Provençal (/ˌprɒvɒ̃ˈsɑːl/, also UK: /-sæl/,US: /ˌproʊ-, -vən-/, French: [pʁɔvɑ̃sal]; Occitan: provençau or prouvençau [pʀuvenˈsaw]) is a variety of Occitan, spoken by people in Provence and parts of Drôme and Gard. The term Provençal used to refer to the entire Occitan language, but more recently it has referred 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 states that it can be used to refer to general Occitan, though this is going out of use.
| Provençal | |
|---|---|
| prouvençau (mistralian norm) provençal/provençau (classical norm) | |
| Native to | France, Italy, Monaco |
Native speakers | (350,000 cited 1990) |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | prv (retired); subsumed in oci |
| Glottolog | prov1235 |
| ELP | Provençal |
| IETF | oc-provenc |
 | |
Provençal is also the customary name given to the older version of the Occitan language used by the troubadours of medieval literature, when Old French or the langue d'oïl was limited to the northern areas of France. Thus, the ISO 639-3 code for Old Occitan is [pro].
In 2007, all the ISO 639-3 codes for Occitan dialects, including [prv] for Provençal, were retired and merged into [oci] Occitan. The old codes ([prv], [auv], [gsc], [lms], [lnc]) are no longer in active use, but still have the meaning assigned to them when they were established in the Standard.
Some groups have called for Provençal's recognition as a full language, distinct from Occitan. The Regional Council of Provence has variously labelled Provençal as a dialect of Occitan or as a distinct language, depending on different lobbies and political majorities.
Subdialects
The main subdialects of Provençal are:
- Rodanenc (in French Rhodanien) around the lower Rhone river, Arles, Avignon, Nîmes.
- A Rodanenc subvariety, the Shuadit (or Judeo-Provençal), has been considered extinct since 1977. It was spoken by the Jewish community around Avignon. 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, Marseille, Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Grasse, Forcalquier, Castellane, Draguignan.
- Niçard in the lower County of Nice.
Gavòt (in French Gavot), spoken in the Western Occitan Alps, around Digne, Sisteron, Gap, Barcelonnette and the upper County of Nice, but also in a part of the Ardèche, is not exactly a subdialect of Provençal, but rather a closely related Occitan dialect, also known as Vivaro-Alpine. So is the dialect spoken in the upper valleys of Piedmont, Italy (Val Maira, Val Varaita, Val Stura di Demonte, Entracque, Limone Piemonte, Vinadio, Sestriere). 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 ("normo mistralenco"), definite articles are lou in the masculine singular, la in the feminine singular and li in the masculine and feminine plural (lis 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 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 ("nòrma classica"), definite articles are masculine lo [lu], feminine la [la], and plural lei/leis [lej/lejz = li/liz]. Nouns and adjectives usually drop the Latin masculine endings, but -e [e] remains; the feminine ending is -a [ɔ]. Nouns inflect for number, all adjectives ending in vowels (-e or -a) become -ei/-eis [ej/ejz = i/iz] in some syntactic positions, and most plural adjectives take -s.
| English | Mistralian norm | Classical norm | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Masculine | the good friend | lou bon ami [lu ˌbɔn aˈmi] | lo bòn amic [lu ˌbɔn aˈmi] |
| Feminine | la bono amigo [la ˌbɔn aˈmigɔ] | la bòna amiga [la ˌbɔn aˈmigɔ] | ||
| Plural | Masculine | the good friends | li bons ami [lej ˌbɔnz aˈmi] = [li ˌbɔnz aˈmi] | lei bòns amics [lej ˌbɔnz aˈmi] = [li ˌbɔnz aˈmi] |
| Feminine | li bònis amigo [lei ˈbɔnejz aˈmigɔ] = [li ˈbɔniz aˈmigɔ] | lei bòneis amigas [lei ˈbɔnejz aˈmigɔ] = [li ˈbɔniz aˈmigɔ] | ||
Pronunciation remains the same in both norms (Mistralian and classical), which are only two different ways to write the same language.
The IETF language tags register oc-provenc-grmistr for the Mistralian orthography and oc-provenc-grclass for the classical one.
Literature
Modern Provençal literature was given impetus by Nobel laureate Frédéric Mistral and the association, Félibrige, which he founded with other writers, such as Théodore Aubanel. The beginning of the 20th century saw other authors like Joseph d'Arbaud, Batisto Bonnet and Valère Bernard. It has been enhanced and modernized since the second half of the 20th century by writers such as Robèrt Lafont, , , , , , , , , , and many others.
See also
- Occitan conjugation
- Languages of France
Notes
- Provençal dialect at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005)
- "Occitan (post 1500)". IANA language subtag registry. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- Error: Unable to display the reference from Wikidata properly. Technical details:
- Reason for the failure of {{Cite web}}: The Wikidata reference contains the property subtitle (P1680), which is not assigned to any parameter of this template.
