly. Several associations are dedicated to keeping the dialect alive, examples of which are in Genoa and in Chiavari. Along with 55 more associations they are part of the Consulta Ligure, the main association for Genoese language, culture, art, and traditions.
Written literature has been produced in Genoese since the 13th century, and the orthography has evolved in-step with the language. There are currently two spelling systems in common use, with varying degrees of standardisation. One, proposed in 2008 by the cultural association A Compagna, attempts to closely match in writing the pronunciation of the now-extinct variant of Genoese which used to be spoken in the Portoria neighbourhood of Genoa. Another spelling system was proposed by a group of writers, journalists and academics by standardising the traditional orthography of 19th- and 20th-century Genoese newspapers. This is the spelling used, amongst others, by the academic world as well as by Il Secolo XIX, the largest print newspaper in the region.
Genoese has had an influence on the Llanito vernacular of Gibraltar.
Phonology Genoese phonology includes a number of similarities with French, one being the heavily nasalized vowels before nasal consonants (in VN(C) sequences), also occurring when Genoese speakers speak standard Italian. There used to be an alveolar approximant (English-like) opposed to an alveolar trill (using the 18th century spelling: "dear" vs. "cart"), but it is no longer heard in the city. It may still survive in some rural areas of Liguria, such as Calizzano and Sassello.Audio samples may be heard here . By far the most widespread type of today is the alveolar tap (very similar, or identical, to unstressed Standard Italian ). There are several distinctive local accents of Genoese: those of Nervi, Quinto and Quarto to the east of Genoa, Voltri, Pra', Pegli and Sestri to the west. There are also accents of the central Polcevera Valley and Bisagno.
Genoese has eight vowels, twenty consonants, and three semivowels.
Vowels
as in barba ("uncle"; "beard") as in tésta ("head") as in ægoa ("water") as in bibin ("turkey") as in cöse ("what?") as in anchêu ("today") as in comme ("how?") as in fugassa (focaccia, a kind of Italian bread)
Orthography ^ is a circumflex accent placed above a vowel and doubles its length. ao is read as the Italian “au” or the genovese “ou” or a long Italian “o”. è is read as a brief open e. The symbol æ, made up of vowels a ed e, is read as an open long "e"; in groups ænn-a and æn it is read as an open short “e”. e and é are read as a closed short “e”; ê is read as a long closed “e”. eu is read as if it were read in French: in eu and éu the sound is short in êu the sound is long. j is used infrequently and indicates that i should be heard in words such as: gjêmo (giriamo), mangjâ (mangerà), cacjæ (getterei), lascjâ (lascerà), socjêtæ (società). o, ó and ô are read as an Italian u like in the word muso; the length of ô is double the length of o and ó. ò and ö are read as o in Italian like in the word cosa; the length of ö is double ò. u is read as a French u with the exception in groups qu, òu and ou where the u is read as the u in the Italian word guida. ç always has a voiceless sound () like s in the Italian word sacco. Word-final n and groups nn-, n- (written with a hyphen) indicate a velar n (, such as the n in the Italian word vengo) and are therefore pronounced nasally. The same goes for when n precedes a consonant (including b and p). s followed by a vowel, s followed by a voiceless consonant, and s between vowels is always a voiceless , sound like the s in the Italian word sacco. s followed by a voiced consonant becomes voiced , as in Italian. scc is pronounced , like sc of the Italian word scena followed sonorously by c of the Italian word cilindro. x is read like the French j (e.g. jambon, jeton, joli). z, even when it is doubled as zz, is always pronounced as the s in the Italian word rosa.
Grammar Article Pronoun Definite Indefinitesingularmasculine o/l’ un [iŋ] feminine a/l’ unna [ˈinˑa]pluralmasculine i - feminine e -
Although the spelling is the same for the article un, the numeral adjective and the pronoun, the pronunciation differs: the article is pronounced [iŋ], while the numeral pronoun and adjective are pronounced [ˈyŋ]. Meanwhile, the feminine indefinite article is unna [(ˈ)inˑa] and the pronoun and numeral adjective uña [ˈyŋˑa].
