Linguistic treasures: Exploring France's regional languages

#French is the official #language of France, but the country also counts dozens of #regional languages. So what are they and who speaks them? While many regional languages are alive and well, time and time again they cause a national debate. Recently a law aimed at protecting regional languages was partially repealed by France's Constitutional Council, which saw it as a threat to national unity. We take a closer look in this edition of French Connections.
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[@lukethomeret-duran5273]

The fact that the french state murdered the occitan culture is so sad. How could the french state kill its own cultural diversity

[@waldensiandescendant5866]

They tried to completely destroy the occitan culture but it is still around

[@KENNYd04360]

theses damn parigots..

[@miguelangelmartinezaguinag9953]

Macron! 😅 est a petit homme! C'est la raison!!! La Madame est...La Mere!!! Quarante ans du difference!!! 😮 Mondieu!!!

[@MrOoYT]

Not just Occitan, all of them. Where can you hear Gallo, Poitevin, Champenois or Picard today? Nowhere.

[@thatpilatesguy]

It’s silly. I think it’s wonderful to be able to speak multiple languages. Countries like neighboring Luxembourg do a good job of that.

[@thatpilatesguy]

@@HermitKing731 that might be true. But that’s up to the government of Luxembourg to teach it at schools.

[@nutzungsbedingungen1980]

@@HermitKing731 Luxembourgish is closer to Standard German than Alsatian....so Luxembourgish is still a German dialect. It's only a language in a political view.

[@kozmickarmakoala3526]

@@nutzungsbedingungen1980 Similar to Catalan and Valencian , I reckon.

[@marcellomancini6646]

​@@HermitKing731 The point is preserving linguistic diversity, what else could be the point? Do you want to erase all thousands of languages that you don't view as useful?

[@familhagaudir8561]

Luxembourg is now failing too. Fewer than 30% of children still speak the Luxemburgish language at home, a sharp and continuous decline. Smaller languages can only survive if they have a territory and institutions that function exclusively in that language. Luxembourg dosen't have that ( French and German dominate public life ). It has caught up with them too now.

[@kmrose]

It's sad France isn't celebrating the rich diversity in of all the languages and cultures within its borders.

[@hesitatingdissension4682]

Does Islamism count?

[@fuckfannyfiddlefart]

Who is France? The President came out for regional languages, this shows that you find speak English! Or in reality that you are just paranoid with a self serving DELUSION

[@rowenn1729]

In France regional languages are encouraged

[@fzhhns1237]

Thats why I have found it weird! Such a big country, compared to mine have less regional language 😶

[@AllanLimosin]

They are celebrating they “culture” (Stolen from their minorities)

[@aeolia80]

Oh geez! The linguist they interviewed is soooooo biased!!! Ask any other linguist outside of France and outside of the "oldschool" and they will completely differ on this. To be a true bilingual, the 2 languages should be taught at the same time from birth through grade school, at the same level. Learning their heritage language at the same level as the national language will in NO WAY impede the students' ability to comprehend the national language at say a higher academic level, if anything, it may make the student more aware of language nuance. Bilingualism, whether in combo with a heritage and national or national and foreign language, doesn't decrease a child/student's ability to understand anything, actually it may make them smarter and maybe even more tolerant of say, um, immigrants. I mean come on, this BS is why most other parts of Europe are better in second or foreign languages than France. And how the hell does immersion classes detract from the constitution? Keep all government correspondence in French, sure, whatever, but what does that have to do with people's lives outside of the public/government sphere? Linguistic diversity has only ever hurt the people that don't understand it, and separatist movements don't happen because of linguistic diversity, hahahah, they happen because of oppression from expressing and living their diversity

[@kevinbertet3220]

I'm French, and I'm completing a master's degree of French as a Foreign and Second Language (to teach French to foreigners or newly arrived immigrants). I have a course that deals with plurilingualism, and you are SO RIGHT. All recent research and linguists mentioned in my course say that learning two or more languages as toddler and kid is only beneficial and will not impoverish one language over the other(s). I couldn't believe what this so-called linguist said.. And, rest assured that we do have French linguists that would completely disagree with this man.

[@LukeandTylerTravel]

YES!!! Thank you, I felt exactly the same way! His view is so outdated!

[@joalexsg9741]

@@LukeandTylerTravel So true!

[@joalexsg9741]

@@kevinbertet3220 Spot on!

[@joalexsg9741]

Well said!

[@fabulously695]

unfortunately, my grandmother was the last native Alsatian speaker in our family :(. We all speak French, but finding an Alsatian teacher in either the UK or the south of France is impossible..

