Occitan Language
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Occitan (; oc, occitan, link=no ), also known as ''lenga d'òc'' (; french: langue d'oc) by its native speakers, and sometimes also referred to as ''Provençal'', is a
Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European languages, I ...
spoken in
Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...
,
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
,
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 re ...
's
Occitan Valleys The Occitan Valleys ( oc, Valadas Occitanas; it, Valli Occitane; pms, Valade Ossitan-e; french: Vallées Occitanes; frp, Valâdes Occitanes) are the part of Occitania (the territory of the Occitan language) within the borders of Italy. It is a ...
, as well as
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
's
Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in ar ...
; collectively, these regions are sometimes referred to as Occitània. It is also spoken in
Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
(
Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
) in a linguistic enclave of
Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...
area (mostly
Guardia Piemontese Guardia Piemontese (Occitan language, Occitan: ''La Gàrdia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza and the region of Calabria in southern Italy. Location and language Guardia Piemontese is located about 55 km northwest ...
). Some include
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
in Occitan, as the
distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...
between this language and some Occitan dialects (such as the
Gascon language Gascon (; , ) is the name of the vernacular Romance languages, Romance variety spoken mainly in the region of Gascony, France. It is often considered a variety (linguistics), variety of Occitan language, Occitan, although some authors consider ...
) is similar to the distance between different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century and still today remains its closest relative. Occitan is an official language of
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, where a subdialect of Gascon known as
Aranese Aranese ( oc, aranés) is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in northwestern Catalonia close to the Spanish border with France, where it is one of the three official languages ...
is spoken in the
Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in ar ...
. Since September 2010, the
Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...
has considered Aranese Occitan to be the officially preferred language for use in the Val d'Aran. Across history, the terms
Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
(''Lemosin''),
Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian or Lengadocian (), is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennai ...
(''Lengadocian''), Gascon, and later Provençal (''Provençal'', ''Provençau'' or ''Prouvençau'') have been used as synonyms for the whole of Occitan; nowadays, "Provençal" is understood mainly as the Occitan dialect spoken in
Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
, in southeast France. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, there is no single written standard language called "Occitan", and Occitan has no official status in France, home to most of Occitania. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, whereas others are based on particular dialects. These efforts are hindered by the rapidly declining use of Occitan as a spoken language in much of southern France, as well as by the significant differences in phonology and vocabulary among different Occitan dialects. According to the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Red Book of Endangered Languages The UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' is an online publication containing a comprehensive list of the world's endangered languages. It originally replaced the ''Red Book of Endangered Languages'' as a title in print after a ...
, four of the six major dialects of Occitan (Provençal,
Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a vas ...
, Limousin and Languedocien) are considered severely endangered, whereas the remaining two ( Gascon and
Vivaro-Alpine Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of Occitan language, Occitan spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a sma ...
) are considered definitely endangered.


Name


History of the modern term

The name Occitan comes from the term ("language of "), being the Occitan word for ''yes.'' While the term would have been in use orally for some time after the decline of Latin, as far as historical records show, the Italian medieval poet
Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
was the first to have recorded the term in writing. In his , he wrote in Latin, ("for some say , others , yet others say "), thereby highlighting three major Romance literary languages that were well known in Italy, based on each language's word for "yes", the '' language'' (Occitan), the '' language'' (French), and the '' language'' (Italian). This was not, of course, the only defining characteristic of each group. The word came from
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...
("this"), while originated from Latin ("this sit").
Old Catalan Old Catalan is the modern denomination for Romance varieties that during the Middle Ages were spoken in territories that spanned roughly the territories of the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and the isl ...
and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have (). Other Romance languages derive their word for "yes" from the Latin , "thus
t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
t was done etc.", such as Spanish ,
Eastern Lombard Eastern Lombard is a group of closely related variants of Lombard, a Gallo-Italic dialect spoken in Lombardy, mainly in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua, in the area around Cremona and in parts of Trentino. Its main variants are ...
, Italian , or Portuguese . In Modern Catalan, as in modern Spanish, is usually used as a response, although the language retains the word , akin to , which is sometimes used at the end of
yes–no question In linguistics, a yes–no question, also known as a binary question, a polar question, or a general question is a question whose expected answer is one of two choices, one that provides an affirmative answer to the question versus one that provid ...
s and also in higher register as a positive response. French uses to answer "yes" in response to questions that are asked in the negative sense: for example, ("You have no brothers?" "But yes, I have seven."). The name "Occitan" was attested around 1300 as , a crossing of and (
Aquitania Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia ...
n).


Other names for Occitan

For many centuries, the Occitan dialects (together with
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
) were referred to as ''Limousin'' or ''Provençal'', after the names of two regions lying within the modern Occitan-speaking area. After
Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel P ...
's
Félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...
movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. According to
Joseph Anglade Joseph Anglade (1868–1930) was a French philologist. He specialized in Romance languages, particularly Occitan, and studied the lyrics of the troubadours. He was instrumental in formalizing the term ''Occitan'' for the language of Provence. H ...
, a
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
and specialist of
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
literature who helped impose the then archaic term ''Occitan'' as the sole correct name, the word ''Lemosin'' was first used to designate the language at the beginning of the 13th century by
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...
Raimon Vidal de Besalú(n) in his :
The French language is worthier and better suited for romances and
pastourelle The pastourelle (; also ''pastorelle'', ''pastorella'', or ''pastorita'' is a typically Old French lyric form concerning the romance of a shepherdess. In most of the early pastourelles, the poet knight meets a shepherdess who bests him in a batt ...
s; but that (language) from
Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
is of greater value for writing poems and cançons and sirventés; and across the whole of the lands where our tongue is spoken, the literature in the Limousin language has more authority than any other dialect, wherefore I shall use this name in priority.
As for the word ''Provençal'', it should not be taken as strictly meaning the language of
Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
, but of
Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language, Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This ...
as a whole, for "in the eleventh, the twelfth, and sometimes also the thirteenth centuries, one would understand under the name of Provence the whole territory of the old Provincia romana Gallia Narbonensis and even
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...
". The term first came into fashion in
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 re ...
. Currently,
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
s use the terms "Provençal" and "Limousin" strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitania, keeping the name "Occitan" for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal, causing some confusion.


