107-662: The Corsicans ( Corsican , Italian : Corsi ; French : Corses ) are a Romance -speaking ethnic group, native to the Mediterranean island of Corsica , a territorial collectivity of France. The island was populated since the Mesolithic ( Dame de Bonifacio ) and the Neolithic by people who came from the Italian peninsula , especially the modern regions of Tuscany and Liguria . An important megalithic tradition developed locally since
214-721: A "definitely endangered language." The Corsican language is a key vehicle for Corsican culture, which is notably rich in proverbs and in polyphonic song. When the French Assembly passed the Deixonne Law in 1951, which made it possible for regional languages to be taught at school, Alsatian , Flemish and Corsican were not included on the ground of being classified as dialectes allogènes of German, Dutch and Italian respectively, i.e. dialects of foreign languages and not languages in themselves. Only in 1974 were they too politically recognized as regional languages for their teaching on
321-526: A : i letta , i solda , i ponta , i foca , i mura , i loca , i balcona ; imperfect tense like cantàiami , cantàiani ). Sassarese derives from the Italian language and, more precisely, from ancient Tuscan, which by the 12th century had slowly grown to become the parlance of the commoners, at a time when the bourgeois and nobles still spoke Logudorese Sardinian. During the age of the Free Commune (1294–1323),
428-667: A casa che il sole era già calato, all'ora di cena. Quando faceva buio noi ragazzi ci mandavano a fare granchi, con la luce, che serviva per mettere l'esca agli ami per pescare. Ne raccoglievamo in quantità poi in casa li mettevamo in un sacchetto chiuso in cucina. Una mattina in cui ci eravamo alzati che era ancora buio, quando siamo andati a prendere il sacchetto era vuoto e i granchi giravano per tutte le camere e c'è voluta più di mezz'ora per raccoglierli tutti. Sò nato in Corsica e c'hajo passato li méglio anni de la mi' giovinezza. Mi mentovo quand'èremo bàmboli che le nosse ma' ci mandàveno da ssoli
535-439: A fa' 'l bagno. Allora la piaggia era piena di rena, senza scogli né greppe e stàvemo in mare fino a quando ingrozzichiti c'andàvemo a rivorta' 'n chidda rena bollente dal sole. Poi l'urtimo ciutto pe' levacci la rena attaccata a la pella e tornàvemo 'n casa che 'l sole era già ciuttato, a l'ora di cena. Quando veniva buio a no' bàmboli ci mandàveno a fa' granchi, colla luce, che ci voléveno pe' mette' l'ami pe' pescà. Ne aricogliévemo
642-466: A fa' u bagnu. Allora la piagghia ère piena di réna, senza scógghi né rocce e ci stève in mare dill'òre finu a quandu paunazzi da u freddu po' ci andèvami a rivòrtule in quella réna bullènte da u sole. Po' l'urtimu ciuttu pe' levacci la réna attaccata a la pella e riturnèvamì in casa chi u sole ère ghià calatu, a l'ora di cena. Quandu fève bugghiu a no'zitèlli ci mandèvani a fa' granchi, cu la lusa, chi ci vulèvani pe' annésche l'ami pe' pèsche. Ne ricugghièvami
749-400: A fatzi lu bagnu a la sora. Tandu l'ippiaggia era piena di rena, chena ischogliu né rocca e si isthazìa a mogliu ori fintz'a candu, biaìtti da lu freddu, andàziami a rudduratzi in chidda rena buddendi da lu sori. A dabboi l'ùlthimu cabutzoni pa bugganni la rena attaccadda a la peddi e turràbami a casa chi lu sori era già caraddu, a l'ora di tzinà. Candu si fazìa buggiu a noi pitzinni tzi mandàbani
856-486: A first language. Fewer and fewer people speak also a Ligurian dialect in what has long been a language island , Bonifacio : it is locally known by the name of bunifazzin . Gallurese dialect is a variety of Corsican spoken in the extreme north of Sardinia , including the region of Gallura and the archipelago of La Maddalena . In the Maddalena archipelago , the local dialect (called Isulanu, Maddaleninu, Maddalenino )
963-928: A fàcci lu bagnu . Tandu la spiagghja era piena di rena, senza scogli né rocchi e si sthaggia ori finz'a candu, biàtti da lu freddu andagiami a vultulacci in chidda rena buddendi da lu soli. Dabboi l'ultima cabucina pà buggacci la rena attaccadda a la pèddi e turravami in casa chi lu soli era ghjà caladdu, a l'ora di cena. Candu fagia bughju à noi piccinni ci mandavani a fà ganci, cù la lugi chi vi vulia pà inniscà l'àmi pà piscà. Ni pigliavami assai e daboi in casa li mittìami drent'a un saccheddu sarraddu in cucina. Un mangianu chi ci n'erami pisaddi chi era sempri bugghju, candu semmu andaddi à piglià lu sacchettu era boiddu é li ganci ghjiràvani pàl tutti li càmmari è v'é vuludda più di mezz'ora pà accuglinnili tutti. Soggu naddu in Còssiga e v'aggiu passaddu l'anni più beddi di la pitzinnìa mea. M'ammentu, cand'érami minori, chi li mammi nosthri tzi mandàbani
1070-467: A fàcci lu bagnu. Tandu la piaghja éra piena di rèna, senza scóddi e né ròcchi e si stagghjìa in mari ori fin'a candu, biaìtti da lu fritu andaghjìami a vultulàcci in chidda rèna buddènti da lu soli. Dapoi, l'ultima capuzzina pa' bucàcci la réna attaccata a la péddi e turràami in casa chi lu soli éra ghjà calatu, a l'ora di cena. Candu facìa bugghju a noi stéddi ci mandàani a fa' granchi, cù la luci, chi vi vulìa pa' accindì(attivà) l'ami pa' piscà. N'accapitàami
1177-800: A fàcci u bagnu. Tandu a piaghja ghjéra piena di rèna, senza scódda né ròcchi è si staghjìa in mari ori fin'a quandu, viola da u fritu andàghjìami a vultulàcci in quidda rèna buddènti da u soli. Dapo', l'ultima capuzzina pa' livàcci a réna attaccata a à péddi e turràiami in casa chì u soli era ghjà calatu, à l'ora di cena. Quandu facìa bughju à no' zitéddi ci mandàiani à fà granci, cù a luci, chi ci vulìa par inniscà l'ami pà piscà. N'arricuglivàmi à mandili pieni è dapoi in casa i mittìami drent'à un sacchettu chjusu in cucina. Una matìna chì ci n'érami pisàti chi ghjéra sempri bughju, quandu sèmu andati à piddà u sacchéttu iddu éra biotu è i granci ghjiràiani pà tutti i càmari e ci hè vuluta più di méz'ora pà ricapizzulàlli tutti. Socu natu in Corsica è v'aghju passatu i megliu anni di
