The Corsican Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Accented Letters & more

Q: How many letters are in the Corsican alphabet?

The Corsican alphabet has 22 letters [1] from the Latin script. It excludes j, k, w, x, and y, which are not traditionally used in Corsican words. The alphabet includes: • 5 basic vowels : a, e, i, o, u • 16 consonants : b, c, d, f, g, h, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, z • Accented vowels : à, è, ì, ò, ù (used to indicate stress)

Q: Is Corsican similar to Italian or French?

Corsican is much more similar to Italian than French [2] , specifically to Tuscan Italian: • Romance roots - Corsican evolved from medieval Tuscan dialects • Vocabulary - About 80-90% of Corsican words are similar to Italian • Grammar structure - Follows Italian patterns more than French • Pronunciation - Shares many sounds with Italian, including rolled "r" However, Corsican has developed its own unique features and identity over centuries!

Q: What are the special accented letters in Corsican?

Corsican uses five accented vowels with grave accents : • à - indicates stressed "ah" sound • è - indicates stressed open "eh" sound • ì - indicates stressed "ee" sound • ò - indicates stressed open "oh" sound • ù - indicates stressed "oo" sound These accents are important for correct pronunciation and meaning!

Q: Where is Corsican spoken today?

Corsican (Corsu) is primarily spoken in: • Corsica - the island territory of France, where most speakers live • Northern Sardinia - the Gallura region where a similar dialect is spoken • Diaspora communities - in mainland France, Puerto Rico, and other locations The language has approximately 150,000-200,000 speakers , though many young Corsicans are more fluent in French .

Q: Is Corsican a dying language?

Corsican faces challenges but has active revitalization efforts [2] : • Schools - Corsican is now taught in many island schools • Media - Radio stations, TV programs, and newspapers in Corsican • Cultural pride - Growing interest among young people in their linguistic heritage • University programs - Academic study and research at Università di Corsica While classified as vulnerable , there is hope for preservation and renewal !

Q: What makes Corsican pronunciation unique?

Corsican has several distinctive pronunciation features : • Geminate consonants - double consonants are pronounced longer (like Italian) • Rolled "r" - the r sound is strongly rolled • Palatalization - "ghj" and "chj" sounds unique to Corsican • Vowel clarity - each vowel maintains its distinct sound • Stress patterns - accent marks show which syllable to emphasize These features give Corsican its melodious, distinctive sound !

Corsican Alphabet at a Glance

22 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 16 consonants
Spoken by approximately 150,000 to 200,000 people
Regional language of France, primarily spoken in Corsica
Uses Latin script for writing ^[1]
Features accented vowels (à, è, ì, ò, ù) and also é, ó for stress indication
Italo-Romance language closely related to Tuscan Italian
Protected and studied at Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli ^[2]

Uppercase Vowels:

[ah]

[eh]

[ee]

[oh]

[oo]

Lowercase Vowels:

[ah]

[eh]

[ee]

[oh]

[oo]

Uppercase Consonants:

[beh]

[cheh]

[deh]

[ef-feh]

[geh]

[ak-kah]

[el-leh]

[em-meh]

[en-neh]

[peh]

[koo]

[er-reh]

[es-seh]

[teh]

[veh]

[dzeh-tah]

[beh]

Uppercase B, pronounced like "b" in "bed".

[cheh]

Uppercase C, pronounced like "k" before a, o, u and like "ch" before e, i.

[deh]

Uppercase D, pronounced like "d" in "dog".

[ef-feh]

Uppercase F, pronounced like "f" in "food".

[geh]

Uppercase G, pronounced like "g" in "go" or "j" before e, i.

[ak-kah]

Uppercase H, usually silent or used in digraphs like "Ch" and "Gh".

[el-leh]

Uppercase L, pronounced like "l" in "love".

[em-meh]

Uppercase M, pronounced like "m" in "mother".

[en-neh]

Uppercase N, pronounced like "n" in "name".

[peh]

Uppercase P, pronounced like "p" in "pen".

[koo]

Uppercase Q, always followed by u, pronounced like "kw".

[er-reh]

Uppercase R, pronounced with a rolled "r" sound.

[es-seh]

Uppercase S, pronounced like "s" in "sun".

[teh]

Uppercase T, pronounced like "t" in "top".

[veh]

Uppercase V, pronounced like "v" in "very".

[dzeh-tah]

Uppercase Z, pronounced like "ts" or "dz".

Lowercase Consonants:

[beh]

[cheh]

[deh]

[ef-feh]

[geh]

[ak-kah]

[el-leh]

[em-meh]

[en-neh]

[peh]

[koo]

[er-reh]

[es-seh]

[teh]

[veh]

[dzeh-tah]

[beh]

Lowercase b, pronounced like "b" in "bed".

[cheh]

Lowercase c, pronounced like "k" before a, o, u and like "ch" before e, i.

[deh]

Lowercase d, pronounced like "d" in "dog".

[ef-feh]

Lowercase f, pronounced like "f" in "food".

[geh]

Lowercase g, pronounced like "g" in "go" or "j" before e, i.

[ak-kah]

Lowercase h, usually silent or used in digraphs like "ch" and "gh".

[el-leh]

Lowercase l, pronounced like "l" in "love".

[em-meh]

Lowercase m, pronounced like "m" in "mother".

