View source for Corsican language

{{short description|Italo-Dalmatian language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Corsican
| nativename       = {{lang|co|corsu}}, {{lang|co|lingua corsa}}
| ethnicity        = [[Corsicans]]
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|co|ˈkorsu|}}
| states           = {{ubl|[[France]]|[[Italy]]}}
| region           = {{ubl|[[Corsica]]|[[Sardinia]] (<small>Northern</small>)}}
| speakers         = 150,000 in [[Corsica]]<!--data only supports 1 sig fig-->
| date             = 2013
| ref              = e23
| speakers2        = 
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3             = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4             = [[Latin]]
| fam5             = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6             = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7             = [[Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Dalmatian]]
| fam8             = [[Italo-Dalmatian languages#Italo-Romance|Italo-Romance]]
| fam9             = [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]]
| dia1             = [[#Northern Corsican|Northern Corsican]]
| dia2             = [[#Southern Corsican|Southern Corsican]]
| dia3             = [[Gallurese]]{{efn|name=fn1|Gallurese and Sassarese are sometimes considered separate languages spoken by minority groups with distinct identity.}}
| dia4             = [[Sassarese language|Sassarese]]{{efn|name=fn1}}
| dia5             = [[#Transitional area|Central Corsican]]
| dia6             = [[Capraiese (semi-Corsican dialect)]]{{extinct}}{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
| dia7             = [[Castellanese]]
| script           = [[Latin script]] ([[Corsican alphabet]])
| minority         = [[Corsica]]
| agency           = ''No official regulation''
| iso1             = co
| iso2             = cos
| lc1              = cos
| ld1              = Corsican
| lc2              = 
| ld2              = 
| lc3              = 
| ld3              = 
| lingua           = 51-AAA-p
| glotto           = cors1241
| glottoname       = Corsican
| glottorefname    = 
| glotto2          = sass1235
| glottoname2      = Sassarese Sardinian
| glottorefname2   = 
| map              = Idioma corso.png
| mapcaption       = Spread of Corsican dialects
| map2             = Lang Status 60-DE.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|{{small|Corsican is classified as Definitely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''}}}}
| notice           = IPA
}}

'''Corsican''' ({{lang|co|corsu}}, {{IPA|co|ˈkorsu|pron}}, or {{lang|co|lingua corsa}}, {{IPA|co|ˈliŋɡwa ˈɡorsa|pron}}) is a [[Romance languages|Romance language]] which consists of a [[Dialect continuum|continuum]] of [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan dialects]] spoken on the [[Mediterranean]] island of [[Corsica]], a [[Single territorial collectivity|territory of France]], and in the northern regions of the island of [[Sardinia]], an [[Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute|autonomous region of Italy]]. It is closely related to, and mutually intelligible with, [[Italian language|Standard Italian]] which is based on its sister [[Florentine dialect]].

Corsica is situated approximately 123.9&nbsp;km (77.0 miles; 66 [[nautical mile]]s) off the western coast of [[Tuscany]]; and with historical connections, the Corsican language is considered a part of [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan varieties]], from that part of the [[Italian peninsula]], and thus is closely related to [[Florentine dialect|Florentine]]-based [[Italian language|standard Italian]].

Under the long-standing influence of Tuscany's [[Republic of Pisa|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 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 [[Monolingualism|monolingual]] Corsican-speakers left by the 1960s. By 1995, an estimated 65% of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-340.html|title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger|publisher=UNESCO|url-status=dead|access-date=18 March 2018|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011042825/http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-340.html}}</ref> and a minority of around 10% used Corsican as a first language.<ref name="cif">{{cite web|title=Corsican in France|url=http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/homean/index1.html|publisher=Euromosaic|access-date=2008-06-13}} To access the data, click on List by languages, Corsican, Corsican in France, then scroll to ''Geographical and language background''.</ref>

