Can a Spaniard, Romanian, and Swiss Italian understand Corsican?

Angela

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See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LLrTG8GHxc&t=883s

Just click on the subtitles icon to get the English translation.

Had no problem understanding him at all, even without looking at the written version, although it was distracting and disappointing hearing his pronounced French accent. Clearly he didn't learn it as a "madre lingua". Pity. I'd like to hear Corsican as it was.
 
See:

Just click on the subtitles icon to get the English translation.

Had no problem understanding him at all, even without looking at the written version, although it was distracting and disappointing hearing his pronounced French accent. Clearly he didn't learn it as a "madre lingua". Pity. I'd like to hear Corsican as it was.

It is not difficult to understand the Corsican. Phonetically many sounds resemble Portuguese.
As for the revealed words, in Portuguese they would have the following translation.
1) Borboleta (butterfly)
2) varredor de rua (street cleaner)
3) pelo (if referring to hair in the human body or in animals) or cabelo (if referring to hair in the human head)
4) Castanha (chestnut)
5) Ouriço (hedgehog)
 
Like I said earlier Portuguese and French sounds like your tongue gets in the way...Italian and Spanish sound more clear to my ear, and Romanian sounds most like the OG Latin to my ears...
 
It is not difficult to understand the Corsican. Phonetically many sounds resemble Portuguese.
As for the revealed words, in Portuguese they would have the following translation.
1) Borboleta (butterfly)
2) varredor de rua (street cleaner)
3) pelo (if referring to hair in the human body or in animals) or cabelo (if referring to hair in the human head)
4) Castanha (chestnut)
5) Ouriço (hedgehog)

Great comparative language programme, Duarte!
 
Thank you Vallicanus.
You’re too kind.
The original post was made by Angela.
 
Portuguese, Italian, English, Spezzino dialect (La Spezia) which is between Tuscan and Ligurian-Corsican

Varredor-Netturbino or spazzino- street cleaner or sweeper-spazzino (from spazzare, to sweep)-u spazzinu
Castanha-Castagna-chestnut-castagnina-castagna
Pelo-Pelo-body hair-peo-u pelu
Cabelo-Capelli-head hair-caveo-capillera
Borboleta-Farfalla-butterfly-barbatoa-barrabatolla o farfalla (In Spanish it's mariposa)
Ourico-Riccio-hedgehog-risso-u ricciu

Corsican is very close to Tuscan, and thus to standard Italian. Your ear just has to become accustomed to the pronunciation, which has a lot of "sh" sounds and "oo" sounds at the end of words.

Portuguese is also very similar to Italian if you look at the words; however, the pronunciation is even more different, so it's much harder for me to understand it than, say, Spanish, even though the number of similar words to Italian in the two languages might be almost the same.
 
Portuguese, Italian, English, Spezzino dialect (La Spezia) which is between Tuscan and Ligurian-Corsican

Varredor-Netturbino or spazzino- street cleaner or sweeper-spazzino (from spazzare, to sweep)-u spazzinu
Castanha-Castagna-chestnut-castagnina-castagna
Pelo-Pelo-body hair-peo-u pelu
Cabelo-Capelli-head hair-caveo-capillera
Borboleta-Farfalla-butterfly-barbatoa-barrabatolla o farfalla (In Spanish it's mariposa)
Ourico-Riccio-hedgehog-risso-u ricciu

Corsican is very close to Tuscan, and thus to standard Italian. Your ear just has to become accustomed to the pronunciation, which has a lot of "sh" sounds and "oo" sounds at the end of words.

Portuguese is also very similar to Italian if you look at the words; however, the pronunciation is even more different, so it's much harder for me to understand it than, say, Spanish, even though the number of similar words to Italian in the two languages might be almost the same.

I found very interesting the variants in the Spezzino dialect (barbatoa-barrabatolla) to the word butterfly that resemble the Portuguese word “borboleta”. According to some etymological dictionaries of the Portuguese language, the word “borboleta” comes from “belbellita”, a term originated from the Latin word “bellus.” 'Belbellita' is a reduplication of bellus plus a diminutive suffix.
 