SECTION 10
#17328449872171284-746: A group of tribes affiliated to the ancient Ligures , like the Ilvates in the neighboring Ilva island (today's Elba in Italy), and may have spoken the old Ligurian language . The ethnic base of the Corsicans was made up of the Corsican tribes of the Nuragic and then Torrean civilization, of Sardinian origin. In ancient times they were influenced and mixed from the ancient Corsicans to the Ligurians , Carthaginians , Etruscans , to
1391-415: A guaro, po' 'n casa li mettévemo in de 'n sacchetto chiuso 'n cucina. Una matina che c'èremo levati ch'era sempre buio, quando simo andati a piglià 'l sacchetto era voto e li granchi giràveno pe' ttutte le càmmere e c'è voluto più di mezz'ora ad aricoglieli tutti. Sigghi natu in Corsica e g'hagghi passatu li mégghiu anni di la me ghiuvinézza. Ricordu quandu èrami zitèlli chi le nosse ma' ci mandèvani da ssòli
1498-650: A language existed only in Sardinia; in fact, the existence of Corsican as the island's native vernacular did not take anything away from Paoli's claims that Corsica's official language was Italian. Today's Corsican is the result of these historical vicissitudes, which have morphed the language to an idiom that bears a strong resemblance to the medieval Tuscan once spoken at the time of Dante and Boccaccio , and still existing in peripheral Tuscany ( Lucca , Garfagnana , Elba , Capraia ). The correspondence of modern Corsican to ancient Tuscan can be seen from almost any aspect of
1605-504: A line uniting the villages of Piana , Vico , Vizzavona , Ghisoni and Ghisonaccia , and also covering the subgroups from the Cap Corse (which, unlike the rest of the island and similarly to Italian, uses lu , li , la , le as definite articles), Bastia (besides i > e and a > e, u > o: ottanta , momentu , toccà , continentale ; a > o: oliva , orechja , ocellu ), Balagna, Niolo and Corte (which retain
1712-498: A luci, chì ci vulìa par inniscà l'ami pà piscà. N'arricugliìami à mandigli pieni è dopu in casa i mittìami drent'à un sacchettu chjusu in cucina. Una matina chì ci n'erami pisati chì era sempri bughju, quandu semu andati à piglià u sacchettu era biotu è i granci ghjiraiani pà tutti i cammari e ci hè vulsuta più d'una mez'ora pà ricapizzulà li tutti. Sòcu natu in Còssiga e v'agghju passatu li mèddu anni di la mè ciuintù. M'ammentu candu érami stéddi chi li nostri mammi ci mandàani da pal noi
1819-443: A mandilate piene po' in casa li mettivami in de un sacchéttu chiòsu in cusina. Una matìna chi c'èrami orzati chi ère sempre bugghiu, quandu simmi andati a pigghie u sacchéttu ère vòtu e li granchi ghirèvani pe' ttutte le càmmare e c'è vulutu più di mezz'ora a ricugghiàli tutti. Sò natu in Corsica è c'aghju passatu i più belli anni di a mio giuventù. M'arricordu quand'èramu zitelli chì e nostre mamme ci mandavanu soli à fà u bagnu. Tandu
1926-447: A mandili pieni e dapoi in casa li mittìami indrent'a un sacchéddu chjusu in cucina. Una matìna chi ci n'érami pisàti chi éra sempri lu bugghju, candu sèmu andati a piddà lu sacchéddu iddu éra bòitu e li granchi ghjràani pa' tutti li càmbari e v'è vuluta più di mez'ora pa' accapitàlli tutti. Soggu naddu in Còssiga e v'agghju passaddu li megli'anni di la mè ghjuivintù. M'ammentu cand'èrami piccinni chi li nosthri mammi ci mandavani da pal noi
2033-467: A me ghjuvantù. Mi rammentu quand'erami ziteddi chì i nosci mammi ci mandaiani da par no à fàcci u bagnu. Tandu a piaghja era piena di rena, senza scogli nè rocchi è si staia in mari ori fin'à quandu, viola da u fretu andaiami à vultugliàcci in quidda rena buddenti da u soli. Dapoi, l'ultima capuzzina pà livàcci a rena attaccata à a peddi è turraiami in casa chì u soli era ghjà calatu, à l'ora di cena. Quandu facìa bughju à no ziteddi ci mandaiani à fà granci, cù
2140-407: A number of speakers between 86,800 and 130,200, out of a total population amounting to 309,693 inhabitants. 28% of the overall population was able to speak Corsican well, while an additional 14% had a capacity to speak it "quite well." The percentage of those who had a solid oral understanding of the language varies between a minimum of 25 percent in the 25–34 age group and the maximum of 65 percent in
2247-490: A pesca. N'arricuglìamu à mandilate piene po' in casa i punìamu nu un sacchéttu chjosu in cucina. Una mane chì c'èramu arritti ch'èra sempre bughju, quandu simu andati à piglià u sacchettu ellu èra biotu è i granchi giravanu per tutte e camere è ci hè vulsuta più di méz'ora à ricoglieli tutti. Sòcu natu in Còrsica e v'agghju passatu i mèddu anni di a me ghjuvintù. M'ammentu quand'érami zitéddi chì i nosci mammi ci mandàiani da par no'
SECTION 20
#17328449872172354-424: A piaghja era piena di rena, senza scogli né cotule é ci ne stàvamu in mare per ore fin'à quandu, viola per u freddu, dopu ci n'andavamu a vultulàcci in quella rena bullente da u sole. Po' l'ultima capiciuttata per levacci a rena attaccata à a pelle è vultavamu in casa chì u sole era digià calatu, à ora di cena. Quand'ellu facìa bughju à noi zitèlli ci mandàvanu à fà granchi, cù u lume, chì ci vulìa per innescà l'ami per
2461-428: A piglià granchi, cu' la luzi chi vi vurìa pa innischà l'amu pa pischà. Ni pigliàbami unbè e dabboi in casa li punìami drentu a un sacchettu sarraddu i' la cuzina. Un manzanu chi tzi n'érami pisaddi chi era ancora buggiu, candu semmu andaddi a piglià lu sacchettu eddu era bioddu e li granchi giràbani pa tutti l'appusenti, e v'è vurudda più di mez'ora pa accuglinniri tutti. The situation of Corsican with regard to French as