== Classification ==
[[File:Romance-lg-classification-en.svg|thumb|Chart of Romance languages based on structural and comparative criteria.]]
Corsican is classed as a regional language under French law. It is almost universally agreed that Corsican is typologically and traditionally [[Italo-Romance]],{{Sfn|Dalbera-Stefanaggi|2002|p=3}} but its specific position therein is more controversial. Some scholars argue that Corsican belongs to the Centro-Southern Italian dialects,{{Sfn|Guarnerio|1902|pp=491–516}} while others are of the opinion that it is closely related to, or as part of, Italy's [[Tuscan dialect]] varieties.<ref>Multiple sources:
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lw5tyca_07YC|first=Bernardino|last=Biondelli|title=Studi linguistici|year=1856|publisher=Giuseppe Bernardoni|place=Milano|page=186}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Corsica#ref886344|title=Corsica|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=9 November 2023 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia|url=https://cdn.britannica.com/42/2042-050-3B10A82E/Distribution-Romance-languages-Europe.jpg|title=Distribution of the Romance languages in Europe|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}
</ref>{{Sfn|Cortelazzo|1988|p=452}}{{Sfn|Tagliavini|1972|p=395}} Italian and the dialects of Corsican (especially Northern Corsican) are in fact very [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]]. Southern Corsican, in spite of the geographical proximity, has as its closest linguistic neighbour not [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] (a separate group with which it is not mutually intelligible), but rather the [[Extreme Southern Italian]] dialects like [[Sicilian language|Siculo]]-[[Languages of Calabria|Calabrian]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Fusina|Ettori|1981|p=12}}: "Au sud, on sera peut-être surpris de constater que la plus proche parenté n'est pas avec le sarde, pourtant si proche dans l'espace, mais avec les dialectes de l'Italie méridionale, notamment le calabrais. Un Corse du Sud parlant corse en toscane sera identifié comme calabrais; un corse du nord parlant corse en Sardaigne centrale sera identifié comme italien; quand à un sarde parlant sarde dans la péninsule, il ne sera pas compris." ["To the South, it may come as a surprise that the closest [linguistic] neighbor is not Sardinian, even if it is so close geographically. The closest neighbor is to be found in the Southern Italian dialects, especially in Calabrian. A Southern Corsican who speaks Corsican in Tuscany will be identified as Calabrian; a Northern Corsican who speaks Corsican in inner Sardinia will be identified as Italian; and, finally, a Sardinian-speaking Sardinian in the [Italian] peninsula will not be understood at all."]</ref> 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harris|Vincent|2000|p=315}}: "Evidence from early manuscripts suggests that the language spoken throughout Sardinia, and indeed Corsica, at the end of the Dark Ages was fairly uniform and not very different from the dialects spoken today in the central (Nuorese) areas."</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Renzi|Andreose|2009|p=56}}: "Originariamente le varietà corse presentavano numerose affinità col sardo, ma hanno subito l'influenza toscana nel corso dei secoli a causa della forte penetrazione pisana soprattutto nel centro-nord dell'isola."</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Lubello|2016|p=141}}: "Malgrado la maggior durata della dominazione ligure, prolungatasi fino al XVIII secolo, le varietà romanze locali (specie quelle settentrionali) sono state influenzate soprattutto dalle parlate toscane, a tal punto che i dialetti còrsi, originariamente non dissimili dal sardo, costituiscono oggi il gruppo romanzo linguisticamente più affine al sistema dei dialetti toscani."</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Posner |first1=Rebecca |last2=Sala |first2=Marius |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sardinian-language| title = Sardinian language |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

The matter is controversial in light of the historical, cultural and particularly strong linguistic bonds that Corsica had traditionally formed with the Italian Mainland from the Middle Ages until the 19th century: in contrast to the neighbouring [[Sardinia]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Toso|2003|p=79}}: "Il rapporto di diglossia che si instaura tra corso e toscano, soprattutto a partire dal Cinquecento, non pare sostanzialmente diverso da quello che normalmente prevale nelle altre regioni italiane e che vede nella vicina Sardegna il livello alto occupato piuttosto dal catalano o dal castigliano."</ref> Corsica's installment into a [[Diglossia|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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fusina|Ettori|1981|p=81}}: "Pendant des siècles, toscan et corse ont formé un couple perçu par les locuteurs comme deux niveaux de la même langue."</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Dalbera-Stefanaggi|2000|pp=250–251}}: "C'est une province de langue italienne qui rejoint l'ensemble français en 1768. De langue italienne aux deux sens du mot langue : langue véhiculaire –  officielle – et langue vernaculaire. Le lien génétique qui unit les deux systèmes linguistiques est en effet très étroit si bien que les deux variétés peuvent fonctionner comme les deux niveaux d'une même langue. Encore convient-il de regarder de plus près en quoi consiste l'italianité dialectale de la Corse : plus complexe, mais sans doute aussi plus fondamentale et plus ancienne que l'italianité " officielle ", c'est elle qui inscrit véritablement notre île au cœur de l'espace italo-roman."</ref> Corsican and Italian traditionally existed on a spectrum, and the dividing lines between them were blurred enough that the locals needed little else but a change of [[Register (sociolinguistics)|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 [[Accademia della Crusca|Academy]] dedicated to the standardisation of the Italian language),{{Sfn|Jaffe|1999|p=72}} allowed for a practice not of [[code-switching]], but rather of [[code-mixing]] which is quite typical of the Mainland Italian dialects.{{Sfn|Arrighi|2002|p=51}} 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dalbera-Stefanaggi|2000|p=269}}: "L'italien, bien sûr, c'est différent du corse, mais guère plus que le corse du nord pour les gens du sud et inversement : l'italien, on l'a vu, c'est toujours l'autre, mais l'autre si proche."</ref> 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 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.{{Sfn|Jaffe|1999|p=72}}

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]]).{{Sfn|Dalbera-Stefanaggi|2002|p=11}} The correspondence of modern Corsican to ancient Tuscan can be seen from almost any aspect of the language, ranging from the phonetics, morphology, lexicon to the syntax.{{Sfn|Dalbera-Stefanaggi|2002|p=11}} 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 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''.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Ledgeway |editor1-first=Adam |editor2-last=Maiden |editor2-first=Martin |title=The Oxford guide to the Romance languages |publisher=Oxford University Press| place=Oxford |page=208 |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-967710-8}}</ref> For example, the Italian demonstrative pronouns ''questo'' "this" and ''quello'' "that" become in Corsican ''questu'' or ''quistu'' and ''quellu'' or ''quiddu'': this feature 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 of Pisa|University]]'s total student body in 1830.) Local civil registers continued to be written in Italian until 1855; it was on 9 May 1859, that Italian was replaced by French as the island's official language,{{Sfn|Abalain|2007|p=113}} 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.{{Sfn|Jaffe|1999|p=71}} 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;<ref>{{Harvnb|Toso|2003|p=79}}: "A differenza che in altre regioni d'Italia non nasce quindi in Corsica, se non tardivamente, una letteratura dialettale riflessa secondo la nota categorizzazione crociana, ne tanto meno una letteratura regionale portatrice di autonome istanze ideologiche e culturali, come avviene invece in Liguria o in Sardegna."</ref> Corsican writers, such as Salvatore Viale, even prided themselves on their affiliation to the broader Italian sphere, considering Corsican "one of the lowest, impure dialects of Italy".<ref>{{Cite book |quote=Dalla lettura di queste canzoni si vedrà che i Corsi non hanno, né certo finora aver possono, altra poesia o letteratura, fuorchè l'italiana. [...] E la lingua corsa è pure italiana; ed è stata anzi finora uno dei meno impuri dialetti d'Italia. |first=Salvatore |last=Viale |title=Canti popolari corsi con note |year=1855 |page=4 |place=Bastia |publisher=Stamperia di Cesare Fabiani |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cv8FlaWBx_kC |language=it |oclc=83876409}}</ref>

