Due to the influence of Italian, many semi-learned Genoese words that etymologically have -x- in their root, in the form in which they are historically attested or in spoken usage (such as analixi <span lanɡ="lij" class="lemma">aˈnaliʒi “analysis”, [crixi <ipaːˈkriːʒi] “crisis”, or exibî [eʒiˈbiː] “to exhibit”), tend to be replaced by a form with -s- (analisi [ˈkriːzi], esibî [eziˈbiː]). In this dictionary these words are generally given in their genuine form; Italianising variants are included only when they have long been attested in written usage as well and are now widespread in speech. Examples of words in which this consonant substitution tends to occur today are analixi [aˈnaliʒi] ~ analisi [aˈnalizi] “analysis”, crixi [ˈkriːʒi] ~ crisi [ˈkriːzi] “crisis”, exibî [eʒiˈbiː] ~ esibî [eziˈbiː] “to exhibit”, exigensa [eʒiˈdʒeŋsa] ~ esigensa [eziˈdʒeŋsa] “requirement”, exitâ [eʒiˈtaː] ~ esitâ [eziˈtaː] “to hesitate”, fixica [ˈfiːʒika] ~ fisica [ˈfiːzika] “physics”, incluxivo [iŋklyˈʒiːvu] ~ inclusivo [iŋklyˈziːvu] “inclusive”, or texi [ˈteːʒi] ~ tesi [ˈteːzi] “thesis”.

In Genoese it is frequent for -[l]- to shift to -[r]- before guttural and labial consonants: thus, words such as ingleise [iŋˈɡlejze] “English,” biçicletta [bisiˈkletˑa] “bicycle” and complicâ [kuŋpliˈkaː] “complicate” can also be pronounced ingreise [iŋˈɡrejze], biçicretta [bisiˈkretˑa] and compricâ [kuŋpriˈkaː]. In the DEIZE both spellings are reported when equally widespread among speakers. On pronunciation alternations in contemporary Genoese shared by the speaker community, and on their lexicographic representations (partly taken up in DEIZE), see in particular Lusito (2025, § 6).

As reported by E. G. Parodi, Studj Liguri, in «Archivio glottologico italiano», xiv, 1896, the Genoese prefixes de-, des- and re- lost the -e- and adopted the -i- due to the influence of Italian. For many decades now indeed difende, discorrî, risponde, etc. have replaced defende, descorrî, responde, etc. in spoken language. The forms with -e- are, however, still widely attested in literary written language. In this dictionary, given its primarily didactic purposes (also aimed at recovering some of the more genuine forms, whenever they may interest users), only the forms with -e- are reported. The Italianized forms with -i- are nevertheless to be considered perfectly legitimate.