Niçard
Encyclopedia
Niçard Nissart/Niçart (Mistralian orthography), Niçois (French
, IPA: ni.swa), or Nizzardo (Italian
, IPA: niˈtsːardo) is considered a distinct subdialect
of the Occitan language (Provençal
dialect) spoken in the city of Nice
(Niçard: Niça/Nissa) and in the historical County of Nice
(since 1860 the main part of the current French département of Alpes-Maritimes
). In addition to Monégasque, Niçard is also spoken by some in Monaco
. However some authors, like Francesco Barberis, believe original Nissart was more closely related to the Gallo-Italian languages (Ligurian
) than to the Occitan, until it was annexed to France in 1860.
Most residents of Nice and its region no longer speak Niçard, and those who do are bilingual
in French. Nonetheless, today there is a developing revival of the use of the language. Some local television news is presented in Niçard (with French subtitles) and street signs in the old town of Nice are written in the dialect. The Niçard song Nissa La Bella
is often regarded as the "anthem" of Nice.
An Italian orthography also existed but was abandoned when Nice joined the French empire in 1861 (but was reinstated briefly in 1942/3 when Italy
occupied and administered the city).
Example of Nissart and similarity with Italian, according to Barberis:
The original dialect of "Nissa la Bella" (as Nice was called) had strong ties with Monégasque language
(Ligurian
), due to the geographical proximity of the two languages, and showed strong similarities to the Ligurian language until the middle of the 19th century.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
, born in Nice, defined his "Nizzardo" as an Italian dialect with very strong influences from Occitan and French, and - even for this reason - promoted the union of Nice to the Kingdom of Italy
. Italian Giulio Vignoli wrote in his book about the "Nizzardo Italian" minority that, after Garibaldi's failed attempt, 11,000 of his supporters (nearly 1/3 of the population of Nice
in the 1860s) were forced to move to Italy from Nice and were substituted by the French government with people from nearby Occitan areas: this changed the characteristic of Nissart that started to have many loanwords from Occitan (a language that now it is predominant in the Nissart dialect).
Even today some scholars (like the German Werner Forner, the French Jean-Philippe Dalbera and the Italian Giulia Petracco Sicardi) agree that Niçard has some characteristics (phonetical, lexical and morphological) that are typical of the western Ligurian language.
The French scholar Jean-Philippe Dalbera (in Bernard Cerquiglini's report) pinpoints in his Les langues de France the actual existence of a Ligurian dialect, called Royasque, in the Roya
Valley (near Tende
), in the westernmost part of the County of Nice
. Royasque, which is a Ligurian variety, should not be confused with Niçard.
However many French specialists of Romance linguistics see Niçard as a variety of Occitan. Some statements saying that Niçard would be a Ligurian
or Italian
dialect are not supported by some specialists (see especially Dalbera 1984). Indeed, French scholar Bernard Cerquiglini wrote in his book on the languages of France about the actual existence of a Ligurian minority in Tende
, Roquebrune
and Menton
, a remnant of a bigger medieval "Ligurian" area that included Nice and most of the coastal County of Nice.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, IPA: ni.swa), or Nizzardo (Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, IPA: niˈtsːardo) is considered a distinct subdialect
Subdialect
Subdialect - is a subdivision of dialect. Subdialects can be divided further, ultimately down to idiolects.Normally subdialects of one dialect are quite close to each other, differing mainly in pronunciation and certain local words....
of the Occitan language (Provençal
Provençal language
Provençal is a dialect of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English-speaking world, "Provençal" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence."Provençal" is also the...
dialect) spoken in the city of Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
(Niçard: Niça/Nissa) and in the historical County of Nice
County of Nice
The County of Nice or Niçard Country is a historical region of France, located in the south-eastern part, around the city of Nice.-History:Its territory lies between the Mediterranean Sea , Var River and the southernmost crest of the...
(since 1860 the main part of the current French département of Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...
). In addition to Monégasque, Niçard is also spoken by some in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
. However some authors, like Francesco Barberis, believe original Nissart was more closely related to the Gallo-Italian languages (Ligurian
Ligurian language (Romance)
Ligurian is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. Genoese , spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is its most important dialect...
) than to the Occitan, until it was annexed to France in 1860.
Most residents of Nice and its region no longer speak Niçard, and those who do are bilingual
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
in French. Nonetheless, today there is a developing revival of the use of the language. Some local television news is presented in Niçard (with French subtitles) and street signs in the old town of Nice are written in the dialect. The Niçard song Nissa La Bella
Nissa La Bella
"Nissa la Bella" is the unofficial anthem of the city of Nice, Occitània. It was written by Menica Rondelly in 1912.- External links :* *...
is often regarded as the "anthem" of Nice.
Writing system
Niçard is written using two forms:- Classical orthography. Preferring the native traditions of the language, this form was developed by Robert Lafont (Phonétique et graphie du provençal, 1951; L'ortografia occitana, lo provençau, 1972) and Jean-Pierre Baquié (Empari lo niçard, 1984). It is regulated by the Conselh de la Lenga OccitanaConselh de la Lenga OccitanaThe Conselh de la Lenga Occitana or CLO is the body responsible for managing and developing the standard variant of the Occitan language. The council was founded in 1996—1997.- External links :* , on * on *...
