Franco-Provençal language
Franco-Provençal is a dialect group within Gallo-Romance spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland, northwestern Italy, and in enclaves in the Province of Foggia in Apulia, Italy.
Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separate from but closely related to neighboring Romance dialects.
The designation Franco-Provençal dates to the 19th century. Traditionally, the dialect group is also referred to as patois
, and since the late 20th century as Arpitan, and its areal as Arpitania. The number of speakers of Franco-Provençal has been declining significantly. According to UNESCO, Franco-Provençal is a "potentially endangered language" in Italy and an "endangered language" in Switzerland and France.
Formerly spoken throughout the territory of Savoy, Franco-Provençal speakers are now found in the Aosta Valley, an autonomous administrative division of Italy.
The language is also spoken in alpine valleys in the Metropolitan City of Turin, two isolated towns in the Province of Foggia, and rural areas of the Swiss Romandie.
It is one of the three Gallo-Romance language families of France and is officially recognized as a regional language of France, but its use is marginal. Organizations are attempting to preserve it through cultural events, education, scholarly research, and publishing. Outside of the langues d'oïl, it is the most closely related language to French.
Classification
Franco-Provençal's name would suggest it is a bridge dialect between French and the Provençal dialect of Occitan, but this is misleading. More precisely, Franco-Provençal is a separate Gallo-Romance language that transitions into the Oïl languages Morvandiau and Franc-Comtois to the northwest, into Romansh to the east, into the Gallo-Italic language Piemontese to the southeast, and finally into the Vivaro-Alpine dialect of Occitan to the southwest.The philological classification for Franco-Provençal published by the Linguasphere Observatory follows:
A philological classification for Franco-Provençal published by Ruhlen is as follows:
History
Franco-Provençal emerged as a Gallo-Romance variety of Latin. The linguistic region comprises east-central France, western portions of Switzerland, and the Aosta Valley of Italy with the adjacent alpine valleys of the Piedmont. This area covers territories once occupied by pre-Roman Celts, including the Allobroges, Sequani, Helvetii, Ceutrones, and Salassi. By the 5th century, the region was controlled by the Burgundians. Federico Krutwig has also detected a Basque substrate in the toponyms of the easternmost Valdôtain dialect.Franco-Provençal is first attested in manuscripts from the 12th century, possibly diverging from the langues d'oïl as early as the 8th–9th centuries. However, Franco-Provençal is consistently typified by a strict, myopic comparison to French, and so is characterized as "conservative". Thus, commentators, like Désormaux, consider "medieval" the terms for many nouns and verbs, including pâta "rag", bayâ "to give", moussâ "to lie down", all of which are conservative only relative to French. As an example, Désormaux, writing on this point in the foreword of his Savoyard dialect dictionary, states:
Franco-Provençal failed to garner the cultural prestige of its three more widely spoken neighbors: French, Occitan, and Italian. Communities where speakers lived were generally mountainous and isolated from one another. The internal boundaries of the entire speech area were divided by wars and religious conflicts.
France, Switzerland, the Franche-Comté, and the duchy, later kingdom, ruled by the House of Savoy politically divided the region. The strongest possibility for any dialect of Franco-Provençal to establish itself as a major language died when an edict, dated 6 January 1539, was confirmed in the parliament of the Duchy of Savoy on 4 March 1540. The edict explicitly replaced Latin with French as the language of law and the courts.
The name Franco-Provençal is due to Graziadio Isaia Ascoli , chosen because the dialect group was seen as intermediate between French and Provençal. Franco-Provençal dialects were widely spoken in their speech areas until the 20th century. As French political power expanded and the "single-national-language" doctrine was spread through French-only education, Franco-Provençal speakers abandoned their language, which had numerous spoken variations and no standard orthography, in favor of culturally prestigious French.
Origin of the name
Franco-Provençal is an extremely fragmented language, with scores of highly peculiar local variations that never merged over time. The range of dialect diversity is far greater than that found in the Langue d'Oïl and Occitan regions. Comprehension of one dialect by speakers of another is often difficult. Nowhere is it spoken in a "pure form" and there is not a "standard reference language" that the modern generic label used to identify the language may indicate. This explains why speakers use local terms to name it, such as Bressan, Forèzien, or Valdôtain, or simply patouès. Only in recent years have speakers not specialists in linguistics become conscious of the language's collective identity.The language region was first recognized in the 19th century during advances in research into the nature and structure of human speech. Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, a pioneering linguist, analyzed the unique phonetic and structural characteristics of numerous spoken dialects. In an article written about 1873 and published later, he offered a solution to existing disagreements about dialect frontiers and proposed a new linguistic region. He placed it between the langues d'oïl group of languages and the langues d'oc group and gave Franco-Provençal its name.
Ascoli described the language in these terms in his defining essay on the subject:
Although the name Franco-Provençal appears misleading, it continues to be used in most scholarly journals for the sake of continuity. Suppression of the hyphen between the two parts of the language name in French was generally adopted following a conference at the University of Neuchâtel in 1969, however, most English journals continue to use the traditional spelling.