It was the [[Italian Fascism|Italian Fascist]] [[Italian irredentism in Corsica|aggressive claims to the island]] in the 20th century, followed by [[Italian occupation of Corsica|their invasion]], that provoked a popular backlash, estranging the native islanders from standard Italian and, if anything, only accelerated their [[Language shift|shifting]] to the French even further.{{Sfn|Dalbera-Stefanaggi|2002|p=16}} By the [[Liberation of France]], any previously existing link between 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 [[Italian irredentism|irredentist]] sentiments.{{Sfn|Arrighi|2002|pp=73–74}} From then on, Corsican would grow independently of Italian to become, later in the 1970s, a centerpiece of the ''Riacquistu'' ("reacquisition") movement for the rediscovery of Corsican culture. [[Corsican nationalism|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 language|Breton]], [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Occitan language|Occitan]]),<ref>{{cite act |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000886638/ |title=Loi n°51-46 du 11 janvier 1951 relative à l'enseignement des langues et dialectes locaux *Loi Dexonne* |index=51-46 |publisher=Government of France |date=11 January 1951}}</ref> to including Corsican as well, among others, not as a dialect of Italian, but as one of France's full-fledged regional languages. (See [[Corsican language#Governmental support|governmental support]].)

== Origins ==
{{See also|Paleo-Corsican language|Tuscan dialect}}
The common relationship between Corsica and [[central Italy]] can be traced from as far back as the [[Etruscans]], who asserted their presence on the island in as early as 500 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jehasse |first=Olivier |chapter=Corsica |title=Etruscology |editor-first=Alessandro |editor-last=Naso |date=2017 |pages=1641–1652 |isbn=978-1-934078-48-8 |doi=10.1515/9781934078495-083}}</ref> 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 [[Paleo-Corsican language|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 the [[Greek people|Greeks]], the [[Ligures]] (see [[Prehistory of Corsica#Ligurian hypothesis|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.<ref>{{cite web |quote=Haec ipsa insula saepe iam cultores mutauit. Vt antiquiora, quae uetustas obduxit, transeam, Phocide relicta Graii qui nunc Massiliam incolunt prius in hac insula consederunt [...] Transierunt deinde Ligures in eam, transierunt et Hispani, quod ex similitudine ritus apparet; eadem enim tegmenta capitum idemque genus calciamenti quod Cantabris est, et uerba quaedam; nam totus sermo conuersatione Graecorum Ligurumque a patrio desciuit. |url=https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sen/sen.consolatione3.shtml |title=Ad Helviam matrem de consolatione |author=Seneca |language=la |via=The Latin Library}}, VII</ref> 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 the late empire.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

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 "[[Francization|gallicised]] Corsican" refers to 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.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Corsican distanciation strategies: Language purification or misguided attempts to reverse the gallicisation process?|first=Robert J.|last=Blackwood|journal=Multilingua – Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication|volume=23|issue=3|pages=233–255|date=August 2004|doi=10.1515/mult.2004.011}}</ref>

== Dialects ==
=== Corsica ===
The two most widely spoken forms of the Corsican language are the groups spoken in the [[Bastia]] and [[Corte, Haute-Corse|Corte]] area (generally throughout the northern half of the island, known as [[Haute-Corse]], ''Cismonte'' or ''Corsica suprana''), and the groups spoken around [[Sartène]] and [[Porto-Vecchio]] (generally throughout the southern half of the island, known as [[Corse-du-Sud]], ''Pumonti'' or {{lang|co|Corsica suttana}}). The dialect of [[Ajaccio]] has been described as in transition. The dialects spoken at [[Calvi, Haute-Corse|Calvi]] and [[Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud|Bonifacio]] ([[Bonifacino dialect|Bonifacino]]) are dialects of the [[Ligurian language]].

This division along the Girolata-Porto Vecchio line was due to 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 language|Sicilian]] and, only to some extent, [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]].

==== Northern Corsican ====
The Northern Corsican macro variety (''Supranacciu'', ''Supranu'', ''Cismuntincu'' or ''Cismontano'') 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 dialect|Florentine]], the closest to standard Italian. All the dialects presenting, in addition to what has already been stated, the conditional formed in {{lang|co|-ebbe}} (e.g. {{lang|co|(ella) amarebbe}} "she would love") are generally considered ''Cismontani'' dialects, situated north of a line uniting the villages of [[Piana, Corsica|Piana]], [[Vico, Corse-du-Sud|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: {{lang|co|ottanta}}, {{lang|co|momentu}}, {{lang|co|toccà}}, {{lang|co|continentale}}; a > o: {{lang|co|oliva}}, {{lang|co|orechja}}, {{lang|co|ocellu}}), Balagna, Niolo and Corte (which retain the general Corsican traits: {{lang|co|distinu}}, {{lang|co|ghjinnaghju}}, {{lang|co|sicondu}}, {{lang|co|billezza}}, {{lang|co|apartu}}, {{lang|co|farru}}, {{lang|co|marcuri}}, {{lang|co|cantaraghju}}, {{lang|co|uttanta}}, {{lang|co|mumentu}}, {{lang|co|tuccà}}, {{lang|co|cuntinentale}}, {{lang|co|aliva}}, {{lang|co|arechja}}, {{lang|co|acellu}}).