See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LLrTG8GHxc&t=883s

Just click on the subtitles icon to get the English translation.

Had no problem understanding him at all, even without looking at the written version, although it was distracting and disappointing hearing his pronounced French accent. Clearly he didn't learn it as a "madre lingua". Pity. I'd like to hear Corsican as it was.


He knows the phonetic Corsican rules but sometimes forget them! His Parisian french R is horrible! But more of all, his 'music' is not native.
Some good polyglottic man indeed, but it doesn't rend the natural speach.
 
I love Corsican polyphonic singing, and their religious music, in particular, is wonderful; it's so "HUMAN" in its imagery and its attitudes.

One of my favorites: This Morning


If you know Italian you can certainly read the Corsican; listening to people sing is a little more difficult. I wonder if our Portuguese and French speakers can understand the written version, at least.

Corsican Kyrie
Sta mane un diu hè falatu
À fà e so parte à u mondu terranu
S'hè scusatu è hà pientu
Hà fattu casu pè una volta à a ghjente
L'hà guardata è intesa
Trascambiata, sfarente
Un diu hà postu u so pede
pè vede sangue di l'universu si perde
Un diu di stu cunfrontu à u statu di l'omu,
hà capitu digià di u mortu di u mondu
u scheletru hè rosu cundannatu à sciappà
A u nentru, nentru di sè à prufondu.
Da u pesu di tantu tempu persu
Inanzu à dà solu parolle
Un diu s'hè rinicatu
Cum'hè un omu inchjusu
Ind'è l'universu chì more
Sta mane un diu s'hè tombu
È nimu nimu n'hè stunatu
Sta mane un diu s'hè tombu
È nimu nimu n'hè stunatu
Sta mane un diu hè falatu
À fà e so parte à u mondu terranu

ITALIAN:
Questa mattina è caduto un dio
Per fare la sua parte nel mondo terreno,
Si è scusato e ha pianto,
Ha prestato attenzione una volta per tutte alla gente
La guardò e la sentì,
Scambiato, diverso.

Un dio ha messo piede
A vedere, il sangue dell'universo è perso
Un dio di questo confronto con lo stato dell'uomo,
Capisce già i morti del mondo
Lo scheletro è rosso destinato a scappare
Nel profondo, nel profondo, nel profondo.

Dal peso di tanto tempo perso,
Invece, provalo
Un dio è rinato come un prigioniero
Nell'universo morente
Questa mattina un dio è stato ucciso
E nessuno, nessuno, è sorpreso

Questa mattina un dio è stato ucciso
E nessuno, nessuno, è sorpreso

Questa mattina un dio è stato ucciso
E nessuno, nessuno, è sorpreso


Stamattina è venuto un dio
Adempiere ai suoi doveri verso quelli sotto.
Si è scusato, ha pianto,
Guardò gli umani per una volta.
Li guardava, li capiva
Tutti, trasformati, diversi.

Quindi un dio lo ha messo giù
Per guardarsi intorno.
Il sangue dell'Universo è perso,
Un dio affronta lo stato dell'uomo.
Aveva già capito:
Lo scheletro del mondo morto è rosicchiato,
Destinato a rompere,
Dentro, in sé, nel profondo,
A causa del peso di tutto quel tempo perso,
Finora,
Porta solo parole.
Un dio ha rifiutato,
Come un uomo rinchiuso in un mondo morente.
Questa mattina un dio si è suicidato:
E nessuno al mondo è sorpreso.

ENGLISH
This morning a god has fallen
To do his part in the earthly world,
He apologized and cried,
He paid attention once and for all to the people
He looked at her and heard her,
Exchanged, different.

A god has set his foot
To see, the blood of the universe is lost
A god of this confrontation with the state of man,
He already understands the dead of the world
The skeleton is red doomed to escape
Deep down, deep inside, deep down.