The name Romand has been in use regionally in Switzerland at least since 1494, when notaries in Fribourg were directed to write their minutes in both German and Rommant. It continues to appear in the names of many Swiss cultural organizations today. The term "Romand" is also used by some professional linguists who feel that the compound word "Franco-Provençal" is "inappropriate".
A proposal in the 1960s to call the language Burgundian did not take hold, mainly because of the potential for confusion with an Oïl dialect known as Burgundian, which is spoken in a neighbouring area, known internationally as Burgundy. Other areas also had historical or political claims to such names, especially .
Some contemporary speakers and writers prefer the name Arpitan because it underscores the independence of the language and does not imply a union to any other established linguistic group. "Arpitan" is derived from an indigenous word meaning "alpine". It was popularized in the 1980s by Mouvement Harpitanya, a political organization in the Aosta Valley. In the 1990s, the term lost its particular political context. The Aliance Culturèla Arpitana is currently advancing the cause for the name "Arpitan" through the Internet, publishing efforts and other activities. The organization was founded in 2004 by Stéphanie Lathion and Alban Lavy in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is now based in Fribourg. In 2010 SIL adopted the name "Arpitan" as the primary name of the language in ISO 639-3, with "Francoprovençal" as an additional name form.
The language is called patouès or nosta moda by native speakers. Some Savoyard speakers call their language sarde. This is a colloquial term used because their ancestors were subjects of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy until Savoie and Haute-Savoie were annexed by France in 1860. The language is called gaga in the Forez region of France and appears in the titles of dictionaries and other regional publications. Gaga comes from a local name for the residents of Saint-Étienne, popularized by Auguste Callet's story "La légende des Gagats" published in 1866.
Geographic distribution
The historical linguistic domain of the Franco-Provençal language are:Italy
- Aosta Valley, with the exception of the Walser valley in Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Gressoney-La-Trinité and Issime.
- the alpine heights of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont basin which includes the following 43 communities: Ala di Stura, Alpette, Balme, Cantoira, Carema, Castagnole Piemonte, Ceres, Ceresole Reale, Chialamberto, Chianocco, Coassolo Torinese, Coazze, Condove, Corio, Frassinetto, Germagnano, Giaglione, Giaveno, Gravere, Groscavallo, Ingria, Lanzo Torinese, Lemie, Locana, Mattie, Meana di Susa, Mezzenile, Monastero di Lanzo, Noasca, Novalesa, Pessinetto, Pont-Canavese, Ribordone, Ronco Canavese, Rubiana, Sparone, Susa, Traves, Usseglio, Valgioie, Valprato Soana, Venaus, Viù. Note: The southernmost valleys of Piedmont speak Occitan.
- two enclaves in the Province of Foggia, Apulia region in the southern Apennine Mountains: the villages of Faeto and Celle di San Vito.
France
- the major part of Rhône-Alpes and Franche-Comté regions, which includes the following départements: Jura, Doubs, Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Isère, Rhône, Drôme, Ardèche, Loire, Ain, and Saône-et-Loire.
Switzerland
- most of the officially French-speaking Romandie part of the country, including the following cantons: Geneva, Vaud, the lower part of Valais, Fribourg, and Neuchâtel. Note: the remaining parts of Romandie, namely Jura, and the northern valleys of the canton Berne linguistically belong to the Langue d'Oïl.
Present status
Paradoxically, the same federal laws do not grant the language the same protection in the Province of Turin because Franco-Provençal speakers make up less than 15% of the population. Lack of jobs has caused migration out of the Piedmont's alpine valleys, abetting the language's decline.
Switzerland does not recognize Romand as one of its official languages. Speakers live in western cantons where Swiss French predominates and converse in dialects mainly as a second language. Currently, its use in agrarian daily life is rapidly disappearing. However, in a few isolated places the decline is considerably less steep. This is most notably the case for Evolène.
Franco-Provençal has had a precipitous decline in France. The official language of the French Republic is French. The French government officially recognizes Franco-Provençal as one of the "languages of France", but it is constitutionally barred from ratifying the 1992 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages that would guarantee it certain rights. Thus, Franco-Provençal has almost no political support. It also carries a generally low social status. This situation affects most regional languages that comprise the linguistic wealth of France. Speakers of regional languages are aging and mostly rural.
