Council for Ligurian Linguistic Heritage

Ligurian Council

DEIZE: Italian-Genoese dictionary

The Council for Ligurian Linguistic Heritage is pleased to present DEIZE (diçionäio elettrònico italian-zeneise, a digital Italian-Genoese Ligurian dictionary), a work with a mainly educational purpose curated by Jean Maillard and with the linguistic support of Fabio Canessa, Alessandro Guasoni, Stefano Lusito, Claudio Rezzoagli and Fiorenzo Toso. The phonetic transcriptions, which aim to represent the pronunciation which is most common amongst speakers of the language, are by Stefano Lusito. Field research is conducted with the help of Camillo Aquilino, Mino Damonte and Ornella Dodero.

The dictionary stands out for a number of characteristics which, together with its digital and free nature, aim to establish it as a particularly useful tool in the panorama of Genoese language teaching:

  1. the presence of examples, for several of the most frequent lemmas, which place Genoese lexicon in plausible contexts of communication;
  2. the possibility of using tables of noun declensions and verb conjugations, generated by a specially built algorithm.
  3. the presence of precise information on the pronounciation of every lemma (corresponding to how things are pronounced in the regional capital) thanks to transcriptions in the international phonetic alphabet (IPA).

In view of the dictionary’s aims, which are primarily to encourage the preservation of the lexicon present in the historical Ligurian literature, this work prioritises authentic Genoese forms rather than those modelled after Italian, even though occasionally the latter may be more frequent in the spoken language. Some of the recording criteria – e.g. those concerning the morphological forms considered in this work – can be found in the appropriate sections within the entries of this dictionary.

This work, which is explicitly addressed to those most interested in the preservation of the language, aims to act as a complementary tool to be used alongside other glossaries and dictionaries, both scientific and disseminative in nature, both in print and online. We give a short bibliography of these below.

Are you looking for a print dictionary?

The new Italian-Ligurian (Genoese) Dictionary (Dizionario italiano-genovese) by Stefano Lusito was conceived as a reference for those looking for a summary of the most frequent Italian terms and their Ligurian equivalents. The dictionary contains a vast selection of examples, idiomatic expressions, proverbs, and highlights many of the most common false friends and expressions which diverge between the two languages.

Click here to see the product on the publisher’s website.

Bibliography

  • E. Autelli, S. Lusito, C. Konecny, F. Toso, (2018-2021), GEPHRAS: The ABC of Genoese and Italian Phrasemes (Collocations and Idioms). With the linguistic assistance of A. Guasoni and drawings by M. Merli. https://romanistik-gephras.uibk.ac.at.
  • E. Autelli, C. Konecny, A. Guasoni, S. Lusito, F. Toso, (upcoming), GEPHRAS2: The D-Z of Genoese and Italian Phrasemes (Collocations and Idioms). With drawings by M. Merli.
  • A. Acquarone, A. Guasoni, S. Lusito, A. Roveda, (2015), Parlo ciæo. La lingua della Liguria. Il Secolo XIX / De Ferrari, Genova.
  • F. Bampi, (2008), Nuovo dizionario italiano-genovese illustrato e commentato, Nuova editrice genovese, Genova.
  • G. Casaccia, (1851), Vocabolario genovese-italiano, F.lli Pagano, Genova.
  • G. Casaccia, (1876), Dizionario genovese-italiano. Seconda edizione accresciuta del doppio e quasi tutta rifatta. G. Schenone, Genova.
  • M. Cortelazzo, M. Cuneo, G. Petracco Sicardi, (1995), Vocabolario delle parlate liguri. Lessici speciali 2-I: i pesci e altri animali marini. SAGEP, Genova.
  • M. Cuneo, G. Petracco Sicardi, (1997), Vocabolario delle parlate liguri. Lessici speciali 2-II: mare, pesca e marineria. SAGEP, Genova.
  • G. Frisoni, (1910), Dizionario genovese-italiano e italiano-genovese, Donath, Genova.
  • A. Guasoni, F. Toso, (2010), Il genovese in tasca, Assimil Italia, Chivasso (Torino).
  • S. Lusito, (2022), Dizionario italiano-genovese, Editoriale Programma, Treviso.
  • G. Petracco Sicardi, (1982), Vocabolario delle parlate liguri. Lessici speciali 1: gli uccelli. SAGEP, Genova.
  • G. Petracco Sicardi, F. Toso, P. Cavallaro, (1985), Vocabolario delle parlate liguri. Vol. I: A-C. Consulta ligure, Genova.
  • G. Petracco Sicardi, R. Conte Labella, F. Toso, P. Cavallaro, (1987), Vocabolario delle parlate liguri. Vol. II: D-M. Consulta ligure, Genova.
  • G. Petracco Sicardi, F. Toso, (1990), Vocabolario delle parlate liguri. Vol. III: N-S. Consulta ligure, Genova.
  • G. Petracco Sicardi, (1992), Vocabolario delle parlate liguri. Vol. IV: T-Z. Consulta ligure, Genova.
  • C. Olivari, (2006), Vocabolario genovese-italiano italiano-genovese. Zeneise riso ræo. Liberodiscrivere, Genova.
  • F. Toso (1997), Grammatica del genovese, Le Mani – Microart’s, Recco.
  • F. Toso (2006), Dizionario italiano-genovese, genovese-italiano. Antonio Vallardi Editore, Milano.
  • F. Toso (2015), Piccolo dizionario etimologico ligure. Ed. Zona, Lavagna.
To the extent possible under law, Conseggio pe-o patrimònio linguistico ligure has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to the example sentences of this dictionary using the CC0 public domain dedication.