==== Transitional area ====
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 the two groups, with some local peculiarities. Along the Northern line are the dialects around [[Piana, Corsica|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 {{IPA|co|ɖ|}} sound (written ''-dd-'') for historical {{smallcaps|-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'', {{lang|co|panatteri}} > ''panattè'', ''castellu'' > ''castè'', ''cuchjari'' > ''cuchjà''), 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''.

==== Southern Corsican ====
{{see also|Paleo-Corsican language}}
[[File:Maps of Corsican Dialects.svg|right|thumb|The distribution of Corsican dialects in Corsica and Sardinia.]]
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 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 the South of Porticcio, [[Bastelica]], Col di Verde and Solenzara. Notable dialects are those from around [[Taravo]] (retroflex -''dd''- only for historical {{smallcaps|-ll-}}: ''frateddu'', ''suredda'', ''beddu''; preservation of the [[palatal lateral approximant]]: ''piglià'', ''famiglia'', ''figliolu'', {{lang|co|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 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 ''a'': ''i letta'', ''i solda'', ''i ponta'', ''i foca'', ''i mura'', ''i loca'', ''i balcona''; imperfect tense like ''cantàiami'', ''cantàiani'').

=== Sardinia ===
{{Main|Gallurese|Sassarese language}}
[[File:Gallurese.png|right|thumb|Languages in northern Sardinia]]
{{Blockquote|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), 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.{{Efn|"Il sassarese deriva dalla lingua italiana e, più precisamente, dal toscano antico, poi trasformatosi lentamente in dialetto popolare fin dal secolo XII, quando ancora i borghesi e i nobili parlavano in sardo logudorese. Durante l'età del Libero Comune (1294–1323), il dialetto sassarese non-era altro che un pisano contaminato, al quale si aggiungevano espressioni sarde, corse e spagnole; non è quindi un dialetto autoctono, ma continentale e, meglio determinandolo, un sotto – dialetto toscano misto, con caratteri propri, diverso dal gallurese di importazione corsa.}}|Mario Pompeo Coradduzza, ''Il sistema del dialetto'', 2004, Introduzione}}

Some Italo-Romance languages that might have originated from Southern Corsican, but are also heavily influenced by 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 language|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 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 [[House of Savoy|Savoyard]] [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]] a short while before Corsica was ceded by [[Genoa]] to France in 1767,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comunelamaddalena.it/it/contenuti/articoli/dettagli/980/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020063430/http://www.comunelamaddalena.it/it/contenuti/articoli/dettagli/980/ |archive-date=2020-10-20 |title=La Maddalena nella storia|first=Giovanna |last=Sotgiu|website=Official website of the Maddalena Commune}}</ref> 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 dialect|Genoese]] and [[Ponza|Ponzese]] origin.{{Efn|For more information, see {{Harvnb|de Martino|1996}}.}}

Although Gallurese and Sassarese both belong to [[Italo-Dalmatian]], which 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://maxia-mail.doomby.com/medias/files/atti-convegno-palau-2014-def.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309071517/http://maxia-mail.doomby.com/medias/files/atti-convegno-palau-2014-def.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-09 |url-status=live |title=Ciurrata Internaziunali di la Linga Gadduresa |publisher=Accademia di la Lingua Gadduresa |date=6 December 2014 |language=it}}</ref> It has been argued that all these varieties should be placed in a single category, [[Southern Romance languages|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 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 the Sardinian government on a regional level.<ref>{{cite act |url=http://www.regione.sardegna.it/j/v/86?v=9&c=72&s=1&file=1997026 |title=Legge Regionale 15 ottobre 1997, n. 26 |index=26 |date=15 October 1997 |access-date=2008-06-16 |publisher=Autonomous Region of Sardinia |article=2, paragraph 4 |language=it }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301195804/http://www.regione.sardegna.it/j/v/86?v=9&c=72&s=1&file=1997026 |date=1 March 2021 }}</ref>
<!--THIS MATERIAL EDITED FOR ACCURACY RELEVANCE AND FORMAT SHOULD GO UNDER THE ARTICLES ON THOSE LANGUAGES: This is a transitional language with many similarities to Southern Corsican.
This is transitional parlance between [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Dalmatian languages]]<ref name= Cos>{{cite book
|last=Enrico
|first=Costa
|title=Sassari
|date=1992
|publisher=Edizioni Gallizzi
|location = Sassari
|language=it
|pages=vol.I, pag.51
|quote=Ai Pisani dobbiamo anche il nostro dialetto, che per la maggior parte è quasi lo stesso che vi si parla oggi – una specie di toscano del secolo XIII – corrotto più tardi da un po' di corso e da molto spagnuolo.
|no-pp=true}}</ref><ref name=Cor>{{cite book
|last=Mario Pompeo
|first=Coradduzza
|title=Il sistema del dialetto
|date=2004
|location= Sassari
|language=it
|pages=Prefazione
|quote=''... il sassarese deriva dalla lingua italiana e, più precisamente, dal toscano antico, poi trasformatosi lentamente in dialetto popolare fin dal secolo XII, quando ancora i borghesi e i nobili parlavano in sardo logudorese. Durante l'età del Libero Comune (1294–1323), il dialetto sassarese non era altro che un pisano contaminato, al quale si aggiungevano espressioni sarde, corse e spagnole; non è quindi un dialetto autoctono, ma continentale e, meglio determinandolo, un sotto – dialetto toscano misto, con caratteri propri, diverso dal gallurese di importazione corsa.''
|no-pp=true}}</ref><ref name=Max>{{cite book
|last=Max Leopold
|first=Wagner
|chapter=The problem of the geographical region to be attributed to Gallurese and Sassarese
|title=Neolatin Culture 3
|date=1943
|language=it
|pages=243, 267
|quote=''a dialect of the people which, following all evidences was formed step by step starting from the XVI century, after the period in which various deadly pestilences decimated the population of the city; most of the surviving people were of Pisan and Corsican origin, also quite many of Genovese people was part of the population. In this way the hybrid dialect that nowadays is being spoken in Sassari, Porto Torres and Sorso came into being. Its basis is a corrupt Tuscan with Genovese traces and quite some Sardinian terms.''}}</ref> and [[Sardinian language]].<ref>{{cite book
|last=Mauro
|first=Maxia
|title=Studi storici sui dialetti della Sardegna settentrionale
|date=1999
|publisher=Studium Adf
|location = Sassari
|language=it
|pages=21,37
|quote=''Mentre il còrso della colonia sassarese subiva il forte influsso logudorese, specialmente nella sintassi e nel lessico''" and "''dopo il fortissimo influsso sardo subito dal còrso nel processo di sovrapposizione sull'originario logudorese''
}}</ref> It has several similarities to Italian and in particular the old dialects of Italian from [[Tuscany]].<ref name="Cos"/><ref name="Cor"/><ref name="Max"/>-->