2568-534: A population of 322,120 inhabitants (Jan. 2013 estimate). At the 2011 census, 56.3% of the inhabitants of Corsica were born on the island and 28.6% in Continental France , while 0.3% were natives of Overseas France and 14.8% hailed from foreign (non-French) countries. The majority of the foreign population in Corsica comes from the Maghreb (particularly Moroccans , who made up 33.5% of all immigrants in Corsica at
2675-587: A unique blend of genomic ancestry. Overall, the Corsican samples have been found to be genetically closer to the Northern and Central Italian populations than to the neighboring Sardinians . The same study estimate that the genome of the modern Corsicans derive from Anatolia Neolithic: 33%, Europe Middle Neolithic/Chalcolithic: 34%, Steppe EMBA: 19% and Iran Neolithic: 14%. Corsican language Corsican ( corsu , pronounced [ˈkorsu] , or lingua corsa , pronounced [ˈliŋɡwa ˈɡorsa] )
2782-547: A voluntary basis. The 1991 Joxe Statute, in setting up the Collectivité Territoriale de Corse, also provided for the Corsican Assembly , and charged it with developing a plan for the optional teaching of Corsican. The University of Corsica Pasquale Paoli at Corte, Haute-Corse took a central role in the planning. At the primary school level Corsican is taught up to a fixed number of hours per week (three in
2889-499: Is a Romance language consisting of the continuum of the Tuscan Italo-Dalmatian dialects spoken on the Mediterranean island of Corsica , a territory of France , and in the northern regions of the island of Sardinia , an autonomous region of Italy . Corsica, the island proper, is situated approximately 123.9 km (77.0 miles; 66 nautical miles ) off the western coast of Tuscany ; and with historical connections,
2996-494: Is a group typologically different from Sardinian, it has long been a subject of debate whether the two should be included as dialects either of Corsican or of Sardinian or, in light of their historical development, even considered languages of their own. It has been argued that all these varieties should be placed in a single category, Southern Romance , but such classification has not garnered universal support among linguists. On 14 October 1997, Article 2 Item 4 of Law Number 26 of
3103-519: Is a key vehicle for Corsican culture, which is notably rich in proverbs and in polyphonic song. From the mountains to the plains and sea, many ingredients play a role. Game such as wild boar ( Cignale , Singhjari ) is popular, and in old times mouflon ( muvra ) were consumed. There also is seafood and river fish such as trout. Delicatessen such as figatellu , coppa , ham ( prizuttu ), lonzu are made from Corsican pork ( porcu nustrale ). Cheeses like Brocciu , casgiu merzu (the Corsican version of
3210-421: Is an uninflected chì in Corsican. The only unifying, as well as distinctive, feature which separates the Corsican dialects from the mainland Tuscan ones, with the exception of Amiatino, Pitiglianese, and Capraiese, is the retention of word-final o - u . For example, the Italian demonstrative pronouns questo "this" and quello "that" become in Corsican questu or quistu and quellu or quiddu : this feature
3317-438: Is assimilated to ⟨m⟩ before ⟨p⟩ or ⟨b⟩ ) and the palatal nasal consonant represented by ⟨gn⟩ . The nasal vowels are represented by the vowel plus ⟨n⟩ , ⟨m⟩ or ⟨gn⟩ . The combination is a digraph or trigraph indicating the nasalized vowel. The consonant is pronounced in weakened form. The same combination of letters might not be
Corsicans - Misplaced Pages Continue
3424-603: Is found in Italy, as well as in the fact that the modern Corsican varieties , especially the Northern ones , are linguistically considered part of Tuscan . Because the island has been historically and culturally related to the Italian mainland up until then, the Italian populations from Northern and Central Italy have contributed to a significant degree to the modern Corsican ancestry. In 1891 Roland Bonaparte wrote in Une excursion en Corse that
3531-553: Is not mutually intelligible), but rather the Extreme Southern Italian dialects like Siculo - Calabrian . It has been theorised, on the other hand, that a Sardinian variety, or a variety very similar to Sardo-Romance, might have been originally spoken in Corsica prior to the island's Tuscanisation under Pisan and Genoese rule. The matter is controversial in light of the historical, cultural and particularly strong linguistic bonds that Corsica had traditionally formed with
3638-463: Is not straightforward. As in Italian, the grapheme ⟨i⟩ appears in some digraphs and trigraphs in which it does not represent the phonemic vowel. All vowels are pronounced except in a few well-defined instances. ⟨i⟩ is not pronounced between ⟨sc/sg/c/g⟩ and ⟨a/o/u⟩ : sciarpa [ˈʃarpa] ; or initially in some words: istu [ˈstu] Vowels may be nasalized before ⟨n⟩ (which
3745-539: Is quite typical of the Mainland Italian dialects. Italian was perceived as different from Corsican, but not as much as the differences between the two main isoglosses of Northern and Southern Corsican, as spoken by their respective native speakers. When Pasquale Paoli found himself exiled in London, he replied to Samuel Johnson 's query on the peculiar existence of a "rustic language" very different from Italian that such
3852-509: Is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants. Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria Portugal, Italy, Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar , Monaco Source: INSEE Alongside French ( Français ), the official language throughout France, Corsican ( Corsu ) is the other most widely spoken language on
