Poitevin (;
endonym
An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
: ''poetevin'') is a dialect of
Poitevin–Saintongeais,
one of the regional
languages of France, spoken in the historical province of
Poitou, now administratively divided between
Pays de la Loire (
Loire
The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) 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.
It rises in the so ...
countries) and
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...
(New
Aquitaine
Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...
). It is not as commonly spoken as it once was, as the standard form of
French now predominates. Poitevin is now classified as one of the ''
langues d'oïl
The ''langues d'oïl'' are a dialect continuum that includes standard French and its closest relatives historically spoken in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands. They belong to the larger category of Gallo- ...
'' but is distinguished by certain features adopted from
Occitan (''
langue d'oc'').
The language is spoken on what was the border between the two language families of ''oïl'' and ''oc'' (placenames in the region clearly show historical settlement of ''oc'' speakers). The langue d’oïl subsequently spread south, absorbing ''oc'' features.
Poitevin is also widely referred to as ''parlanjhe'' (the language).
François Rabelais wrote that he learned this dialect, along with many other languages and dialects, since he was educated in
Fontenay-le-Comte.
François Villon spoke some Poitevin as well.
The earliest attested written use of the language is in charters and legal documents dating from the 13th century; people who spoke it were known as the
Poitevins. The earliest printed text is dated 1554 (La Gente Poitevinrie). A tradition of theatrical writing and dramatic monologues for performance typifies the literary output in the language, although from the 19th century and in the 20th century (especially with the publication of a weekly paper ''Le Subiet'' from 1901) regular journalistic production was also established. Geste Editions publishes a number of books in/about the Poitevin–Santongeais language.
Some linguists assert that the
Serments de Strasbourg, the first text in French according to the official state position in France, were actually written in Poitevin.
In 1973, a standard
orthography
An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis.
Most national ...
was proposed.
The easternmost part of the
Poitou is home to a minority of
Occitan-speakers. Outside
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, the language is spoken in
Northern California
Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
, especially in
Sacramento,
Plumas,
Tehama and
Siskiyou counties, the latter with both large French ancestry and speaking populations.
Acadian French is the result of a Poitevin–Santongeais language blended with French and local innovations or archaisms.
References
Oïl languages
Languages of France
{{Romance-lang-stub