- Reason for the failure of {{Cite Q}}: The Wikidata reference contains the property subtitle (P1680), which is not assigned to any parameter of this template.
- Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
- Holtus, Günther; Metzeltin, Michael; Schmitt, Christian (1991). "Band V/2 Okzitanisch, Katalanisch". Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik (LRL). Berlin, New York: De Gruyter / Max Niemeyer Verlag.
- "Langues régionales". Ministère de la culture (France). Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- Dalby, Andrew (1998). "Occitan". Dictionary of Languages (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing plc. p. 468. ISBN 0-7475-3117-X. Retrieved 8 November 2006.
- On the persistent use of Provençal as a synonym of Occitan see: Constanze WETH. « L'occitan / provençal ». Manuel des langues romanes, Edited by Klump, Andre / Kramer, Johannes / Willems, Aline. DE GRUYTER. 2014. Pages: 491–509. ISBN (Online): 9783110302585
- "Definition of PROVENÇAL". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- "Deprecated Language Codes". SIL International.
- Nòrmas ortogràficas, chausias morfològicas e vocabulari de l'occitan alpin oriental [tèxte imprimit] / Commission internacionala per la normalizacion linguistica de l'occitan alpin, Published by Espaci Occitan, Piemonte, 2008 . - 242. ISBN 9788890299742-PN-01
- "Language Subtag registry". IANA. 2023-10-16. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
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 [2nd 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)
- , Le provençal : essai de description sociolinguistique et différentielle, Institut de Linguistique de Louvain, Louvain, Peeters, 1992 (lire en ligne [archive]).
- 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 [archive], 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, ISBN 2-7449-0619-0
External links
Provençal phrasebook travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Provençal - English Dictionary - a list of words, with some mistakes
- Modern Provençal phonology and morphology studied in the language of Frederic Mistral (1921)
Provencal ˌ p r ɒ v ɒ ˈ s ɑː l also UK s ae l US ˌ p r oʊ v en French pʁɔvɑ sal Occitan provencau or prouvencau pʀuvenˈsaw is a variety of Occitan spoken by people in Provence and parts of Drome and Gard The term Provencal used to refer to the entire Occitan language but more recently it has referred 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 states that it can be used to refer to general Occitan though this is going out of use Provencalprouvencau mistralian norm provencal provencau classical norm Native toFrance Italy MonacoNative speakers 350 000 cited 1990 Language familyIndo European ItalicLatino FaliscanLatinRomanceItalo WesternWestern RomanceGallo RomanceOccitano RomanceOccitanProvencalLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code prv class extiw title iso639 3 prv prv a retired subsumed in ociGlottologprov1235ELPProvencalIETFoc provenc Provencal is also the customary name given to the older version of the Occitan language used by the troubadours of medieval literature when Old French or the langue d oil was limited to the northern areas of France Thus the ISO 639 3 code for Old Occitan is pro In 2007 all the ISO 639 3 codes for Occitan dialects including prv for Provencal were retired and merged into oci Occitan The old codes prv auv gsc lms lnc are no longer in active use but still have the meaning assigned to them when they were established in the Standard Some groups have called for Provencal s recognition as a full language distinct from Occitan The Regional Council of Provence has variously labelled Provencal as a dialect of Occitan or as a distinct language depending on different lobbies and political majorities SubdialectsThe main subdialects of Provencal are Rodanenc in French Rhodanien around the lower Rhone river Arles Avignon Nimes A Rodanenc subvariety the Shuadit or Judeo Provencal has been considered extinct since 1977 It was spoken by the Jewish community around Avignon When Jews were granted freedom of residence in France the dialect declined Maritim or Centrau or Mediterraneu Maritime or Central or Mediterranean around Aix en Provence Marseille Toulon Cannes Antibes Grasse Forcalquier Castellane Draguignan Nicard in the lower County of Nice Gavot in French Gavot spoken in the Western Occitan Alps around Digne Sisteron Gap Barcelonnette and the upper County of Nice but also in a part of the Ardeche is not exactly a subdialect of Provencal but rather a closely related Occitan dialect also known as Vivaro Alpine So is the dialect spoken in the upper valleys of Piedmont Italy Val Maira Val Varaita Val Stura di Demonte Entracque Limone Piemonte Vinadio Sestriere Some people view Gavot as a variety of Provencal since a part of the Gavot area near Digne and Sisteron belongs to historical Provence OrthographyWhen written in the Mistralian norm normo mistralenco definite articles are lou in the masculine singular la in the feminine singular and li in the masculine