History

One of the oldest written fragments of the language found dates back to 960, in an official text that was mixed with Latin:
Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
litanies Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Judaic worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''litania'' from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (''litan ...
(c. 780), both written and sung in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, were answered to in Old Occitan by the audience (; ). Other famous pieces include the ''
Boecis The ''Boecis'' (original name: ''Lo poema de Boecis'', , ; "The poem of Boethius") is an anonymous fragment written around the year 1000  CE in the Limousin dialect of Old Occitan, currently spoken only in southern France. Of the possibly hund ...
'', a 258-line-long poem written entirely in the Limousin dialect of Occitan between the year 1000 and 1030 and inspired by
Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...
's ''
The Consolation of Philosophy ''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' ('' la, De consolatione philosophiae'')'','' often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation,'' is a philosophy, philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius. Written in 52 ...
''; the Waldensian (dated 1100), (c. 1054–1076), the ''
Romance of Flamenca ''Flamenca'' () is a 13th-century anonymous romance, written in the Occitan language in Occitania. Most literary allusions in the text are from Old French sources. The author A certain Sir Bernardet may have been the author, however the Bern ...
'' (13th century), the '' Song of the Albigensian Crusade'' (1213–1219?), (12th or 13th century), (11th century) and (9th or 10th century). Occitan was the vehicle for the influential
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
of the medieval
troubadours A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...
() and : At that time, the language was understood and celebrated throughout most of educated Europe. It was the maternal language of the English queen
Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
and kings
Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
(who wrote troubadour poetry) and
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
. With the gradual imposition of French royal power over its territory, Occitan declined in status from the 14th century on. The
Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (french: Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts) is an extensive piece of reform legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10, 1539, in the city of Villers-Cotterêts and the oldest French legislat ...
(1539) decreed that the (French – though at the time referring to the
Francien language Francien is a 19th-century term in linguistics that was applied to the French dialect that was spoken in the Île-de-France region (with Paris at its centre) before the establishment of the French language as a standard language."Ce terme est un ...
and not the larger collection of dialects grouped under the name ) should be used for all French administration. Occitan's greatest decline occurred during the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, in which diversity of language was considered a threat. In 1903, the four Gospels, i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were translated into the form of Provençal spoken in Cannes and Grasse. This was given the official Roman Catholic Imprimatur by vicar general A. Estellon. The literary renaissance of the late 19th century (in which the 1904
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
winner, Frédéric Mistral, among others, were involved in) was attenuated by
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when Occitan speakers spent extended periods of time alongside French-speaking comrades.


Origins

Because the geographical territory in which Occitan is spoken is surrounded by regions in which other
Romance languages The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
are used, external influences may have influenced its origin and development. Many factors favored its development as its own language. * Mountains and seas: The range of Occitan is naturally bounded by the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
,
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
,
Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...
,
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, and
Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
, respectively. * Buffer zones:
arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...
land,
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es, and areas otherwise impractical for farming and resistant of colonization provide further separation (territory between
Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...
and
Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – a ...
, the
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
desert plateau). * Constant populations: Some Occitan-speaking peoples are descended from people living in the region since prehistoric times. * Negligible
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
influence * Ancient and long-term Roman influence:
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
once said that the people of
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...
could teach the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
to speak better Latin. According to Müller, "France's linguistic separation began with Roman influence" * A separate
lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...
: Although Occitan is midway between the
Gallo-Romance The Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages includes in the narrowest sense the Langues d'oïl and Franco-Provençal. However, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing the Occitano-Romance, Gallo-Italic, and Rhaeto-Romanc ...
and
Iberian Romance languages The Iberian Romance, Ibero-Romance or sometimes Iberian languagesIberian languages is also used as a more inclusive term for all languages spoken on the Iberian Peninsula, which in antiquity included the non-Indo-European Iberian language. are a ...
, it has "around 550 words inherited from Latin that do not exist in the or in
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 separ ...
" * Negligible Germanization: "The
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
lexicon and its phonetic influence often end above the / line"


Occitan in the Iberian Peninsula

Catalan in Spain's northern and central Mediterranean coastal regions and the
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
is closely related to Occitan, sharing many linguistic features and a common origin (see
Occitano-Romance languages The Occitano-Romance or Gallo-Narbonnese ( ca, llengües occitanoromàniques; oc, lengas occitanoromanicas), or rarely East Iberian, is a branch of the Romance language group that encompasses the Catalan/ Valencian and Occitan languages spoken ...
). The language was one of the first to gain prestige as a medium for literature among Romance languages in the Middle Ages. Indeed, in the 12th and 13th centuries, Catalan troubadours such as Guerau de Cabrera, Guilhem de Bergadan, Guilhem de Cabestany, Huguet de Mataplana, Raimon Vidal de Besalú,
Cerverí de Girona Cerverí de Girona (; fl. 1259 – 1285) was a Catalan troubadour born Guillem de Cervera in Girona. He was the most prolific troubadour, leaving behind some 114 lyric poems among other works, including an ''ensenhamen'' of proverbs for his s ...
, Formit de Perpinhan, and
Jofre de Foixà Jofre de Foixà (or Jaufre de Foixa) (died c. 1300) was a troubadour from Foixà in the Empordà, the second son of Bernard of Foixà. At a young age Jofre became a Franciscan and appears in that position when mentioned for the first time at Mon ...
wrote in Occitan. At the end of the 11th century, the ''
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
'', as they were called at the time, started to penetrate the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
through the Ways of St. James via
Somport Somport or Col du Somport, known also as the Aspe Pass or Canfranc Pass, (el. 1632 m.) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain. Its name is derived from the Latin ''Summus portus''. It was one of the most popu ...
and
Roncesvalles Roncesvalles ( , ; eu, Orreaga ; an, Ronzesbals ; french: Roncevaux ) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some in the Pyrenees, about from the French bor ...
, settling on various locations of the Kingdoms of
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
and
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
, enticed by the privileges granted them by the Navarrese kings. They established themselves in ethnic
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
s where Occitan was used for everyday life, e.g. Pamplona,
Sangüesa Sangüesa (Basque: ''Zangoza'') is a city in Navarre, Spain, 44.5 kilometers from Pamplona. It lies close to the River Aragon and in 2007 had a population of 5,128. It is located on the Way of Saint James. It has been an important stopping poin ...
,
Estella-Lizarra Estella (Spanish) or Lizarra (Basque) is a town located in the autonomous community of Navarre, in northern Spain. It lies south west of Pamplona, close to the border with La Rioja and Álava. The town was founded in 1090 when the place, lying by ...
, etc. The language in turn became the status language chosen by the Navarrese kings, nobility, and upper classes for official and trade purposes in the period stretching from the early 13th century to late 14th century. These boroughs in Navarre may have been close-knit communities with little intermingling, in a context where the natural milieu was predominantly
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
-speaking. The variant chosen for written administrative records was a '' koiné'' based on the Languedocien dialect from Toulouse with fairly archaic linguistic features. Evidence of a written account in Occitan from Pamplona centered on the
burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...
of borough San Nicolas from 1258 survives today, while the ''History of the War of Navarre'' by Guilhem Anelier (1276) albeit written in Pamplona shows a linguistic variant from
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
. Things turned out slightly otherwise in Aragon, where the sociolinguistic situation was different, with a clearer Basque-Romance bilingual situation (cf. Basques from the cited c. 1000), but a receding Basque language (Basque banned in the marketplace of Huesca, 1349). While the language was chosen as a medium of prestige in records and official statements along with Latin in the early 13th century, Occitan faced competition from the rising local Romance vernacular, the
Navarro-Aragonese Navarro-Aragonese is a Romance language once spoken in a large part of the Ebro River basin, south of the middle Pyrenees, although it is only currently spoken in a small portion of its original territory. The areas where it was spoken might have ...
, both orally and in writing, especially after Aragon's territorial conquests south to
Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
,
Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...
and Tudela between 1118 and 1134. It resulted that a second Occitan immigration of this period was assimilated by the similar
Navarro-Aragonese language Navarro-Aragonese is a Romance language once spoken in a large part of the Ebro River basin, south of the middle Pyrenees, although it is only currently spoken in a small portion of its original territory. The areas where it was spoken might have ...
, which at the same time was fostered and chosen by the kings of
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
. The language fell into decay in the 14th century across the whole southern Pyrenean area and became largely absorbed into
Navarro-Aragonese Navarro-Aragonese is a Romance language once spoken in a large part of the Ebro River basin, south of the middle Pyrenees, although it is only currently spoken in a small portion of its original territory. The areas where it was spoken might have ...
first and Castilian later in the 15th century, after their exclusive boroughs broke up (1423,
Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...
's boroughs unified). Gascon-speaking communities were called in for trading purposes by Navarrese kings in the early 12th century to the coastal fringe extending from San Sebastian to the river
Bidasoa __NOTOC__ The Bidasoa (, ; french: Bidassoa, ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the pro ...
, where they settled down. The language variant used was different from the ones used in Navarre, i.e. a
Béarnese dialect Béarnese ( endonym or ) designates the whole of the Occitano-Romance languages of Béarn. Linguistics does not distinguish Béarnese from Gascon; these languages form a homogeneous whole within the Pyrenees-Atlantic-Garonne triangle. The orig ...
of Gascon, with Gascon being in use far longer than in Navarre and Aragon until the 19th century, thanks mainly to the close ties held by Donostia and
Pasaia Pasaia ( es, Pasajes) is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community of northern Spain. It is a fishing community, commercial port and the birthplace of the famous admiral Blas de Lezo. Pasaia l ...
with
Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...
.


