Ligurian (Romance language) Ligurian (Romance language) Ligurian ("ligure" or "lengua ligure") is a Gallo-Italic language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. It is part of the Gallo-Italic and Western Romance dialect continuum. The Genoese ("Zeneize"), spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is the language's prestige dialect on which the standard is based. There is a long literary tradition of Ligurian poets and writers that goes from the 13th century to the present, such as Luchetto (the Genoese Anonym), Martin Piaggio and Gian Giacomo
Ligurian (Romance language) Cavalli. Ligurian does not enjoy an official status in Italy. Hence, it is not protected by law. Historically, Genoese (the dialect spoken in the city of Genoa) is the written "koine", owing to its semi-official role as language of the Republic of Genoa, its traditional importance in trade and commerce and its vast literature. Like other regional languages in Italy, the use of Ligurian and its dialects is in rapid decline. ISTAT (the Italian central service of statistics) claims that in 2012, only 9% of the population used other than standard Italian with friends and family, which decreases to 1.8%