Sassarese language

Infobox Language
name=Sassarese
nativename="Sassaresu"
familycolor=Indo-European
pronunciation= []


states=flag|Italy
region=Sardinia
speakers= ≈ 125.000
script=Latin Alphabet (Italian variant)
fam2=Italic
fam3=Romance
fam4=Southern / Italo-Dalmatian
nation=Sardinia
iso1=sc or co
iso2=srd or cos
iso3=sdc
ll1=none

Sassarese (local name "Sassaresu" or "Turritanu") is a Southern Romance language and a diasystem of the Sardinian and Corsican. It's regarded as a Corsican-Sardinian language because of Sassari's historic ties (and neighborhood) with Tuscany and Corsica, despite the heavy Sardinian influences (especially in the vocabulary) it still keeps its Tuscan roots which closely relate it to Gallurese, which is regarded as a Corsican dialect despite the geographic location, although this fact has been causing a deep controversy. Can be considered a transitional language, a "lingua di confine", between italo-dalmatian languageas cite book
last=Enrico
first=Costa
title=Sassari
date=1992
publisher=Edizioni Gallizzi
location = Sassari
language=it
pages=vol.I, pag.51
quote="Ai Pisani dobbiamo anche il nostro dialetto, che per la maggior parte è quasi lo stesso che vi si parla oggi - una specie di toscano del secolo XIII - corrotto più tardi da un po' di corso e da molto spagnuolo."] cite book
last=Mario Pompeo
first=Coradduzza
title=Il sistema del dialetto
date=2004
location= Sassari
language=it
pages=Prefazione
quote="... il sassarese deriva dalla lingua italiana e, più precisamente, dal toscano antico, poi trasformatosi lentamente in dialetto popolare fin dal secolo XII, quando ancora i borghesi e i nobili parlavano in sardo logudorese. Durante l'età del Libero Comune (1294 - 1323), il dialetto sassarese non era altro che un pisano contaminato, al quale si aggiungevano espressioni sarde, corse e spagnole; non è quindi un dialetto autoctono, ma continentale e, meglio determinandolo, un sotto - dialetto toscano misto, con caratteri propri, diverso dal gallurese di importazione corsa."] cite book
last=Max Leopold
first=Wagner
title=The problem of the geographical region to be attributed to Gallurese and Sassarese
work=Neolatin Culture 3
date=1943
language=it
pages=243, 267
quote="a dialect of the people which, following all evidences was formed step by step starting from the XVI century, after the period in which various deadly pestilences decimated the population of the city; most of the surviving people were of Pisan and Corsican origin, also quite a good number of Genovese people was part of the population. In this way the hybrid dialect that nowadays is being spoken in Sassari, Porto Torres and Sorso came into being. Its basis is a corrupt Tuscan with Genovese traces and quite some Sardinian terms."] and Sardinian language. [cite book
last=Mauro
first=Maxia
title=Studi storici sui dialetti della Sardegna settentrionale
date=1999
publisher=Studium Adf
location = Sassari
language=it
pages=21,37
quote="Mentre il còrso della colonia sassarese subiva il forte influsso logudorese, specialmente nella sintassi e nel lessico" and "dopo il fortissimo influsso sardo subito dal còrso nel processo di sovrapposizione sull’originario logudorese"] It has several similarities to Italian and in particular the old dialects of Italian from Tuscany.

It's spoken by approximately 120,000 people (in a total population of 175,000 inhabitants) in the nort-west coastal areas of Sardinia, Italy: large sassarese-speaking communities are present in Sassari, Stintino, Sorso and Porto Torres; its trasition varieties towards Gallurese, known as the "castellanesi" dialects, can be heard in Castelsardo, Tergu and Sedini.

Sassarese emerges as an urban language of commerce in the age of Giudicati (XIII-XIV century); it is based on a mixture of different languages, namely Corsican, Pisano and Genoan; a strong Logudorese influence can be felt in its phonetics, syntax, and vocabulary, a minor influence was exercised by Catalan and Spanish. There exist many modern and older works both on and in sassarese, and a number of cultural, social and theatre events are regularly held in connection with it.

In 1943 the German linguist Max Leopold Wagner wrote:

Official status

Sassarese is recognized by Autonomous Region of Sardinia: [ [http://www.regione.sardegna.it/j/v/86?v=9&c=72&s=1&file=1997026 Official Website of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia] ]

Maps

References

See also

* Sardinian, Corsican and Gallurese languages
* Sardinia, Sassari (Porto Torres, Sorso, Stintino, Castelsardo, Sedini and Tergu)