[en-neh]

Lowercase n, pronounced like "n" in "name".

[peh]

Lowercase p, pronounced like "p" in "pen".

[koo]

Lowercase q, always followed by u, pronounced like "kw".

[er-reh]

Lowercase r, pronounced with a rolled "r" sound.

[es-seh]

Lowercase s, pronounced like "s" in "sun".

[teh]

Lowercase t, pronounced like "t" in "top".

[veh]

Lowercase v, pronounced like "v" in "very".

[dzeh-tah]

Lowercase z, pronounced like "ts" or "dz".

A a

[ah]

B b

[beh]

C c

[cheh]

D d

[deh]

E e

[eh]

F f

[ef-feh]

G g

[geh]

H h

[ak-kah]

I i

[ee]

L l

[el-leh]

M m

[em-meh]

N n

[en-neh]

O o

[oh]

P p

[peh]

Q q

[koo]

R r

[er-reh]

S s

[es-seh]

T t

[teh]

U u

[oo]

V v

[veh]

Z z

[dzeh-tah]

A a

[ah]

A (A) is pronounced as "ah". It can be uppercase (A) or lowercase (a).

B b

[beh]

B (B) is pronounced as "beh". It can be uppercase (B) or lowercase (b).

C c

[cheh]

C (C) is pronounced as "cheh". It can be uppercase (C) or lowercase (c).

D d

[deh]

D (D) is pronounced as "deh". It can be uppercase (D) or lowercase (d).

E e

[eh]

E (E) is pronounced as "eh". It can be uppercase (E) or lowercase (e).

F f

[ef-feh]

F (F) is pronounced as "ef-feh". It can be uppercase (F) or lowercase (f).

G g

[geh]

G (G) is pronounced as "geh". It can be uppercase (G) or lowercase (g).

H h

[ak-kah]

H (H) is usually silent or used in digraphs. It can be uppercase (H) or lowercase (h).

I i

[ee]

I (I) is pronounced as "ee". It can be uppercase (I) or lowercase (i).

L l

[el-leh]

L (L) is pronounced as "el-leh". It can be uppercase (L) or lowercase (l).

M m

[em-meh]

M (M) is pronounced as "em-meh". It can be uppercase (M) or lowercase (m).

N n

[en-neh]

N (N) is pronounced as "en-neh". It can be uppercase (N) or lowercase (n).

O o

[oh]

O (O) is pronounced as "oh". It can be uppercase (O) or lowercase (o).

P p

[peh]

P (P) is pronounced as "peh". It can be uppercase (P) or lowercase (p).

Q q

[koo]

Q (Q) is always followed by u, pronounced as "kw". It can be uppercase (Q) or lowercase (q).

R r

[er-reh]

R (R) is pronounced with a rolled "r". It can be uppercase (R) or lowercase (r).

S s

[es-seh]

S (S) is pronounced as "es-seh". It can be uppercase (S) or lowercase (s).

T t

[teh]

T (T) is pronounced as "teh". It can be uppercase (T) or lowercase (t).

U u

[oo]

U (U) is pronounced as "oo". It can be uppercase (U) or lowercase (u).

V v

[veh]

V (V) is pronounced as "veh". It can be uppercase (V) or lowercase (v).

Z z

[dzeh-tah]

Z (Z) is pronounced as "dzeh-tah". It can be uppercase (Z) or lowercase (z).

[ah]

[eh]

[ay]

[ee]

[oh]

[oo]

[ah]

Lowercase à with grave accent, indicates stress on this vowel.

[ah]

Uppercase À with grave accent, indicates stress on this vowel.

[eh]

Lowercase è with grave accent, open "e" sound.

[eh]

Uppercase È with grave accent, open "e" sound.

[ay]

Lowercase é with acute accent, closed "e" sound.

[ay]

Uppercase É with acute accent, closed "e" sound.

[ee]

Lowercase ì with grave accent, indicates stress on this vowel.

[ee]

Uppercase Ì with grave accent, indicates stress on this vowel.

[oh]

Lowercase ò with grave accent, open "o" sound.

[oh]

Uppercase Ò with grave accent, open "o" sound.

[oh]

Lowercase ó with acute accent, closed "o" sound.

[oh]

Uppercase Ó with acute accent, closed "o" sound.

[oo]

Lowercase ù with grave accent, indicates stress on this vowel.

[oo]

Uppercase Ù with grave accent, indicates stress on this vowel.

[zero]

[unu]

[dui]

[trè]

[quattru]

[cinqui]

[sei]

[setti]

[ottu]

[novi]

[zero]

The numeral zero.

[unu]

The numeral one.

[dui]

The numeral two.

[trè]

The numeral three.

[quattru]

The numeral four.

[cinqui]

The numeral five.

[sei]

The numeral six.

[setti]

The numeral seven.

[ottu]

The numeral eight.

[novi]

The numeral nine.

;

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in the Corsican alphabet?

Is Corsican similar to Italian or French?

What are the special accented letters in Corsican?

Where is Corsican spoken today?

Is Corsican a dying language?

What makes Corsican pronunciation unique?

References:

[1] Unicode Consortium. "Latin Extended-B Block". Retrieved from Unicode Latin Extended-B
[2] Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli. "Corsican Language and Culture Research". Retrieved from University of Corsica
[3] UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. "Corsican Language Status". Retrieved from UNESCO Languages Atlas