Geographic distribution


Usage in France

Though it was still an everyday language for most of the rural population of southern France well into the 20th century, it is now spoken by about 100,000 people in France according to 2012 estimates. Nevertheless, there is a burgeoning movement in regions of France where Occitan was widely spoken to introduce educational programs to encourage young people in these regions to learn the language. According to the 1999 census, there were 610,000 native speakers (almost all of whom were also native French speakers) and perhaps another million people with some exposure to the language. Following the pattern of
language shift Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are perceiv ...
, most of this remainder is to be found among the eldest populations. Occitan activists (called ''Occitanists'') have attempted, in particular with the advent of Occitan-language preschools (the ''
Calandreta A Calandreta () is a Bilingualism, bilingual school in Southern France where the Occitan language is a medium of instruction, alongside French language, French. These schools are based on the same principle as the ''Diwan (school), Diwan'' schools ...
s''), to reintroduce the language to the young. Nonetheless, the number of proficient speakers of Occitan is thought to be dropping precipitously. A tourist in the cities in southern France is unlikely to hear a single Occitan word spoken on the street (or, for that matter, in a home), and is likely to only find the occasional vestige, such as street signs (and, of those, most will have French equivalents more prominently displayed), to remind them of the traditional language of the area. Occitan speakers, as a result of generations of systematic suppression and humiliation (see
Vergonha In Occitan, ''vergonha'' (, meaning "shame") refers to the effects of various language discriminatory policies of the government of France on its minorities whose native language was deemed a ''patois'', where a Romance language spoken in the co ...
), seldom use the language in the presence of strangers, whether they are from abroad or from outside Occitania (in this case, often merely and abusively referred to as ''Parisiens'' or ''Nordistes'', which means ''northerners''). Occitan is still spoken by many elderly people in rural areas, but they generally switch to French when dealing with outsiders. Occitan's decline is somewhat less pronounced in
Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
because of the province's history (a late addition to the Kingdom of France), though even there the language is little spoken outside the homes of the rural elderly. The village of Artix is notable for having elected to post street signs in the local language.


Usage outside France

* In the Val d'Aran, in the northwest corner of Catalonia, Spain, Aranese (a variety of Gascon) is spoken. It is an official language of Catalonia together with Catalan and Spanish. * In Italy, Occitan is also spoken in the
Occitan Valleys The Occitan Valleys ( oc, Valadas Occitanas; it, Valli Occitane; pms, Valade Ossitan-e; french: Vallées Occitanes; frp, Valâdes Occitanes) are the part of Occitania (the territory of the Occitan language) within the borders of Italy. It is a ...
(
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
) in
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
. An Occitan-speaking enclave also has existed at
Guardia Piemontese Guardia Piemontese (Occitan language, Occitan: ''La Gàrdia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza and the region of Calabria in southern Italy. Location and language Guardia Piemontese is located about 55 km northwest ...
(
Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
) since the 14th century. Italy adopted in 1999 a ''Linguistic Minorities Protection Law'', or "Law 482", which includes Occitan; however,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
is the dominant language. The
Piedmontese language Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...
is extremely close to Occitan. * In
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, some Occitan speakers coexist with remaining native speakers of Monégasque ( Ligurian). French is the dominant language. * Scattered Occitan-speaking communities have existed in different countries: ** There were Occitan-speaking colonies in
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
(Germany) since the 18th century, as a consequence of the
Camisard Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...
war. The last Occitan speakers were heard in the 1930s. ** In the Spanish Basque country, Gascon was spoken in
San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...
, perhaps as late as the early 20th century. ** In the Americas, Occitan speakers exist: *** in the United States, in
Valdese, North Carolina Valdese is a town in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,689 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hickory-Lenoir- Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. One of the largest Waldensian congregations in the United St ...
*** in Canada, in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
where there are Occitan associations such as ''Association Occitane du Québec'' and ''Association des Occitans''. *** Pigüé, Argentina – Community settled by 165 Occitans from the Rodez-Aveyron area of Cantal in the late 19th century. *** Guanajuato, Mexico – A sparse number of Occitan settlers are known to have settled in that state in the 19th century.