Number of speakers
The Franco-Provençal dialect with the greatest population of active daily speakers is Valdôtain. Approximately 68,000 people speak the language in the Aosta Valley region of Italy according to reports conducted after the 2003 census. The alpine valleys of the adjacent province of Turin have an estimated 22,000 speakers. The Faetar and Cigliàje dialect is spoken by just 1,400 speakers who live in an isolated pocket of the province of Foggia in the southern Italian Apulia region. Beginning in 1951, heavy emigration from the town of Celle Di San Vito established the Cigliàje variety of this dialect in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, where, at its peak, it was used daily by several hundred people. As of 2012 this community has dwindled to fewer than 50 daily speakers across three generations.Contrary to official information reported by the European Commission, a poll by the Fondation Émile Chanoux in 2001 revealed that only 15% of all Aosta Valley residents claimed Franco-Provençal as their mother tongue, a substantial reduction to the figures reported on the Italian census 20 years earlier that was used in the commission report, though 55.77% said they know Franco-provençal and 50.53% said they know French, Franco-provençal and Italian. This opened a discussion about the concept of mother tongue when concerning a dialect, therefore confirming the fact that the Aosta Valley is the only area where franco-provençal is actively spoken nowadays. A report published by Laval University in Quebec City, which analyzed this data, reports that it is "probable" that the language will be "on the road to extinction" in this region in ten years. The most recent edition of reports that there are 70,000 Franco-Provençal speakers in Italy. However, these figures are derived from the 1971 census.
In rural areas of the cantons of Valais and Fribourg in Switzerland, various dialects are spoken as a second language by about 7,000 residents. In the other cantons of Romandie where Franco-Provençal dialects used to be spoken, they are now all but extinct.
Until the mid-19th century, Franco-Provençal dialects were the most widely spoken language in their domain in France. Today, regional vernaculars are limited to a small number of speakers in secluded towns. A 2002 report by the INED states that the language loss by generation: "the proportion of fathers who did not usually speak to their 5-year-old children in the language that their own father usually spoke in to them at the same age" was 90%. This was a greater loss than any other language in France, a loss called "critical". The report estimated that fewer than 15,000 speakers in France were handing down some knowledge of Franco-Provençal to their children.
Linguistic structure
Note: The overview in this section follows Martin, with all Franco-Provençal examples written in accordance with Orthographe de référence B.Typology and syntax
- Franco-Provençal is a synthetic language, as are Occitan and Italian. Most verbs have different endings for person, number, and tenses, making the use of the pronoun optional; thus, two grammatical functions are bound together. However, the second person singular verb form regularly requires an appropriate pronoun for distinction.
- The standard word order for Franco-Provençal is subject–verb–object form in a declarative sentence, for example: Vos côsâds anglès., except when the object is a pronoun, in which case the word order is subject–object–verb. verb–subject–object form is standard word order for an interrogative sentence, for example: Côsâds-vos anglès ?
Morphology
Phonology
The consonants and vowel sounds in Franco-Provençal:Vowels
- Phonetic realizations of //, can be frequently realized as , as well as in short form when preceding a // or a //.
| Front | Back | |
| Close | ||
| Mid | ||
| Open |
Consonants
- Affricate sounds and are mainly present in Fribourg and Valais dialects.
- In Arles, and in some dialects of Hauteville and Savoie, the // phoneme is realized as .
- In the dialects of Savoie and Bresse, phonetic dental sounds and occur corresponding to palatal sounds // and //. These two sounds may also be realized in dialects of Valais, where they correspond to a succeeding // after a voiceless or voiced stop they are then realized as , .
- A nasal sound can occur when a nasal precedes a velar stop.
- Palatalizations of // can be realized as in some Savoyard dialects.
- In rare dialects, a palatal lateral // can be realized as a voiced fricative .
- A glottal fricative occurs as a result of the softening of the allophones of in Savoie and French-speaking Switzerland.
- In the dialects of Valdôtien, Fribourg, Valais, Vaudois and in some dialects of Savoyard and Dauphinois, realizations of phonemes /, / often are heard as affricate sounds . In the dialects of French speaking Switzerland, Valle d'Aosta, and Neuchâtel, the two palatal stops are realized as the affricates, .
- The placement of stressed syllables in the spoken language is a primary characteristic of Franco-Provençal that distinguishes it from French and Occitan. Franco-Provençal words take stress on the last syllable, as in French, or on the penultimate syllable, unlike French.
- Franco-Provençal also preserves final vowel sounds, in particular "a" in feminine forms and "o" in masculine forms The word portar is pronounced or, with accent on the final "a" or "o", but rousa is pronounced, with accent on the "ou".
- Vowels followed by nasal consonants "m" and "n" are normally nasalized in a similar manner to those in French, for example, chantar and vin in Franco-Provençal, and "chanter" and "vin" in French. However, in the largest part of the Franco-Provençal domain, nasalized vowels retain a timbre that more closely approaches the un-nasalized vowel sound than in French, for example, pan and vent in Franco-Provençal, compared to "pain" and "vent" in French.
Orthography
- Aimé Chenal and Raymond Vautherin wrote the first comprehensive grammar and dictionary for any variety of Franco-Provençal. Their landmark effort greatly expands upon the work by Jean-Baptiste Cerlogne begun in the 19th century on the Valdôtain dialect of the Aosta Valley. It was published in twelve volumes from 1967 to 1982.
- The Bureau régional pour l'ethnologie et la linguistique in Aosta and the Centre d'études franco-provençales « René Willien » in Saint-Nicolas, Italy, have created a similar orthography that is actively promoted by their organizations. It is also based on work by Jean-Baptiste Cerlogne, with several modifications.
