Valdôtain (; local dialect: ''Valdotèn'', ''Valdŏtèn'', ''Valdouhtan'') is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that ...

of Arpitan (

Franco-Provençal Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy. Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is sep ...

) spoken in the

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is commonly known as ''

patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or ...

'' or ''patoué''.

Diffusion

The Aosta Valley represents nowadays the only region of the

area where this language is still widely spoken as native by all age ranges of the population.

Vocabulary examples

Several subdialects of Valdôtain exist that exhibit unique features in terms of phonetics and vocabulary.

Linguistic studies

Valdôtain has been the subject of detailed study at the

Bureau régional pour l'ethnologie et la linguistique Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organizations *Government agency *Public administration * News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location * Bureau (European Parliament), the administrat ...

(BREL) in

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest ...

as well as in the

Centre d'études francoprovençales Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

in Saint-Nicolas.

Music

The main modern singers and songwriters in Valdôtain are: *

Louis de Jyaryot Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

, from

Ayas Ayas may refer to: Ayas * Ayas(आयस), Sanskrit for metal, see history of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent * Ayas, Armenian metal band * Aya, Adana, the ancient city of Aegeae and medieval Ajazzo or Laiazzo, now Yumurtalık, Adana Prov ...

; *

Maura Susanna Maura may refer to: *Maura (given name), a feminine given name *Antonio Maura (1853–1925), Prime Minister of Spain *Carmen Maura (born 1945), Spanish actress *Miguel Maura (1887–1971), Spanish politician *Santa Maura, a former name of the Gre ...

, from Saint-Vincent; *

Magui Bétemps Magui or Magüi may refer to: * Magüí Payán, town and municipality in the Nariño Department, Colombia * Magüi Serna (born 1979), Spanish tennis player * Magdalena Aicega María Magdalena Aicega Amicarelli (born Nove ...

, from Valtournenche. The traditional Aostan songs in Valdôtain and in French form the core of the activity of the band Trouveur valdotèn.

Poetry

Here is a selection of some of the most important poets in Valdôtain:

References

Bibliography

* Jules Brocherel, ''Le Patois et la langue française en Vallée d'Aoste'' éd. V. Attinger, Neuchâtel * Aimé Chenal, ''Le franco-provençal valdotain. Morphologie et Syntaxe'', Aoste, Musumeci éditeur, 1986, * Alexis Bétemps, ''La langue française en Vallée d'Aoste de 1945 à nos jours'', Milan, T.D.L., * Hans-Erich Keller, Études linguistiques sur les parlers valdôtains, éd. A. Francke S.A., Berne, 1958. * Ernest Schüle, Histoire linguistique de la Vallée d’Aoste, dans "Bulletin du Centre d’études francoprovençales" n° 22, Imprimerie Valdôtaine, Aoste, 1990. * Xavier Favre, ''Histoire linguistique de la Vallée d’Aoste'', dans "Espace, temps et culture en Vallée d’Aoste", Imprimerie Valdôtaine, Aoste, 1996. * François-Gabriel Frutaz, ''Les origines de la langue française en Vallée d’Aoste'', Imprimerie Marguerettaz, Aoste, 1913. * Édouard Bérard, ''La langue française dans la Vallée d’Aoste'', Aoste, 1861. * Alexis Bétemps, ''Les Valdôtains et leur langue'', préface de Henri Armand, Imprimerie Duc, Aoste, 1979. * Alexis Bétemps, ''Le bilinguisme en Vallée d’Aoste : problèmes et perspectives'', dans "Les minorités ethniques en Europe", par les soins de A.-L. Sanguin, l’Harmattan, Paris, 1993, pages 131-135. * Bétemps, Alexis, ''Le francoprovençal en Vallée d’Aoste. Problèmes et prospectives'', dans ''Lingua e comunicazione simbolica nella cultura walser'', VI. Walsertreffen (6ème rencontre des Walsers), Fondazione Monti, Ausola d’Assola, 1989, p. 355-372