=== Examples of the main Corsican varieties compared with standard Italian and Elba's Tuscan dialect ===
{| class="itwiki_template_toc" width="100%" style="text-align:center"
!bgcolor="#EFEFEF"| Language
!bgcolor="#EFEFEF"| Example
|-
| Standard Italian: I passatempi
| ''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 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.''
|-
| Western Elban: I passatempi
| 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 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 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.
|-
| Capraiese: I passatempi
| 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 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 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.
|-
| Northern Corsican: I passatempi
| 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 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 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.
|-
| Southern Corsican | I passatempi
| 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' 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.
|-
| Tavarese: I passatempi
| Socu natu in Corsica è v'aghju passatu i megliu anni di 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 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.
|-
| Gallurese: Li passatempi
| 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 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 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.
|-
| Castellanese: Li passatempi
| 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 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.
|-
| Sassarese:{{Efn|Words beginning with the "gi-" groups (like ''già'', ''girà'', etc.) can be pronounced in a iotic way too, i.e. substituting the 'g' with a 'j' (''ja'', ''jirà''...). Original note text: "Le parole che iniziano con il gruppo "gi-" (come ''già'', ''girà'', ecc.) possono essere anche pronunciate in maniera iotica, ossia sostituendo la 'g' con una 'j' (''ja'', ''jirà''...)"}} Li passatempi
| 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 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 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.
|}

== Number of speakers ==
The situation of Corsican with regard to French as 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 [[Varieties of French|regional French]] has happened relatively later and the presence of Corsican, albeit declining, is still strongly felt among the population.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dalbera-Stefanaggi|2002|p=17}}: "Dans l'ensemble, la situation est donc comparable à celle de bon nombre de provinces françaises, avec sans doute un retard dans l'application de la dernière étape, c'est-à-dire le passage du dialect au français régional: la conservation du dialecte, en Corse, est en effet un fait d'évidence, même si la régression est égalment évidente."</ref> In 1980, about 70 percent of the island's population "had some command of the Corsican language."<ref>{{cite web|title=Corsican language use survey|url=http://www.uoc.es/euromosaic/web/homean/index1.html|publisher=Euromosaic|access-date=2008-06-13}} To find this statement and the supporting data click on List by languages, Corsican, Corsican language use survey and look under ''INTRODUCTION''.</ref> 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.<ref name=cif/> 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 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 a number of speakers between 86,800 and 130,200, out of a total population amounting to 309,693 inhabitants.<ref name=inch>{{cite web|title=Inchiesta sociolinguistica nant'à a lingua corsa|url=http://www.corse.fr/linguacorsa/Inchiesta-sociolinguistica-nant-a-a-lingua-corsa_a123.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401174800/http://www.corse.fr/linguacorsa/Inchiesta-sociolinguistica-nant-a-a-lingua-corsa_a123.html |archive-date=2015-04-01 |publisher=Collectivité territoriale de Corse |access-date=4 December 2014|language=co}}</ref> 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 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.<ref name=inch/> 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.<ref name=inch/> Moreover, 10 percent of the population of Corsica spoke only French, while 62 percent [[code-switch]]ed between French and at least some Corsican.<ref name=inch/> 8 percent of the Corsicans knew how to write correctly in Corsican, while about 60 percent of the population did not know how to write in Corsican.<ref name=inch/> 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.<ref name=inch/>

[[UNESCO]] classifies Corsican as a "definitely endangered language."<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Moseley |editor-first=Christopher |date=2010 |title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |edition=3rd |location=Paris |publisher=UNESCO Publishing}}</ref> The Corsican language is a key vehicle for Corsican culture, which is notably rich in [[proverb]]s and in [[polyphony|polyphonic]] song.

