Council for Ligurian Linguistic Heritage

Ligurian Council

DEIZE

Italian-Ligurian (Genoese) dictionary

squalo

m. n.
  1. ichthyon. nome di vari pesci dell’ord. Selachimorpha

    squæo [ˈskwɛːu]

    pescio can [ˈpeʃˑu ˈkaŋ]1

    l’hai visto quel film con lo squalo gigante?

    ti l’æ visto quello cine co-o squæo gigante?

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1. Pronunciation of plurals of words in -an

In Genoese the plural of words in -an results in -en (artexan “artisan” > artexen “artisans,” can “dog” > chen “dogs,” italian “Italian” > italien “Italians”). The pronunciation of the ending is -[ˈeŋ] (with a close vowel) in urban Genoese (hence also the spelling, compared to the “etymological” -æn); in many peripheral varieties it is -[ˈɛŋ], with an open vowel. The Genoese orthography makes it possible to represent both pronunciations through a single spelling. 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).

Declensions

m. s m. p
can chen
pescio pesci
squæo squæi

Bibliography

  • S. Lusito, Aspetti teorici e pratici della redazione di un dizionario genovese-italiano della lingua contemporanea. Metalessicografia di una varietà romanza di koinè, Edizioni dell’Orso, 2025