Orthographic rules Article Before consonant Before voweldefinitemasculine o nemigo, o pan l’amigo, l’ase feminine a figgetta, a persoña l’amiga, l’æguaindefinitemasculine un giorno, un fræ un euvo, un anno feminine unna poexia, unna lettia unn’atra, unn’oapluralmasculine i cavaggëi, i amixi feminine e settemañe, e amighe
Partitive The plural of the articles un, unna, does not exist. Instead, the partitive is used, consisting of the articulated forms of the preposition de, or the adjective doî/doe (alcuni/alcune) “some”:
Genoese Italian Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine di òmmi de euve dei uomini delle uova doî òmmi doe euve alcuni uomini alcune uova
Example: accattâ di pesci = comprare dei pesci se n’é sentio de belle = se ne sono sentite delle belle inte di paixi gh’é ancon a monarchia = in certi paesi c’è ancora la monarchia son anæto a-o mercou pe accattâ doe cöse = sono andato al mercato a comprare alcune cose
Preposition
Combination with articles Preposition o a l' i e de do [du] da [da] de l’ [de l] di [di] de [de] à a-o [aw] ~ [ɔw] a-a [aː] à l’ [a l] a-i [aj] a-e [ae] ~ [ɛː] ~ [aj] da da-o [dɔw] da-a [daː] da l’ [da l] da-i [daj] da-e [dae] pe pe-o [pɔw] pe-a [pjaː] pe l’ [pe l] pe-i [pej] pe-e [peː] con co-o [kuː] co-a [kwaː] con l’ [kuŋ l] co-i [kwiː] co-e [kweː] in into [ˈiŋtu] inta [ˈiŋta] inte l’ [ˈiŋte l] inti [ˈiŋti] inte [ˈiŋte] tra tra o [tra u] tra a [tra a] tra l’ [tra l] tra i [tra i] tra e [tra e] in sce in sciô [iŋ ʃuː] in sciâ [iŋ ʃaː] in sce l’ [iŋ ʃe l] in scî [iŋ ʃiː] in scê [iŋ ʃeː]
The preposition in becomes inte before definite articles, partitive de, demonstrative adjectives, cardinal numerals, indefinites, and interrogatives. For example: semmo anæte into bòsco. = siamo andate nel bosco. son cheito inte l’ægua. = sono caduto nell’acqua. inte di paixi gh’é ancon a monarchia. = in certi paesi c’è ancora la monarchia. inte sti caxi, l’é megio no fâ ninte. = in questi casi, è meglio non fare nulla. ghe ô conto inte doe poule. = glielo racconto in due parole. no stâ à parlâ inte nisciun caxo. = no parlare in nessun caso. inte che borsa ti l’æ misso? = in che borsa l’hai messo?
Preposition Usage A. Motion from a place Condition Preposition Example Translation regular (de) da son vegnui (de) da Zena sono venuti da Genova from inside to outside (de) d’in sciortimmo (de) d’in casa usciamo di casa from top to bottom (de) d’in sce son cheita (de) d’in sciô teito sono caduta dal tetto locative adverbs (de) de anemmosene (de) de chì andiamocene da qui
B. Motion through/ by a place Condition Preposition Example Translation regular da (pe) passemmo da (pe) Spezza passiamo da La Spezia (de) pe passemmo (de) pe Spezza high up places (de) d’in sce passemmo (de) d’in sciô passo da Bocchetta passiamo dal passo della Bocchetta through bounded spaces (de) d’in semmo passæ (de) d’inta cantiña siamo passati dalla cantina
C. State in place Condition Preposition Example Translation regular in son arrestou in scagno sono restato in ufficio inte son arrestou into scuo sono restato al buio cities and place names à staggo à Saña sto a Savona staggo à l’Æguasanta sto all’Acquasanta in staggo in Arbâ sto a Albaro on surfaces in sce ëse in sciô ballou essere sul ballatoio ëse in sciâ töa essere sul tavolo above something de d’ato à ti â veddi a casa in çimma a-o monte? la vedi la casa sul monte? in çimma à metto l’aradio de d’ato a-a töa metto la radio sul tavolo
For the complement of state in place with the names of cities, towns and localities, à is generally used, but there are some specific toponyms that require in, in an unpredictable way.
