Editing Corsican language (section)

=== Corsica ===
The two most widely spoken forms of the Corsican language are the groups spoken in the [[Bastia]] and [[Corte, Haute-Corse|Corte]] area (generally throughout the northern half of the island, known as [[Haute-Corse]], ''Cismonte'' or ''Corsica suprana''), and the groups spoken around [[Sartène]] and [[Porto-Vecchio]] (generally throughout the southern half of the island, known as [[Corse-du-Sud]], ''Pumonti'' or {{lang|co|Corsica suttana}}). The dialect of [[Ajaccio]] has been described as in transition. The dialects spoken at [[Calvi, Haute-Corse|Calvi]] and [[Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud|Bonifacio]] ([[Bonifacino dialect|Bonifacino]]) are dialects of the [[Ligurian language]].

This division along the Girolata-Porto Vecchio line was due to the massive immigration from Tuscany which took place in Corsica during the lower Middle Ages: as a result, the northern Corsican dialects became very close to a central Italian dialect like Tuscan, while the southern Corsican varieties could keep the original characteristics of the language which make it much more similar to [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] and, only to some extent, [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]].

==== Northern Corsican ====
The Northern Corsican macro variety (''Supranacciu'', ''Supranu'', ''Cismuntincu'' or ''Cismontano'') is the most widespread on the island and standardised as well, and is spoken in North-West Corsica around the districts of Bastia and Corte. The dialects of Bastia and [[Cap Corse]] belong to the Western Tuscan dialects; they being, with the exception of [[Florentine dialect|Florentine]], the closest to standard Italian. All the dialects presenting, in addition to what has already been stated, the conditional formed in {{lang|co|-ebbe}} (e.g. {{lang|co|(ella) amarebbe}} "she would love") are generally considered ''Cismontani'' dialects, situated north of a line uniting the villages of [[Piana, Corsica|Piana]], [[Vico, Corse-du-Sud|Vico]], [[Vizzavona]], [[Ghisoni]] and [[Ghisonaccia]], and also covering the subgroups from the Cap Corse (which, unlike the rest of the island and similarly to Italian, uses ''lu'', ''li'', ''la'', ''le'' as definite articles), Bastia (besides i > e and a > e, u > o: {{lang|co|ottanta}}, {{lang|co|momentu}}, {{lang|co|toccà}}, {{lang|co|continentale}}; a > o: {{lang|co|oliva}}, {{lang|co|orechja}}, {{lang|co|ocellu}}), Balagna, Niolo and Corte (which retain the general Corsican traits: {{lang|co|distinu}}, {{lang|co|ghjinnaghju}}, {{lang|co|sicondu}}, {{lang|co|billezza}}, {{lang|co|apartu}}, {{lang|co|farru}}, {{lang|co|marcuri}}, {{lang|co|cantaraghju}}, {{lang|co|uttanta}}, {{lang|co|mumentu}}, {{lang|co|tuccà}}, {{lang|co|cuntinentale}}, {{lang|co|aliva}}, {{lang|co|arechja}}, {{lang|co|acellu}}).

==== Transitional area ====
Across the Northern and Southern borders of the line separating the Northern dialects from the Southern ones, there is a transitional area picking up linguistic phenomena associated with either of the two groups, with some local peculiarities. Along the Northern line are the dialects around [[Piana, Corsica|Piana]] and [[Calcatoggio]], from Cinarca with [[Vizzavona]] (which form the conditional as in the South), and [[Fiumorbo]] through Ghisonaccia and Ghisoni, which have the retroflex {{IPA|co|ɖ|}} sound (written ''-dd-'') for historical {{smallcaps|-ll-}}; along the Southern line, the dialects of Ajaccio (retroflex ''-dd-'', realized as -''ghj''-, feminine plurals ending in ''i'', some Northern words like ''cane'' and ''accattà'' instead of ''ghjacaru'' and ''cumprà'', as well as ''ellu''/''ella'' and not ''eddu''/''edda''; minor variations: ''sabbatu'' > ''sabbitu'', ''u li dà'' > ''ghi lu dà''; final syllables often stressed and truncated: ''marinari'' > ''marinà'', {{lang|co|panatteri}} > ''panattè'', ''castellu'' > ''castè'', ''cuchjari'' > ''cuchjà''), the [[Gravona]] area, [[Bastelica]] (which would be classified as Southern, but is also noted for its typical rhotacism: ''Basterga'') and Solenzara, which did not preserve the Latin short vowels: ''seccu'', ''peru'', ''rossu'', ''croci'', ''pozzu''.

==== Southern Corsican ====
{{see also|Paleo-Corsican language}}
[[File:Maps of Corsican Dialects.svg|right|thumb|The distribution of Corsican dialects in Corsica and Sardinia.]]
The Southern Corsican macro variety (''Suttanacciu'', ''Suttanu'', ''Pumuntincu'' or ''Oltramontano'') is the most archaic and conservative group, spoken in the districts of Sartène and Porto-Vecchio. Unlike the Northern varieties and similarly to Sardinian, the group retains the distinction of the Latin short vowels ''ĭ'' and ''ŭ'' (e.g. ''pilu'', ''bucca''). It is also strongly marked by the presence of the [[voiced retroflex stop]], like Sicilian (e.g. ''aceddu'', ''beddu'', ''quiddu'', ''ziteddu'', ''famidda''), and the conditional mood formed in ''-ìa'' (e.g. ''(idda) amarìa'' "she would love"). All the ''Oltramontani'' dialects are from an area located to the South of Porticcio, [[Bastelica]], Col di Verde and Solenzara. Notable dialects are those from around [[Taravo]] (retroflex -''dd''- only for historical {{smallcaps|-ll-}}: ''frateddu'', ''suredda'', ''beddu''; preservation of the [[palatal lateral approximant]]: ''piglià'', ''famiglia'', ''figliolu'', {{lang|co|vogliu}}; does not preserve the Latin short vowels: ''seccu'', ''peru'', ''rossu'', ''croci'', ''pozzu''), Sartène (preserving the Latin short vowels: ''siccu'', ''piru'', ''russu'', ''cruci'', ''puzzu''; changing historical ''-rn-'' to ''-rr-'': ''forru'', ''carri'', ''corru''; substituting the stop for the palatal lateral approximant: ''piddà'', ''famidda'', ''fiddolu'', ''voddu''; imperfect tense like ''cantàvami'', ''cantàvani''; masculine plurals ending in ''a'': ''l'ochja'', ''i poma''; having ''eddu/edda/eddi'' as personal pronouns), the Alta Rocca (the most conservative area in Corsica, being very close to the varieties spoken in Northern Sardinia), and the Southern region located between the hinterlands of Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio (masculine singulars always ending in ''u'': ''fiumu'', ''paesu'', ''patronu''; masculine plurals always ending in ''a'': ''i letta'', ''i solda'', ''i ponta'', ''i foca'', ''i mura'', ''i loca'', ''i balcona''; imperfect tense like ''cantàiami'', ''cantàiani'').