The Burgundian language, also known by French names , , and , is an Oïl language spoken in

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

and particularly in the

Morvan The Morvan (; historically Morvand from the Latin ''Murvinnum'' 590)Pierre-Henri Billy, ''Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France'', éditions Errance, 640 pages, 2011 , is a mountainous massif lying just to the west of the Côte d'Or esc ...

area of the region. The arrival of the

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

brought Germanic elements into the Gallo-Romance speech of the inhabitants. The occupation of the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

by the

Dukes of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

also brought Burgundian into contact with Dutch; e.g., the word for

gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly ...

''couque'' derives from Middle Dutch ''kooke'' (cake). Dialects of the south along the

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

river, such as Brionnais-Charolais, have been influenced by the Arpitan language, which is spoken mainly in a neighbouring area that approximates the heartland of the original

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various successive Monarchy, kingdoms centered in the historical region of Burgundy during the Middle Ages. The heartland of historical Burgundy correlates with the border area between France and Switze ...

. Eugène de Chambure published a ''Glossaire du Morvan'' in 1878.''Le morvandiau tel qu'on le parle'', Roger Dron, Autun 2004, (no ISBN)

Literature

Apart from songs dating from the eighteenth century, there is little surviving

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

from before the nineteenth century. In 1854 the

Papal Bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

Ineffabilis Deus for, la, Ineffabilis Deus, Ineffable God is an apostolic constitution by Pope Pius IX.''Ineffabili ...

'' was translated into the Morvan dialect by the Abbé Jacques-François Baudiau, and into the

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

dialect by the Abbé Lereuil. The Abbé Baudiau also transcribed storytelling. Folklorists collected

vernacular literature Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the "common people". In the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin or Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared ...

from the mid-nineteenth century and by the end of the century a number of writers were establishing an original literature.

Achille Millien Achille Millien (4 September 1838 – 12 January 1927) was a French poet and folklore, folklorist. His poetic work includes a dozen collections of rustic inspiration: ''La Moisson'', ''Chants agrestes'', ''Musettes et clairons'', ''Chez nous'', ...

(1838–1927) collected songs from the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

in the Nivernais. Louis de Courmont, nicknamed the " Botrel of the Morvan," was a chansonnier who after a career in Paris returned to his native region. A statue was erected to him in Château-Chinon. Emile Blin wrote a number of stories and monologues aimed at a tourist market; a collection was published in 1933 under the title ''Le Patois de Chez Nous.'' Alfred Guillaume published a large number of vernacular texts for use on picturesque postcards at the beginning of the twentieth century, and in 1923 published a book in Burgundian, ''L'âme du Morvan.'' More recently, Marinette Janvier published ''Ma grelotterie'' (1974) and ''Autour d'un teugnon'' (1989).

References

*''Paroles d'oïl'', 1994, {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgundian language (Oil) Oïl languages Languages of France Culture of Burgundy Languages attested from the 18th century Severely endangered languages