Although there is little evidence of Ligurian settlements in the area,[2] they are widely thought to have been characterised by the Liguriansubstratum.[3] While Legnanese is closer to the Milanese dialect,[citation needed] Bustocco is especially considered very similar to the modern Ligurian language,[4] for example for the frequent unstressed [u] at the end of masculine nouns and other words is more frequent (e.g. Bustocco gatu "cat", secu "dry", coldu "hot", bücéu "glass", candu "when" = Legnanese gatt, secch, cald, bicér, quand), as well as the elimination of some intervocalic consonants (e.g. Bustocco lauà "to work" = Legnanese lavurà). In both dialects stressed /a/ sounds like a mix between a and o.[citation needed][clarification needed]
A comic theatrical group called I Legnanesi uses Legnanese (with simplified grammar and lexicon heavily based on Italian) in its shows.[5]
^"Bustocco: un dialetto ligure?" [Bustocco: a Ligurian dialect?]. Patrimoni Linguistici (in Italian). 28 August 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
^Marinoni, Augusto (1957). I dialetti da Saronno al Ticino. Busto Arsizio-Legnano [The dialects from Saronno to the Ticino. Busto Arsizio-Legnano] (in Italian). Rotary Club. pp. 37–50.
^Giavini, Luigi (2002). Le origini di Busto Arsizio dai Liguri ai Longobardi [The origins of Busto Arsizio from the Ligurians to the Lombards] (in Italian). Nomos Edizioni. pp. 17–38.