Traditionally Occitan-speaking areas

*
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...
– excluding the Basque-speaking part of the
Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlanti ...
in the western part of the department and a small part of
Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...
where the ''langue d'oïl''
Saintongeais dialect Saintongeais (''saintonjhais'') is a dialect of Poitevin-Santongeais spoken halfway down the western coast of France in the former provinces of Saintonge, Aunis and Angoumois, all of which have been incorporated into the current departments ...
is spoken. *
Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; oc, Miègjorn-Pirenèus or ; es, Mediodía-Pirineos) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by are ...
– including one of France's largest cities,
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
. There are a few street signs in Toulouse in Occitan, and since late 2009 the
Toulouse Metro The Toulouse Metro (french: Métro de Toulouse, oc, Mètro de Tolosa) is a rapid transit system serving Toulouse Métropole, France. It is the only Metro system in Occitanie. The city's public transport system was initially managed by the ''Soci ...
announcements are bilingual French-Occitan, but otherwise the language is almost never heard spoken on the street. *
Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and ...
(from "Lenga d'òc") – including the areas around the medieval city of
Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...
, excluding the large part of the
Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...
where Catalan is spoken ( Fenolheda is the only Occitan-speaking area of the Pyrénées-Orientales). *
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...
– except for the Roya and Bévéra valleys, where there is a transitional dialect between Ligurian and Occitan, (''Roiasc'', including the Brigasc dialect of Ligurian). In the
department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of
Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...
there were once isolated towns that spoke Ligurian, but those varieties are now extinct. The
Mentonasc dialect Mentonasc (; Mentonasco in Italian, Mentonnais or Mentonasque in French) is a Romance dialect historically spoken in and around Menton, France. It is classified as a dialect of Occitan and a sub-dialect of Vivaro-Alpine, with some strong influe ...
of Ligurian, spoken in
Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...
, is a Ligurian transition dialect with a strong Occitan influence. French is the dominant language of the Alpes-Maritimes,
Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...
and
French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
areas. * In
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, Occitan, imported by immigrants coexisted in the 19th and 20th centuries with the
Monégasque dialect Monégasque (''munegascu'' une'gasku it, monegasco; french: monégasque) is the variety of Ligurian spoken in Monaco. It is closely related to the Ligurian dialects spoken in Ventimiglia and is considered a national language of Monaco, th ...
of Ligurian. French is the dominant language. *
Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; oc, Peitau-Charantas; Poitevin-Saintongese: ) is a former administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It is part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprises four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, D ...
– Use of Occitan has declined here in the few parts it used to be spoken, replaced by French. Only Charente Limousine, the eastern part of the region, has resisted. The natural and historical languages of most of the region are the ''langues d'oïl'' Poitevin and Saintongeais. *
Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
– A rural region (about 710,000 inhabitants) where Limousin is still spoken among the oldest residents. French is the dominant language. *
Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
– The language's use has declined in some urban areas. French is the dominant language. The department of
Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...
is divided between a southern, Occitan-speaking area and a northern, French-speaking area. *
Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...
– Some villages in the extreme South speak Occitan. *
Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...
– While the south of the region is clearly Occitan-speaking, the central and northern
Lyonnais The Lyonnais () is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon. The geographical area known as the ''Lyonnais'' became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire. The disintegratio ...
,
Forez Forez is a former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire ''département'' and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme ''départements''. The final "z" in Forez () is not pronounced in the Loire ...
and
Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...
parts belong to the
Franco-Provençal language 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 separ ...
area. French is the dominant language. *
Occitan Valleys The Occitan Valleys ( oc, Valadas Occitanas; it, Valli Occitane; pms, Valade Ossitan-e; french: Vallées Occitanes; frp, Valâdes Occitanes) are the part of Occitania (the territory of the Occitan language) within the borders of Italy. It is a ...
(
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
) – Italian region where Occitan is spoken only in the southern and central Alpine valleys. *
Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in ar ...
– part of Catalonia that speaks a mountain dialect of Gascon.


Number of speakers

The area where Occitan was historically dominant has approximately 16 million inhabitants. Recent research has shown it may be spoken as a first language by approximately 789,000 people in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
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 re ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. In Monaco, Occitan coexists with Monégasque Ligurian, which is the other native language. Some researchers state that up to seven million people in France understand the language, whereas twelve to fourteen million fully spoke it in 1921. In
1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...
, Occitan speakers represented more than 39% of the whole French population (52% for
francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
s proper); they were still 26% to 36% in the 1920s and fewer than 7% in 1993.


Dialects

Occitan is fundamentally defined by its dialects, rather than being a unitary language. That point is very conflictual in Southern France, as many people do not recognize Occitan as a real language and think that the next defined "dialects" are languages. Like other languages that fundamentally exist at a spoken, rather than written, level (e.g. the
Rhaeto-Romance languages Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, or Rhaetian, is a purported subfamily of the Romance languages that is spoken in south-eastern Switzerland and north-eastern Italy. The name "Rhaeto-Romance" refers to the former Roman province of Raetia. The questi ...
,
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 separ ...
,
Astur-Leonese Asturleonese ( ast, Asturlleonés; es, Asturleonés; pt, Asturo-leonês; mwl, Asturlhionés) is a Romance language spoken primarily in northwestern Spain, namely in the historical regions and Spain's modern-day autonomous communities of Asturi ...
, and Aragonese), every settlement technically has its own dialect, with the whole of Occitania forming a classic
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...
that changes gradually along any path from one side to the other. Nonetheless, specialists commonly divide Occitan into six main dialects: * Gascon: includes the Béarnese and
Aranese Aranese ( oc, aranés) is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in northwestern Catalonia close to the Spanish border with France, where it is one of the three official languages ...
(spoken in Spain). ** Judeo-Gascon *
Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian or Lengadocian (), is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennai ...
(''lengadocian'') *
Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
(''lemosin'') *
Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a vas ...
(''auvernhat'') * Provençal (''provençau'' or ''prouvençau''), including the Niçard subdialect. ** Judeo-Provençal *
Vivaro-Alpine Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of Occitan language, Occitan spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a sma ...
(''vivaroaupenc''), also known as "Alpine" or "Alpine Provençal", and sometimes considered a subdialect of Provençal The northern and easternmost dialects have more morphological and phonetic features in common with the
Gallo-Italic The Gallo-Italic, Gallo-Italian, Gallo-Cisalpine or simply Cisalpine languages constitute the majority of the Romance languages of northern Italy. They are Piedmontese, Lombard, Emilian, Ligurian, and Romagnol. Although most publications def ...
and Oïl languages (e.g. nasal vowels; loss of final consonants; initial ''cha/ja-'' instead of ''ca/ga-''; uvular R, uvular ; the front-rounded sound instead of a diphthong, instead of before a consonant), whereas the southernmost dialects have more features in common with the Ibero-Romance languages (e.g. betacism; voiced fricatives between vowels in place of voiced stops; -''ch''- in place of -''it''-), and Gascon has a number of unusual features not seen in other dialects (e.g. in place of ; loss of between vowels; intervocalic ''-r-'' and final ''-t/ch'' in place of medieval --). There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility. Gascon is the most divergent, and descriptions of the main features of Occitan often consider Gascon separately. Max Wheeler notes that "probably only its copresence within the French cultural sphere has kept [Gascon] from being regarded as a separate language", and compares it to Franco-Provençal, which is considered a separate language from Occitan but is "probably not more divergent from Occitan overall than Gascon is". There is no general agreement about larger groupings of these dialects. Max Wheeler divides the dialects into two groups: * Southwestern (Gascon and Languedocien), more conservative * Northeastern (Limousin, Auvergnat, Provençal and Vivaro-Alpine), more innovative Pèire Bèc, Pierre Bec divides the dialects into three groups: * Gascon, standing alone * Southern Occitan (Languedocien and Provençal) * Northern Occitan (Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine) Bec also notes that some linguists prefer a "supradialectal" classification that groups Occitan with
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
as a part of a wider Occitano-Romanic group. One such classification posits three groups: * "Arverno-Mediterranean" (''arvèrnomediterranèu''), same as Wheeler's northeastern group, i.e. Limousin, Auvergnat, Provençal and Vivaro-Alpine * "Central Occitan" (''occitan centrau''), Languedocien, excepting the Southern Languedocien subdialect * "Aquitano-Pyrenean" (''aquitanopirenenc''), Southern Languedocien, Gascon and Catalan According to this view, Catalan is an ausbau language that became independent from Occitan during the 13th century, but originates from the Aquitano-Pyrenean group. Domergue Sumien proposes a slightly different supradialectal grouping.Domergue Sumien (2006), ''La standardisation pluricentrique de l'occitan: nouvel enjeu sociolinguistique, développement du lexique et de la morphologie'', Publications de l'Association Internationale d'Études Occitanes, Turnhout: Brepols * Arverno-Mediterranean (''arvèrnomediterranèu''), same as in Bec and Wheeler, divided further: ** Niçard-Alpine (''niçardoaupenc''), Vivaro-Alpine along with the Niçard subdialect of Provençal ** Trans-Occitan (''transoccitan''), the remainder of Provençal along with Limousin and Auvergnat * Pre-Iberian (''preïberic'') ** Central Occitan (''occitan centrau''), same as in Bec ** Aquitano-Pyrenean (''aquitanopirenenc''), same as in Bec


