Auvergnat language
Encyclopedia
Auvergnat or Auvernhat (native name) is one of several varieties of the Occitan language spoken in Auvergne
, which is a historical province
in the northern part of Occitania
. Occitania is the southern third of France
, a historical region where the modern Occitan language is still spoken.
The language dialect has become renowned internationally through the folk song arrangements of Joseph Canteloube
.
Light blue area labelled fr is for French-Langue d’Oïl. Light purple area labelled frp is for Francoprovençal.
Note that most Occitanists use rather 7 than 8 to define the Southern Boundary.
Lower Auvergnat defined by Teulat is the light green area labelled 1 on the map.
Upper Auvergnat defined by Teulat is the light brown-yellow area labelled 2 on the map. A broader area (light yellow, label 2a) is generally defined.
A Northwestern Auvergnat may be defined as well by 5 and 6. The Northeastern (East of 5 and 6, North of 9) has got, according to Bonnaud, a stronger influence of French phonetics (a bit like Marchois).
and Vivaro-Alpine
.
There are two primary distinctions in Auvergnat:
The suggestion that Auvergnat is an independent language, distinct from Occitan, has found little resonance with linguists, especially Romance linguists. It is strongly defended by those who espouse the norme bonnaudienne a standardization of Auvergnat.
The largest group of the two languages spoken in the Auvergne region is referred to as patois (78% of the population) compared with other regional terms, with certain cultural identities emerging, such as auvergnat (10%), occitan (8%), bourbonnais (5%) or langue d’oc (4%).
The regional language, whether Occitan (in the whole of the Auvergne region) or Oïl (the north of Allier), represents a strong presence in the region:
A large part of the population that understands or speaks even a little or, moreover, fluently, neither know how to write nor read in that language.
Language learning is found to be essential within the home, according to the survey, (grandparents noted as 61%, or other family members at 50%) with a very weak result from the schools (10%). Herein is found the problem of language-transmission when dependent upon State sponsorship. 40% of adults who did not teach their language to their children report regretting it at the time of the survey. This feeling is reported more strongly among the 35 or less demographic, at 58%. The desire to learn the local language is reported strongly, with increasing representation among the young, reported at 23%. According to the survey the desire to incorporate local language learning in schools is as follows: Haute-Loire (53%), Puy-de-Dôme (51%) et Cantal (74%). The desire to teach to their own children is strong (41%) and is stronger still with the 35 and under demographic (58%). 71% of the region's inhabitants are favorable to the idea of maintaining the regional language and culture, with a stronger result in the 35-and-unders (76%). To achieve this desire, different institutions are expected to play a role (in percentage of those surveyed):
Auvergne (province)
Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....
, which is a historical province
Provinces of France
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the historic counties of England...
in the northern part of Occitania
Occitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
. Occitania is the southern third of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, a historical region where the modern Occitan language is still spoken.
The language dialect has become renowned internationally through the folk song arrangements of Joseph Canteloube
Joseph Canteloube
Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret was a French composer, musicologist, and author best known for his collections of orchestrated folksongs from the Auvergne region.-Biography:...
.
Geographical Distribution
The effective borders of Auvergnat neither completely coincide with those of the current Region of Auvergne nor the historical region of Auvergne. It can be described as follows:- The entire département of the Puy-de-DômePuy-de-DômePuy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
- a large section of the département of CantalCantalCantal is a department in south-central France. It is named after the Cantal mountain range, a group of extinct, eroded volcanic peaks, which covers much of the department. Residents are known as Cantaliens or Cantalous....
, largely centered around Saint-Flour and Mauriac. It is to be noted that Aurillac and the Pierrefort Canton speak a dialect called carladézien, a form of languedocienLanguedocienLanguedocien or Lengadocian is an Occitan dialect spoken by some people in the part of southern France known as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord....
, with Auvergnat conjugations and the rest largely similar to standard languedocienLanguedocienLanguedocien or Lengadocian is an Occitan dialect spoken by some people in the part of southern France known as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord....
. - The larger portion of the Haute-LoireHaute-LoireHaute-Loire is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.-History:Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
aside Yssingeaux which speaks Vivaro-AlpineVivaro-AlpineVivaro-Alpine or Vivaroalpenc, Vivaroaupenc is the northeastern dialect of the Occitan language. It belongs to the Northern Occitan dialectal group. Vivaro-Alpine is spoken in Southern France and North-Western Italy, and in the remote Guardia Piemontese, Calabria, where it is known as gardiol...
