At the border between Gallo-Romance and Italo-Romance, the dialects spoken in Menton as well as in the Roya and Nervia Valleys share distinctive systemic traits - morphophonological, in particular - that are absent in the neighboring varieties (Niçard, Costal Ligurian, Piedmontese). Based on a broad empirical dataset, the study isolates these archaic - and nowadays unique - Gallo-Italic traits, showing their clear affinity with Proto-Ligurian.

Werner Forner, Universität Siegen, Deutschland.