Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a small Vivaro-Alpine enclave in the Guardia Piemontese,

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, where the language is known as ''gardiòl''. It belongs to the Northern Occitan dialect bloc, along with Auvergnat and Limousin. The name “vivaro-alpine” was coined by

Pierre Bec Pierre Bec (; oc, Pèire Bèc; 11 December 1921 – 30 June 2014) was a French Occitan-language poet and linguist. Born in Paris, he spent his childhood in Comminges, where he learnt Occitan. He was deported to Germany between 1943 and 1945. Aft ...

in the 1970s. The Vivaro-Alpine dialects are traditionally called "gavot" from the

Maritime Alps The Maritime Alps (french: Alpes Maritimes ; it, Alpi Marittime ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the regions of France, French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the regions of Italy ...

to the Hautes-Alpes.

Naming and classification

''Vivaro-Alpine'' had been considered as a sub-dialect of

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

, and named ''provençal alpin'' (Alpine Provençal) or Northern Provençal. Its use in the Dauphiné area has also led to the use of ''dauphinois'' or ''dauphinois alpin'' to name it. Jules Ronjat, ''Grammaire istorique des parlers provençaux modernes, vol. IV Les dialectes'',

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, 1941 Along with Ronjat and Bec, it is now clearly recognized as a dialect of its own. The ''UNESCO Atlas of World's languages in danger'' uses the ''Alpine Provençal'' name, and considers it as seriously endangered. Glottolog recognizes the Gardiòl variety of the dialect as a distinct language within the Occitanic language family.

Subdialects

* Western: ''vivarodaufinenc'' (native name) or ''vivaro-dauphinois'' (French name) near northern Vivarais (

Annonay Annonay (; oc, Anonai) is a commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the capital ...

), northeastern Velay (

Yssingeaux Yssingeaux (; ) is a commune and subprefecture in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. It is situated between Le Puy-en-Velay and Firminy. Geography The river Lignon du Velay flows through the commune. Population See also *Co ...

), a southern fringe of Forez (

Saint-Bonnet-le-Château Saint-Bonnet-le-Château (; oc, Sant Bonet dau Chastèl) is a commune in the Loire department in central France. Population International relations Saint-Bonnet-le-Château is twinned with: * Bishop's Waltham, United Kingdom See also *Co ...

and around

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

), Drôme department (

Valence Valence or valency may refer to: Science * Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms * Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory * Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...

Die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

, Montélimar) and a fringe in southern

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Alps. ** ''gavòt'' (native name) or ''gavot'' (French name) in the western Occitan Alps, which are located in France, around Digne,

Sisteron Sisteron (; , oc, label=Mistralian norm, Sisteroun; from oc, label=Old Occitan, Sestaron) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France. Sisteron is situated on the banks of the rive ...

, Gap,

Barcelonnette Barcelonnette (; oc, Barciloneta de Provença, also ; obsolete it, Barcellonetta) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the southern ...

and the upper County of Nice. ** Cisalpine or Eastern Alpine (native names: ''cisalpenc'' or ''alpenc oriental'') in the eastern Occitan Alps Occitan Valleys, which are located in Italy ( Piedmont and Liguria).

Characterization

Vivaro-Alpine is classified as an Indo-European, Italic, Romance, or Western-Romance language. Vivaro-Alpine shares the palatization of consonants k and g in front of a with the other varieties of North Occitan (Limosino, Alverniate), in particular with words such as ''chantar'' ("cantare," to sing) and ''jai'' ("ghiandaia," jay). Southern Occitan has, respectively, ''cantar'' and ''gai.'' Its principal characteristic is the dropping of simple Latin dental intervocalics: * ''chantaa'' or ''chantaia'' for ''chantada'' ("cantata," sung), * ''monea'' for ''moneda'' ("moneta," coin),] * ''bastia'' or ''bastiá'' for ''bastida'' ("imbastitura, tack), * ''maür'' for ''madur'' ("maturo," mature). The verbal ending of the first person is -''o'' (like in Italian, Catalan, Castilian, and Portuguese, but also in Piemontese, which is neighboring): ''parlo'' for ''parli'' or ''parle'' ("io parlo"), ''parlavo'' for ''parlavi'' or ''parlave'' ("io parlavo"), ''parlèro'' for ''parlèri'' or ''parlère'' ("io ho parlato, io parlavo"). A common trait is the rhotacism of l (shift from l to r): * ''barma'' for ''balma'' or ''bauma'' ("grotta," cave), * ''escòra'' for ''escòla'' ("scuola," school), * ''saraa'' or ''sarai'' for ''salada'' ("insalata," salad). In the dialects of the Alps, Vivaro-Alpine maintained the pronunciation of the r of the infinitive verbs (excepting modern Occitan). An estimated 70% of languages are estimated to have "interrogative intonation contours which end with rising pitch." However, Vivaro Alpine follows the opposite pattern with yes/no questions—an initial high tone followed by a fall. Questions that end in a rising pitch are so common that they are often considered "natural." One reason that questions begin with a high tone in some languages is that the listener is immediately being alerted to the fact that they are being asked a question.

Status

Vivaro-Alpine is an endangered language. There are approximately 200,000 native speakers of the language worldwide. Transmission of the language is very low. Speakers of Vivaro-Alpine typically also speak either French or Italian.

Naming and classification

Subdialects

Characterization

Status

References

See also