, - the southern half of AllierAllierAllier is a department in central France named after the river Allier.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.In 1940, the government of Marshal...
, or the Bourbonnais province, near MontluçonMontluçonMontluçon is a commune in central France. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's préfecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as Montluçonnais...
and VichyVichyVichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
, with the northern half toward Moulins traditionally speaking French. - A large fringe of eastern LimousinLimousin (région)Limousin is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of three départements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1st 2008, the Limousin comprised 740,743 inhabitants on nearly 17 000 km2, making it the second least populated region of...
, in the département of CorrèzeCorrèzeCorrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
, near UsselUssel, CorrèzeUssel is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France. Its inhabitants are named Ussellois. The town is best known for its charming old streetscapes and for its pastoral and natural landscapes offering a perfect setting for green alternative vacations.-Location:The community of Ussel is...
and Bort-les-OrguesBort-les-OrguesBort-les-Orgues is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.- Geography :Bort-les-Orgues is situated on the Dordogne River.The river Rhue forms part of the commune's southeastern border, then flows into the Dordogne....
. This is a transition zone between Auvergnat and Limousin - The communities of Noirétable and La Chamba in the western side of the département of LoireLoireLoire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
.
A more precise view on Auvergnat boundaries
There are strong oppositions between Pierre Bonnaud (for whom the Auvergnat is a language of its own, see the light orange line on the map – note it is including the easternmost part of the Marchois dialect) and for instance Roger Teulat.Language boundaries
- 1 – Latin pratus (meadow) > pra (Occitan, Francoprovençal) vs. pré (French)
- 2- Latin nepos (nephew) > nebot (Occitan) vs. neveu… (French, Francoprovençal)
Light blue area labelled fr is for French-Langue d’Oïl. Light purple area labelled frp is for Francoprovençal.
Dialect boundaries
- 0 – No paroxyton on the North – defines the Marchois dialect, name often given to the Occitan spoken in the Croissant area. The area labelled m is the one of the Marchois dialect.
- 3 – The ca/cha boundary separated Northern Occitan (Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine, Marchois) and Southern Occitan (Gascon, Languedocien, Provençal). It is part of Auvergnat boundary, along with 7, in the Cantal. The area labelled lm is for Limousin dialect, the va one if the Vivaro-Alpine, the lg one is for the Languedocien.
- 4 – Feminines in “–ada” have lost intervocalic “d” and became “–aa” : this separates Auvergnat and Vivaro-Alpine (almost the same boundary for first persons of indicative present in –o [u], another characteristic of Vivaro-Alpine)
Definition boundaries
These are not characteristic of Auvergnat as a whole, but allow defining a boundary:- 5 and 6 – These match the Core Auvergnat according to Pierre Bonnaud. They may be used for the Western Boundary of Auvergnat. The area limited by 5 is the pronunciation [jaR] of “èr” (around [ɛR]), the one limited by 6 is the palatalisation of “cl” to [kʎ] or to [çʎ].
- 7 – Southeastern boundary: opposition between “dreita” and “drecha”
- 8 – This is for the southern boundary: the plural of “braç” has the same pronunciation than the singular, only the use of the article allows differentiating it.
Note that most Occitanists use rather 7 than 8 to define the Southern Boundary.
Internal variation
Note some of the definition boundaries allow defining an internal variation. The most traditional one between Lower or Northern Auvergnat and Upper or Southern Auvergnat is set by the mutation of “s” before [k], [p], and [t] (line 9).Lower Auvergnat defined by Teulat is the light green area labelled 1 on the map.
Upper Auvergnat defined by Teulat is the light brown-yellow area labelled 2 on the map. A broader area (light yellow, label 2a) is generally defined.
A Northwestern Auvergnat may be defined as well by 5 and 6. The Northeastern (East of 5 and 6, North of 9) has got, according to Bonnaud, a stronger influence of French phonetics (a bit like Marchois).
Subdialects
Auvergnat is most often categorized in the Northern Occitan dialect group, along with LimousinLimousin language
Limousin is a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the three departments of Limousin, parts of Charente and the Dordogne in the southwest of France.The first Occitan documents are in this dialect, particularly the Boecis, written around the year 1000....
and Vivaro-Alpine
Vivaro-Alpine
Vivaro-Alpine or Vivaroalpenc, Vivaroaupenc is the northeastern dialect of the Occitan language. It belongs to the Northern Occitan dialectal group. Vivaro-Alpine is spoken in Southern France and North-Western Italy, and in the remote Guardia Piemontese, Calabria, where it is known as gardiol...