IETF dialect tags

*: Old Occitan (until the 14th century). *: Judeo-Occitan Several IETF language tag, IETF language variant tags have been registered: * : Aranese. * : Auvergnat. * : Cisalpine, northwestern Italy. * : Croissant * : Gascon. * : Leimousin. * : Languedocien. * : Niçard. * : Provençal. * : Vivaro-Alpine.


Codification


Standardization

All regional varieties of the Occitan language have a written form; thus, Occitan can be considered as a pluricentric language. Standard Occitan, also called ''occitan larg'' (i.e., 'wide Occitan') is a synthesis that respects and admits soft regional adaptations (which are based on the convergence of previous regional Koiné language, koinés). The standardization process began with the publication of ''Gramatica occitana segon los parlars lengadocians'' ("Grammar of the Languedocien Dialect") by Louis Alibert (1935), followed by the ''Dictionnaire occitan-français selon les parlers languedociens'' ("French-Occitan dictionary according to Languedocien") by the same author (1966), completed during the 1970s with the works of Pierre Bec (Gascon), Robèrt Lafont (Provençal), and others. However, the process has not yet been completed as of the present.. Standardization is mostly supported by users of the #Writing system, classical norm. Due to the strong situation of diglossia, some users thusly reject the standardization process, and do not conceive Occitan as a language that can be standardized as per other standardized languages.


Writing system

There are two main linguistic norms currently used for Occitan, one (known as "classical"), which is based on that of Medieval Occitan, and one (sometimes known as "Mistralian", due to its use by
Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel P ...
), which is based on modern French orthography. Sometimes, there is conflict between users of each system. * The ''classical norm'' (or less exactly ''classical orthography'') has the advantage of maintaining a link with earlier stages of the language, and reflects the fact that Occitan is not a variety of French. It is used in all Occitan dialects. It also allows speakers of one dialect of Occitan to write intelligibly for speakers of other dialects (e.g. the Occitan for ''day'' is written ''jorn'' in the classical norm, but could be ''jour'', ''joun'', ''journ'', or even ''yourn'', depending on the writer's origin, in Mistralian orthography). The Occitan classical orthography and the
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
orthography are quite similar: They show the very close ties of both languages. The digraphs ''lh'' and ''nh'', used in the classical orthography, were adopted by the Portuguese alphabet#Basic digraphs, orthography of Portuguese, presumably by Gerald of Braga, a monk from Moissac, who became bishop of Braga in Portugal in 1047, playing a major role in modernizing written Portuguese language, Portuguese using classical Occitan norms. * The ''Mistralian norm'' (or less exactly ''Mistralian orthography'') has the advantage of being similar to that of French, in which most Occitan speakers are literate. Now, it is used mostly in the Provençal (dialect), Provençal/Niçard dialect, besides the classical norm. It has also been used by a number of eminent writers, particularly in Provençal. However, it is somewhat impractical, because it is based mainly on the Provençal dialect and also uses many digraphs for simple sounds, the most notable one being ''ou'' for the sound, as it is in French, written as ''o'' under the classical orthography. There are also two other norms but they have a lesser audience. The ''Escòla dau Pò norm'' (or ''Escolo dóu Po norm'') is a simplified version of the Mistralian norm and is used only in the Occitan Valleys (Italy), besides the classical norm. The ''Bonnaudian norm'' (or ''écriture auvergnate unifiée, EAU'') was created by Pierre Bonnaud and is used only in the Auvergnat dialect, besides the classical norm. Note that Catalan version was translated from the Spanish, while the Occitan versions were translated from the French. The second part of the Catalan version may also be rendered as "Són dotades de raó i de consciència, i els cal actuar entre si amb un esperit de fraternitat", showing the similarities between Occitan and Catalan.


Orthography IETF subtags

Several IETF language tag, IETF language subtags have been registered for the different orthographies: * : Classical Occitan orthography. * : Italian-inspired Occitan orthography. * : Mistralian-inspired Occitan orthography.


