Genoese prepositions

Simple and compound prepositions
Pronunciation and spelling
Locative prepositional phrases

Simple and compound prepositions

Genoese has eight prepositions. Combined with definite articles they form the compound prepositions.

Prep.	+ o	+ a	+ i	+ e	+ l’
de	do	da	de	di	de l’
à	a-o	a-a	a-i	a-e  ~	à l’
da	da-o	da-a	da-i	da-e	da l’
inte (ò in )	into	inta	inti	inte	inte l’
con	co-o	co-a	co-i	co-e	con l’
in sce	in sciâ	in sciô	in scî	in scê	in sce l’
pe	pe-o	pe-a	pe-i	pe-e	pe l’
tra	tra o	tra a	tra i	tra e	tra l’

As we will see in the following sections, a peculiarity of Genoese is the use, in certain cases, of double or even triple prepositions.

The prepositions in and inte

These two prepositions, which have a similar function, are used in different cases.

The preposition inte is used:
- in front of definite articles, forming the compound forms into, inta, inti, inte and inte l’: semmo anæte into bòsco “we went into the woods”, son cheito inte l’ægua “I fell in the water”;
- in front of partitive articles, in its simple form: inte di paixi gh’é ancon a monarchia “some countries are still monarchies”;
- in front of demonstrative adjectives, cardinals, indefinite and interrogative articles, in its simple form: inte sta stöia gh’é unn’eroiña “in this story there is a heroine”, inte doî euro gh’é duxento citti “there are two hundred cents in two euros”, no stâ à parlâ inte nisciun caxo “do not speak under any circumstance”, inte che borsa ti l’æ misso? “which bag did you put it in?”
In all other cases in is used: semmo stæti in Argentiña “we went to Argentina”, ghe vaggo in autobo “I go there by bus”.

Pronunciation and spelling

Like many words in Genoese, for prepositions too the exact pronunciation may change according to the manner of speaking, emphatic or fast (natural). We may therefore hear a-o monte  [aw ˈmuŋte] “to the mountain” (emphatic pronunciation) or  [ɔw ˈmuŋte] (fast pronunciation).

These small variations in pronunciation are not reflected in writing, just like we don’t reflect the many analogous cases which occur in fast pronunciation when two vowels meet: just like we write piggiâ o treno “take the train” and not piggiou treno, we will therefore write zugâ a-e carte “to play cards” and not zugæ carte, pe-o sòlito “as usual” and not pou sòlito.

Locative prepositional phrases

Preposition can be used to form locative prepositional phrases, indicating motion from a place, through or by a place, being situated in a place, and motion towards a place. We list below the main cases.

Motion from a place

Prep.	Example
da	son vegnui da Zena “they came from Genoa”
de da	son vegnui de da Zena “they came from Genoa”
Special case: from inside to outside
d’in , d’inte	sciortimmo d’in casa “we leave the house”
de d’in , de d’inte	sciortimmo de d’in casa “we leave the house”
Special case: top to bottom
d’in sce	son cheita d’in sciô teito “I fell down from the roof”
de d’in sce	son cheita de d’in sciô teito “I fell down from the roof”
Special case: locative adverbs
de	anemmosene de chì “let’s leave this place”
de de	anemmosene de de chì “let’s leave this place”

Motion through/by a place

Prep.	Example
da	passemmo da Spezza “we go by La Spezia”
pe	passemmo pe Spezza “we go by La Spezia”
da pe	passemmo da pe Spezza “we go by La Spezia”
de pe	passemmo de pe Spezza “we go by La Spezia”
Special case: high up places
d’in sce	passemmo d’in sciô passo da Bocchetta “we go by the Bocchetta Pass”
de d’in sce	passemmo de d’in sciô passo da Bocchetta “we go by the Bocchetta Pass”
Special case: through Caso speciale: bounded spaces
d’in , d’inte	semmo passæ d’inta cantiña “we went by the cellar”
de d’in , de d’inte	semmo passæ de d’inta cantiña “we went by the cellar”

State in a place

Prep.	Example
in , inte	son arrestou in scagno “I stayed in the office”
in , inte		son arrestou into scuo “I remained in the dark”
Special case: cities and named places
à	staggo à Saña “I live in Savona”
à		staggo à l’Æguasanta “I live in Acquasanta”
(in )	staggo in Arbâ “I live in Albaro”
(in )	Special case: on surfaces
in sce	ëse in sciô ballou “to be on the walkway”
in sce		ëse in sciâ töa “to be on the table”

For prepositional phrases indicating being situated in cities, towns or other named places, normally the preposition à is used, but there are some specific toponyms that require in, in an unpredictable way.

Motion to a place

Prep.	Example
à	anâ à scheua “to go to school”
à		anâ à l’estranxeo “to go abroad”
Special case: citie and named places
à	anâ à Votri “to go to Voltri”
(in )	anâ in San Pê d’Æña “to go to Sampierdarena”
Special case: people
da	vaggo da-a Texo “I go to Teresa”
da		vaggo da mæ moæ “to go to my mother”
Special case: regions, areas, streets, etc.
in	anemmo in montagna “we go to the mountains”
		anemmo in ciazza “we go to the beach”
		anemmo in Spagna “we go to Spain”
		anemmo in ciassâ Kennedy “we go to Kennedy square”

Just like for locative phrases indicating being situated in a place, for phrases that indicate motion towards cities, towns or other named places the preposition à is generally used, but there are specific toponyms that require in, in a way that cannot be predicted.

Bibliography

F. Toso, Grammatica del genovese: varietà urbana e di koinè, Le Mani, 1997.

A. Guasoni, F. Toso, Il Genovese in tasca. Guida di conversazione, Assimil, 2010.

A. Acquarone, Parlo Ciæo. La lingua della Liguria. Grammatica, letteratura, storia, tradizioni, De Ferrari, 2015.

Council for Ligurian Linguistic Heritage

Ligurian Council