Freelang Ligurian-English dictionary

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The Ligurian language of northwestern Italy

If you are planning a trip so that you can get away for a few days or a few weeks and get to enjoy some sun and sand while relaxing, consider visiting a small coastal town in the north western part of Italy. Liguria is quite popular among tourists and it is renown for its pristine beaches, picturesque towns and delicious cuisine. It may be a good idea to learn some Ligurian before your trip to help you get around much more easily. Some of the notable personalities who spoke [...]

Ligurian language (called lìgure or zenéize) is spoken in Italy (regions of Liguria, southern Piedmont and zones of Sardinia), south-eastern France, part of Corsica, Monaco (as Monegasque, influenced by French), and by emigrates in Latin America, North America, Europe and Australia.

It is a Romance language belonging to the Gallo-Italic group and does not represent a variant of the currently official Italian tongue, but a different language directly derived from Latin. It is commonly known as Genoese dialect since it was the language of the ancient Republic of Genoa (nowadays capital of the region of Liguria in northwestern Italy) and due to the remarkable diffusion and literary prestige of the capital's variant throughout the Mediterranean.

Features of this dictionary

Download our free dictionary (for Windows or Android) and browse both the Ligurian-English and the English-Ligurian lists. Look up a word, add or modify an entry, and learn words at your own rhythm from a personal learning list. Click here to learn more about the features or scroll down to download the program. An online version is also available, so you can browse the dictionary without downloading it.

Features of this dictionary

Download our free dictionary for Android! Browse the wordlists, look up words and practice your vocabulary at your own rhythm. An online version is also available, so you can browse the dictionary without downloading it.

Word list information

This dictionary was made by GENOVES.com.ar.

List status: © GENOVES.com.ar

Ligurian > English: 7,112 words
English > Ligurian: 7,131 words

Last update: March 12, 2017
First upload: March 20, 2010

A word from the author

Each Ligurian term reported in this dictionary includes its corresponding accents only as a guide to pronouncing our language, just like words are often shown in dictionaries in other languages. This is only a way to explain the sound of each word clearly and does not mean that Ligurian must be written with more accents than the essential ones, i.e., the ones required by words of more than one syllable finished in a stressed simple vowel.

Pronunciation key

a as in 'father'
â long A
e / é like A in 'main', short
ê like A in 'main', long
è open like A in 'cat', short
æ open like A in 'cat', long
i as EE in 'see'
j like Y in 'boy', used after certain consonants like G, SC, or C
o like OO in 'too' or Italian U (Ligurian characteristic: 'gatto' is pronounced 'gattu')
ò like Italian O, or AW in 'saw', short
ö like AW in 'saw', long
òu/ou similar to English OW in 'own'
u like French U in 'humidité'/'écume'/'plume'
eu like French EU in 'deux'

b, d, f, g, l, ll, m, nn, p, q, r, s, ss, t, v like in English
c like K before a/o/u, like CH in ce/ci/cce/cci
ch like K
gn like NI in 'onion', or Spanish 'ñ'
n before vowel, the same as English; in word endings and before consonant, similar to NG as in 'being'
nn- before vowel, it is a nasal velar consonant, similar to NG ("bónn-a", "vitamìnn-a", "ùnn-a")
scc like SH followed by CH (Ligurian particularity: "scciàffo" would be sh-CHAF-foo)
sc before a/o/u like SK, but before e/i like SH
x like French J in 'jambe'/'jeune'
z / zz like in 'zero'
s / ç like S in 'sing'

^ to lengthen the sound of A, closed E, I, O (read as OO), and U (as in French)
¨ to mark the sound of the long O read as in Italian
` the grave accent indicates the short tonic sound of A, open E, I and U; but on O it indicates its short sound
´ the acute accent indicates the short sound of EU, and short O (read as OO)

Abbreviations

m masculine
f feminine
sing singular
pl plural
n noun
v verb
ag. adjective (in Ligurian)
adj. adjective (in English)
art. article
av. adverb (in Ligurian)
adv. adverb (in English)
it. italianism (in Ligurian)
pop. popular speech
excl. exclamation
fig. in a figurative sense
volg. vulgar (in Ligurian)
vulg. vulgar (in English)
GE place in the province of Genova
IM place in the province of Imperia
SP place in the province of La Spezia
SV place in the province of Savona
(Savona) registered in Savona

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3. Click here to download the Ligurian word list (649.02 kb)

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