Debates concerning linguistic classification and orthography

The majority of scholars think that Occitan constitutes a single language. Some authors, constituting a minority, reject this opinion and even the name ''Occitan'', thinking that there is a family of distinct rather than dialects of a single language. Many Occitan linguists and writers, particularly those involved with the pan-Occitan movement centered on the Institut d'Estudis Occitans, disagree with the view that Occitan is a family of languages; instead they believe Limousin, Auvergnat, Languedocien, Gascon, Provençal and Vivaro-Alpine are dialects of a single language. Although there are indeed noticeable differences between these varieties, there is a very high degree of mutual intelligibility between them partly because they share a common literary history; furthermore, academic and literary circles have identified them as a collective linguistic entity—the —for centuries. Some Provençal authors continue to support the view that Provençal is a separate language. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Provençal authors and associations think that Provençal is a part of Occitan. This debate about the status of Provençal should not be confused with the debate concerning the spelling of Provençal. * The classical orthography is phonemic orthography, phonemic and diasystemic, and thus more pan-Occitan. It can be used for (and adapted to) all Occitan dialects and regions, including Provençal. Its supporters think that Provençal is a part of Occitan. * The Mistralian orthography of Provençal is more or less phonemic but not diasystemic and is closer to the French spelling and therefore more specific to Provençal; its users are divided between the ones who think that Provençal is a part of Occitan and the ones who think that Provençal is a separate language. For example, the classical system writes ''Polonha'', whereas the Mistralian spelling system has ''Poulougno'', for , 'Poland'. The question of Gascon is similar. Gascon presents a number of significant differences from the rest of the language; but, despite these differences, Gascon and other Occitan dialects have very important common lexical and grammatical features, so authors such as Pierre Bec argue that they could never be considered as different as, for example, Spanish and Italian. In addition, Gascon's being included in Occitan despite its particular differences can be justified because there is a common elaboration (''Ausbau language, Ausbau'') process between Gascon and the rest of Occitan. The vast majority of the Gascon cultural movement considers itself as a part of the Occitan cultural movement. And the official status of
Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in ar ...
(
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, Spain), adopted in 1990, says that Aranese is a part of Gascon and Occitan. A grammar of Aranese by Aitor Carrera, published in 2007 in Lleida, presents the same view. The exclusion of
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
from the Occitan sphere, even though Catalan is closely related, is justified because there has been a consciousness of its being different from Occitan since the later Middle Ages and because the elaboration (''Ausbau'') processes of Catalan and Occitan (including Gascon) have been quite distinct since the 20th century. Nevertheless, other scholars point out that the process that led to the affirmation of Catalan as a distinct language from Occitan started during the period when the pressure to include Catalan-speaking areas in a mainstream Spanish culture was at its greatest. The answer to the question of whether Gascon or
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
should be considered dialects of Occitan or separate languages has long been a matter of opinion or convention, rather than based on scientific ground. However, two recent studies support Gascon's being considered a distinct language. For the very first time, a quantifiable, statistics-based approach was applied by Stephan Koppelberg in attempt to solve this issue. Based on the results he obtained, he concludes that Catalan, Occitan, and Gascon should all be considered three distinct languages. More recently, Y. Greub and J.P. Chambon (Sorbonne University, Paris) demonstrated that the formation of Proto-Gascon was already complete at the eve of the 7th century, whereas Proto-Occitan was not yet formed at that time. These results induced linguists to do away with the conventional classification of Gascon, favoring the "distinct language" alternative. Both studies supported the early intuition of the late Kurt Baldinger, a specialist of both medieval Occitan and medieval Gascon, who recommended that Occitan and Gascon be classified as separate languages.


Linguistic characterization

Jules Ronjat has sought to characterize Occitan with 19 principal, generalizable criteria. Of those, 11 are phonetic, five morphologic, one syntactic, and two lexical. For example, close rounded vowels are rare or absent in Occitan. This characteristic often carries through to an Occitan speaker's French, leading to a distinctive ''Meridional French, méridional'' accent. Unlike French, it is a pro-drop language, allowing the omission of the subject (: I sing; you sing)—though, at least in Gascon, the verb must be preceded by an "enunciative" in place of the pronoun, for questions, for observations, for other occasions: , (I am), (He/she is?), (We are.). Among these 19 discriminating criteria, 7 are different from Spanish, 8 from Italian, 12 from Franco-Provençal, and 16 from French.


Features of Occitan

Most features of Occitan are shared with either French or
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, or both.


Features of Occitan as a whole

Examples of pan-Occitan features shared with French, but not Catalan: * Latin [uː] (Vulgar Latin ) changed to , as in French (Lat. > Oc. ''dur''). * Vulgar Latin changed to , first in unstressed syllables, as in Catalan (Lat. > Oc. ''roman'' [ruˈma]), then in stressed syllables (Lat. > Oc. ''flor'' [fluɾ]). Examples of pan-Occitan features shared with Catalan, but not French: * Stressed Latin was preserved (Lat. > Oc. ''mar'', Fr. ''mer''). * Intervocalic -- was lenited to rather than lost (Lat. > Oc. ''vida'', Fr. ''vie''). Examples of pan-Occitan features not shared with Catalan or French: * Original preserved. * Final becomes (note in Valencian language, Valencian (Catalan), may appear in word-final unstressed position, in a process of vowel harmony). * Low-mid and diphthongized before velars. generally becomes ; originally became or , but has since usually undergone further fronting (e.g. to , etc.). Diphthongization also occurred before palatals, as in French and Catalan. * Various assimilations in consonant clusters (e.g. in ''Occitan'', pronounced in conservative Languedocien).


Features of some Occitan dialects

Examples of dialect-specific features of the northerly dialects shared with French, but not Catalan: * Palatalization of to . * Vocalization of syllable-final to . * Loss of final consonants. * Vocalization of syllable-final nasals to nasal vowels. * Uvular R, Uvularization of some or all sounds. Examples of dialect-specific features of the southerly dialects (or some of them) shared with Catalan, but not French: * Latin become . * Betacism: and merge (feature shared with Spanish and some Catalan dialects; except for Balearic, Valencian and Algherese Catalan, where is preserved). * Intervocalic voiced stops (from Latin ) become voiced fricatives . * Loss of word-final single (but not , e.g. ''an'' "year" < ). Examples of Gascon-specific features not shared with French or Catalan: * Latin initial changed into (Lat. > Gasc. ''hilh''). This also happened in History of Spanish, medieval Spanish, although the was eventually lost, or reverted to (before a consonant). The Gascon has retained its aspiration (phonetics), aspiration. * Loss of between vowels. This also happened in History of Portuguese, Portuguese and Galician language, Galician (and moreover also in
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
). * Change of to , or word-finally (originally the voiceless palatal stop , but now generally either or , depending on the word). This is a unique characteristic of Gascon and of certain Aragonese dialects. Examples of other dialect-specific features not shared with French or Catalan: * Merging of syllable-final nasals to . This appears to represent a transitional stage before nasalization, and occurs especially in the southerly dialects other than Gascon (which still maintains different final nasals, as in Catalan). * Former intervocalic (from Latin ) becomes /z/ (most dialects, but not Gascon). This appears to have happened in primitive Catalan as well, but Catalan later deleted this sound or converted it to . * Palatalization of (from Latin ) to in most dialects or : ''lach'' vs ''lait'' (Gascon ''lèit'') 'milk', ''lucha'' vs ''luta'' (Gascon ''luta'') 'fight'. * Weakening of to in the Vivaro-Alpine dialect.