3959-639: Is the most widespread on the island and standardised as well, and is spoken in North-West Corsica around the districts of Bastia and Corte. The dialects of Bastia and Cap Corse belong to the Western Tuscan dialects; they being, with the exception of Florentine , the closest to standard Italian. All the dialects presenting, in addition to what has already been stated, the conditional formed in -ebbe (e.g. (ella) amarebbe "she would love") are generally considered Cismontani dialects, situated north of
4066-604: The 4th millennium BC . Reached, like Sardinia , by Polada culture influences in the Early Bronze Age , in the 2nd millennium BC Corsica, the southern part in particular, saw the rise of the Torrean civilization , strongly linked to the Nuragic civilization . The modern Corsicans are named after an ancient people known by the Romans as Corsi . The Corsi , who gave their name to
4173-534: The Etruscans , who asserted their presence on the island in as early as 500 BC. In 40 AD, the natives of Corsica reportedly did not speak Latin. The Roman exile, Seneca the Younger , reported that both coast and interior were occupied by natives whose language he was not able to understand. More specifically, Seneca claimed that the island's population was the result of the stratification of different ethnic groups, such as
4280-533: The Gravona area, Bastelica (which would be classified as Southern, but is also noted for its typical rhotacism: Basterga ) and Solenzara, which did not preserve the Latin short vowels: seccu , peru , rossu , croci , pozzu . The Southern Corsican macro variety ( Suttanacciu , Suttanu , Pumuntincu or Oltramontano ) is the most archaic and conservative group, spoken in the districts of Sartène and Porto-Vecchio. Unlike
4387-682: The Greeks , the Ligures (see the Ligurian hypothesis ) and the Iberians, whose language had long since stopped being recognizable among the population due to the intermixing of the other two groups. The occupation of the island by the Vandals around the year 469 marked the end of authoritative influence by Latin speakers. (See Medieval Corsica .) If the natives of that time spoke Latin , they must have acquired it during
Corsicans - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-684: The Muradid dynasty , of Corsican origin and who reigned over the Regency of Tunis from 1613 to 1702. At the end of the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the Renaissance, the Corsicans distinguished themselves in combat in many conflicts, many of them were then mercenaries (or Condottieri ) and fought for sometimes rival Kingdoms. Corsicans distinguished themselves in particular during the Battle of Lepanto alongside
4601-488: The Sardinian casu marzu ), casgiu veghju are made from goat or sheep milk. Chestnuts are the main ingredient in the making of pulenta . A variety of alcoholic drinks also exist, ranging from aquavita (brandy), red and white Corsican wines ( Vinu Corsu ), muscat (plain or sparkling), and the famous "cap corse" produced by Mattei. Genetic research has revealed that the Corsican samples presented affinities with people from
4708-466: The Sardinian language , are spoken in the neighbouring island of Sardinia . Gallurese is spoken in the extreme north of the island, including the region of Gallura , while Sassarese is spoken in Sassari and in its neighbourhood, in the northwest of Sardinia . Their geographical position in Sardinia has been theorised to be the result of different migration waves from the already tuscanized Corsicans and
4815-512: The Teatru Paisanu , which produced polyphonic musicals, 1973–1982, followed in 1980 by Michel Raffaelli's Teatru di a Testa Mora , and Saveriu Valentini's Teatru Cupabbia in 1984. Modern prose writers include Alanu di Meglio, Ghjacumu Fusina, Lucia Santucci, and Marcu Biancarelli. There were writers working in Corsican in the 1700s and 1800s. Ferdinand Gregorovius , a 19th-century traveller and enthusiast of Corsican culture, reported that
4922-797: The Titiani and the Venacini ) as well as in the far north-east of Sardinia (the Lestricones , Lestrigones or Lestriconi / Lestrigoni , the Longonenses or Longonensi ). These Corsi shared the island with the Tibulati , who dwelt at the extreme north of Sardinia near the ancient town of Tibula . Further research is still needed to answer the question of the origin of the Corsi and their alleged relation with today's Corsicans. According to several scholars, they may have been
5029-460: The acute accent is sometimes found on stressed ⟨e⟩ , the circumflex on stressed ⟨o⟩ , indicating respectively ( /e/ ) and ( /o/ ) phonemes. Corsican has been regarded as a dialect of Italian historically, similar to the Romance lects developed on the Italian peninsula, and in writing, it also resembles Italian (with the generalised substitution of - u for final - o and
5136-480: The 17th century. An undated corpus of proverbs from communes may well precede it (see under External links below). Corsican has also left a trail of legal documents ending in the late 12th century. At that time the monasteries held considerable land on Corsica and many of the churchmen were notaries . Between 1200 and 1425 the monastery of Gorgona , which belonged to the Order of Saint Benedict for much of that time and
5243-532: The 1920s and the 1950s, the major destination became the French mainland , primarily Marseille , which today is considered as the "first Corsican city of the world" with around 100,000 Corsicans in the city. Causes of this emigration are various; poverty is the main reason (the French laws for restriction of exportations, the Second Industrial Revolution and the agricultural crisis had an adverse effect on
5350-423: The 1960s. By 1995, an estimated 65% of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican, and a minority of around 10% used Corsican as a first language. Corsican is classed as a regional language under French law. It is almost universally agreed that Corsican is typologically and traditionally Italo-Romance , but its specific position therein is more controversial. Some scholars argue that Corsican belongs to
