Monégasque (''munegascu''
une'gasku it, monegasco; french: monégasque) is the
variety of
Ligurian spoken in
Monaco. It is closely related to the
Ligurian dialects spoken in Ventimiglia and is considered a national language of Monaco, though it is not the official language of the country, which is
French. Monégasque has been officially taught in the schools of Monaco since 1972 and was made a compulsory subject in 1976, but is the
native language of only a handful of people.
History
In 1191, the
Republic of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...
took possession of Monaco and began settling in 1215. These Genoese settlers brought their
vernacular language
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
with them which would develop into Monégasque. Prior to the Genoese settlers, the main language of the region was
Provençal, as spoken in the nearby localities of
Menton and
Roquebrune. By 1355, Menton, Roquebrune, and Monaco were under the political union of the
Grimaldis, but despite this, there was a linguistic divide as the primary language of Monaco was Ligurian. Overtime Monégasque began to split from the Genoese vernacular as Monaco came under the political influence of foreign powers, namely taking influences from French and Italian, but also briefly from Spanish and Catalan as Monaco had been under Spanish occupation for over a hundred years, ending in 1641.
Afterwards, Monaco would be under French protection and prior to the
French Revolution, Italian and Monégasque were the primary languages of the political elite, administration, clergy and natives. French would however begin to become a major influence as France instituted bilingual government. At this time the population of Monaco was mainly made up of immigrants and descendants from Genoa and other parts
Liguria, and though Monégasque was not written, it was openly spoken and passed down through families by oral tradition. People coming in from the Italian city-states were considered closer neighbors than those coming in from Grimaldi-led cities of Menton and Roquebrune, who were considered foreigners despite their union with Monaco.
In 1793, Monaco was annexed by France and by 1805, decrees from the
Emperor of France
Emperor of the French ( French: ''Empereur des Français'') was the title of the monarch and supreme ruler of the First and the Second French Empires.
Details
A title and office used by the House of Bonaparte starting when Napoleon was procla ...
, imposed French language instruction and limited the use of other languages. The Grimaldis reestablished a sovereign principality in 1814, but maintained French as the only official language though Italian and Monégasque remained national languages. In 1815,
Prince Honoré IV decreed French and Italian equal status in education, though Italian gradually declined as the nearby regions became more French, noticeably in 1860 with the
French annexation of Nice. Monégasque was then demoted to a "
patois
''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon o ...
," and barred from being taught or spoken in public and religious schools until 1976, in a similar manner to that of
Occitan in France.
By 1924, Monégasque was close to extinction if not for the efforts of the National Committee of Monégasque Traditions (''Cumitau Naçiunale d'ë Tradiçiune Munegasche''). In 1927, Louis Noatri published the ''A Legenda de Santa Devota,'' the first literary work in Monégasque. This was soon followed by all kinds of literature, such as poetry, stories, and theatre being written in Monégasque attracting more attention to the language. In 1972, the first class in Monégasque was taught by clergymen, Georges Franzi, with support from the
Félibrige
The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...
, an Occitan language association, and by 1976, Monégasque was made a compulsory subject in public and private primary education thanks to an initiative by the government. This was later expanded in 1979 and 1989 to make it a compulsory subject in secondary education and as an optional subject for the baccalaureate. In 1982,
Prince Rainier III
Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...
created a sovereign ordinance that established the Commission for the Monégasque Language, which is responsible for the education and study of the language.
Classification
Monégasque shares many features with the
Genoese dialect and is closely related the
dialect of Ventimiglia. Despite earlier attempts to link it to Occitan, Monégasque is a Ligurian dialect with Occitan contributions while the nearby
Menton dialect is an Occitan dialect with Ligurian features.
Monégasque, like all other Ligurian language variants, is derived directly from the
Vulgar Latin of what is now northwestern Italy and southeastern France and has some influence in vocabulary, morphology and syntax from French and related
Gallo-Romance languages
The Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages includes in the narrowest sense the Langues d'oïl and Franco-Provençal. However, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing the Occitano-Romance, Gallo-Italic, and Rhaeto-Rom ...
, but most words are more like
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
.
Before the annexation of the
County of Nice
The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent ...
to
France in 1860, the Niçois spoke a dialect very similar to Monégasque.
Speakers
The sole official language of Monaco is French as stated in their Constitution with Monégasque being used informally. As Monégasques are only a minority in Monaco, the language was threatened with extinction in the 1970s. In a nation with other 130 different nationalities, Monégasque struggles in a time of globalization. Despite being compulsory in education, it's not common for students in Monaco to use it outside the classroom or to take their baccalaureates in the Monégasque option. Adult education and lessons to foreign residents are carried out, and yearly there is language competition for schoolchildren that is presided by the Prince.
Literature
Monégasque wasn't a written language until 1927, beginning with Louis Notari's ''A Legenda de Santa Devota''. Prior to that, any semblance of written Monégasque was usually referred to as Ligurian, Genoese, Italian, and sometimes even French.
Major authors in Monégasque also include:
* Louis Barral, curator of the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology of Monaco, who authored the Monégasque dictionary, amongst other works of science and fiction.
* Suzanne Simone, who co-wrote the dictionary with Barral.
* Robert Boisson, founder of the Academy of Dialectal Languages and author of a collection of poems, ''Vibrations intérieures – Harmonies Humaines.''
* Louis Frolla, a clergymen who authored the grammar of Monégasque.
* Georges Franzi, who taught Monégasque through his sermons and advanced the cause for education in Monégasque.
* Etienne Clerissi, an actor and artist, who authored palys in Monégasque.
* Jules Soccal, a sailor and author of ''Le Vocabulaire monégasque de la marine et de la mer,'' a look at Monégasque sea jargon.
Orthography
The Monégasque alphabet is made up of 23 letters and the orthography generally follows
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
principles, with a few unique graphemes and features borrowed from French:
Notes:
# Similar to Italian
hard and soft C. /k/ before ''a, o, u, ü,'' and ''ch''.
# Similar to Italian
hard and soft G. before ''e'' and ''i''.
# ''H'' is used like it is in Italian, after ''C'' and ''G'' for ''Ch'' /k/ and ''Gh'' /g/.
# Pronounced as in French, although it may be intervolalic.
# /ʃ/ before ''t, s'', and ''p''. /z/ in between vowels.
# /ʃ/ before ''e'' or ''i''.
Grammar
Samples
Below is an excerpt from the
Monégasque national anthem, written by
Louis Notari
Louis Notari ( Monaco, 1879–1961) was a Monégasque poet who was the pioneer of Monégasque literature. He wrote in the French and Monégasque languages.
Principal writings
He wrote in 1931 the final version of the text of the Monaco nationa ...
. In addition, there is an older French version of the anthem; its lyrics have a different meaning. The choice between the two forms is generally subject to the occasion and the circumstance.
The following is a Monégasque rendering of the
Hail Mary:
See also
*
Languages of Monaco
*
Languages of Europe
Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Ro ...
*
Languages of Italy
References
External links
Poems read in MonegasqueGrammaire MonégasqueNational Committee of Monégasque TraditionsDictionnaire Français - Monégasque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monegasque
Ligurian language (Romance)
Languages of Monaco
Monegasque culture
Endangered Romance languages
City colloquials