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Corsican (''corsu'' or ''lingua corsa'') is an Italo-Dalmatian Romance language, closely related to Tuscan, spoken and written on the islands of Corsica (France) and northern Sardinia (Italy). Corsican was long the vernacular language alongside Italian, the official language in Corsica until 1859; afterwards Italian was replaced by French, owing to the acquisition of the island by France from Genoa in 1768. Over the next two centuries, the use of French grew to the extent that, by the Liberation in 1945, all islanders had a working knowledge of French. The 20th century saw a wholesale language shift, with islanders changing their language practices to the extent that there were no monolingual Corsican speakers left by the 1960s. By 1995, an estimated 65 percent of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican,〔http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-340.html〕 and a small minority, perhaps 10 percent, used Corsican as a first language.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/homean/index1.html ) To access the data, click on List by languages, Corsican, Corsican in France, then scroll to ''Geographical and language background''.〕 == Number of speakers == The January 2007 estimated population of Corsica was 281,000, while the figure for the March 1999 census, when most of the studies – though not the linguistic survey work referenced in this article – were performed, was about 261,000 (see under Corsica). Only a fraction of the population at either time spoke Corsican with any fluency. The use of Corsican language over French language has been declining. In 1980 about 70 percent of the population of the island "had some command of the Corsican language."〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.uoc.es/euromosaic/web/homean/index1.html ) To find this statement and the supporting data click on List by languages, Corsican, Corsican language use survey and look under ''INTRODUCTION''.〕 In 1990 out of a total population of about 254,000 the percentage had declined to 50 percent, with only 10 percent using it as a first language.〔 (These figures do not count varieties of Corsican spoken in Sardinia.) The language appeared to be in serious decline when the French government reversed its unsupportive stand and initiated some strong measures to save it. According to an official survey run on behalf of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' which took place in April 2013, in Corsica the Corsican language has a number of speakers situated between 86,800 and 130,200, out of a total population amounting to 309,693 inhabitants. The percentage of those who have a solid knowledge of the language varies between a minimum of 25 percent in the 25-34 age group and the maximum of 65 percent in the over-65 age group: almost a quarter of the former age group does not understand Corsican, while only a small minority of the older people do not understand it.〔 While 32 percent of the population of northern Corsica speaks Corsican quite well, this percentage drops to 22 percent for South Corsica.〔 Moreover, 10 percent of the population of Corsica speaks only French, while 62 percent speak both French and Corsican.〔 However, only 8 percent of the Corsicans know how to write correctly in Corsican, while about 60 percent of the population does not know how to write in Corsican.〔 While 90 percent of the population is in favor of a Corsican-French bilingualism, 3 percent would like to have Corsican as the only official language in the island, and 7 percent would prefer French in this role.〔 UNESCO classifies Corsican as a "definitely endangered language."〔Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. (Here is the online version )〕 The Corsican language is a key vehicle for Corsican culture, which is notably rich in proverbs and in polyphonic song. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Corsican language」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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