From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Genoese (Zeneize) is the dialect of the Ligurian language spoken in Genoa, the principal city of the Liguria region in Italy.

Ligurian is listed by Ethnologue as a language in its own right, of the Romance branch, and not to be confused with the ancient Ligurian language. Like the languages of Lombardy, Piedmont, and surrounding regions, it is of Gallo-Italic derivation.

In its differences from standard Italian, Genoese is somewhat similar to French. The language is dying out. Most remaining speakers of it are elderly.

Written literature has been produced in Genoese since the 13th century, but the spelling has never been regularized.

Genoese phonology includes a few likenesses with French. One similarity is heavily nasalized vowels before nasal consonants (i.e. in VN(C) sequences). This also occurs when Genoese speakers speak standard Italian. There used to be an alveolar approximant (English-like) /ɹ/ opposed to an alveolar trill /r/ (using the 18th century genoese spelling: caro ['kaːɹu] "dear" vs. carro ['kaːru] "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 /r/ today is the alveolar tap [ɾ] (identical to unstressed Standard Italian /r/). There are several distinctive local accents of Genoese. Nervi, Quinto, and Quarto are heard to the east of Genoa. Voltri, Prà, Pegli, and Sestrito are heard to the west. There are also accents of the central Polcevera Valley and Bisagno.

• So asæ s'a sâ a sä asæ pe sâ a säsissa. = I don't have a clue whether the salt is going to be enough to salt the sausage.
• Sciâ scïe scignua, sciando sciâ xœa in scî scï. = Ski, madam, skying you fly on skis.
• Ao mœ nœo gh'è nœe nae nœe; a ciû nœa de nœe nae nœe a n'œ anâ. = At the new pier there are nine new ships; the newest of the nine new ships doesn't want to go.
• Gi'angiai g'han gi'oggi gi'uegge gi'unge cume gi'atri? = Do angels have eyes, ears, and (finger)nails like everyone else? (variant of the Cogorno comune)

• Son zeneize, rizo ræo, strenzo i dentim, e parlo ciæo. = "I'm Genoese, I seldom laugh, I grind my teeth, and I say what I mean" (literally, "speak clearly").

• The child complains: Ho famme. = I'm hungry. The mother answers: Grattite e zenugge e fatte e lasagne. = Scratch your knees and make lasagna.
• Pòsci-to ëse alûghetòu
• Chi veû vive da bon cristian, da-i begghin o stagghe lôntan. = If you want to live as a good Christian, stay away from those who pretend to be devout; a traditional warning to beware of fanatics and hypocrites.
• L'è megio e braghe sguaræ 'nt'o cû, che-o cû sguaròu int'e braghe. = It is better to have trousers that are torn in the ass, than to have an ass that is torn in trousers.

Genoese has 8 vowels, 20 consonants, and 3 semivowels.

Vowels:

• /a/ barba /'barba/ (uncle, beard)
• /e/ tésta /'testa/ (head)
• /ɛ/ ægua /'ɛ:gwa/ (water)
• /i/ bibin /bi'biN/ (turkey)
• /o/ côse /'ko:se/ (what?)
• /ø/ frisciœ /fri'ʃø:/ (pancake)
• /u/ cumme /'kumme/ (how?)
• /y/ fügassa /fy'gassa/ (bread)

Genoese dialect edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Genoese phonology (Italian)
• How to write Genoese (Italian)
• How to write Genoese (II) (Italian)
• Audio samples of several Italian dialects