From the weight of so much time lost,
Instead, just give it a try
A god has reborn like an imprisoned man
In the dying universe
This morning a god was killed
And no one, no one, is surprised

This morning a god was killed
And no one, no one, is surprised

This morning a god was killed
And no one, no one, is surprised


A god came this morning
Fulfill his duties to those below.
He apologized, he cried,
He looked at humans for once.
He looked at them, he understood them
All of them, transformed, different.

So a god put him down
To look around him.
The blood of the Universe is lost,
A god faces the state of man.
He already understood:
The skeleton of the dead world is gnawed,
Doomed to break up,
Inside, in itself, deep down,
Because of the weight of all that time lost,
So far,
Just bring words.
A god refused,
Like a man locked in a dying world.
This morning a god killed himself:
And no one in the world is surprised
 
I love Corsican polyphonic singing, and their religious music, in particular, is wonderful; it's so "HUMAN" in its imagery and its attitudes.

One of my favorites: This Morning


If you know Italian you can certainly read the Corsican; listening to people sing is a little more difficult. I wonder if our Portuguese and French speakers can understand the written version, at least.

Corsican Kyrie
Sta mane un diu hè falatu
À fà e so parte à u mondu terranu
S'hè scusatu è hà pientu
Hà fattu casu pè una volta à a ghjente
L'hà guardata è intesa
Trascambiata, sfarente
Un diu hà postu u so pede
pè vede sangue di l'universu si perde
Un diu di stu cunfrontu à u statu di l'omu,
hà capitu digià di u mortu di u mondu
u scheletru hè rosu cundannatu à sciappà
A u nentru, nentru di sè à prufondu.
Da u pesu di tantu tempu persu
Inanzu à dà solu parolle
Un diu s'hè rinicatu
Cum'hè un omu inchjusu
Ind'è l'universu chì more
Sta mane un diu s'hè tombu
È nimu nimu n'hè stunatu
Sta mane un diu s'hè tombu
È nimu nimu n'hè stunatu
Sta mane un diu hè falatu
À fà e so parte à u mondu terranu

ITALIAN:
Questa mattina è caduto un dio
Per fare la sua parte nel mondo terreno,
Si è scusato e ha pianto,
Ha prestato attenzione una volta per tutte alla gente
La guardò e la sentì,
Scambiato, diverso.

Un dio ha messo piede
A vedere, il sangue dell'universo è perso
Un dio di questo confronto con lo stato dell'uomo,
Capisce già i morti del mondo
Lo scheletro è rosso destinato a scappare
Nel profondo, nel profondo, nel profondo.

Dal peso di tanto tempo perso,
Invece, provalo
Un dio è rinato come un prigioniero
Nell'universo morente
Questa mattina un dio è stato ucciso
E nessuno, nessuno, è sorpreso

Questa mattina un dio è stato ucciso
E nessuno, nessuno, è sorpreso

Questa mattina un dio è stato ucciso
E nessuno, nessuno, è sorpreso


Stamattina è venuto un dio
Adempiere ai suoi doveri verso quelli sotto.
Si è scusato, ha pianto,
Guardò gli umani per una volta.
Li guardava, li capiva
Tutti, trasformati, diversi.

Quindi un dio lo ha messo giù
Per guardarsi intorno.
Il sangue dell'Universo è perso,
Un dio affronta lo stato dell'uomo.
Aveva già capito:
Lo scheletro del mondo morto è rosicchiato,
Destinato a rompere,
Dentro, in sé, nel profondo,
A causa del peso di tutto quel tempo perso,
Finora,
Porta solo parole.
Un dio ha rifiutato,
Come un uomo rinchiuso in un mondo morente.
Questa mattina un dio si è suicidato:
E nessuno al mondo è sorpreso.

ENGLISH
This morning a god has fallen
To do his part in the earthly world,
He apologized and cried,
He paid attention once and for all to the people
He looked at her and heard her,
Exchanged, different.

