Il monegasco e i dialetti liguri costieri dell’area intemelia: alcuni dati campionari per una definizione dei rispettivi rapporti di divergenza

Abstract

Monegasque is a Ligurian dialect imported into the territory of today’s Principality of Monaco between the 13^th and 15^th centuries by settlers originating from western Liguria, more specifically from the Intemelian coastal area.

Probably also due to Monaco’s ever-present relations with Liguria over the centuries, this variety (nowadays recognised as the Principality’s national language) is still particularly akin to those spoken on the coastline between Ventimiglia and Sanremo, despite its showing several peculiar features at a phonetic, morphological and syntactic level. These can be explained in terms of a different (or further) development from Latin, in the retention of certain features currently localized in the inland areas of Intemelian Liguria or, far more occasionally, through the influence of Provençal.

Given the absence of overview contributions specifically devoted to this topic, the aim of this paper is to investigate and succinctly justify the most conspicuous divergences between present-day Monegasque and the Intemelian coastal dialects in the terms outlined above.