D. Motion towards place Condition Preposition Example Translation regular à anâ à scheua andare a scuola anâ à l’estranxeo andare all’estero cities and place names à anâ à Votri andare a Voltri in anâ in San Pê d’Æña andare a Sampierdarena person da vaggo da-a Texo vado da Teresa vaggo da mæ moæ vado da mia madre regions, areas, streets, etc. in anemmo in montagna andiamo in montagna anemmo in ciazza andiamo alla spiaggia anemmo in Spagna andiamo in Spagna anemmo in ciassâ Kennedy andiamo a piazzale Kennedy
As with the complement of state in place, for the complement of motion in place with names of cities, towns and localities mainly à is used, but there are some specific toponyms that require in, in an unpredictable way.
E. Action through/ between something Condition Preposition Example Translation regular tramezo à o vento o sciuscia tramezo a-e canne do canniou il vento soffia tra le canne del canneto tramezo a-e quattro miage de unna stançia tra le quattro mura d’una stanza tra / fra a stava in sciâ carrega, co-a testa tra e moen stava sulla sedia, con la testa tra le mani for a distance de chì à de chì à 500 metri, gia in sciâ manciña tra 500 metri, svolta a sinistra intermittence between a recurring series da da unna poula à l’atra a meistra a stranuava pe caxon de l’allergia tra una parola e l’altra la maestra starnutiva per via dell’allergia
F. Matter of time Condition Preposition Example Translation at a time à dozze franchi a-o meise dodici franchi al mese a-e 5 da mattin alle 5 del mattino for some time pe ò dormio pe doî giorni ho dormito per due giorni i mæ figgi vëgnan pe Dënâ i miei figli verranno per Natale from a time da o ve conosce da ch’o l’ea figgeu vi conosce da quando era bambino month and season of a year in a l’é nasciua into zenâ do 2000? è nata nel gennaio del 2000 month and season with uncertain year de d’ötunno cazze e feugge in autunno cadono le foglie year o libbro o l’é stæto pubricou do 1971 il libro è stato pubblicato nel 1971
G. Object Relation
Condition Preposition Example Translation indirect object à ò domandou à mæ poæ ho chiesto a mio padre purpose à cöse t’ê bon à fâ? cosa sei capace a fare? recipient/ beneficiary à beseugna pensâ a-a salute bisogna pensare alla salute pe unna lettia pe mi e l’amô pe-a muxica una lettera per me e l’amore per la musica object of a search à pe son anæta à pe fonzi con mæ barba e i seu amixi sono andata per funghi con mio zio e i suoi amici accompanying object, quality, method, or manner con mettise à töa con de amighe mettersi a tavola con delle amiche a dònna co-o cappello neigro la donna dal cappello nero basta co-a raggia! o se â mangia co-i euggi basta con la rabbia! se la mangia con gli occhi connection or comparison tra / fra no savieiva cöse çerne tra Zena e Saña non saprei cosa scegliere tra Genova e Savona familiarity or intimacy de tra / de fra a l’à mogognou quarcösa tra de lê ha borbottato qualcosa tra sé e sé
Pronoun Personal Pronoun Number Nominative Verbal Pronoun Accusative Dative Reflexive Possessive singular 1 mi - me mæ 2 ti ti te teu / tò 3 lê o (l’) / a (l’) ô / â / l’ ghe se seu / sòplural 1 n(o)iatri - ne nòstro, nòstra, nòstri, nòstre 2 v(o)iatri - ve vòstro, vòstra, vòstri, vòstre 3 l(o)iatri / lô i (l’) * î / ê ghe se seu / sò
General rules: Genoese dialect, similar to Italian is a pro-drop language. Genoese dialect has no tonic forms (forma tonica), therefore the nominative is used instead. The gender of 3rd person singular pronouns are solely distinguished by the verbal pronoun (o/a). If the verb succeeding the 3SG verbal pronoun (o/a) starts with a vowel, an extra l’ is added.