Modern Provençal

Provençal is a language spoken by a minority of people in southeastern France, namely the historical region of Provence. It is a branch of modern Occitan whose roots go back to the language of the troubadours and trobairitz[1]: composers and performers of lyric poetry in medieval Occitania.

Due to a history of policies by the French government meant to suppress regional minority languages, the various branches of Occitan are now only spoken by a few hundred thousand people, mainly among the older generations, and could be in danger of dying out if it is not revived.

I first became interested in the language while researching the south of France for the novel I'm writing, but I found resources scarce and of limited clarity—often due to the profusion of dialects—so I decided to research and compile my own notes in English to help me learn, and hopefully help others outside France discover this language as well.

Disclaimer

I am not a native speaker or an authority on Provence or the Provençal language. I'm compiling these notes from different and often limited sources as a way to teach myself, and while I've made every effort to be as accurate and in-depth as possible, errors are bound to happen.

If you have any comments or corrections, please contact me.

Resources

  • Jornalet is a news site written entirely in Occitan. Articles are generally written in the languedocian dialect of Occitan using the classical norm, but differences between this dialect and Provençal are generally minor.
  • dicod'Òc is a collection of free dictionaries by Lo Congrès. It is an invaluable resource. There are both French-Occitan and Occitan-French dictionaries available in various dialects, including Provençal. They also offer a tool to look up conjugations of verbs in different dialects.
  • The book Grammaire Provençale et Cartes Linguistiques (ISBN 2-74490-043-5) by Comitat Sestian d'Estudis Occitans C.R.E.O. Provença is highly recommended if you're looking for an authoritative guide to the language.
  • The videos of Emmanuel Desiles explore the Provençal language and culture.
  • Cocanha and Barrut - Music with lyrics in Occitan.
  • Pepper & Carrot: Translation into Occitan (languedocian) of the webcomic Pepper & Carrot, about a young witch and her cat familiar.

Notes

  1. ^ A trobairitz is a female troubadour, but English has been inconsistent in its adoption of these two words; see the section on dialects and writing systems, in particular the difference between Classical and Mistralian norms. English, for whatever reason, has adopted Mistralian spelling of the masculine but Classical spelling of the feminine.