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Genoese phonology
versione italiana | version française | english version | versciun zeneize

Interactive multimedia page with the voice of the great Marzari in MP3 format!
(you will hear it much better if you plug the speakers in, or the earphones...)
The genoese language is made of 31 sounds,
or, in a more gibberish way,
the phonemic inventory of the genoese language consists of 31 phonemes.
A synopsis is shown here below:
Click on the bicolored words to listen: you should hear the sound within 2 to 20 secs., depending on your connection...
8 vowels
a barba /'barba/ (uncle/beard)
e tésta /'testa/ (head)
ɛ ægua /'ɛ:gwa/ (water)
i bibin /bi'biŋ/ (turkey)
ɔ côse /'kɔ:se/ (what?)
ø frisciœ /fri'ʃø:/ (fritter)
u cumme /'kumme/ (pardon?)
y fygassa /fy'gassa/ (focaccia)
20 consonants
b báilu /'bajlu/ (trunk) ɲ zýgnu /'zyɲɲu/ (june)
d dáttai /'dattaj/ (dates - fruit) p parpélle /par'pelle/ (eyelids)
ʤ figiœa /fi'ʤø:a/ (child fem.) r recattu /re'kattu/ (order)
f fanfarunn-a /faŋfa'ruŋŋa/ (braggart f.) s sinsâe /siŋ'sa:e/ (mosquitoes)
g grîgue /'gri:gwe/ (lizards) ʃ sciyscettu /ʃy'ʃettu/ (bellows)
k carêga /ka're:ga/ (chair) t tyttu /'tyttu/ (all)
l lalla /'lalla/ (aunt) ʧ ciæu /'ʧɛ:u/ (bright)
m man /'maŋ/ (hand) v vexin /ve'ʒiŋ/ (neighbour)
n nœtte /'nøtte/ (night) z zeneize /ze'nejze/ (genoese)
ŋ schenn-a /'skeŋŋa/ (back - anat.) ʒ adâxu /a'da:ʒu/ (easy!)
3 semivowels/semiconsonants
j raiœ /ra'jø:/ (ravioli) wòua /'ɔwwa/ (now ?) ɥlanpyin /laŋ'pɥiŋ/ (street lamps)
Because of its peculiarity, it is also noteworthy the consonantal group /ʃʧ/
scciypòu /ʃʧy'pɔw/ (exploded) sccetta /'ʃʧetta/ (pure)
Regarding the diphtongs and the hiati of the genoese language read this article of Magister (in italian)
  • The phonetic symbols are those adopted by the International Phonetic Association.
  • If you see "✏" or "?" instead of letters, or if you can't hear the sounds, try this page.
  • Click here to download the fonts fonts Lucida Sans Unicode
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