Everything about Proven Al totally explained
Provençal (
Provençau) is one of several dialects of
Occitan spoken by a minority of people, mostly in
Provence (in southern
France).
In the English-speaking world, "Provençal" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in the former
province of
Provence as well as south of
Dauphiné and the
Nîmes region in
Languedoc and the upper valleys of
Piedmont, Italy (Val Maira, Val Varacha, Val d'Estura, Entraigas, Limon, Vinai,
Pignerol, Sestriera). Outside Europe, the language in spoken mainly in the Northern Californian counties of
Tehama,
Siskiyou,
Napa,
Alpine and
Mono counties, especially in the Mono County town of
Chalfant Valley. A small community in
Los Angeles and
Santa Barbara counties also exists in Southern California.
"Provençal" is also the customary name given to the older version of the
langue d'oc used by the
troubadours of
medieval literature, corresponding to
Old French or
langue d'oil of the northern areas of France.
Also, some secluded areas of
Sicily still bear significant traces of Provençal in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation.
On 2007-03-14 the
ISO 639-3 code changed from prv to oci. (prv was merged into oci)
Sub-Dialects
Two main sub-dialects are identified. These are:
- General Provençal
- Rodanenc (in French Rhodanien) around lower Rhône river, Arles, Avignon, Nîmes.
- A Rodanenc subvariety, the Shuadit or Judeo-Provençal is considered as 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, Marseilles, Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Grasse, Forcalquier, Castellane, Draguignan.
- Niçard in the lower County of Nice and Monaco.
- Gavòt (in French Gavot) in the Western Occitan Alps, around Digne, Sisteron, Gap, Barcelonnette and the upper County of Nice. It isn't exactly a subdialect of Provençal, but rather a subdialect of Vivaro-Alpine (an Occitan dialect which is distinct from Provençal and located northward). But some people view Gavòt as a variety of Provençal since a part of the Gavot area (near Digne and Sisteron) belongs to historical Provence.
Literature
Modern
Provençal literature was given impetus by Nobel laureate
Frédéric Mistral and the association
Félibrige he founded with other writers, like
Théodore Aubanel. It has been enhanced and modernized since the second half of the 20th Century by the
Institut d'Estudis Occitans and by major writers like
Robert Lafont,
Pierre Pessemesse,
Claude Barsotti,
Max-Philippe Delavouët,
Philippe Gardy,
Florian Vernet,
Danielle Julien,
Jòrgi Gròs and many others.
Miscellaneous
The Provençal language isn't to be confused with the
Franco-Provençal language, which is a linguistic sub-group of its own between the
Langue d'oïl and
Langue d'Oc.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Proven Al'.
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