All Topics  
Bearnese language

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Bearnese language
 
 
  Topics Bearnese language Topic Home

Béarnese is a Gascon
Gascon language

Gascon is a dialect of the Occitan language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and B?arn . It has about 250,000 speakers worldwide.Only Aranese language, a southern Gascon variety, is spoken in Spain....
 dialect spoken in Béarn
Béarn

B?arn is a former province of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the southwest France the current d?partement...
 (in the French department of the Pyrénées Atlantiques, in southwestern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
). As a written language, it benefited from the fact that Béarn was an independent state from the mid 14th century up to 1620. Béarnese was used in legal and administrative documents long after most other Gascon (and/or Occitan
Occitania

Occitania is the territory where Occitan language is the traditional language in use. This cultural area is mostly located in south France, includes Monaco, spans parts of Italy and Spain ....
) provinces were joined to France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. Concerning literature and poems, the first important book was a Béarnese translation of the Psalms
Psalms

Psalms is a book of the Hebrew Bible , included in the collected works known as the "Writings" or Ketuvim....
 of David
David

David , was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet ....
 by Arnaud de Salette, at the end of the 16th century, contemporary with the Gascon (Armagnac dialect) translation of these Psalms by Pey de Garros
Pey de Garros

Pey de Garros , or P?ir de Garr?s in modern Gascon, was the most important Occitan poet of the Renaissance. He was instrumental in the evolution of the Gascon language into a literary language....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Bearnese language'
Start a new discussion about 'Bearnese language'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Béarnese is a Gascon
Gascon language

Gascon is a dialect of the Occitan language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and B?arn . It has about 250,000 speakers worldwide.Only Aranese language, a southern Gascon variety, is spoken in Spain....
 dialect spoken in Béarn
Béarn

B?arn is a former province of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the southwest France the current d?partement...
 (in the French department of the Pyrénées Atlantiques, in southwestern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
). As a written language, it benefited from the fact that Béarn was an independent state from the mid 14th century up to 1620. Béarnese was used in legal and administrative documents long after most other Gascon (and/or Occitan
Occitania

Occitania is the territory where Occitan language is the traditional language in use. This cultural area is mostly located in south France, includes Monaco, spans parts of Italy and Spain ....
) provinces were joined to France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. Concerning literature and poems, the first important book was a Béarnese translation of the Psalms
Psalms

Psalms is a book of the Hebrew Bible , included in the collected works known as the "Writings" or Ketuvim....
 of David
David

David , was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet ....
 by Arnaud de Salette, at the end of the 16th century, contemporary with the Gascon (Armagnac dialect) translation of these Psalms by Pey de Garros
Pey de Garros

Pey de Garros , or P?ir de Garr?s in modern Gascon, was the most important Occitan poet of the Renaissance. He was instrumental in the evolution of the Gascon language into a literary language....
. Both translations were ordered by Jeanne d'Albret, queen of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre

The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
 and mother of Henri IV of France, to be used at Protestant
Protestantism

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the three principal traditions of Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
 churches.

Béarnese is currently the most prominent variety of Gascon. It is widely used in the normativization attempts to reach a standard Gascon and is bound to succeed mainly because of the Calandreta
Calandreta

A Calandreta is a bilingual school in Occitania in the South of France where the Occitan language is taught alongside the French language. These schools are based on the same principal as the Diwan of Brittany, the Gaelscoileanna movement in Ireland, the Ikastolak movement in the Basque Country , the Ysgolion Meithrin movement i...
 educative system but also due to the stronger cultural identity and output of this area.

A 1982 survey of the inhabitants of Béarn indicated that 51% of the population spoke Béarnese, 70% understood it, and 85% were in favor of preserving the language.

Currently, the majority of the cultural associations consider Gascon (including Béarnese) an Occitan dialect. However, other authorities consider them to be distinct languages. The main proponent of this view is Jean Lafitte, who publishes Ligam-DiGam a linguistic and lexicography review about gascon. A detailed sociolinguistic study presenting the current status (language practice and different locutors' perceptions) has been made by B. Moreux.

Bibliography

  • Moreux, B. (2004). Bearnais and Gascon today: language behavior and perception. The International Journal of the Sociology of Language,169:25-62.


External links

  • (Institut Bearnais et Gascon)