Comparison with other Romance languages and English


Lexicon

A comparison of terms and word counts between languages is not easy, as it is impossible to count the number of words in a language. (See Lexicon, Lexeme, Lexicography for more information.) Some have claimed around 450,000 words exist in the Occitan language, a number comparable to English (the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged with 1993 addenda reaches 470,000 words, as does the Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition). The Merriam-Webster Web site estimates that the number is somewhere between 250,000 and 1 million words. The magazine GEO (magazine), ''Géo'' (2004, p. 79) claims that American English literature can be more easily translated into Occitan than French, excluding modern technological terms that both languages have integrated. A comparison of the lexical content can find more subtle differences between the languages. For example, Occitan has 128 synonyms related to cultivated land, 62 for wetlands, and 75 for sunshine (''Géo''). The language went through an eclipse during the Industrial Revolution, as the vocabulary of the countryside became less important. At the same time, it was disparaged as a patois. Nevertheless, Occitan has also incorporated new words into its lexicon to describe the modern world. The Occitan word for web (as in World Wide Web) is , for example.


Differences between Occitan and Catalan

The separation of Catalan from Occitan is seen by some as largely politically (rather than linguistically) motivated. However, the variety that has become standard Catalan differs from the one that has become standard Occitan in a number of ways. Here are just a few examples: * Phonology ** Standard Catalan (based on Central Eastern Catalan) is unique in that Latin short ''e'' developed into a close vowel (''é'') and Latin long ''e'' developed into an open vowel (''è''); that is precisely the reverse of the development that took place in Western Catalan dialects and the rest of the Romance languages, including Occitan. Thus Standard Catalan ''ésser'' corresponds to Occitan ''èsser/èstre'' 'to be;' Catalan corresponds to Occitan ''carrièra'' 'street', but it is also ''carriera'' , in Provençal. ** The distinctly Occitan development of word-final ''-a'', pronounced in standard Occitan (''chifra'' 'figure' ), did not occur in general Catalan (which has ''xifra'' ). However, some Occitan varieties also lack that feature, and some Catalan (Valencian language, Valencian) varieties have the pronunciation, mostly by vowel harmony. ** When in Catalan word stress falls in the antepenultimate syllable, in Occitan the stress is moved to the penultimate syllable: for example, Occitan ''pagina'' vs. Catalan ''pàgina'' , "page". However, there are exceptions. For example, some varieties of Occitan (such as that of Nice) keep the stress on the antepenultimate syllable ''(pàgina)'', and some varieties of Catalan (in Northern Catalonia) put the stress on the penultimate syllable ''(pagina)''. ** Diphthongization has evolved in different ways: Occitan ''paire'' vs. Catalan ''pare'' 'father;' Occitan ''carrièra (carrèra, carrèira)'' vs. Catalan ''carrera''. ** Although some Occitan dialects lack the voiceless postalveolar fricative phoneme , others such as southwestern Occitan have it: general Occitan ''caissa'' vs. Catalan ''caixa'' and southwestern Occitan ''caissa, caisha'' , 'box.' Nevertheless, some Western Catalan, Valencian dialects like Northern Valencian lack that phoneme too and generally substitute : ''caixa'' (Standard Valencian) ~ (Northern Valencian). ** Occitan has developed the close front rounded vowel as a phoneme, often (but not always) corresponding to Catalan : Occitan ''musica'' vs. Catalan ''música'' . ** The distribution of palatal consonants and differs in Catalan and part of Occitan: while Catalan permits them in word-final position, in central Occitan they are Phoneme#Neutralization, archiphoneme, underspecification, neutralized to and (Central Occitan ''filh'' vs. Catalan ''fill'' , 'son'). Similarly, Algherese, Algherese Catalan neutralizes palatal consonants in word-final position as well. Non-central varieties of Occitan, however, may have a palatal realization (e.g. ''filh, hilh'' ). ** Furthermore, many words that start with in Occitan start with in Catalan: Occitan ''libre'' vs. Catalan ''llibre'' , 'book.' That feature is perhaps one of the most distinctive characteristics of Catalan amongst the Romance languages, shared only with Asturian language, Asturian, Leonese language, Leonese and Mirandese language, Mirandese. However, some transitional varieties of Occitan, near the Catalan area, also have initial . ** While is always clear in Occitan, in Catalan it tends to be velarization, velarized ("dark l"). In coda position, has tended to be vocalized to in Occitan, while remained dark in Catalan. ** Standard Eastern Catalan has a schwa, neutral vowel whenever ''a'' or ''e'' occur in unstressed position (''passar'' , 'to happen', but ''passa'' , 'it happens'), and also whenever ''o'' or ''u'' occur in unstressed position, e.g. ''obrir'' , 'to open', but ''obre'' , 'you open'. However, that does not apply to Western Catalan dialects, whose vowel system usually retains the ''a''/''e'' distinction in unstressed position, or to Northern Catalan dialects, whose vowel system does not retain the ''o''/''u'' distinction in stressed position, much like Occitan. * Morphology (linguistics), Morphology ** Verb grammatical conjugation, conjugation is slightly different, but there is a great variety amongst dialects. Medieval conjugations were much closer. A characteristic difference is the ending of the second person plural, which is ''-u'' in Catalan but ''-tz'' in Occitan. ** Occitan tends to add an analogy, analogical -''a'' to the grammatical gender, feminine forms of adjectives that are invariable in standard Catalan: for example, Occitan ''legal'' / ''legala'' vs. Catalan ''legal'' / ''legal''. ** Catalan has a distinctive past tense formation, known as the 'periphrastic preterite', formed from a variant of the verb 'to go' followed by the infinitive of the verb: ''donar'' 'to give,' ''va donar'' 'he gave.' That has the same value as the 'normal' preterite shared by most Romance languages, deriving from the Latin perfect tense: Catalan ''donà'' 'he gave.' The periphrastic preterite, in Occitan, is an archaic or a very local tense. * Orthography ** The writing systems of the two languages differ slightly. The modern Occitan spelling recommended by the Institut d'Estudis Occitans and the Conselh de la Lenga Occitana is designed to be a pan-Occitan system, and the Catalan system recommended by the Institut d'Estudis Catalans and Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua is specific to Catalan and Valencian. For example, in Catalan, word-final ''-n'' is omitted, as it is not pronounced in any dialect of Catalan (''Català'', ''Occità''); central Occitan also drops word-final ''-n'', but it is retained in the spelling, as some eastern and western dialects of Occitan still have it (''Catalan'', ''Occitan''). Some digraphs are also written in a different way such as the sound , which is ''ll'' in Catalan (similar to Spanish) and ''lh'' in Occitan (similar to Portuguese) or the sound written ''ny'' in Catalan and ''nh'' in Occitan.