- An orthographic method called La Graphie de Conflans has achieved fairly wide acceptance among speakers residing in Bresse and Savoy. Since it was first proposed by the Groupe de Conflans of Albertville, France in 1983, it has appeared in many published works. This method perhaps most closely follows the International Phonetic Alphabet, omitting extraneous letters found in other historical and contemporary proposals. It features the use of a combining low line as a diacritic to indicate a stressed vowel in the penult when it occurs, for example: toma, déssanta.
- A recent standard entitled Orthographe de référence B was proposed by linguist Dominique Stich with his dictionary published by Editions Le Carré in 2003. His standard strays from close representation of Franco-Provençal phonology in favor of following French orthographic conventions, with silent letters and clear vestiges of Latin roots. However, it attempts to unify several written forms and is easiest for French speakers to read. — Note: Stich's dictionary for ORB is noteworthy because it includes neologisms by Xavier Gouvert for things found in modern life, such as: encafâblo for "cell phone", pignochière for "fast-food", panètes for "corn flakes", and mâchelyon for "chewing gum".
Numerals
Franco-Provençal uses a decimal counting system. The numbers "1", "2", and "4" have masculine and feminine forms.0) zérô; 1) yon, yona / yena dos, does / doves / davè três; 4) quatro, quat / quatrè cinq; 6) siéx; 7) sèpt; 8) huét; 9) nô; 10) diéx; 11) onze'; 12) doze; 13) trèze; 14) quatôrze; 15) quinze; 16) sèze; 17) dix-sèpt; 18) dix-huét; 19) dix-nou; 20) vengt; 21) vengt-yon / vengt-et-yona; 22) vengt-dos... 30) trenta; 40) quaranta; 50) cinquanta; 60) souessanta; 70) sèptanta; 80) huétanta; 90) nonanta; 100) cent; 1000) mila; 1,000,000) on milyon / on milyona.
Many western dialects use a vigesimal form for "80", that is, quatro-vingt, possibly due to the influence of French.
Word comparisons
The chart below compares words in Franco-Provençal to those in selected Romance languages, with English for reference.Between vowels, the Latinate "p" became "v", "c" and "g" became "y", and "t" and "d" disappeared. Franco-Provençal also softened the hard palatized "c" and "g" before "a". This led Franco-Provençal to evolve down a different path from Occitan and Gallo-Iberian languages, closer to the evolutionary direction taken by French.
| Latin | Franco-Provençal | French | Occitan | Catalan | Spanish | Romansh | Piedmontese | Italian | Portuguese | Sardinian | English |
| clavis | clâ | clé, clef | clau | clau | llave | clav | ciav | chiave | chave | crai | key |
| cantare | chantar | chanter | cantar | cantar | cantar | cantar | canté | cantare | cantar | cantai | sing |
| capra | chèvra | chèvre | cabra | cabra | cabra | chavra | crava | capra | cabra | craba | goat |
| caseus | tôma/fromâjo | tomme/fromage | formatge | formatge | queso | caschiel | formagg | formaggio | queijo | casu | cheese |
| dies Martis | demârs/demonre | mardi | dimars | dimarts | martes | mardi | màrtes | martedì | terça-feira | martis | Tuesday |
| ecclesia/basilica | églésé | église/basilique | glèisa | església | iglesia | baselgia | gesia/cesa | chiesa | igreja | cresia | church |
| fratrem | frâre | frère | fraire | germà | hermano | frar | frel | fratello | irmão | frari | brother |
| hospitalis | hèpetâl | hôpital | espital | hospital | hospital | spital/ospidal | ospidal | ospedale | hospital | ospidali | hospital |
| lingua | lenga | langue, langage | lenga | llengua | lengua | lieunga | lenga | lingua | língua | lingua, limba | language |
| sinister | gôcho | gauche | esquèrra/senèstra | esquerra | izquierda | saniester/schnester | snistr | sinistra | esquerda | sa manu manca | left |
| rem/natam/ne gentem | ren | rien | res/ren | res/re | nada | nuot/navot/nöglia | nen/gnente | niente/nulla | nada | nudda | nothing |
| noctem | nuet | nuit | nuèch/nuèit | nit | noche | not | neuit | notte | noite | noti | night |
| pacare | payér | payer | pagar | pagar | pagar | pagar/pajar | paghé | pagare | pagar | pagai | pay |
| sudor | suar | sueur | susor | suor | sudor | suada | sudé/sudor | sudore | suor | suai | sweat |
| vita | via | vie | vida | vida | vida | veta/vita | via | vita | vida | vida | life |
Dialects
Classification of Franco-Provençal dialect divisions is challenging. Each canton and valley uses its own vernacular without standardization. Difficult intelligibility among dialects was noted as early as 1807 by Grillet.The dialects are divided into eight distinct categories or groups. Six dialect groups comprising 41 dialect idioms for the Franco-Provençal language have been identified and documented by Linguasphere Observatory . Only two dialect groups – Lyonnaise and Dauphinois-N. – were recorded as having fewer than 1,000 speakers each. Linguasphere has not listed any dialect idiom as "extinct", however, many are highly endangered. A seventh isolated dialect group, consisting of Faetar, has been analyzed by Nagy. The Piedmont dialects need further study.