.
There are two primary distinctions in Auvergnat:
- Northern Auvergnat (nord-auvergnat, also bas-auvergnat) in Puy-de-Dôme and Allier (Bourbonnais) and Haute-Loire north of BrioudeBrioudeBrioude is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the River Allier, a tributary of the Loire.-History:...
.- In the south of Allier (Bourbonnais), the local nord-auvergnat has been heavily influcenced by French, but Auvergnat linguistic traits remain dominant. This transition zone to French, called locally le Croissant, includes the northern fringe of Limousin. See also the article on BourbonnaisBourbonnaisBourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern département of Allier, along with part of the département of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.-History:...
.
- In the south of Allier (Bourbonnais), the local nord-auvergnat has been heavily influcenced by French, but Auvergnat linguistic traits remain dominant. This transition zone to French, called locally le Croissant, includes the northern fringe of Limousin. See also the article on Bourbonnais
- Southern Auvergnat (sud-auvergnat, also haut-auvergnat) spoken in Cantal, Haute-Loire (with a part of Ardèche and most of Lozère).
The suggestion that Auvergnat is an independent language, distinct from Occitan, has found little resonance with linguists, especially Romance linguists. It is strongly defended by those who espouse the norme bonnaudienne a standardization of Auvergnat.
Linguistic Vitality and Usage
An understanding of the vitality and overall usage of Auvergnat can be garnered from a survey carried out in 2006 in the Auvergne region.The largest group of the two languages spoken in the Auvergne region is referred to as patois (78% of the population) compared with other regional terms, with certain cultural identities emerging, such as auvergnat (10%), occitan (8%), bourbonnais (5%) or langue d’oc (4%).
The regional language, whether Occitan (in the whole of the Auvergne region) or Oïl (the north of Allier), represents a strong presence in the region:
- 61% claim to understand their regional language more-or-less, with 22% claiming to understand it easily or perfectly.
- 42% claim to be able to speak it more-or-less, with 12% claiming it as easy.
- 29% claim to read Auvergnat more-or-less, with 10% claiming it easy.
- 17% claim to write Auvergnat more-or-less, with 4% declaring it easy.
A large part of the population that understands or speaks even a little or, moreover, fluently, neither know how to write nor read in that language.
Language learning is found to be essential within the home, according to the survey, (grandparents noted as 61%, or other family members at 50%) with a very weak result from the schools (10%). Herein is found the problem of language-transmission when dependent upon State sponsorship. 40% of adults who did not teach their language to their children report regretting it at the time of the survey. This feeling is reported more strongly among the 35 or less demographic, at 58%. The desire to learn the local language is reported strongly, with increasing representation among the young, reported at 23%. According to the survey the desire to incorporate local language learning in schools is as follows: Haute-Loire (53%), Puy-de-Dôme (51%) et Cantal (74%). The desire to teach to their own children is strong (41%) and is stronger still with the 35 and under demographic (58%). 71% of the region's inhabitants are favorable to the idea of maintaining the regional language and culture, with a stronger result in the 35-and-unders (76%). To achieve this desire, different institutions are expected to play a role (in percentage of those surveyed):
- France 3 Auvergne, the local television chain should offer regional language programming (54%)
- The Region (54%), National Education (43%), the Culture Ministry (42%) and the communities are seen by most Auvergnats as the most correct venues to develop and pass on the Auvergnat language and culture.
Authors
The following are authors who have published in Auvergnat:- Pierre Bonnaud
- Daniel Brugès
- François Cognéras
- Étienne Coudert
- Andrée Homette
- Karl-Heinz Reichel
- Jean Roux
- Henri-Antoine Verdier, Mémoires d'un papi auvergnat, text in Auvergnat dialect and French, 2000.
Poets
Poets using Auvergnat:- Louis Delhostal (1877–1933)
- Faucon, La Henriade de Voltaire, mise en vers burlesques par Faucon, Riom ; 1798; Le Conte des deux perdrix
- Roy Gelles, Le Tirage, poem, Clermont, 1836; Le Maire compétent, Clermont, 1841,
- Camille Gandilhon Gens d'Armes
- Ravel, La Paysade, epic poem ;
- Joan de Cabanas
See also
- Occitan conjugationOccitan conjugationThis article discusses the conjugation of verbs in a number of varieties of the Occitan language, including Old Occitan. Each verbal form is accompanied by its phonetic transcription. The similarities with Catalan are noticeable.-First group verbs :...
- Languages of France
- Occitan language