Corsican language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Corsican Corsu, Corso, Corse, Corsi
Spoken in:	Corsica, France
Total speakers:	402,000 (dubious; more probably ca. 100,000)
Language family:	Indo-European Italic Romance Italo-Western Italo-Dalmatian Corsican
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	`co`
ISO 639-2:	`cos`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	`cos`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

Corsican (Corsu or Lingua Corsa) is a Romance language spoken on the island of Corsica (France), alongside French, which is the official language. A similar dialect to Corsican is also spoken to some extent in the Gallura area of Sardinia (Italy). It has strong similarities to Italian and in particular the dialects of Italian from Tuscany. Most linguists consider it as a Tuscan dialect, the closest to modern Italian.

According to its UNESCO classification, the Corsican language is currently in danger of becoming extinct. In recent years, greater protection for the language has been discussed as part of proposals for the increased autonomy of the region of Corsica from France.

The language has several dialects including Northern Corsican, spoken in the Bastia and Corte area, and Southern Corsican, spoken around Sartene and Porto-Vecchio. The dialect of Ajaccio has been described as in transition. The dialects spoken at Calvi and Bonifacio are closer to the Genoa dialect, also known as Ligurian.

In the Sardinian region of Gallura, including the town of Tempio Pausania, and on the island of La Maddalena "Gallurese" is spoken. This is a transitional dialect with many similarities to Southern Corsican.

The Corsican language is a key vehicle for Corsican culture, which is notably rich in proverbs. Corsica also has a tradition of polyphonic singing that dates back to the 16th century and is thought to have evolved from similar traditions on the Italian mainland.