[@Havolli]

C'est trop triste :( mais t'as déjà regardé si y'en avait sur Internet des cours d'alsacien? Franchement je pense pas, parceque même ici, en Alsace, c'est difficile de trouver des profs d'alsacien. Mais pour te rassurer, l'alsacien c'est vraiment facile à apprendre :D

[@muhammedjaseemshajeef6781]

​@@Havolliis it similar to German

[@tommoses6557]

​@@muhammedjaseemshajeef6781It's a German dialect, not a separate language.

[@pepin8277]

​@@tommoses6557its a seperate language... The word "dialect" has no meaning. They have different Grammar, different words, and are not mutually inteligable with German.

[@Havolli]

​@@pepin8277It actually is mutually intelligible with German!

[@eugenetribuloff4084]

Kids were physically punished in French schools in Brittany in the 60's for speaking Breton.

[@tamasmarcuis4455]

Not so long ago the French state filed criminal charges on speakers of these languages who gave their children non French language names. Breton langage schools are continuously harnessed by public officials with manufactured complaints. The Fench state makes every attempt to obstructed, intimidate and diminish the activities and lives of people working to preserve their languages. All while French an invented language is aggressively pushed and all foreign language teaching in France declines.

[@mouseys2708]

In Wales in the UK, Welsh-medium schools can be found in abundance and, in fact non-Welsh speaking parents will often send their kids to such schools as they’re often better than their English-medium equivalents. As a result, the Welsh language is growing, it’s brilliant! The government in France should take an active interest in preserving its linguistic heritage!

[@fuckfannyfiddlefart]

And Wales voted for Brexshit, showing the dangerous nature of separatism.

[@mouseys2708]

@@fuckfannyfiddlefart well quite the opposite actually, the Welsh speaking parts were among the only places in Wales that backed remain...consider brexit an English import

[@fuckfannyfiddlefart]

@@mouseys2708 Any evidence for this?

[@rodosianpalms2440]

@@fuckfannyfiddlefart look at the regional breakdown of Welsh votes in the referendum and see it for yourself

[@karlosthejackel69]

@@fuckfannyfiddlefart “dangerous nature” of separatism haha, what a loser

[@nate_thealbatross]

The Constitutional Council is wrong. Our kids took French Immersion in the United States and it in no way hinders learning English. The linguistics "experts" promoting these backwards ideas should be ignored as outdated. Immersion doesn't interfere with dominant language acquisition. And the Immersion model helps the French disapora.

[@nielsv.2167]

Exactly what I thought, as far as I know it simply does not hinder the development of one of the two languages by any means, and even if it did by a more or less significant bit, it's a very arbitrary move and it's hard to view the motives for this push as genuine, science-based concern for the children's development.

[@aeolia80]

Same what I was thinking, lol. I studied linguistics in the UC system in California (UC Berkeley has the oldest program in North America by the way), and the things this "linguist" was saying go completely against what I was taught, like completely against. I don't know, maybe I was living in a pro-multilingual bubble. Honestly, the linguist that they interviewed almost sounded like a nationalist, which makes me question everything about him

[@nate_thealbatross]

@@aeolia80 Yes, part of the reason we selected a public immersion school is it had some the best native language and math scores in our city. When we moved to France our son skipped a grade because he was more than a year ahead. I only took one linguistics class, but my wife was a language adjunct prof for a decade. But a quick google search and the recent articles all talk glowingly about immersion still. I expect non-immersion to make learning these languages much more difficult without any benefits. If anything, studies show French mastery will decline monolingual.

[@alistairt7544]

Growing up, I learnt 2-3 languages simultaneously and it didn't hamper my overall learning between these languages because kids are sponges. I just absorbed all of it. Now the question is retention, especially throughout adulthood, because my third language is slowly dlipping away as I don't get the chance to use it as much 😅

[@roejogan2693]

What they're afriad of is that when an entire generation in, say, Bretagne, speaks a language which is different than French, these people will feel more "Breton" than French and that will cause issues regarding national unity. According to the constitution, French is the official language of France, so I think it's reasonable that they make sure the schools teach French as a first language to the children.

[@enekoaritzaorreaga]

The basque people Are the oldest people in Europe, we Are prerromanic people with neolitical origin, basques are not Spanish Of French.

