Provençal (, , ; french: provençal , ; oc, provençau or ) 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 ...
, either considered as a
variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language
Occitan (; o ...
or a separate language, spoken by people 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 ...
and parts of
Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019. . Historically, the term Provençal has been used to refer to the whole of the Occitan language, but today it is considered more technically appropriate to refer only to the variety of Occitan spoken in Provence. However it can still be found being used to refer to Occitan as a whole, ''e.g.''
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster, Inc. is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States.
In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as ...
states that it can be used to refer to general Occitan, though this is going out of use.
Provençal is also the customary name given to the
older version of the Occitan language used by the
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 ...
s 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
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, when
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
or the ' was limited to the northern areas of France. Thus the
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for i ...
code for Old Occitan is
ro
In 2007, all the
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for i ...
codes for Occitan dialects, including
rvfor Provençal, were retired and merged into
ciOccitan. The old codes (
rv uv sc ms nc are no longer in active use, but still have the meaning assigned them when they were established in the Standard.
Subdialects
The main subdialects of Provençal are:
* ''Rodanenc'' (in French ''Rhodanien'') around the lower
Rhone river,
Arles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
,
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
,
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...
.
** A Rodanenc subvariety, the ''
Shuadit
Shuadit (also spelled ''Chouhadite'', ''Chouhadit'', ''Chouadite'', ''Chouadit'', and ''Shuhadit''), also called Judæo-Occitan or less accurately Judæo-Provençal or Judæo-Comtadin, is an Extinct language, extinct Occitan language, Occitan di ...
'' (or Judeo-Provençal), has been considered extinct since 1977. It was spoken by the Jewish community around
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
. When Jews were granted freedom of residence in France the dialect declined.
* ''Maritim'' or ''Centrau'' or ''Mediterranèu'' (Maritime or Central or Mediterranean) around
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
,
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
,
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
,
Antibes
Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice.
The town of ...
,
Grasse
Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...
,
Forcalquier
Forcalquier (; oc, Forcauquier, ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.
Forcalquier is located between the Lure and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river. Dur ...
,
Castellane
Castellane (; Provençal: ''Castelana'') is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. With about 1,600 inhabitants, Castellane has the distinction of being the least-populated sub-prefecture of France.
Its in ...
,
Draguignan
Draguignan (; oc, Draguinhan) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France.
It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Ar ...
.
* ''
Niçard'' in the lower
County of Nice
The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent t ...
.
''
Gavòt'' (in French ''Gavot''), spoken in the Western Occitan Alps, around
Digne
Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Cô ...
,
Sisteron
Sisteron (; , oc, label=Mistralian norm, Sisteroun; from oc, label=Old Occitan, Sestaron) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France.
Sisteron is situated on the banks of the rive ...
,
Gap,
Barcelonnette
Barcelonnette (; oc, Barciloneta de Provença, also ; obsolete it, Barcellonetta) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the southern ...
and the upper
County of Nice
The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent t ...
, but also in a part of the
Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.[Vivaro-Alpine
Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of Occitan spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a small Vivaro-Alpine ...]
. So is the dialect spoken in the upper valleys of
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
,
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 ...
(
Val Maira
Maira Valley (in Italian ''Val Maira'' or ''Valle Macra'') is a valley in south-west of Piedmont in the Province of Cuneo, Italy.
Etymology
The valley takes its name from the river Maira, a right-hand tributary of the Po which flows through the ...
,
Val Varaita,
Val Stura di Demonte,
Entracque
Entracque is a small town in the Valle Gesso of the Maritime Alps of north-west Italy, about southwest of Cuneo and close to the French border. It is the principal settlement and '' capoluogo'' of the comune or municipality of the same name (popul ...
,
Limone Piemonte
Limone Piemonte (Vivaro-Alpine: ''Limon'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about south of Cuneo, on the border with France. As of September 2017, it had a po ...
,
Vinadio
Vinadio ( oc, Vinai) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about southwest of Cuneo, on the border with France. It is located along the Stura di Demonte ri ...
,
Sestriere
Sestriere (/se'strjɛre/) ( oc, Sestrieras, pms, Ël Sestrier, french: Sestrières) is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, from the French border. Its name ...
).
[Nòrmas ortogràficas, chausias morfològicas e vocabulari de l'occitan alpin oriental èxte imprimit/ Commission internacionala per la normalizacion linguistica de l'occitan alpin, Published by Espaci Occitan, Piemonte, 2008 . - 242. -PN-01] Some people view Gavòt as a variety of Provençal since a part of the Gavot area (near Digne and Sisteron) belongs to historical Provence.