5457-599: The 2011 census), and from Southern Europe (particularly Portuguese , 22.7% of all immigrants, followed by the Italians, 13.7%). During the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century, Corsican emigration was significant. Large numbers of Corsicans left the island for the French mainland or foreign countries. During the 19th century, the favorite destinations of migrants were the French colonies and South America (for more details, see Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico and Corsican immigration to Venezuela ). Then, between
SECTION 50
#17328449872175564-519: The Autonomous Region of Sardinia granted "the Sassarese and Gallurese dialects" (« al dialetto sassarese e a quello gallurese ») equal legal status with the other languages indigenous to Sardinia . Thus, even though they would technically not be covered by the national law pertaining to the historical linguistic minorities, among which is Sardinian, Sassarese and Gallurese are nonetheless recognized by
5671-480: The Centro-Southern Italian dialects, while others are of the opinion that it is closely related to, or as part of, Italy's Tuscan dialect varieties. Italian and the dialects of Corsican (especially Northern Corsican) are in fact very mutually intelligible . Southern Corsican, in spite of the geographical proximity, has as its closest linguistic neighbour not Sardinian (a separate group with which it
5778-436: The Corsican language as a potentially endangered language , as it has "a large number of children speakers" but is "without an official or prestigious status." The classification does not state that the language is currently endangered, only that it is potentially so. Often acting according to the current long-standing sentiment unknown Corsicans cross out French roadway signs and paint in the Corsican names. The Corsican language
5885-525: The Corsican language in French public offices and the regional parliament was legally banned, the existence of the "Corsican people" was also deemed unconstitutional. According to the anthropologist Dumenica Verdoni, writing new literature in modern Corsican, known as the Riacquistu , is an integral part of affirming Corsican identity. Some individuals have returned from careers in continental France to write in Corsican, including Dumenicu Togniotti, director of
5992-478: The Corsican language is considered a part of Tuscan varieties , from that part of the Italian peninsula , and thus is related to the Florentine -based standard Italian . Under the long-standing influence of Tuscany's Pisa , and the historic Republic of Genoa , over Corsica, the Corsican language once filled the role of a vernacular , with Italian functioning as the island's official language until France acquired
6099-418: The Corsican language." In 1990, out of a total population of about 254,000, the percentage had declined to 50 percent, with 10 percent of the island's residents using it as a first language. The language appeared to be in serious decline when the French government reversed its unsupportive stand and initiated some strong measures to save it. The January 2007 estimated population of Corsica was 281,000, whereas
6206-403: The Corsicans knew how to write correctly in Corsican, while about 60 percent of the population did not know how to write in Corsican. While 90 percent of the population was in favor of a Corsican-French bilingualism, 3 percent would have liked to have only Corsican as the official language in the island, and 7 percent would have preferred French to have this role. UNESCO classifies Corsican as
6313-570: The Corsicans particularly abhor injustice and since the Genoese who ruled the island for 500 years had erected the denial of justice into a principle of government, it followed that the Corsica was reduced to taking justice into his own hands: hence the vendetta . Throughout the 19th century many Corsicans sympathized with the Bonapartist doctrine and French nationalism while other Corsicans took part in French political and military life. Corsica has
6420-562: The French region of Provence and the Italians from Tuscany , Liguria, Campania , Sicily and Latium . In 2019, analysis of the genome of the Corsican population also reveals a close genetic affinity with the populations of northern and central Italy, while sharing with the Sardinians a notable proportion of ancestry, demographic processes and similar isolations. The analysis revealed that the Corsican population shares several genomic characteristics with Sardinia and north-central Italy, creating
6527-634: The Genoese dominated the island. The indigenous population preferred to live in the central part of the island, which contributed to relative security and prevented them from mingling with foreigners. Strabo says that when the Roman captains did some errands in Corsica and took a large number of slaves to Rome, one looked with admiration at the fact that the Corsicans were all savages and were more beast than man: for either they hunted each other to death in every way possible to them, or else they annoyed their masters so greatly with their impatience and lack of wit, that
SECTION 60
#17328449872176634-679: The Holy League against the Ottoman Empire , others were mercenaries in the service of the Kingdom of France (including Sampiero Corso who also served the Kingdom of Naples and returned to his native land with the support of France, Naplesand the Ottoman Empire to confront the Genoese occupiers). At the beginning of the 17th century, according to Pierre Davity , the Corsicans were hardly civilized for