and feminine plural lis 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 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 norma classica definite articles are masculine lo lu feminine la la and plural lei leis lej lejz li liz Nouns and adjectives usually drop the Latin masculine endings but e e remains the feminine ending is a ɔ Nouns inflect for number all adjectives ending in vowels e or a become ei eis ej ejz i iz in some syntactic positions and most plural adjectives take s Comparison of articles and endings between the two norms English Mistralian norm Classical normSingular Masculine the good friend lou bon ami lu ˌbɔn aˈmi lo bon amic lu ˌbɔn aˈmi Feminine la bono amigo la ˌbɔn aˈmigɔ la bona amiga la ˌbɔn aˈmigɔ Plural Masculine the good friends li bons ami lej ˌbɔnz aˈmi li ˌbɔnz aˈmi lei bons amics lej ˌbɔnz aˈmi li ˌbɔnz aˈmi Feminine li bonis amigo lei ˈbɔnejz aˈmigɔ li ˈbɔniz aˈmigɔ lei boneis amigas lei ˈbɔnejz aˈmigɔ li ˈbɔniz aˈmigɔ Pronunciation remains the same in both norms Mistralian and classical which are only two different ways to write the same language The IETF language tags register oc provenc grmistr for the Mistralian orthography and oc provenc grclass for the classical one LiteratureModern Provencal literature was given impetus by Nobel laureate Frederic Mistral and the association Felibrige which he founded with other writers such as Theodore Aubanel The beginning of the 20th century saw other authors like Joseph d Arbaud Batisto Bonnet and Valere Bernard It has been enhanced and modernized since the second half of the 20th century by writers such as Robert Lafont Wikidata Wikidata Wikidata Wikidata Wikidata Wikidata and many others See alsoOccitan conjugation Languages of FranceNotesProvencal dialect at Ethnologue 15th ed 2005 Occitan post 1500 IANA language subtag registry 18 August 2008 Retrieved 11 February 2019 Error Unable to display the reference from Wikidata properly Technical details Reason for the failure of Cite web The Wikidata reference contains the property subtitle P1680 which is not assigned to any parameter of this template Reason for the failure of Cite Q The Wikidata reference contains the property subtitle P1680 which is not assigned to any parameter of this template See the documentation for further details Laurie Bauer 2007 The Linguistics Student s Handbook Edinburgh Holtus Gunther Metzeltin Michael Schmitt Christian 1991 Band V 2 Okzitanisch Katalanisch Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik LRL Berlin New York De Gruyter Max Niemeyer Verlag Langues regionales Ministere de la culture France Retrieved 13 February 2023 Dalby Andrew 1998 Occitan Dictionary of Languages 1st ed Bloomsbury Publishing plc p 468 ISBN 0 7475 3117 X Retrieved 8 November 2006 On the persistent use of Provencal as a synonym of Occitan see Constanze WETH L occitan provencal Manuel des langues romanes Edited by Klump Andre Kramer Johannes Willems Aline DE GRUYTER 2014 Pages 491 509 ISBN Online 9783110302585 Definition of PROVENCAL www merriam webster com Retrieved 2022 05 14 Deprecated Language Codes SIL International Normas ortograficas chausias morfologicas e vocabulari de l occitan alpin oriental texte imprimit Commission internacionala per la normalizacion linguistica de l occitan alpin Published by Espaci Occitan Piemonte 2008 242 ISBN 9788890299742 PN 01 Language Subtag registry IANA 2023 10 16 Retrieved 13 November 2023 ReferencesJules Juli Ronjat L ourtougrafi prouvencalo Avignon Vivo Prouvenco 1908 Robert Lafont Phonetique et graphie du provencal essai d adaptation de la reforme linguistique occitane aux parlers de Provence Toulouse Institut d Etudes Occitanes 1951 2nd ed 1960 Robert Lafont L ortografia occitana lo provencau Montpellier Universitat de Montpelhier III Centre d Estudis Occitans 1972 Jules Coupier amp Philippe Blanchet Dictionnaire francais provencal Diciounari frances prouvencau Aix en Provence Association Dictionnaire Francais Provencal Edisud 1995 rhodanian dialect Le provencal essai de description sociolinguistique et differentielle Institut de Linguistique de Louvain Louvain Peeters 1992 lire en ligne archive Philippe Blanchet Dictionnaire fondamental francais provencal Variete cotiere et interieure Paris editions Gisserot education 2002 Philippe Blanchet Decouvrir le provencal un cas d ecole sociolinguistique archive cours en ligne de l Universite Ouverte des Humanites 2020 Philippe Blanchet Langues cultures et identites regionales en Provence La Metaphore de l aioli Paris L Harmattan 2002 Pierre Vouland Du provencal rhodanien parle a l ecrit mistralien precis d analyse structurale et comparee Aix en Provence Edisud 2005 206 pages Alain Barthelemy Vigouroux amp Guy Martin Manuel pratique de provencal contemporain Edisud 2006 ISBN 2 7449 0619 0External linksOccitan edition of Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Provencal phrasebook travel guide from Wikivoyage Provencal English Dictionary a list of words with some mistakes Modern Provencal phonology and morphology studied in the language of Frederic Mistral 1921
