Corsican language

The Corsican language is made up of a group of dialects of Italian-Romance (Latin) origin belonging to the Tuscan group and divided into two main groups, Cismontano and ultramontane, whose union gives rise to the Corsican language proper. It is spoken mainly on the island of Corsica, France. Its status as a language is relatively recent (claim dating from the 1980s) and at first it had not entered the generally accepted definition of a Romance language due to its strong resemblance to some variants of the Tuscan dialect. It is now recognized by the French State as a protected language in Corsica and is taught at the University of Corte and in various schools, as well as being widely used in written language.

Origin

Complex of the italorromance languages.
Tuscan varieties Central varieties Southern varieties Extreme southern varieties

Despite French annexation, dating to the 18th century, Corsican and Italian were the official languages in Corsica until 1859, before the French took over that function. Privateering is used throughout the island except in the cities of Bonifacio and Calvi, where a Ligurian dialect of Genoese origin is still spoken. In the Magdalena islands, north of Sardinia, Italy, almost the same Corsican is spoken as in Sartène. The dialect of the Gallura region, in the north of the island of Sardinia, is similar to that of the speakers of southern Corsica, but with many influences from Sardinian, Catalan and Spanish. Despite the fact that the morphology is very similar to Corsican, for example the plural ending is "-i", similar to that of Italian, while the Sardinian plural is in "-s", as in French, Catalan or Spanish; the phonetics and syntax of Gallurese have been so influenced by Sardinian that today it is considered a separate language, and even more so is Sassarese, spoken in and around the city of Sácer, which is by all rights a language of transition between Sardinian and Gallures, and therefore Corsican, but, with respect to Gallures, it is much closer to Sardinian, having been influenced by the latter also in grammar.

However, the influence of another extinct language probably common between these languages and the belonging to an African Romania give numerous points in common to the two, reinforced by the long Pisan and Aragonese occupation they had in common both Corsica and Sardinia. The cacuminal sound, shared by the Corsican dialect of Sartène and the Sardinian language, or the interjection [a'jo]!, typical of the two islands, makes them share even older points.

History

Until the beginning of the XIX century, Corsican and Italian were considered two forms of the same language, thought to be Corsican was the spoken form and Italian, the written form. From the Second French Empire, Corsican, under the encouragement of the French Government, which wanted to cut ties with the "mother country", became independent from Italian, which is no longer the official language of the island, and tends to be perceived as an autonomous language, especially through the slow development of a literature in Corsican expression.

The Corsican cultural movement has not really sought to establish itself as a unified language throughout the island. Corsican linguists speak of a polynomial language; His teaching is based, first of all, on each of the local varieties and, after that, on the passive knowledge of all the speakers on the island. However, after a few years and according to intellectuals, creators and communication professionals, we are witnessing the emergence of a relatively unified “elaborate privateering”.

The current nationalist movement has given the privateering a language status, taught, optionally, from primary education.

It is a language of France, recognized as such and included in the official list published by the French Ministry of Culture. With the same title as the other French regional languages, the Corsican language is currently in danger of extinction, according to the classification established by Unesco.

Dialects and varieties

Corsoon delects.

The dialectal varieties of Corsican are:

• Capraiese
• Cismotano
• Oltramontano
• Castellanese
• Gallurés
• Sassarés