12 ways to piss off the Corsicans - CorsicaNow

[Aragorn97]

Oh thank you for the info

[Aragorn97]

Hey, I've searched some information about the Corsican language and I'd like to share what I found out with you.
I watched some interviews and listened to some songs (one of them was sung by Lilly) in Corsican language and I can say that it is really similar to Italian. I think it is similar to the Sardinian language as well, but I can't say it for sure because I don't know it so much.

If a person speaks in Corsican, I can understand him/her and It should be so for other Italians too. Obviously I can understand the meaning of a discourse not every single word... It is really weird to hear Alizée speaking (singing) """"almost"""" italian.

Now, if Italians can understand Corsicans, I guess Corsicans can understand Italians. Maybe for young Corsicans it is a bit more difficult because they speak French as mother tongue and Corsican as dialect (I know it is a language, I mean they speak it as I speak the neapolitan language)

That's all. So probably Alizée can understand a bit of Italian. That's could be a good topic of conversation if I meet her

[CleverCowboy]

That's really interesting stuff. Thanks for posting it.

I wonder who the people are that speak Corsican if French is the national language and the schools teach it as the primary language? Is it the old-timers that want to keep tradition, and will eventually die out? Is it taught in schools and the students can take courses in it as an additional language?

If kids are taught French in school and they have the chance of being bilingual, what would the be the chance that they would select Corsican over more popular (and useful) languages like English, German, Italian, Spanish, etc. ? If French was all a person knew, they could live on Corsica with no problems communicating with others. If Corsican was the only language a person knew, would they have communication problems with others on their own island?

I have no idea if Alizee speaks or understands Corsican. Some people have trouble learning more than one language, while some know 6 or 7 languages conversationally. It would be an interesting trivia question for her.

[Aragorn97]

I don't know where are you from so I don't know how much you know about dialects but I can tell you about the question of dialects and languages in Italy, which I think it's very similar to Corse.

I'll make a little introduction, because I think that Italy is probably the best example about dialects and languages.
Italy has been divided into a lot of little countries for centuries. It became a nation only 160 years ago. Thousands years ago the Roman empire ruled everything (that's why the Latin language is the common basis of Italian and its dialects). During the last centuries a lot of different reigns and empires ruled Italy (France, Spain, Germany and other "Italian" Republics). That's why each region of Italy has its own dialect (sometimes they are different from city to city in the same region).
Now there is a big difference between dialect and language: a language has its own literature, it's own defined grammar. That's why Corsican, Neapolitan and Sardinian are languages. But in practice this difference is just a detail. So they are considered as dialects because now Italy has its own language and France has its own language.

In Italy we can say that almost every person knows Italian and its region dialect. We know our dialect thanks to our parents, grandparents, some TV shows and so on. About neapolitan there are a lot of poems, songs, movies and comedies (language, indeed). We tend to use dialects at home or with friends, but it depends on your education and habit. Unfortunately because of globalization dialects are disappearing.

Now you can imagine that dialects are not taught at school. Because they are simply dialects. As I said in practice there is no difference between dialect and language, so neapolitan and Corsican are treated as dialect, but, since they are languages, you can find lot of books (and maybe "" schools"" about them).

So in Neaples and, I guess, in Corsica you can speak to other people in Italian and French 90% of time. That's why I think that Alizée knows Corsican very well if it is spoken in her family. If not, certainly she understands it.

Sorry if I have been so long-winded, but I don't know if other countries have the same linguistic situation. So I didn't know if you could understand everything without introduction.

Ps fun fact: there are a lot of differences between dialects. I'm from south Italy, so for me it's nearly impossible to understand North Italian dialects.

[CleverCowboy]

That's very interesting. Good stuff. I understand what you are saying. I was born in the US, but first generation. My parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe, and there is the same kind of regional dialect difference there as well. Even though I was born in the US, I wasn't taught to communicate with my parents and relatives in English, but in their native tongue. I was fluent by the time I was five. But going to school messed that up.

It's funny because I lost the ability to speak it as I grew older and used English primarily. My parents knew I was losing the ability to speak it, but they came to the incorrect conclusion that I could not understand it when someone else is speaking it. So they thought they were keeping secrets when they talked about me in the old language when I was still living at home, but I understood everything they said!

I'm sure Alizee grew up with Corse being spoken within her family, and she probably can still understand it. She might have spoken it as well. But just like myself where you lose that ability as time goes on if you don't use it, I wonder if she lost the ability to speak it.

[Aragorn97]

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

It's funny because I lost the ability to speak it as I grew older and used English primarily. My parents knew I was losing the ability to speak it, but they came to the incorrect conclusion that I could not understand it when someone else is speaking it. So they thought they were keeping secrets when they talked about me in the old language when I was still living at home, but I understood everything they said!

Ahahah very clever

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

I'm sure Alizee grew up with Corse being spoken within her family, and she probably can still understand it. She might have spoken it as well. But just like myself where you lose that ability as time goes on if you don't use it, I wonder if she lost the ability to speak it.

I think she can still speak it. Your case is a bit different because your language was only spoken by your relatives in a foreign country. So your dialect knowledge depends only on them.

Usually you speak your dialect as long as you are with your family. For example if someone from North Italy came here, he couldn't speak his dialects with anyone. So if you speak it in your family until a not-too-low age, I think you'll speak it forever. Alizée went to Paris when she was 15, so I'm sure she can speak her dialect as any other Corsican.

Edit:

A little curiosity: Naples is hosting the Universide (World university games) during these days. Right now I'm watching the inauguration of it: there are neapolitan songs as background music and other folkloristic things like dances and images. Italians are really attached to their culture and traditions. Neapolitans maybe more than all and I guess it is the same for Corsicans: in fact once both of them were indipendent (Naples was a big reign, it was half of Italy)