6741-468: The Italian Mainland from the Middle Ages until the 19th century: in contrast to the neighbouring Sardinia , Corsica's installment into a diglossic system with Italian as the island's prestige language ran so deep that both Corsican and Italian might be even, and in fact were, perceived as two sociolinguistic levels of a single language. Corsican and Italian traditionally existed on a spectrum, and
6848-489: The Northern varieties and similarly to Sardinian, the group retains the distinction of the Latin short vowels ĭ and ŭ (e.g. pilu , bucca ). It is also strongly marked by the presence of the voiced retroflex stop , like Sicilian (e.g. aceddu , beddu , quiddu , ziteddu , famidda ), and the conditional mood formed in -ìa (e.g. (idda) amarìa "she would love"). All the Oltramontani dialects are from an area located to
6955-534: The Sardinian government on a regional level. Sono nato in Corsica e vi ho passato gli anni migliori della mia giovinezza. Ricordo, quando eravamo ragazzi, che le nostre mamme ci mandavano da soli a fare il bagno. Allora la spiaggia era piena di sabbia, senza scogli né rocce e si stava in mare delle ore fino a quando, paonazzi dal freddo poi ci andavamo a rotolare in quella sabbia bollente dal sole. Poi l'ultimo tuffo per levarci la sabbia attaccata alla pelle e ritornavamo
7062-522: The Sassarese dialect was nothing more than a contaminated Pisan, to which Sardinian, Corsican and Spanish expressions had been added; it is therefore not an indigenous dialect, but rather a continental one and, to be more specific, a mixed Tuscan dialect with its own peculiarities, and different from the Corsican-imported Gallurese. Some Italo-Romance languages that might have originated from Southern Corsican, but are also heavily influenced by
7169-591: The South of Porticcio, Bastelica , Col di Verde and Solenzara. Notable dialects are those from around Taravo (retroflex - dd - only for historical -ll- : frateddu , suredda , beddu ; preservation of the palatal lateral approximant : piglià , famiglia , figliolu , vogliu ; does not preserve the Latin short vowels: seccu , peru , rossu , croci , pozzu ), Sartène (preserving the Latin short vowels: siccu , piru , russu , cruci , puzzu ; changing historical -rn- to -rr- : forru , carri , corru ; substituting
7276-543: The Tuscans, who then proceeded to settle in Sardinia and slowly displace the indigenous Logudorese Sardinian varieties spoken therein (at present, Luras is the only town in the middle of Gallura that has retained the original language). On the Maddalena archipelago , which was culturally Corsican but had been annexed to the Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia a short while before Corsica was ceded by Genoa to France in 1767,
7383-405: The articles u and a for il/lo and la respectively; however, both the dialect of Cap Corse and Gallurese retain the original articles lu and la ). On the other hand, the phonemes of the modern Corsican dialects have undergone complex and sometimes irregular phenomena depending on phonological context, so the pronunciation of the language for foreigners familiar with other Romance languages
7490-558: The broader Italian sphere, considering Corsican "one of the lowest, impure dialects of Italy". It was the Italian Fascist aggressive claims to the island in the 20th century, followed by their invasion , that provoked a popular backlash, estranging the native islanders from standard Italian and, if anything, only accelerated their shifting to the French even further. By the Liberation of France , any previously existing link between
7597-438: The country's national language is analogous to that of many other French regions and provinces, which have or used to have a traditional language of their own, even though the islanders' switch from their local idiom to regional French has happened relatively later and the presence of Corsican, albeit declining, is still strongly felt among the population. In 1980, about 70 percent of the island's population "had some command of
7704-524: The digraph or trigraph but might be just the non-nasal vowel followed by the consonant at full weight. The speaker must know the difference. Example of nasal: ⟨pane⟩ is pronounced [ˈpãnɛ] and not [ˈpanɛ] . The Northern and central dialects in the vicinity of the Taravo river adopt the Italian seven-vowel system, whereas all the Southern ones around the so-called "archaic zone" with its centre being
7811-493: The dividing lines between them were blurred enough that the locals needed little else but a change of register to communicate in an official setting. "Tuscanising" their tongue, or as the Corsican elites would have once said, parlà in crusca ("speaking in crusca ", from the name of the Academy dedicated to the standardisation of the Italian language), allowed for a practice not of code-switching , but rather of code-mixing which
7918-497: The evolution of Corsican starting from about the year 1950, whereas "distanciated Corsican" refers to an idealized variety of Corsican following linguistic purism , by means of removing any French-derived elements. The two most widely spoken forms of the Corsican language are the groups spoken in the Bastia and Corte area (generally throughout the northern half of the island, known as Haute-Corse , Cismonte or Corsica suprana ), and
8025-569: The figure for the March 1999 census, when most of the studies—though not the linguistic survey work referenced in this article—were performed, was about 261,000. Only a fraction of the population at either time spoke Corsican with any fluency. According to an official survey run on behalf of the Territorial Collectivity of Corsica which took place in April 2013, in Corsica, the Corsican language had
