Tabarchin
Tabarchino
Indo-European (Romance → Italo-Western → Gallo-Italic → Ligurian → Tabarchino)
Tabarchino is a Genoese Ligurian variety carried by 16th-century coral fishers from Pegli to the Tunisian island of Tabarka (1542), then resettled on Sardinia's Isola di San Pietro in 1738. It preserves Early Modern Genoese features lost on the mainland and shows a distinctive palatal [ɲ] in lugna "moon". One of Europe's clearest cases of a maritime language transplant.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Tabarchino
Water
ægua
/ˈɛɡwa/
Fire
feûgu
/ˈføɡu/
Sun
su
/ˈsu/
Moon
lugna
/ˈlyɲa/
Mother
maire
/ˈmajre/
Father
paire
/ˈpajre/
Eat
mangià
/manˈdʒa/
Drink
beive
/ˈbejve/
Love
amù
/aˈmu/
Heart
chêu
/kø/
Tree
âbu
/ˈaːbu/
House
cà
/ka/
Dog
can
/kaŋ/
Cat
gatu
/ˈɡatu/
Hand
mòn
/mɔŋ/
Eye
öggiu
/ˈødʒu/
Hello
ciau
/tʃaw/
Thank you
graçie
/ˈɡrasje/
One
un
/uŋ/
Good
bon
/buŋ/
Sources
- Toso, Fiorenzo (2003) Il tabarchino. Strutture, evoluzione storica, aspetti sociolinguistici. In: Le minoranze linguistiche storiche, Roma.
- Toso, Fiorenzo (2004) Vocabolario tabarchino–italiano. Recco: Le Mani.
- Vallebona, Giuseppe (1975) Dizionario Tabarchino-Italiano. Genova: Compagnia dei Librai.
- Glottolog: Tabarchino
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Romance → Italo-Western → Gallo-Italic → Ligurian → Tabarchino) languages
| Meaning | Tabarchino | Piedmontese | Lombard | Ligurian | Friulian | Emilian-Romagnol | Ladin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ægua /ˈɛɡwa/ | eva /ˈeva/ | aqua /ˈaːkwa/ | ægoa /ɛɡwa/ | aghe /ˈaɡe/ | aqua /ˈakwa/ | ega /ˈeɡa/ |
| Fire | feûgu /ˈføɡu/ | feu /føː/ | fœg /føːk/ | fêugo /føɡu/ | fûc /fuːk/ | fôg /foːk/ | füch /fyk/ |
| Sun | su /ˈsu/ | sol /sol/ | sô /soː/ | sô /suː/ | soreli /soˈreːli/ | sòul /sɔul/ | surëdl /suˈrəːdl/ |
| Moon | lugna /ˈlyɲa/ | lun-a /ˈlyna/ | lüna /ˈlyna/ | lùn-a /lyna/ | lune /ˈlune/ | lóna /ˈlona/ | löna /ˈløːna/ |
| Mother | maire /ˈmajre/ | mare /ˈmare/ | mader /ˈmaːder/ | moæ /mwɛ/ | mari /ˈmaːri/ | mèder /ˈmɛder/ | mëma /ˈməma/ |
| Father | paire /ˈpajre/ | pare /ˈpare/ | pader /ˈpaːder/ | poæ /pwɛ/ | pari /ˈpaːri/ | pèder /ˈpɛder/ | pere /ˈpere/ |
| Eat | mangià /manˈdʒa/ | mangé /maɲˈdʒe/ | mangià /maɲˈdʒaː/ | mangiâ /mandʒaː/ | mangjâ /manˈɲaː/ | magnèr /maˈɲɛːr/ | mangé /manˈʤe/ |
| Drink | beive /ˈbejve/ | bèive /ˈbɛive/ | bev /bev/ | béive /bejve/ | bevi /ˈbeːvi/ | bèvar /ˈbɛvar/ | bever /ˈbever/ |
| Love | amù /aˈmu/ | amor /aˈmur/ | amor /aˈmuːr/ | amô /amuː/ | amôr /aˈmoːr/ | amôr /aˈmoːr/ | amor /aˈmoɾ/ |
| Heart | chêu /kø/ | cheur /kør/ | cör /kør/ | cuô /kwoː/ | cûr /kuːr/ | côr /koːr/ | cuer /kweɾ/ |
| Tree | âbu /ˈaːbu/ | àrbol /ˈarbol/ | albar /ˈalbar/ | ærbo /ɛrbu/ | arbul /ˈarbul/ | àlber /ˈalber/ | albe /ˈalbe/ |
| House | cà /ka/ | ca /ka/ | cà /kaː/ | câza /kaːza/ | cjase /ˈcaːse/ | cà /kaː/ | ciasa /ˈʧaza/ |
| Dog | can /kaŋ/ | can /kaŋ/ | can /kan/ | can /kaŋ/ | cjan /caŋ/ | chèn /kɛn/ | cian /ʧaŋ/ |
| Cat | gatu /ˈɡatu/ | gat /ɡat/ | gat /ɡat/ | gatto /ɡatu/ | gjat /ɟat/ | gat /ɡat/ | giat /ʤat/ |
| Hand | mòn /mɔŋ/ | man /maŋ/ | man /maŋ/ | man /maŋ/ | man /maŋ/ | mân /maːn/ | man /maŋ/ |
| Eye | öggiu /ˈødʒu/ | euj /øj/ | öcc /øtʃ/ | euggio /ødʒu/ | voli /ˈvoli/ | ôc /oːtʃ/ | uedl /ˈwəːdl/ |
| Hello | ciau /tʃaw/ | ciao /tʃao/ | ciao /ˈtʃaːo/ | ciâo /tʃaː/ | mandi /ˈmandi/ | ciao /ˈtʃao/ | bun de /buŋ ˈde/ |
| Thank you | graçie /ˈɡrasje/ | gràssie /ˈɡrasːie/ | gràzie /ˈɡrasje/ | graçie /ɡrasje/ | graziis /ˈɡraːt͡sjis/ | grazie /ˈɡratsje/ | dilan /diˈlaŋ/ |
| One | un /uŋ/ | un /yŋ/ | vün /vyŋ/ | un /uŋ/ | un /uŋ/ | ón /uŋ/ | un /un/ |
| Good | bon /buŋ/ | bon /buŋ/ | bun /buŋ/ | bon /buŋ/ | bon /boŋ/ | bón /boŋ/ | bon /boŋ/ |
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