Languedocien dialect

The Languedokische ( okzitan. Lengadocian, französ. Languedoc ) is a dialect of Occitan, which is spoken in the area of ​​the historical county of Languedoc in southern France.

Etymology of the name

The name of the regional variety is derived from the historical province of Languedoc. Their name goes again to the langue d'oc traditional name for the whole of the southern varieties of Gallo-Roman back in OC from the word used here is derived for yes, unlike oïl (French oui today ) for yes in the northern Gallo-Roman. In the langue d'oc of importance in the traditional sense of going back to a learned Latin derivative term Occitan is used today mostly.

Classification

The Languedokische is, like the Provencal, the Gascon or the Auvergnat, a regional variety of the Occitan, or if you do not Occitan as a language but as a group of languages ​​( langues d'oc in the plural ) is considered, one of these languages. Together with the Provencal Languedokische to südokzitanischen dialect group is expected. Since it is the conservative of the varieties of the Occitan language and its territory is geographically in the center of the Occitan language area, languedokische forms are often cited as typical Occitan forms. The Languedokische is also the basis of the standard written language of Occitan, the mid-20th century was drafted by the Institut d' Estudis Occitans and is mostly used today in regional cultural institutions and in the facultative Okzitanischunterricht in education.

Dissemination

The traditional language area of Languedokischen roughly corresponds to the historical province of Languedoc, and thus most of the present-day regions of Languedoc -Roussillon and Midi -Pyrenees. It extends from the Rhone, which forms the boundary to about relatively closely related Provencal, and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the east to the Garonne in the west, along the border is the Gascon, which differs significantly from the Languedokischen. In the north, the northern dialects of Languedokischen become the Auvergnat and Limousinische in the southern part of the Massif Central. In the south, the boundary corresponds to the northern dialects of Catalan the border between the counties of Languedoc and Roussillon, almost the border between today Aude and Pyrenees- Orientales, although a small area in the northwest of the Pyrenees -Orientales also to part of the language area Languedokischen.

The Languedokische is now spoken by only a minority of the population of its traditional area, especially in the rural areas. Exact figures are not available because there is no official language statistics in France. It is estimated that about 10 % speak fluent Languedokisch, and 20 % can understand it. In the urban centers of Toulouse and Montpellier is spoken by virtually no one Languedokisch as their mother tongue, but based on the Languedokischen written language form of Occitan is used there in cultural institutions and taught as an optional subject in schools and universities.