"For me, Genoese is not a dialect but a language; after all, dialects rise to the dignity of languages for political and military reasons. [...] Genoese has at least 2,500 words of Arabic origin, which shows how intense contact with the Arabs was. Moreover, from a commercial point of view, apart from its rather sporadic relations with Europe (England and Holland), Genoa had to focus its trade on Africa, because on the other side there was Venice, and every time Genoese ships tried to venture beyond Crete, there were fierce battles. But in those days, Genoese and Venetian were the international languages, just as French and English are today. (p. 40)"