8132-500: The first Greek settlers and then to other peoples such as the Latins. At the beginning of our era, Corsica underwent Romanization. In the Middle Ages, the local population of Corsica mixed with a minority of Greeks Byzantines, Germanic Ostrogoths , Franks and Lombards . In the 9th century , Corsica was conquered by Arabs and Muslims from Spain, and in the 11th and 18th centuries the Pisans and
8239-444: The general Corsican traits: distinu , ghjinnaghju , sicondu , billezza , apartu , farru , marcuri , cantaraghju , uttanta , mumentu , tuccà , cuntinentale , aliva , arechja , acellu ). Across the Northern and Southern borders of the line separating the Northern dialects from the Southern ones, there is a transitional area picking up linguistic phenomena associated with either of
8346-515: The groups spoken around Sartène and Porto-Vecchio (generally throughout the southern half of the island, known as Corse-du-Sud , Pumonti or Corsica suttana ). The dialect of Ajaccio has been described as in transition. The dialects spoken at Calvi and Bonifacio ( Bonifacino ) are dialects of the Ligurian language . This division along the Girolata-Porto Vecchio line was due to
8453-475: The island from the Republic of Genoa (1768); by 1859, French had replaced Italian as Corsica's first language so much so that, by the time of the Liberation of France (1945), nearly every islander had at least a working-knowledge of French. The 20th century saw a vast language shift , with the islanders adapting and changing their communications to the extent that there were no monolingual Corsican-speakers left by
8560-1001: The island, actually originated from the Northeastern part of Nuragic Sardinia ( Gallura ). According to Ptolemy , the Corsi were formed by a composite number of tribes that dwelt in Corsica (namely the Belatones or Belatoni , the Cervini , the Cilebenses or Cilibensi , the Cumanenses or Cumanesi , the Licinini , the Macrini , the Opini , the Subasani , the Sumbri , the Tarabeni ,
8667-479: The island: it is a Romance language pertaining to the Italo-Dalmatian branch and akin to medieval Tuscan . Corsican was long the vernacular language besides Italian ( Italiano ), which retained official status in Corsica until 1859. Since then, Italian as the island's traditional prestige language has been replaced by French due to the annexation of the island by France in 1768. Over the next two centuries,
8774-465: The language, ranging from the phonetics, morphology, lexicon to the syntax. One of the characteristics of standard Italian is the retention of the - re infinitive ending, as in Latin mittere "send"; such infinitival ending is lost in Tuscan as well as Corsican, resulting in the outcome mette / metta , "to put". Whereas the relative pronoun in Italian for "who" is chi and "what" is che / (che) cosa , it
8881-530: The late empire. Modern Corsican has been influenced by the languages of the major powers taking an interest in Corsican affairs; earlier by those of the medieval Italian powers, such as the Papal States (828–1077), the Republic of Pisa (1077–1282) and the Republic of Genoa (1282–1768), and finally by France which, since 1859, has promulgated the official Parisian French. The term " gallicised Corsican" refers to
8988-475: The local dialect (called isulanu or maddaleninu ) was brought by fishermen and shepherds from Bonifacio over a long period of immigration in the 17th and 18th centuries. Though influenced by Gallurese, it has maintained the original characteristics of Southern Corsican. In the dialect of maddalenino , as it is known in Italian, there are also numerous words of Genoese and Ponzese origin. Although Gallurese and Sassarese both belong to Italo-Dalmatian , which
9095-493: The local economy). Later, the departures have become more considerable owing to the demographic strain caused by First World War . Notes: Essentially Pieds-Noirs who resettled in Corsica after the independence of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, many of whom had Corsican ancestry. An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who didn't have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but
9202-473: The massive immigration from Tuscany which took place in Corsica during the lower Middle Ages: as a result, the northern Corsican dialects became very close to a central Italian dialect like Tuscan, while the southern Corsican varieties could keep the original characteristics of the language which make it much more similar to Sicilian and, only to some extent, Sardinian . The Northern Corsican macro variety ( Supranacciu , Supranu , Cismuntincu or Cismontano )
9309-431: The monastery closed its doors and were published there. Research into earlier evidence of Corsican is ongoing. Corsican is written in the standard Latin script , using 21 of the letters for native words. The letters j, k, w, x, and y are found only in foreign names and French vocabulary. The digraphs and trigraphs chj , ghj , sc and sg are also defined as "letters" of the alphabet in its modern scholarly form (compare
9416-494: The most part and there was not in them that politeness that one sees among the Italians. They are "extremely cruel" and still retain what Caesar said of them for this look, nevertheless there are some very good soldiers and brave strong men among them. Moreover, they are so vindictive that the Italians have a common proverb which says that one should not trust a Corsican, neither alive nor dead, because as soon as someone has been killed, suddenly all his relatives come together to kill
9523-459: The murderer if it is possible for them. In subsequent centuries, Corsica was ruled and settled by Pisans (from 1050 to 1295) and the Genoese (from 1295 to 1755, when the island broke free from La Superba ): this is reflected in the fact that around 80% of the modern Corsican surnames ( Casanova , Luciani , Agostini , Colonna , Paoli , Bartoli , Rossi , Albertini , Filippi , Cesari , etc.)