== Governmental support ==
[[Image:Corsican nationalism.jpg|thumb|Bilingual road-signs, with the official ([[Institut géographique national|IGN]]) names (often with their roots in Italian) being crossed out by some [[Corsican nationalism|local nationalists]].]]
When the French Assembly passed the Deixonne Law in 1951, which made it possible for regional languages to be taught at school, [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]], [[French Flemish|Flemish]] and Corsican were not included on the ground of being classified as ''dialectes allogènes'' of German, Dutch and Italian respectively,{{Sfn|Delamotte-Legrand|François|Porcher|1997}} i.e. dialects of foreign languages and not languages in themselves.{{Sfn|Sibille|2019|p=85–107}} Only in 1974 were they too politically recognized as regional languages for their teaching on 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Insular Autonomy: A Framework for Conflict Settlement? A Comparative Study of Corsica and the Åland Islands|first=Farimah|last=Daftary|publisher=European Centre For Minority Issues (ECMI)|date=October 2000|url=http://www.ecmi.de/download/working_paper_9.pdf|access-date=2008-06-13|pages=10–11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002120938/http://www.ecmi.de/download/working_paper_9.pdf|archive-date=2008-10-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the primary school level Corsican is taught up to a fixed number of hours per week (three in the year 2000) and is a voluntary subject at the secondary school level,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barat |first=Michel |date=9 September 2010 |language=fr |url=http://www.ac-corse.fr/lcc_20/file/1890/ |title=Dispositif académique d'enseignement de la langue corse dans le premier degré, année scolaire 2010–2011 |publisher=Academy of Corsica |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703133923/http://www.ac-corse.fr/lcc_20/file/1890/ |archive-date=2014-07-03}}</ref> 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 the Corsican language in French public offices and the regional parliament was legally banned, the existence of the "Corsican people" was also deemed unconstitutional.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=10 March 2023 |title=Corsican language ban stirs protest on French island |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/10/corsica-language-ban-stirs-protest-on-french-island |access-date=2023-03-11 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

== Literature ==
According to the anthropologist Dumenica Verdoni, writing new literature in modern Corsican, known as the ''Riacquistu'', is an integral part of affirming Corsican identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Etat / identités : de la culture du conflit à la culture du projet |url=http://www.interromania.com/studii/sunta/verdoni/etats_identites.htm |first=Dumenica |last=Verdoni |publisher=Centru Culturale Universita di Corsica |work=InterRomania |access-date=2008-06-17 |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511144805/http://www.interromania.com/studii/sunta/verdoni/etats_identites.htm |archive-date=2008-05-11 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some individuals have returned from careers in continental France to write in Corsican, including Dumenicu Togniotti, director of 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.<ref>{{cite book |page=53 |title=Music and Gender: Perspectives from the Mediterranean |first=Tullia |last=Magrini |year=2003 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-50166-3}}</ref> Modern prose writers include Alanu di Meglio, Ghjacumu Fusina, Lucia Santucci, and Marcu Biancarelli.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Corsican Literature Today |first=Paul-Michel |last=Filippi |journal=Transcript |issue=17 |year=2008 |url=https://www.transcript-review.org/en/issue/transcript-17-corsica/editorial.html |access-date=2008-06-26}}</ref>

There were writers working in Corsican in the 1700s and 1800s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Auteurs |url=http://www.adecec.net/adecec-net/Anthologie/liste.php?debut=0 |publisher=ADECEC |access-date=2008-06-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627074830/http://www.adecec.net/adecec-net/Anthologie/liste.php?debut=0 |archive-date=27 June 2008 }}</ref>

[[Ferdinand Gregorovius]], a 19th-century traveller and enthusiast of Corsican culture, reported that 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.<ref>{{cite book|pages=275–312|title=Corsica in Its Picturesque, Social, and Historical Aspects: the Records of a Tour in the Summer of 1852|first=Ferndinand|last=Gregorovius|author-link=Ferdinand Gregorovius |others=Russell Martineau (trans.) |publisher=Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans|location=London|year=1855}}</ref> However, the trail of written popular literature of known date in Corsican currently goes no further back than the 17th century.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jean |last=Chiorboli |title=The Corsican Language |url=https://www.transcript-review.org/en/issue/transcript-17-corsica/the-corsican-language.html |journal=Transcript |translator-first=Francis |translator-last=Beretti |issue=17 |year=2008 |access-date=2008-06-29}}</ref> 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 [[Notary|notaries]].

Between 1200 and 1425 the monastery of [[Gorgona, Italy|Gorgona]], which belonged to the [[Order of Saint Benedict]] for much of that time and 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.<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://elec.enc.sorbonne.fr/CID2003/scalfati |title=Latin et langue vernaculaire dans les actes notariés corses XIe-XVe siècle |last1=Scalfati |first1=Silio P. P. |year=2003 |publisher=Éditions en ligne de l'École des chartes |book-title=La langue des actes |conference=XIe Congrès international de diplomatique (Troyes, 11–13 September 2003) |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117185652/http://elec.enc.sorbonne.fr/CID2003/scalfati |archive-date=2012-01-17 |url-status=dead}}</ref> These documents were moved to Pisa before the monastery closed its doors and were published there. Research into earlier evidence of Corsican is ongoing.

== Alphabet and spelling ==
[[File:FuneraryInscriptionInErbaggio.jpg|thumb|Funerary Inscription in Corsican language at the cemetery of Erbaggio ([[Nocario]])]]
{{Main|Corsican alphabet}}
Corsican is written in the standard [[Latin script]], using 21 of the letters for native words, like in Italian. The letters j, k, w, x, and y are found only in foreign names, still like in Italian, but also in 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 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 [[penult]]imate. In scholarly contexts, [[syllable|disyllables]] may be distinguished from [[diphthong]]s by use of the [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] on the former vowel (as in Italian and distinct from French and English). In older writing, the [[acute accent]] is sometimes found on stressed {{angle bracket|e}}, the [[circumflex]] on stressed {{angle bracket|o}}, indicating respectively ({{IPA|/e/}}) and ({{IPA|/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 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 is not straightforward.