A god has set his foot
To see, the blood of the universe is lost
A god of this confrontation with the state of man,
He already understands the dead of the world
The skeleton is red doomed to escape
Deep down, deep inside, deep down.

From the weight of so much time lost,
Instead, just give it a try
A god has reborn like an imprisoned man
In the dying universe
This morning a god was killed
And no one, no one, is surprised

This morning a god was killed
And no one, no one, is surprised

This morning a god was killed
And no one, no one, is surprised


A god came this morning
Fulfill his duties to those below.
He apologized, he cried,
He looked at humans for once.
He looked at them, he understood them
All of them, transformed, different.

So a god put him down
To look around him.
The blood of the Universe is lost,
A god faces the state of man.
He already understood:
The skeleton of the dead world is gnawed,
Doomed to break up,
Inside, in itself, deep down,
Because of the weight of all that time lost,
So far,
Just bring words.
A god refused,
Like a man locked in a dying world.
This morning a god killed himself:
And no one in the world is surprised

It's not as easy as reading Spanish or standard Italian, or even French. But, after some re-readings, it was possible to understand and see the similarity of most words with Portuguese words.
 
I understand quite well.
Maybe Romanian less, i had a hard time with Romanian.

But I notice again the differences between Italian, French, even Catalan with Spanish in some words, and in the pronunciation.

That must some kind of Arab, but mainly Basque influence in Castille.
 
Corsican has a peculiarity: it kept the "italian" writing for simple consonants/stops spite its pronounce them as do Occitan or Portuguese, as a whole: roughly showed

À fà e so parte à u mondu terranu
> ~ : [a fa e zo barte a u mondu deranu]
S'hè scusatu è hà pientu > [se scuzadu e a pientu]
Hà fattu casu pè una volta à a ghjente > [a fatu gazu be una (w/b)olta a a dyente]

of course all that is not pure phonétics and just approximative. And differences exist between North and South.
What is striking is that even at the initial the mutation (lenition) can befall, as in Celtic (Ligurian old habit too?)
as in other western romance languages and dialects, this trend towards lenition of simple stops is linked to a loss of gemination of double stops, which are respected in standard Italian.
 
I apologize, but as a text-based AI model, I am unable to click on links or view specific videos. Therefore, I cannot directly access the content you mentioned. However, if you have any specific questions or if there's anything else I can assist you with, please let me know, and I'll be happy to help.

Oh boy, this is going to be interesting moving forward. I banned this account in another thread for linking a dubious website. However, the post was almost convincing. The one quote above is further confirmation it was just a bot.
 
Maybe Romanian less, i had a hard time with Romanian.

When I visited Romania, I mostly spoke Spanish there as not that many people there speak English.
Of course, I spoke slowly (thinking about how to say the next word) and used basic vocabulary.
I understood them well and they got what I tried to say.
Most spoke slowly to me and the ones who didn't would repeat the same sentence until it kicked in.
 
My experience was the same in Romania. Not the same as when I was in Spain and spoke Italian in Catalonia because they wouldn't speak Spanish. Much harder going, but I managed.

For this test they should have had an older Tuscan listen to it.
 
I feel like something like Napulitano would've been a better one to include for comparison to Romanian. There is some overlap of sounds between them, including the 'uh' type sounds, from what I've noticed (and they are also both south/east of the LaSpezia-Rimini Line)

Or maybe even Venetian or Friulian.

Corsican on the other hand is a bit more distant, and it seems phonetically influenced by French somewhat in its pronunciation.
 
Swiss Italian for the most part, as standard Italian is the official language of the Italian-speaking cantons of Switzerland. The others only to some extent, probably the general meaning of sentences.
 
Last edited:
Corsican on the other hand is a bit more distant, and it seems phonetically influenced by French somewhat in its pronunciation.
To me, as a native Italian speaker from Lombardy, Corsican sounds like a Frenchman speaking a central-southern Italian dialect (kind of "ciociaro-like", then again I'm not an expert of central-southern Italian dialects, just the general sound of them).
 

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