9630-510: The over-65 age group: almost a quarter of the former age group reported that they were not able to understand Corsican, while only a small minority of the older people did not understand it. While 32 percent of the population of Northern Corsica was reported to speak Corsican quite well, this percentage dropped to 22 percent for Southern Corsica. Moreover, 10 percent of the population of Corsica spoke only French, while 62 percent code-switched between French and at least some Corsican. 8 percent of
9737-467: The population "had some command of the Corsican language." In 1990 out of a total population of about 254,000 the percentage had declined to 50%, with only 10% using it as a first language. The language appeared to be in serious decline when the French government reversed its non-supportive stand and began some strong measures to save it. Whether these measures will succeed remains to be seen. No recent statistics on Corsican are available. UNESCO classifies
9844-458: The preferred form of the literary tradition of his time was the vocero , a type of polyphonic ballad originating from funeral obsequies. These laments were similar in form to the chorales of Greek drama except that the leader could improvise. Some performers were noted at this, such as the 1700s Mariola della Piazzole and Clorinda Franseschi. However, the trail of written popular literature of known date in Corsican currently goes no further back than
9951-404: The presence of ch or ll in the old Spanish alphabet) and appear respectively after c , g and s . The primary diacritic used is the grave accent , indicating word stress when it is not penultimate . In scholarly contexts, disyllables may be distinguished from diphthongs by use of the diaeresis on the former vowel (as in Italian and distinct from French and English). In older writing,
10058-603: The rediscovery of Corsican culture. Nationalist calls for Corsican to be put on the same footing as French led the French National Assembly, in 1974, to extend the 1951 Deixonne Law, which initially recognized only a few languages ( Breton , Basque , Catalan and Occitan ), to including Corsican as well, among others, not as a dialect of Italian, but as one of France's full-fledged regional languages.(See governmental support .) The common relationship between Corsica and central Italy can be traced from as far back as
10165-590: The said masters were angry for having put their money into it, although they would have cost them very little. For several centuries the Corsicans suffered raids from the Barbary and many captured Corsicans were enslaved in North Africa. Some of these slaves converted to Islam and became renegades in the service of the Ottoman Empire , they in turn captured other Corsicans. Among these renegades are Hasan Corso , Mami Corso and Murad I Bey (born Giacomo Senti) who founded
10272-659: The stop for the palatal lateral approximant: piddà , famidda , fiddolu , voddu ; imperfect tense like cantàvami , cantàvani ; masculine plurals ending in a : l'ochja , i poma ; having eddu/edda/eddi as personal pronouns), the Alta Rocca (the most conservative area in Corsica, being very close to the varieties spoken in Northern Sardinia), and the Southern region located between the hinterlands of Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio (masculine singulars always ending in u : fiumu , paesu , patronu ; masculine plurals always ending in
10379-482: The studies – though not the linguistic survey work referenced in this article – were performed, was about 261,000 (see under Corsica ). Only a fraction of the population at either time spoke Corsican with any fluency. The 2001 population of 341,000 speakers on the island given by Ethnologue exceeds either census and thus may be considered questionable, like its estimate of 402,000 speakers worldwide. The use of Corsican over French has been declining. In 1980 about 70% of
10486-511: The town of Sartène (including the Gallurese dialect spoken in Northern Sardinia) resort to a five-vowel system without length differentiation, like Sardinian . The vowel inventory, or collection of phonemic vowels (and the major allophones), transcribed in IPA symbols, is: Hasan Corso Hasan Corso (born Pietro Paolo Tavera ) was the mayor of Algiers and caliph of Salah Rais . Corso
10593-859: The two groups, with some local peculiarities. Along the Northern line are the dialects around Piana and Calcatoggio , from Cinarca with Vizzavona (which form the conditional as in the South), and Fiumorbo through Ghisonaccia and Ghisoni, which have the retroflex [ɖ] sound (written -dd- ) for historical -ll- ; along the Southern line, the dialects of Ajaccio (retroflex -dd- , realized as - ghj -, feminine plurals ending in i , some Northern words like cane and accattà instead of ghjacaru and cumprà , as well as ellu / ella and not eddu / edda ; minor variations: sabbatu > sabbitu , u li dà > ghi lu dà ; final syllables often stressed and truncated: marinari > marinà , panatteri > panattè , castellu > castè , cuchjari > cuchjà ),
10700-432: The two linguistic varieties and with Italy altogether had been severed; any promotion of Corsican, which had been politicized by the local collaborators with the regime, would be met with popular criticism and even suspicion of potentially harboring irredentist sentiments. From then on, Corsican would grow independently of Italian to become, later in the 1970s, a centerpiece of the Riacquistu ("reacquisition") movement for
10807-440: The use of French grew to the extent that, by the Liberation in 1945, all islanders had a working knowledge of French. The twentieth century saw a wholesale language shift, with islanders changing their language practices to the extent that there were no monolingual Corsican speakers left by the 1960s. By 1990, an estimated 50% of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican, and a small minority, perhaps 10%, used Corsican as
10914-594: The year 2000) and is a voluntary subject at the secondary school level, but is required at the University of Corsica. It is available through adult education. It can be spoken in court or in the conduct of other government business if the officials concerned speak it. The Cultural Council of the Corsican Assembly advocates for its use, for example, on public signs. In 2023, in a judgement initiated by local prefect and going in opposite direction of recent trends, usage of
11021-585: Was also typical of the early Italian texts during the Middle Ages. Even after the acquisition of Corsica by Louis XV , Italian continued to be the island's language of education, literature, religion and local affairs. The affluent youth still went to Italy to pursue higher studies. (It has been estimated that Corsican presence in Pisa amounted to a fourth of the University 's total student body in 1830.) Local civil registers continued to be written in Italian until 1855; it
11128-473: Was born on the island of Corsica . When he was five years old, he was taken away to Istanbul , and became a member of the janissaries . He was giving military education and educated in the Muslim religion and Turkish language. The Turkish gave him the name Hassan Corso, and sent him to Algiers . He rapidly rose through the janissary ranks and earned the title of Agha . One of his principal lieutenants Ali " Sardo "
11235-407: Was brought by shepherds from Alta Rocca and Sartène in southern Corsica during immigration in the 17th to 18th centuries. Though influenced by Gallurese, it has maintained the original characteristics of Corsican. There are also numerous words of Genoese and Ponzese origin. The January 2007 estimated population of the island was 281,000, while the figure for the March 1999 census, when most of
11342-449: Was in the territory of Pisa , acquired about 40 legal papers of various sorts related to Corsica. As the church was replacing Pisan prelates with Corsican ones there, the legal language shows a transition from entirely Latin through partially Latin and partially Corsican to entirely Corsican. The first known surviving document containing some Corsican is a bill of sale from Patrimonio dated to 1220. These documents were moved to Pisa before
11449-592: Was on 9 May 1859, that Italian was replaced by French as the island's official language, although the latter would start to take root among the islanders from 1882 onwards, through the Jules Ferry laws aimed at spreading literacy across the French provinces. Even so, a specifically homegrown Corsican (rather than Italian) literature in Corsica only developed belatedly and, in its earliest phase, there were no autonomous cultural instances; Corsican writers, such as Salvatore Viale, even prided themselves on their affiliation to
#216783