Occitano-Romance linguistic group

Despite these differences, Occitan and Catalan remain more or less mutual intelligibility, mutually comprehensible, especially when written – more so than either is with Spanish or French, for example, although this is mainly a consequence of using the classical (orthographical) norm of the Occitan, which is precisely focused in showing the similarities between the Occitan dialects with Catalan. Occitan and Catalan form a common diasystem (or a common Abstandsprache), which is called Occitano-Romance, according to the linguist Pierre Bec. Speakers of both languages share early historical and cultural heritage. The combined Occitano-Romance area is 259,000 km2, with a population of 23 million. However, the regions are not equal in terms of language speakers. According to Bec 1969 (pp. 120–121), in France, no more than a quarter of the population in counted regions could speak Occitan well, though around half understood it; it is thought that the number of Occitan users has decreased dramatically since then. By contrast, in the
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
administered by the Government of Catalonia, nearly three-quarters of the population speak Catalan and 95% understand it.


Preservation

In the modern era, Occitan has become a rare and highly threatened language. Its users are clustered almost exclusively in Southern France, and it is unlikely that any monolingual speakers remain. In the early 1900s, the French government attempted to restrict the use and teaching of many minority languages, including Occitan, in public schools. While the laws have since changed, with bilingual education returning for regions with unique languages in 1993, this movement caused serious decline in the number of Occitan speakers. The majority of living speakers are older adults.


Samples

One of the most notable passages of Occitan in Western literature occurs in the 26th ''canto'' of
Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's ''Purgatorio'' in which the troubadour Arnaut Daniel responds to the narrator: :''Tan m'abellís vostre cortés deman, / qu'ieu no me puesc ni voill a vos cobrire. / Ieu sui Arnaut, que plor e vau cantan; / consirós vei la passada folor, / e vei jausen lo joi qu'esper, denan. / Ara vos prec, per aquella valor / que vos guida al som de l'escalina, / sovenha vos a temps de ma dolor.'' :Modern Occitan: ''Tan m'abelís vòstra cortesa demanda, / que ieu non-pòdi ni vòli m'amagar de vos. / Ieu soi Arnaut, que plori e vau cantant; / consirós vesi la foliá passada, / e vesi joiós lo jorn qu'espèri, davant. / Ara vos prègui, per aquela valor / que vos guida al som de l'escalièr, / sovenhatz-vos tot còp de ma dolor.'' The above strophe translates to: :So pleases me your courteous demand, / I cannot and I will not hide me from you. / I am Arnaut, who weep and singing go;/ Contrite I see the folly of the past, / And joyous see the hoped-for day before me. / Therefore do I implore you, by that power/ Which guides you to the summit of the stairs, / Be mindful to assuage my suffering! Another notable Occitan quotation, this time from Arnaut Daniel's own 10th ''Canto'': :''"Ieu sui Arnaut qu'amas l'aura'' :''e chatz le lebre ab lo bou'' :''e nadi contra suberna"'' Modern Occitan: :''"Ieu soi Arnaut qu'aimi l'aura'' :''e caci [chaci] la lèbre amb lo buòu'' :''e nadi contra subèrna.'' Translation: :"I am Arnaut who loves the wind, :and chases the hare with the ox, :and swims against the torrent." French writer Victor Hugo's classic ''Les Misérables'' also contains some Occitan. In Part One, First Book, Chapter IV, "Les œuvres semblables aux paroles", one can read about Bishop Myriel, Monseigneur Bienvenu: :"Né provençal, il s'était facilement familiarisé avec tous les patois du midi. Il disait: — ''E ben, monsur, sètz saget?'' comme dans le bas Languedoc. — ''Ont anaratz passar?'' comme dans les basses Alpes. — ''Pòrti un bon moton amb un bon formatge gras'', comme dans le haut Dauphiné. [...] Parlant toutes les langues, il entrait dans toutes les âmes." Translation: :"Born a Provençal, he easily familiarized himself with the dialect of the south. He would say, ''E ben, monsur, sètz saget?'' as in lower Languedoc; ''Ont anaratz passar?'' as in the Basses-Alpes; ''Pòrti un bon moton amb un bon formatge gras'' as in upper Dauphiné. [...] As he spoke all tongues, he entered into all hearts." :''E ben, monsur, sètz saget?'': So, Mister, everything's fine? :''Ont anaratz passar?'': Which way will you go? :''Pòrti un bon moton amb un bon formatge gras'': I brought some fine mutton with a fine fat cheese The Spanish playwright Lope de Rueda included a Gascon servant for comical effect in one of his short pieces, ''La generosa paliza''.
Registro de Representantes
'' by Lope de Rueda, in Spanish. Peirutón speaks a mix of Gascon and Catalan.
John Barnes (author), John Barnes's ''Thousand Cultures'' science fiction series (''A Million Open Doors'', 1992; ''Earth Made of Glass'', 1998; ''The Merchants of Souls'', 2001; and ''The Armies of Memory'', 2006), features Occitan. So does the 2005 best-selling novel ''Labyrinth (book), Labyrinth'' by English author Kate Mosse. It is set in
Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...
, where she owns a house and spends half of the year. The French composer Joseph Canteloube created five sets of folk songs entitled ''Songs of the Auvergne'', in which the lyrics are in the Auvergne dialect of Occitan. The orchestration strives to conjure vivid pastoral scenes of yesteryear. Michael Crichton features Occitan in his ''Timeline (novel), Timeline'' novel.


See also

* Baìo * History of the Basque language * Languages of France * Languages of Italy * Languages of Spain * Occitan cross * Occitan cuisine * Language policy in France


Notes


Explanatory footnotes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * Ursula Reutner: "‘Minor‘ Gallo-Romance Languages‘“. In: Lebsanft, Franz/Tacke, Felix: ''Manual of Standardization in the Romance Languages''. Berlin: de Gruyter (Manuals of Romance Linguistics 24), 773–807. *


External links


Orbilat.com
– Overview and grammar of Occitan

– a guide to the language

– Troubadour & Early Occitan Literature
Ostaldoccitania.net
– The house of Occitan associations of Toulouse

– "LexRomEdic", electronic version of Lexique Roman of Rainouard (A provisional version is available).
arrilemosin.fr
– Occitan Limousin group website with maps and vocabulary {{DEFAULTSORT:Occitan Language Occitan language, Languages of Andorra Languages of France Languages of Italy Languages of Piedmont Languages of Catalonia