- Lyonnais:
- Dauphinois-N.:
- Savoyard:
- Franc-Comtois :
- Vaudois:
- Valdôtain:
- Faetar, Cigliàje:
- Piedmont Dialects:
Present status
Paradoxically, the same federal laws do not grant the language the same protection in the Province of Turin because Franco-Provençal speakers make up less than 15% of the population. Lack of jobs has caused migration out of the Piedmont's alpine valleys, abetting the language's decline.
Switzerland does not recognize Franco-Provençal as one of its official languages. Speakers live in western cantons where Swiss French predominates and converse in dialects mainly as a second language. Currently, its use in agrarian daily life is rapidly disappearing. However, in a few isolated places the decline is considerably less steep. This is most notably the case for Evolène.
Franco-Provençal has had a precipitous decline in France. The official language of the French Republic is French. The French government officially recognizes Franco-Provençal as one of the "languages of France", but it is constitutionally barred from ratifying the 1992 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages that would guarantee it certain rights. Thus, Franco-Provençal has almost no political support. It also carries a generally low social status. This situation affects most regional languages that comprise the linguistic wealth of France. Speakers of regional languages are aging and mostly rural.
Dialect examples
Several modern orthographic variations exist for all dialects of Franco-Provençal. The spellings and IPA equivalents listed below appear in Martin.| English | Occitan | Franco-Provençal | Savoyard dialect | Bressan dialect | French |
| Hello! | Bonjorn ! | Bonjor ! | Bonjour ! | ||
| Good night! | Bòna nuech ! | Bôna nuet ! | Bonne nuit ! | ||
| Goodbye! | A reveire ! | A revêr ! | Au revoir ! | ||
| Yes | Òc, vòai | Ouè | Oui, Ouais | ||
| No | Non | Nan | Non, Nan | ||
| Maybe | Benlèu / Bensai | T-èpêr / Pôt-étre | Peut-être, | ||
| Please | Se vos plai | S'el vos plét | S'il-vous-plaît | ||
| Thank you! | Grandmercé, mercé ! | Grant marci ! | Merci beaucoup !, grand merci ! | ||
| A man | Un òme | On homo | Un homme | ||
| A woman | Una frema, una femna | Na fena | Une femme | ||
| The clock | Lo relòtge | Lo relojo | L'horloge | ||
| The clocks | Lei relòtges | Los relojos | Les horloges | ||
| The rose | La ròsa | La rousa | La rose | ||
| The roses | Lei ròsas | Les rouses | Les roses | ||
| He is eating. | Manja. | Il menge. | Il mange. | ||
| She is singing. | Canta. | Le chante. | Elle chante. | ||
| It is raining. | Plòu. | O pluvinye. | Il pleut. | ||
| It is raining. | Plòu. | O brolyasse. | Il pleuvine. | ||
| What time is it? | Quant es d'ora ? | Quint' hora est ? | |||
| What time is it? | Quant es d'ora ? | Quâl' hora est ? | Quelle heure est-il ? | ||
| It is 6:30. | Es sièis oras e mieja. | est siéx hores et demi. | Il est six heures et demie. | ||
| It is 6:30. | Es sièis oras e mieja. | El est siéx hores demi. | |||
| What is your name? | Coma te dison ? | Tè que vos éds niom ? | Quel est votre nom ? | ||
| What is your name? | Coma te dison ? | Coment que vos vos apelâds ? | Comment vous appelez-vous ? | ||
| I am happy to see you. | Siáu content de vos veire. | Je su bonéso de vos vér. | Je suis heureux/ravi de vous voir | ||
| I am happy to see you. | Siáu content de vos veire. | Je su content de vos vére. | Je suis content de vous voir. | ||
| Do you speak Patois? | Parlatz patoès ? | Prègiéds-vos patouès ? | Parlez-vous Patois ? | ||
| Do you speak Patois? | Parlatz patoès ? | Côsâds-vos patouès ? | Causez vous Patois ? |
External links:
- — Multimedia website from Stendhal University-Grenoble 3 with MP3 audio clips of more than 700 words and expressions by native speakers grouped in 15 themes by village. The linguistic atlas demonstrates the transition from Franco-Provençal phonology in the north to Occitan phonology in the south.
- — Multimedia website from the University of Neuchâtel with audio and video clips of Franco-Provençal speakers from the canton of Valais, Switzerland.
- — Multimedia website with numerous audio clips of native Franco-Provençal speakers singing traditional songs. Select: TRAINS DIRECTS → scroll to: Francoprovençal.
Toponyms
, Aosta Valley.
ard spelling.
