Brigasc is a

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

of the Ligurian language. It is spoken in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Area of use

The Brigasc dialect is spoken in La Brigue (France) and Briga Alta (Italy) and some villages of the communes of

Ormea Ormea is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about southeast of Cuneo. Ormea borders the following municipalities: Alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" ...

and Triora. It is very close to

Royasc Royasc is a dialect bridging the gap between the Ligurian language and the Occitan language. It is spoken in Italy and France. Area of use The Royasc dialect is spoken in the Upper Roya valley, at the boundary of France and Italy. In France, i ...

dialect.

History

During the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

the Ligurian language was spoken in all the territories of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

: in the western area of this republic one of its groups (spoken mainly in the area between the

Principality of Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a semi-enclave borde ...

and

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

) was called ''Intemelio''. The language spoken in the mountains around Briga was called ''Brigasc'' and received some influence from the Occitan language.Giulia Petracco Sicardi, E. Azaretti, "Studi linguistici sull'anfizona Liguria-Provenza", in ''Dizionario Etimologico Storico Ligure'', Alessandria 1989, a pp. 11-62, di Giulia Petracco Sicardi, "Contributo alla definizione dell'anfizona Liguria-Provenza".

Some words in Brigasc

References

Bibliography

* Fiorenzo Toso, ''Il brigasco e l'olivettese tra classificazione scientifica e manipolazioni politico-amministrative'', in ''Intemelion. Cultura e territorio – Quaderno annuale di studi storici dell'Accademia di cultura intemelia'', n. 14, anno 2008
website online (in Italian)

External links

* ttp://web.tiscali.it/robertotarabella/ "Terra brigasca" website {{Authority control Languages of France Ligurian language (Romance)