== Phonology ==
=== Vowels ===
As in Italian, the grapheme {{angle bracket|i}} appears in some [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] and [[trigraph (orthography)|trigraphs]] in which it does not represent the phonemic vowel. All vowels are pronounced except in a few well-defined instances. {{angle bracket|i}} is not pronounced between {{angle bracket|sc/sg/c/g}} and {{angle bracket|a/o/u}}: ''sciarpa'' {{IPA|[ˈʃarpa]}}; or initially in some words: ''istu'' {{IPA|[ˈstu]}}<ref>{{cite web |title=La prononciation des voyelles |url=https://gbatti-alinguacorsa.pagesperso-orange.fr/grammaire/prononciation-voyelles.htm |work=A Lingua Corsa |date=19 April 2008 |access-date=2008-06-20}}</ref>

Vowels may be nasalized before {{angle bracket|n}} (which is assimilated to {{angle bracket|m}} before {{angle bracket|p}} or {{angle bracket|b}}) and the palatal nasal consonant represented by {{angle bracket|gn}}. The nasal vowels are represented by the vowel plus {{angle bracket|n}}, {{angle bracket|m}} or {{angle bracket|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 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: {{angle bracket|pane}} is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈpãnɛ]}} and not {{IPA|[ˈpanɛ]}}.

The Northern and central dialects in the vicinity of the [[Taravo]] river adopt the Italian seven-vowel system (the Italo-Western type and a unique type where the short high vowels of Latin are uniquely reflected as mid-low vowels), whereas all the Southern ones around the so-called "archaic zone" with its centre being the town of Sartène (including the [[Gallurese]] dialect spoken in Northern Sardinia) resort to a five-vowel system without length differentiation, like [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/dialetti-corsi_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/ |first=Annalisa |last=Nesi |title=corsi, dialetti |encyclopedia=Enciclopedia dell'Italiano |lang=it |access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref>

The vowel inventory, or collection of phonemic vowels (and the major allophones), transcribed in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbols, is:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fusina |first=Jacques |year=1999 |title=Parlons Corse |location=Paris |publisher=L'Harmattan |isbn=978-2-7384-8209-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Notes sur la phonétique utilisée sur ce site |work=A Lingua Corsa |date=19 April 2008 |url=https://gbatti-alinguacorsa.pagesperso-orange.fr/phonetique.htm |access-date=2008-06-20}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|Description]]
! [[Grapheme]]<br>([[Lower case|Minuscule]])
! [[Phoneme]]
! [[Phonetics|Phone]] or<br>[[Allophone]]s
! Usage
! Example
|-
| Open front unrounded<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Near open
| style="text-align:center;"| a
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|/a/}}
| style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA|[a]}}<br>{{IPA|[æ]}}
|<br>Occasional northern
|casa {{IPA|[ˈkaza]}} ''house''<br>carta {{IPA|[ˈkærta]}} ''card''
|-
| Close-mid front unrounded<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Open-mid<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Near-open<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Open
| style="text-align:center;"| e
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|/e/}}
| style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA|[e]}}<br>{{IPA|[ɛ]}}<br>{{IPA|[æ]}}<br>{{IPA|[a]}}
| Inherited as<br>open or close<br>Occasional northern<br>Occasional southern
| u celu {{IPA|[uˈd͡ʒelu]}} ''the sky''<br>ci hè {{IPA|[ˈt͡ʃɛ]}} ''there is''<br>mercuri {{IPA|['mærkuri]}} ''wednesday''<br>terra {{IPA|[ˈtarra]}} ''land''
|-
| Close front unrounded
| style="text-align:center;"| i
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|/i/}}
| style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA|[i]}}<br>{{IPA|[j]}}
|<br>1st sound, [[diphthong]]
|dì {{IPA|['di]}} ''say''<br>fiume {{IPA|[ˈfjumɛ]}} ''river''
|-
| Close-mid back rounded<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Open-mid
| style="text-align:center;"| o
| style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA|/o/}}
| style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA|[o]}}<br>{{IPA|[ɔ]}}
|Inherited as<br>open or close
|locu {{IPA|[ˈloɡu]}} ''place''<br>notte {{IPA|[ˈnɔtɛ]}} ''night''
|-
| Close back rounded
| style="text-align:center;"| u
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|/u/}}
| style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA|[u]}}<br>{{IPA|[w]}}<br>{{IPA|[ɥ]}}
|<br>1st sound, [[diphthong]]
|malu {{IPA|[ˈmalu]}} ''bad''<br>quassù {{IPA|[kwaˈsu]}} ''up there''<br>què {{IPA|[ˈkɥɛ]}} ''that''
|}

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-
!colspan=2 rowspan=2|
!rowspan=2| [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
!rowspan=2| [[Labiodental consonant|Labio-<br>dental]]
!rowspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]<br>/[[Dental consonant|Dental]]
!rowspan=2| [[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-<br>alveolar]]
!rowspan=2| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
!colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|labial.]]}}
|-
!colspan=2| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
|
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
|
|
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
|
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|c}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA|kʷ}}
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
|
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɟ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| {{IPA|ɡʷ}}
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|t͡s}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| ||
| {{IPA link|d͡z}}
| {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}||  || ||
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| ({{IPA link|β}})
| {{IPA link|v}}
|{{IPA link|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʒ}}||  || ||
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! {{small|[[central consonant|central]]}}
|
|
|
|
| ({{IPA link|j}})
|
| ({{IPA link|w}})
|-
! {{small|[[lateral consonant|lateral]]}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
| {{IPA link|ʎ}}
|
|
|-
!colspan=2| [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|
|}