Italy
- Aosta Valley: Bionaz, Champdepraz, Morgex, and Perloz
- Piedmont: Oulx, and Sauze d'Oulx
France
- Ain: Ambérieu-en-Bugey, Ambérieux-en-Dombes, Arbignieu, Belleydoux, Belmont-Luthézieu, Birieux, Boz, Brénaz, Ceyzérieu, Challex, Chanoz-Châtenay, Charnoz-sur-Ain, Chevroux, Civrieux, Cleyzieu, Colomieu, Contrevoz, Conzieu, Cormoz, Courmangoux, Culoz, Cuzieu, Flaxieu, Gex, Hostiaz, Injoux-Génissiat, Izieu, Jujurieux, Lagnieu, Lescheroux, Lochieu, Lompnieu, Léaz, Lélex, Malafretaz, Marboz, Marignieu, Marlieux, Massieux, Massignieu-de-Rives, Meximieux, Mijoux, Misérieux, Montagnieu, Monthieux, Murs-et-Gélignieux, Niévroz, Nurieux-Volognat, Oncieu, Ordonnaz, Ornex, Outriaz, Oyonnax, Parcieux, Perrex, Peyrieu, Peyzieux-sur-Saône, Pirajoux, Pollieu, Prémillieu, Pugieu, Reyrieux, Rignieux-le-Franc, Ruffieu, Saint-André-le-Bouchoux, Saint-André-sur-Vieux-Jonc, Saint-Germain-de-Joux, Saint-Jean-le-Vieux, Saint-Nizier-le-Bouchoux, Saint-Paul-de-Varax, Sault-Brénaz, Seillonnaz, Songieu, Sonthonnax-la-Montagne, Surjoux, Sutrieu, Talissieu, Thézillieu, Torcieu, Toussieux, Trévoux, Vernoux, Versailleux, Versonnex, Vieu, Vieu-d'Izenave, Villieu-Loyes-Mollon, Virieu-le-Grand, Virieu-le-Petit, and Échenevex
- Ardèche: Ajoux, Beaulieu, Boucieu-le-Roi, Boulieu-lès-Annonay, Châteauneuf-de-Vernoux, Colombier-le-Vieux, Coux, Davézieux, Dunière-sur-Eyrieux, Lavilledieu, Le Roux, Les Ollières-sur-Eyrieux, Roiffieux, Saint-Fortunat-sur-Eyrieux, Saint-Jacques-d'Atticieux, Saint-Julien-le-Roux, Saint-Michel-de-Chabrillanoux, Saint-Pierre-sur-Doux, Saint-Étienne-de-Valoux, Satillieu, Talencieux, and Vinzieux
- Doubs: Bolandoz, Champoux, Chevroz, Châteauvieux-les-Fossés, Dampjoux, Deluz, Goux-les-Usiers, Goux-lès-Dambelin, Goux-sous-Landet, Grand'Combe-Châteleu, Granges-Narboz, La Cluse-et-Mijoux, Le Barboux, Le Bélieu, Les Hôpitaux-Vieux, Les Villedieu, Montmahoux, Montécheroux, Reculfoz, Saraz, Verrières-de-Joux, Villars-sous-Dampjoux, and Éternoz
- Drôme: Allex, Clérieux, Génissieux, Marsaz, Molières-Glandaz, Montaulieu, Montjoux, Roussieux, Saint-Bardoux, Saint-Bonnet-de-Valclérieux, Solérieux, and Vassieux-en-Vercors
- Haute-Savoie: Alex, Annecy-le-Vieux, Arthaz-Pont-Notre-Dame, Aviernoz, Bernex, Cernex, Chainaz-les-Frasses, Charvonnex, Chavannaz, Chessenaz, Chevenoz, Chênex, Combloux, Copponex, Excenevex, La Clusaz, La Côte-d'Arbroz, La Forclaz, La Muraz, La Vernaz, Marcellaz, Marcellaz-Albanais, Marlioz, Marnaz, Menthonnex-en-Bornes, Menthonnex-sous-Clermont, Monnetier-Mornex, Mont-Saxonnex, Peillonnex, Reyvroz, Saint-Jorioz, Servoz, Seythenex, Seytroux, Vaulx, Veigy-Foncenex, Versonnex, Villaz, Ville-en-Sallaz, Villy-le-Pelloux, Viuz-en-Sallaz, Viuz-la-Chiésaz, and Vétraz-Monthoux
- Isère: Apprieu, Assieu, Beaulieu, Bellegarde-Poussieu, Bilieu, Bossieu, Bourgoin-Jallieu, Bouvesse-Quirieu, Bressieux, Cessieu, Chamagnieu, Charancieu, Charvieu-Chavagneux, Chassignieu, Chavanoz, Cheyssieu, Chélieu, Creys-Mépieu, Crémieu, Dizimieu, Diémoz, Dolomieu, Fitilieu, Granieu, Heyrieux, Jarcieu, La Chapelle-de-Surieu, Les Roches-de-Condrieu, Leyrieu, Lieudieu, Marcieu, Massieu, Meyrieu-les-Étangs, Moidieu-Détourbe, Moissieu-sur-Dolon, Monsteroux-Milieu, Montagnieu, Montalieu-Vercieu, Montseveroux, Notre-Dame-de-Vaulx, Optevoz, Ornacieux, Oz, Parmilieu, Pisieu, Porcieu-Amblagnieu, Proveysieux, Quincieu, Romagnieu, Saint-André-le-Gaz, Saint-Jean-de-Vaulx, Saint-Jean-le-Vieux, Saint-Julien-de-Raz, Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux, Saint-Pierre-de-Bressieux, Saint-Pierre-de-Méaroz, Saint-Romain-de-Surieu, Saint-Siméon-de-Bressieux, Saint-Victor-de-Cessieu, Sardieu, Sermérieu, Siccieu-Saint-Julien-et-Carisieu, Siévoz, Soleymieu, Succieu, Tignieu-Jameyzieu, Varacieux, Vatilieu, Vaulx-Milieu, Vernioz, Vertrieu, Veyssilieu, Vignieu, Villemoirieu, Virieu, and Vénérieu
