Ligurian language

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Ligurian / Genoese
lìgure, zeneize
Pronunciation	[ˈliɡyɾe], [zeˈnejze]
Native to	Italy, Monaco, France
Region	Italy  • Liguria  • Southern Piedmont  • Southwestern Lombardy  • Western Emilia-Romagna  • Southwestern Sardinia France  • Southeastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  • Southern Corsica
Native speakers	600,000 (2002)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Romance Italo-Western Western Romance Gallo-Romance Gallo-Italic Ligurian / Genoese
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Italic Old Latin Vulgar Latin Proto-Romance
Dialects	Brigasc Genoese Intemelio Monégasque Royasc Tabarchino
Official status
Official language in	Monaco (as Monégasque)  Italy •  Liguria
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lij
Glottolog	ligu1248
Linguasphere	51-AAA-oh & 51-AAA-og
Ligurian is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Ligurian (/lɪˈɡjʊəriən/ lig-YOOR-ee-ən;^[2] endonym: lìgure) or Genoese (/ˌdʒɛnoʊˈiːz/ JEN-oh-EEZ;^[3] endonym: zeneise or zeneize)^[4] is a Gallo-Italic language spoken primarily in the territories of the former Republic of Genoa, now comprising the area of Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco (where it is called Monégasque), the village of Bonifacio in Corsica, and in the villages of Carloforte on San Pietro Island and Calasetta on Sant'Antioco Island off the coast of southwestern Sardinia. It is part of the Gallo-Italic and Western Romance dialect continuum. Although part of Gallo-Italic, it exhibits several features of the Italo-Romance group of central and southern Italy. Zeneize (literally "for Genoese"), spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is the language's prestige dialect on which the standard is based.

There is a long literary tradition of Ligurian poets and writers that goes from the 13th century to the present, such as Luchetto (the Genoese Anonym), Martin Piaggio [it; lij], and Gian Giacomo Cavalli [it; lij].