== See also ==
* [[Corsican Wikipedia]]
* [[Gallurese dialect]]
* [[Languages of France]]
* [[Paleo-Corsican language]]
* [[Sassarese language]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist|2}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Abalain |first=Hervé |date=2007 |title=Le français et les langues historiques de la France |language=fr |publisher=Éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-87747-881-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Arrighi |first=Jean-Marie |date=2002 |title=Histoire de la langue corse |publisher=Éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-87747-663-8}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Cortelazzo |first=Manlio |date=1988 |title=Gliederung der Sprachräume/Ripartizione dialettale |encyclopedia=Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik |editor1-first=Günter |editor1-last=Holtus |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Metzeltin |editor3-first=Christian |editor3-last=Schmitt |volume=IV: Italienisch, Korsisch, Sardisch |location=Tübingen |publisher=Niemeyer |lang=de |isbn=978-3-484-50234-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dalbera-Stefanaggi |first=Marie José |year=2000 |title=Essais de linguistique corse |publisher=Alain Piazzola |location=Ajaccio |language=fr |isbn=978-2-907161-73-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dalbera-Stefanaggi |first=Marie José |year=2002 |title=La langue corse |publisher=Presses universitaires de France |location=Paris |language=fr |isbn=978-2-13-052946-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=de Martino |first=Renzo |year=1996 |title=Il dialetto maddalenino. Storia, grammatica, genovesismi. Il dialetto corso |publisher=Edizioni della Torre |location=Cagliari |isbn=978-8873432890}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Delamotte-Legrand |first1=Régine |first2=Frédéric |last2=François |first3=Louis |last3=Porcher |date=1997 |title=Langage, éthique, éducation: Perspectives croisées |language=fr |publisher=Publications de l'Université de Rouen et du Havre |isbn=978-2-87775-226-8}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Fusina |first1=Jacques |last2=Ettori |first2=Fernand |date=1981 |title=Langue corse : incertitudes et paris |location=Ajaccio |publisher=Scola Corsa |language=fr}}
* {{Cite book |last=Guarnerio |first=Pier Ennio |date=1902 |title=Il sardo e il còrso in una nuova classificazione delle lingue romanze |series=Archivio glottologico italiano (AGI) |volume=XVI |publisher=Loescher |location=Turin, Italy |language=it}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Martin |last2=Vincent |first2=Nigel |date=2000 |title=The Romance languages |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-16417-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jaffe |first=Alexandra |year=1999 |title=Ideologies in Action: Language Politics on Corsica |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-016445-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lubello |first=Sergio |year=2016 |title=Manuale di linguistica italiana |language=it |publisher=De Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-036036-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pellegrini |first=Giovanni Battista |date=1977 |title=Carta dei dialetti d'Italia |language=it |location=Pisa |publisher=Pacini}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Renzi |first1=Lorenzo |last2=Andreose |first2=Alvise |date=2009 |title=Manuale di linguistica e filologia romanza |language=it |publisher=Il Mulino |location=Bologna |isbn=978-8815133441}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Sibille |first=Jean |title=" Langues de France " et territoires : raison des choix et des dénominations |date=2019 |url=http://books.openedition.org/msha/6495 |encyclopedia=Langue et espace |editor1-last=Pailhé |editor1-first=Joël |editor2-last=Viaut |editor2-first=Alain |series=Multilinguisme et langues minoritaires |pages=85–107 |location=Pessac |publisher=Maison des Sciences de l'Homme d'Aquitaine |isbn=978-2-85892-522-3 |access-date=2020-12-11 |doi=10.4000/books.msha.6495|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last=Tagliavini |first=Carlo |date=1972 |title=Le origini delle lingue neolatine |edition=6th |location=Bologna |publisher=Pàtron |language=it |oclc=801325536}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Toso |first=Fiorenzo |date=2003 |title=Lo spazio linguistico corso tra insularità e destino di frontiera |journal=Linguistica |publisher=University of Ljubljana |volume=43 |issue=1 |doi=10.4312/linguistica.43.1.73-92|doi-access=free }}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{InterWiki |code = co }}
{{Commons category|Corsican language}}
{{Wikiversity}}
{{Wikivoyage|Corsican phrasebook|Corsican|a phrasebook}}
* [http://omniglot.com/writing/corsican.htm Corsican language, alphabet and pronunciation]
* {{cite web |publisher = L'ADECEC (Association pour le Développement des Etudes Archéologiques, Historiques, linguistiques et Naturalistes du Centre-Est de la Corse) |title = INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa |url = http://infcor.adecec.net/ |access-date=2008-06-13 }}
* {{cite web |title = Patre Nostru |url = http://www.prayer.su/corsican/common/ |website = prayer.su |access-date = 2008-06-25 }}
* {{cite web |title = Traduction Corse – Latin |url = http://pagesperso-orange.fr/gbatti-alinguacorsa/lexiques/lex-cl.htm#HAUT |publisher = A lingua corsa |access-date = 2008-06-13 }}

{{Clear}}
{{Languages of France}}
{{Languages of Italy}}
{{Romance languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsican Language}}
[[Category:Corsican language| ]]
[[Category:Languages of France]]
[[Category:Languages of Sardinia]]
[[Category:Italo-Dalmatian languages]]