. - Mistralian orthography. Closer to written FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, this form owes its existence to the historic joining of the County of NiceCounty of NiceThe County of Nice or Niçard Country is a historical region of France, located in the south-eastern part, around the city of Nice.-History:Its territory lies between the Mediterranean Sea , Var River and the southernmost crest of the...
to FranceFranceThe 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...
in 1860. It is codified by FélibrigeFélibrigeThe Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote Occitan language and literature...
(although there also exists an Acadèmia Nissarda).
An Italian orthography also existed but was abandoned when Nice joined the French empire in 1861 (but was reinstated briefly in 1942/3 when Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
occupied and administered the city).
| Orthography Comparison (from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled... ) |
||
|---|---|---|
| English | Classical | Mistralian |
| All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. | Toti li personas naisson liuri e egali en dignitat e en drech. Son dotadi de rason e de consciéncia e li cau agir entre eli emb un esperit de frairesa. | Touti li persouna naisson libri e egali en dignità e en drech. Soun doutadi de rasoun e de counsciència e li cau agì entre eli em' un esperit de frairessa. |
Example of Nissart and similarity with Italian, according to Barberis:
- dinlre lou mieu spril, es mai eh' Agamennon, (Italian: "dentro lo mio spirito, è maggiore che Agamennone")
- Conra dì sì, es si; covra di non, es non. (Italian: "quando dir sì, è sì; quando dir no, è no")
Occitan and Ligurian influences
Standard Occitan recognises regional differences. It has been written that Niçard has kept some of the oldest forms of Occitan, other dialects (such as Provençal) having been more "frenchified" by their history.The original dialect of "Nissa la Bella" (as Nice was called) had strong ties with Monégasque language
Monégasque language
Monégasque is a dialect of the modern Ligurian language, spoken in Monaco.- Language family :Forming a part of the Western Romance dialect continuum, Monégasque shares many features with the variety of Ligurian spoken in Genoa, but differs from its neighboring dialects Intemelio and Mentonasc. It...
(Ligurian
Ligurian language (Romance)
Ligurian is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. Genoese , spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is its most important dialect...
), due to the geographical proximity of the two languages, and showed strong similarities to the Ligurian language until the middle of the 19th century.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
, born in Nice, defined his "Nizzardo" as an Italian dialect with very strong influences from Occitan and French, and - even for this reason - promoted the union of Nice to the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
. Italian Giulio Vignoli wrote in his book about the "Nizzardo Italian" minority that, after Garibaldi's failed attempt, 11,000 of his supporters (nearly 1/3 of the population of Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
in the 1860s) were forced to move to Italy from Nice and were substituted by the French government with people from nearby Occitan areas: this changed the characteristic of Nissart that started to have many loanwords from Occitan (a language that now it is predominant in the Nissart dialect).
Even today some scholars (like the German Werner Forner, the French Jean-Philippe Dalbera and the Italian Giulia Petracco Sicardi) agree that Niçard has some characteristics (phonetical, lexical and morphological) that are typical of the western Ligurian language.
The French scholar Jean-Philippe Dalbera (in Bernard Cerquiglini's report) pinpoints in his Les langues de France the actual existence of a Ligurian dialect, called Royasque, in the Roya
Roya
Roya may refer to:*Roya , a female proper name, of Arabic origin, meaning "sweet dream", "premonition," or "vision." It is used mainly in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Persia, Arabic countries, Azerbaijan, and Turkey...
Valley (near Tende
Tende
Tende is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.-Geography:Tende is located within Mercantour National Park in the French Alps. The mountainous commune is bordered by Italy to the north, with the boundary determined by the watershed line between the two countries...
), in the westernmost part of the County of Nice
County of Nice
The County of Nice or Niçard Country is a historical region of France, located in the south-eastern part, around the city of Nice.-History:Its territory lies between the Mediterranean Sea , Var River and the southernmost crest of the...
. Royasque, which is a Ligurian variety, should not be confused with Niçard.
However many French specialists of Romance linguistics see Niçard as a variety of Occitan. Some statements saying that Niçard would be a Ligurian
Ligurian language (Romance)
Ligurian is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. Genoese , spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is its most important dialect...
or Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
dialect are not supported by some specialists (see especially Dalbera 1984). Indeed, French scholar Bernard Cerquiglini wrote in his book on the languages of France about the actual existence of a Ligurian minority in Tende
Tende
Tende is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.-Geography:Tende is located within Mercantour National Park in the French Alps. The mountainous commune is bordered by Italy to the north, with the boundary determined by the watershed line between the two countries...
, Roquebrune
Roquebrune
Roquebrune may refer to the following communes in France:* Roquebrune, Gers, in the Gers département* Roquebrune, Gironde, in the Gironde département* Roquebrune, the former name for Roquebrune-Cap Martin, in the Alpes-Maritimes département...
and Menton
Menton
Menton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ....
, a remnant of a bigger medieval "Ligurian" area that included Nice and most of the coastal County of Nice.
See also
- Nissa La BellaNissa La Bella"Nissa la Bella" is the unofficial anthem of the city of Nice, Occitània. It was written by Menica Rondelly in 1912.- External links :* *...
- FélibrigeFélibrigeThe Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote Occitan language and literature...
- Monégasque languageMonégasque languageMonégasque is a dialect of the modern Ligurian language, spoken in Monaco.- Language family :Forming a part of the Western Romance dialect continuum, Monégasque shares many features with the variety of Ligurian spoken in Genoa, but differs from its neighboring dialects Intemelio and Mentonasc. It...
- Ligurian languageLigurian language (Romance)Ligurian is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. Genoese , spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is its most important dialect...
- Italian irredentism in Nice