Corsican (corsu)

Corsican is a Romance language spoken by about 341,000 people. Most of the speakers live in Corsica, though there are some in Paris and Marseilles and also in Bolivia, Canada, Cuba, Italy, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, the USA and Venezuela. Corsican has no official status in Corsica, and French is the official language there.

Corsican is closely related to Italian, particularly to the Tuscan dialect of Italian, and there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between these languages. Corsican is essentially an oral language and as a result, there is considerable regional variation, particularly between the north and south of Corsica.

Corsican first appeared in writing towards the end of the 19th century, though the spelling system was not standardised until the 1970s. An orthography proposed by P. Marchetti and D. Geronimi was generally accepted, though it isn't always followed. In older Corsican texts there is considerable variation in spelling.

Corsican is used at all levels of education in Corsica. In most cases it is taught as a subject, but a few schools use it as a medium of instruction, along side French. Corsican courses for adults are widely available throughout Corsica, as well as in some cities on the French mainland.

The regional service of State radio (RCFM) broadcasts several programmes and a number of news bulletins in Corsican every day. One private radio station broadcasts entirely in Corsican, and several volunteer stations, such as Radio Calvi Citadelle and Voce Nustrale, broadcast programmes in Corsican. The regional TV station, France 3 Corse, broadcasts at least two hours of programmes in Corsican per week.

There is no daily or weekly newspaper entirely in Corsican, though some French-language papers do occasionally publish articles in the language. Corsican is also often used for headlines in papers or magazines.

More and more books are published in Corsican annually. There are also some Corsican language magazines, often sponsored or produced by political parties or cultural associations, and an increasing number of theatre productions.

Corsican alphabet

A a B b C c Chj chj D d E e F f G g à bi ci chji dè è èffè gè Ghj ghj H h I i J j L l M m N n O o ghjè acca i ji èllè èmmè ènnè ò P p Q q R r S s T t U u V v Z z pè cù èrrè èssè ti ù vè zèda

K (cappa), W (vè dòppio), X (iquèsi) and Y (i grècu) are also used, but only in loan words.

Corsican pronunciation

Notes

c = [ʧ] before i or e, and [k] elsewhere

d is pronounced [r] in some words

In the south of Corsica, e is pronounced [æ] or [a] in some words

g = [ʤ] before i or e, and [g] elsewhere

j is only used in combination with ch and gh

l is pronounced [r] in some words

ll and gli are sometimes pronounced [dd] in the south of Corsica

n = [m] before b, p and v

q is always followed by u

s = [ʃ] is some words, especially before t

Download an alphabet chart for Corsican (Excel)

Sample text in Corsican

Nascinu tutti l'omi libari è pari di dignità è di diritti. Pussedinu a raghjoni è a cuscenza è li tocca ad agiscia trà elli di modu fraternu.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample videos in Corsican

Information about Corsican | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel

Links

Information about Corsican

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsican_language

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/gbatti-alinguacorsa/

http://www.corsica.net/corsica/uk/discov/lang/

Online Corsican lessons

http://langue.corse.free.fr

http://corse.corsican.free.fr

http://gbatti-alinguacorsa.pagesperso-orange.fr

Online Corsican phrases

http://wikitravel.org/en/Corsican_phrasebook

http://www.vacances-corses.com/2011/03/31/20-expressions-en-langue-corse/

http://corsica.net.free.fr/html/francais/langue/grammaire.htm

Online Corsican dictionaries

http://www.lexilogos.com/corse_langue_dictionnaires.htm

Corsican Linguistic Database

http://www.adecec.net/infcor/

Online Corsican language radio

http://sites.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-bleu/?tag=corse

http://www.radiocalvi.fr

http://corse.france3.fr

Romance languages

Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, Dalmatian, Emilian-Romagnol, Extremaduran, Fala, Franco-Provençal, French, Friulian, Galician, Gallo, Gascon, Genoese, Guernésiais, Istriot, Italian, Jèrriais, Ladino, Ladin, Lombard, Lorrain, Megleno-Romanian, Mirandese, Moldovan, Monégasque, Mozarabic, Neapolitan, Occitan, Picard, Piedmontese, Portuguese, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian, Sicilian, Spanish, Venetian, Walloon

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

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