Orthography
When written in the Mistralian norm (""), definite articles are in the masculine singular, in the feminine singular and in the masculine and feminine plural ( before vowels). Nouns and adjectives usually drop the Latin masculine endings, but ''-e'' remains; the feminine ending is ''-o'' (this is the opposite of the neighbouring
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 ...
masculine gender). Nouns do not inflect for number, but all adjectives ending in vowels (''-e'' or ''-o'') become ''-i'', and all plural adjectives take ''-s'' before vowels.
When written in the classical norm (""), definite articles are masculine , feminine , and plural . Nouns and adjectives usually drop the Latin masculine endings, but ''-e'' remains; the feminine ending is ''-a''. Nouns inflect for number, all adjectives ending in vowels (''-e'' or ''-a'') become ''-i'', and all plural adjectives take ''-s''.
Pronunciation remains the same in both norms (Mistralian and classical), which are only two different ways to write the same language.
Literature
Modern
Provençal literature
Occitan literature (referred to in older texts as Provençal literature) is a body of texts written in Occitan, mostly in the south of France. It was the first literature in a Romance language and inspired the rise of vernacular literature throu ...
was given impetus by Nobel laureate
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 ...
and the association
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 ...
he founded with other writers, such as
Théodore Aubanel. The beginning of the 20th century saw other authors like
Joseph d'Arbaud
Joseph d'Arbaud (4 October 1874 – 2 March 1950) was a French poet and writer from Provence. He was a leading figure in the Provençal Revival, a literary movement of the nineteenth century.
Biography
Early life
Joseph d'Arbaud was born in an ...
,
Batisto Bonnet and
Valère Bernard
Valère Bernard ( oc, Valèri Bernard; 10 February 1860 – 6 October 1936) was a Provençal painter, engraver, novelist and poet, writing in the Occitan language. He left an important body of graphic work, and his works continued to be publis ...
. It has been enhanced and modernized since the second half of the 20th century by writers such as
Robèrt Lafont Robèrt Lafont (; March 16, 1923 in Nîmes – June 24, 2009 in Florence) was a French intellectual from Provence. He was a linguist, an author, an historian, an expert in literature and a political theoretician. His name in French reads Rober ...
,
Pierre Pessemesse,
Claude Barsotti, , , , , , ,
Bernat Giély, and many others.
See also
*
Occitan conjugation
This article discusses the conjugation of verbs in a number of varieties of the Occitan language, including Old Occitan and Catalan. Each verbal form is accompanied by its phonetic transcription. The similarities with Catalan are more noticeable ...
*
Languages of France
Of the languages of France, French is the sole official language according to the second article of the French Constitution. French, a Gallo-Romance language, is spoken by nearly the entire population of France.
In addition to French, several ...
Notes
References
* Jules (Jùli) Ronjat, ''L’ourtougràfi prouvençalo'', Avignon: Vivo Prouvènço!, 1908.
* Robert Lafont, ''Phonétique et graphie du provençal: essai d’adaptation de la réforme linguistique occitane aux parlers de Provence'', Toulouse: Institut d’Études Occitanes, 1951
nd ed. 1960
* Robèrt Lafont, ''L’ortografia occitana, lo provençau'', Montpellier: Universitat de Montpelhièr III-Centre d’Estudis Occitans, 1972.
* Jules Coupier, (& Philippe Blanchet) ''Dictionnaire français-provençal / Diciounàri francés-prouvençau'', Aix en Provence: Association Dictionnaire Français-Provençal / Edisud, 1995. (rhodanian dialect)
*
Philippe Blanchet, Le provençal : essai de description sociolinguistique et différentielle, Institut de Linguistique de Louvain, Louvain, Peeters, 1992
lire en ligne
rchive.
* Philippe Blanchet, ''Dictionnaire fondamental français-provençal. (Variété côtière et intérieure)'', Paris, éditions Gisserot-éducation, 2002.
* Philippe Blanchet,
Découvrir le provençal, un "cas d'école" sociolinguistique rchive/small>'', cours en ligne de l'Université Ouverte des Humanités, 2020.
* Philippe Blanchet, ''Langues, cultures et identités régionales en Provence. La Métaphore de l’aïoli'', Paris, L'Harmattan, 2002.
* Pierre Vouland, ''Du provençal rhodanien parlé à l'écrit mistralien, précis d'analyse structurale et comparée'', Aix-en-Provence, Edisud, 2005, 206 pages.
* Alain Barthélemy-Vigouroux & Guy Martin, ''Manuel pratique de provençal contemporain'', Édisud 2006,
External links
*
Provençal - English Dictionary- a list of words, with some mistakes
''Modern Provençal phonology and morphology studied in the language of Frederic Mistral''(1921)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Provencal Dialect