- Jura: Bonlieu, Choux, Châtel-de-Joux, Courlaoux, Fontainebrux, Fraroz, Lajoux, Les Bouchoux, Marnoz, Menétrux-en-Joux, Molamboz, Moutoux, Onoz, Pagnoz, Ponthoux, Recanoz, Saffloz, Vannoz, Vertamboz, Villevieux, and Vulvoz
- Loire: Andrézieux-Bouthéon, Aveizieux, Bussy-Albieux, Champdieu, Chazelles-sur-Lavieu, Cuzieu, Doizieux, Grézieux-le-Fromental, Jonzieux, La Bénisson-Dieu, Lavieu, Marcoux, Mizérieux, Nandax, Nervieux, Nollieux, Pouilly-sous-Charlieu, Précieux, Saint-Haon-le-Vieux, Saint-Hilaire-sous-Charlieu, Saint-Jean-Soleymieux, Saint-Nizier-sous-Charlieu, Soleymieux, Unieux, and Épercieux-Saint-Paul
- Savoie: Aillon-le-Vieux, Allondaz, Avressieux, Avrieux, Barberaz, Chamoux-sur-Gelon, Chanaz, Chindrieux, Cohennoz, Conjux, Drumettaz-Clarafond, Entremont-le-Vieux, Frontenex, Jongieux, La Giettaz, La Motte-Servolex, Loisieux, Marcieux, Meyrieux-Trouet, Motz, Ontex, Ruffieux, Saint-Jean-de-Couz, Saint-Pierre-de-Genebroz, Saint-Thibaud-de-Couz, Sonnaz, Verthemex, and Villaroux
- Rhône: Affoux, Ambérieux, Brussieu, Cailloux-sur-Fontaines, Chassieu, Civrieux-d'Azergues, Colombier-Saugnieu, Condrieu, Courzieu, Décines-Charpieu, Fleurieu-sur-Saône, Fleurieux-sur-l'Arbresle, Grézieu-la-Varenne, Grézieu-le-Marché, Jarnioux, Joux, Lissieu, Meyzieu, Ouroux, Poleymieux-au-Mont-d'Or, Quincieux, Rillieux-la-Pape, Saint-Cyr-le-Chatoux, Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, Soucieu-en-Jarrest, Sourcieux-les-Mines, Toussieu, Vaulx-en-Velin, Ville-sur-Jarnioux, and Vénissieux
- Saône-et-Loire: Chalmoux, Clux, Lux, Marly-sur-Arroux, Ouroux-sous-le-Bois-Sainte-Marie, Ouroux-sur-Saône, Pontoux, Pouilloux, Rigny-sur-Arroux, Saint-Bonnet-de-Joux, Saint-Didier-sur-Arroux, Saint-Nizier-sur-Arroux, Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, Thil-sur-Arroux, Toulon-sur-Arroux, Vendenesse-sur-Arroux, Verjux, and Étang-sur-Arroux
Switzerland
- Fribourg: Chésopelloz, Crésuz, Ferpicloz, La Brillaz, La Folliaz, La Sonnaz, Neyruz, Noréaz, Pont-en-Ogoz, Prez-vers-Noréaz, Sévaz, Vaulruz, Villaz-Saint-Pierre, and Vuisternens-en-Ogoz
- Geneva: Bardonnex, Bernex, Choulex, Collex-Bossy, Laconnex, Le Grand-Saconnex, Onex, Perly-Certoux, Thônex, and Troinex
- Neuchâtel: Brot-Plamboz and La Chaux-du-Milieu
- Valais: Arbaz, Collombey-Muraz, Dorénaz, Evionnaz, Lax, Massongex, Mex, Nax, Nendaz, Vernayaz, Vex, Veysonnaz, Vionnaz, Vérossaz, and Vétroz
- Vaud: Arnex-sur-Nyon, Arnex-sur-Orbe, Bex, Bioley-Magnoux, Bioley-Orjulaz, Borex, Champtauroz, Chanéaz, Cheseaux-Noréaz, Chevroux, Château-d'Œx, Chéserex, Founex, La Sarraz, Mauraz, Mex, Mutrux, Neyruz-sur-Moudon, Palézieux, Paudex, Penthalaz, Penthaz, Penthéréaz, Puidoux, Rennaz, Rivaz, Ropraz, Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz, Saint-Prex, Saubraz, Signy-Avenex, Suscévaz, Tolochenaz, and Trélex
Literature
Among the first historical writings in Franco-Provençal are legal texts by civil law notaries that appeared in the 13th century as Latin was being abandoned for official administration. These include a translation of the Corpus Juris Civilis in the vernacular spoken in Grenoble. Religious works also were translated and conceived in Franco-Provençal dialects at some monasteries in the region. The Legend of Saint Bartholomew is one such work that survives in Lyonnais patois from the 13th century.
