Corsican language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Corsican |
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| Corsu, Lingua corsa | |
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| Native to | France, Italy |
| Region | Corsica, northeastern Sardinia (Gallura) |
| Native speakers | 402,000 (2001) |
| Language family | |
| Writing system | Latin script (Corsican alphabet) |
| Official status | |
| Recognised minority language in |  France |
| Regulated by | No official regulation |
| Linguasphere | 51-AAA-p |
Corsican dialects
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Corsican (Corsu or Lingua Corsa) is a language spoken on the island of Corsica in France. It is a Romance language, which means it comes from Latin, like French, Spanish, and Italian. In Corsica, French is the official language, but many people also speak Corsican.
Similar languages are spoken on the nearby island of Sardinia in Italy. You can hear them in the city of Sassari and the Gallura region. Corsican is quite similar to the dialects spoken in Central Italy, especially in Tuscany. About 35% of people in Corsica speak Corsican.
The UNESCO organization says that the Corsican language is in danger of disappearing. This means it needs protection to keep it alive.
Corsican Dialects
The Corsican language has two main types, called dialects.
- Northern Corsican is spoken in areas like Bastia and Corte.
- Southern Corsican is spoken around Sartene and Porto-Vecchio.
The way people speak in Ajaccio is a mix of these two dialects. The dialects spoken in Calvi and Bonifacio are similar to the Genoa dialect, which is also known as Ligurian.
In the Sardinian region of Gallura, including the town of Tempio Pausania, and on the island of La Maddalena, people speak "Gallurese". This is very similar to Corsican. The Corsican language is very important for the culture of Corsica. It has many interesting proverbs and old sayings.
Corsican Alphabet
The Corsican alphabet uses letters from the Latin script. It is very similar to the English alphabet. Here are the letters used in Corsican:
| Big Letters | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| A | B | C | CHJ | D | E | F | G | GHJ | H | I | J | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | Z |
| Small Letters | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | c | chj | d | e | f | g | ghj | h | i | j | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | z |
| Names of Letters | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | bi | ci | chji | dè | è | èffè | gi | ghjè | acca | i | ji | èllè | èmmè | ènnè | o | pè | cu | èrrè | èssè | ti | u | vè | zèda |
Images for kids
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Languages in northern Sardinia
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Road signs in Corsica sometimes show both French and Corsican names. Some local people cross out the French names to show their support for Corsican culture.
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An old stone inscription in the Corsican language at the cemetery of Erbaggio (Nocario).
See also
In Spanish: Idioma corso para niños
