Valdôtain dialect

Valdôtain (; endonym: , , ) is a dialect of Arpitan (Franco-Provençal) spoken in the Aosta Valley in Italy, and the common language of the Aosta Valley. It is commonly known as ''patois'' or . It is not an official language, the two regional official languages being French and Italian, though it is ''officially recognized''.

Distribution and classification

The Aosta Valley represents the only region of the Franco-Provençal area where this language is still widely spoken natively among all age ranges of the population,Site du Centre d'études francoprovençales : "Au temps de Willien : les ferments de langue"
. with a 2001 survey reporting almost 58% of the population know Franco-Provençal. A further 2003 study confirmed the status of Franco-Provençal as a main language for a majority of the population, with significant multilingualism.

It has been said that in the Aosta Valley there are as many forms of patois as there are bell towers, in reference to the high linguistic diversity in the region within the Valdôtain varieties of Franco-Provençal. However, they can be broadly classified into two main branches: those of the Upper Valley (, ) to the west and of the Lower Valley (, ) to the east of the city of Aosta. Valdôtain varieties from the Upper Valley tend to be more innovative and have more affinity with from varieties spoken in Savoy and in Valais, across the national borders; meanwhile, those from the Lower Valley tend to be more conservative, with influence from Piedmontese.

The urban variety of Aosta itself () has often been considered 'neutral', especially for the local-language media.

Vocabulary examples

Several subdialects of Valdôtain exist that exhibit unique features in terms of phonetics and vocabulary.

Linguistic studies

Valdôtain has been the subject of detailed study at the Bureau régional pour l'ethnologie et la linguistique (BREL) in Aosta as well as in the Centre d'études francoprovençales in Saint-Nicolas.

Music

The main modern singers and songwriters in Valdôtain are:
* Louis de Jyaryot, from Ayas;
* Maura Susanna, from Saint-Vincent;
* Magui Bétemps, from Valtournenche.

The traditional Aostan songs in Valdôtain and in French form the core of the activity of the band Trouveur valdotèn.

Poetry

Here is a selection of some of the most important poets in Valdôtain:

See also

* Aostan French
*Languages of Italy

References

Bibliography

* Jules Brocherel, ''Le Patois et la langue française en Vallée d'Aoste'' éd. V. Attinger, Neuchâtel
* Aimé Chenal, ''Le franco-provençal valdotain. Morphologie et Syntaxe'', Aoste, Musumeci éditeur, 1986,
* Alexis Bétemps, ''La langue française en Vallée d'Aoste de 1945 à nos jours'', Milan, T.D.L.,
* Hans-Erich Keller, Études linguistiques sur les parlers valdôtains, éd. A. Francke S.A., Berne, 1958.
* Ernest Schüle, Histoire linguistique de la Vallée d’Aoste, dans "Bulletin du Centre d’études francoprovençales" n° 22, Imprimerie Valdôtaine, Aoste, 1990.
* Xavier Favre, ''Histoire linguistique de la Vallée d’Aoste'', dans "Espace, temps et culture en Vallée d’Aoste", Imprimerie Valdôtaine, Aoste, 1996.
* François-Gabriel Frutaz, ''Les origines de la langue française en Vallée d’Aoste'', Imprimerie Marguerettaz, Aoste, 1913.
* Édouard Bérard, ''La langue française dans la Vallée d’Aoste'', Aoste, 1861.
* Alexis Bétemps, ''Les Valdôtains et leur langue'', préface de Henri Armand, Imprimerie Duc, Aoste, 1979.
* Alexis Bétemps, ''Le bilinguisme en Vallée d’Aoste : problèmes et perspectives'', dans "Les minorités ethniques en Europe", par les soins de A.-L. Sanguin, l’Harmattan, Paris, 1993, pages 131-135.
* Bétemps, Alexis, ''Le francoprovençal en Vallée d’Aoste. Problèmes et prospectives'', dans ''Lingua e comunicazione simbolica nella cultura walser'', VI. Walsertreffen (6ème rencontre des Walsers), Fondazione Monti, Ausola d’Assola, 1989, p. 355-372

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdotain dialect
Franco-Provençal language
Languages of Aosta Valley
Languages of Italy
Arpitania