Marguerite d'Oingt, prioress of a Carthusian nunnery near Mionnay, composed two remarkable sacred texts in her native Lyonnais dialect, in addition to her writings in Latin. The first, entitled Speculum , describes three miraculous visions and their meanings. The other work, Li Via seiti Biatrix, virgina de Ornaciu, is a long biography of a nun and mystic consecrated to the Passion whose faith lead to a devout cult. This text contributed to the beatification of the nun more than 500 years later by Pope Pius IX in 1869. A line from the work in her dialect follows:
Religious conflicts in Geneva between Calvinist Reformers and staunch Catholics, supported by the Duchy of Savoy, brought forth many texts in Franco-Provençal during the early 17th century. One of the best known is Cé qu'è lainô, which was composed by an unknown writer in 1603. The long narrative poem describes l'Escalade, a raid by the Savoyard army that generated patriotic sentiments. It became the unofficial national anthem of the Republic of Geneva. The first three verses follow below with a translation:
Several writers created satirical, moralistic, poetic, comic, and theatrical texts during the era that followed, which indicates the vitality of the language at that time. These include: Bernardin Uchard, author and playwright from Bresse; Henri Perrin, comic playwright from Lyon; Jean Millet, author of pastorals, poems, and comedies from Grenoble; Jacques Brossard de Montaney, writer of comedies and carols from Bresse; Jean Chapelon, priest and composer of more than 1,500 carols, songs, epistles, and essays from Saint-Étienne; and François Blanc dit la Goutte, writer of prose poems, including Grenoblo maléirou about the great flood of 1733 in Grenoble. 19th century authors include Guillaume Roquille, working-class poet from Rive-de-Gier near Saint-Chamond, Joseph Béard dit l'Éclair, physician, poet, and songwriter from Rumilly, and Louis Bornet of Gruyères. Clair Tisseur, architect of Bon-Pasteur Church in Lyon, published many writings under the pen name "Nizier du Puitspelu". These include a popular dictionary and humorous works in Lyonnaise dialect that have reprinted for more than 100 years.
originating from Saint-Nicolas, Aosta Valley
Amélie Gex wrote in her native patois as well as French. She was a passionate advocate for her language. Her literary efforts encompassed lyrical themes, work, love, tragic loss, nature, the passing of time, religion, and politics, and are considered by many to be the most significant contributions to the literature. Among her works are: Reclans de Savoué, Lo cent ditons de Pierre d'Emo, Poesies, Vieilles gens et vieilles choses: Histoires de ma rue et de mon village, Fables, and Contio de la Bova.
The writings of the abbé Jean-Baptiste Cerlogne are credited with reestablishing the cultural identity of the Aosta Valley. His early poetry includes: L'infan prodeggo, Marenda a Tsesalet and La bataille di vatse a Vertosan ; among his scholarly works are: Petite grammaire du dialecte valdotain, Dictionnaire du dialecte valdôtain and Le patois valdotain: son origine litéraire et sa graphie. The – an annual event named in his honor – has focused thousands of Italian students on preserving the region's language, literature, and heritage since 1963.
At the end of the 19th century, regional dialects of Franco-Provençal were disappearing due to the expansion of the French language into all walks of life and the emigration of rural people to urban centers. Cultural and regional savant societies began to collect oral folk tales, proverbs, and legends from native speakers in an effort that continues to today. Numerous works have been published.
Prosper Convert, the bard of Bresse; Louis Mercier, folk singer and author of more than twelve volumes of prose from Coutouvre near Roanne; Just Songeon, author, poet, and activist from La Combe, Sillingy near Annecy; Eugénie Martinet, poet from Aosta; and Joseph Yerly of Gruyères whose complete works were published in Kan la têra tsantè, are well known for their use of patois in the 20th century.
Louis des Ambrois de Nevache, from Upper Susa Valley, transcribed popular songs and wrote some original poetry in local
patois.
There are compositions in the current language on the album Enfestar, an artistic project from Piedmont
The first comic book in a Franco-Provençal dialect, Le rebloshon que tyouè!, from the Fanfoué des Pnottas series by Félix Meynet, appeared in 2000. Two popular works from The Adventures of Tintin and one from the Lucky Luke series were published in Franco-Provençal translations for young readers in 2006 and 2007.