[@kemet_nil]

As a native catalan, bilinguism has only brought me culture and a great source of help at learning new languages. Children are sponges, we can't compare our adult brain with theirs, i know exactly when i spoke in catalan and when i spoke in spanish, don't tell me how i knew, i just knew it. Moreover in my elementary school there was engliah since 3 years and french since 9 years. English has been a part of my life wherears french is a language i don't use except when travelling. But all this inputs where necessary for me to communicate in 5 languages (i then learned german in high school) at the age of 18. And it's not an isolated case. The more inputs of different cultures the better.

[@hannofranz7973]

Something is changing in France. More and more people from these regions aren't willing anymore to accept that their identities are treated this way. Quite often it harms their future options of finding a qualified job, particularly in those areas where German dialects are spoken and speaking the language is very useful for a job career.

[@HermitKing731]

Lol where is this happening? The average person doesn't want to bring back regional languages except for boomers in rural areas. Stop pretending like there's going to be some change.

[@ar3728]

But in the mean time, french burocrats accept every outcast cultural and ethinic thing that is importated to France principally from anti-west muslim countries. They crave their own destruction.

[@benjaminforster2529]

I'm glad whenever French public TV talks about the state's language diversity at all because that isn't too common. Let's hope that France will eventually embrace its other languages just like most of the country's neighbours have! Here are the languages of France that the map in the video didn't show: the around fifteen langues d'oïl in Northern France; Arpitan; Flemish; Lorraine Franconian; South Franconian in Northern Alsatia; the indigenous languages of French Guiana; Antillean Creole; Guianan Creole; Réunion Creole; the Austronesian languages in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Fortuna; as well as Comorian and Malagasy in Mayotte.

[@musafawundu6718]

I would say the Oil languages are dialects of the dialectal continuum rather than separate languages, except for maybe Gallo. Sure it is Oil, but probably even more different from High German than Dutch is from High German...

[@Pendraig1400]

I’m soo glad I live in Britain, a devolved Welsh government seems like heaven when you compare it to France. The French Constitution really needs to be changed. Stay strong Llydaw!

[@JhowieNitnek]

They totally forgot West Flemish in the North

[@stephvanparijs5763]

Yes they always forget it because it is barely taught nowadays. Some prefer to learn modern Dutch which offers more job opportunities with Belgium and the Netherlands in the area.

[@romeosantos9006]

There are about 80 languages in the Philippines. Separatism (except on religious grounds in the south) has never been an issue. The Filipino national language is all over the media that it is difficult to think now of Filipinos counting themselves as other than Filipinos. Why can't France make the leap if regional languages like Occitan, Breton and Alsatian are indeed national treasures? And dialects like Normand, Champenois, and Picard?

[@axo_lolt4083]

Yeah it is so sad... I am from a region where Occitan was spoken (at the limit but still), but I have never heard anyone speak it, the language has disappeared I guess... It is not teached at school, it is becoming really hard to learn it, whereas it was part of our culture... The worst thing is that most of the youth have never heard of the language (at least in my department) and are not interested in learning it.

[@dantedante839]

@@axo_lolt4083 those dialects are forbidden because they belong to other NATIONS.. Alsatian is GERMAN, not French. You have to investigate about French history so that you can understand how those people ended up speaking a foreign Language. For example people on the other side of the Rhine in Germany still speak the same dialect (they just happen to call it based on where they live especificly).

[@europeanguy8773]

Nobody cares about Philippines because it's not in Europe.

[@SavoX597]

@@dantedante839 That's no excuse for suppressing Breton and Occitan, though. Occitan is native to that region, while the Bretons, who came from Britannia, has their homeland be extinguished by the Anglos so Brittany is their new homeland. Alsace was also under the Holy Roman Empire before France got it in the 17th Century.

[@philippestevenne6239]

They forgot flemish, lëtzebuerger, lotharinger, arpitan and thé dialects of langue d'oïl

[@ansfriedjanssens7623]

What about Flemish Language in the Nord

[@darkkestrel1]

and the Arpitan/Franco-Provençal in the East They said those "commonly spoken", but it's a bit arbitrary I think

[@kevinbertet3220]

I'm afraid it's almost disappeared. Flemish speakers in the north of France are quite rare and very old today. :/

[@WDH59510]

There have been attempts to promote West Flemish in primary schools and more and more towns are putting up bilingual signage to tell you you've arrived in their town. However at least one Dutch teacher I know thinks it would be more useful to teach modern Dutch rather than a dialectal form.

[@universal1945]

France already has many enemies outside the country, it should not make more enemies on the inside. Respecting the minorities and their rights is very important for a true democracy. The same goes to Spain, Turkey and Israel. Either make peace with your minorities and give them their rights so everyone can live in peace, or persecute a whole society for the sake of racism/nationalism. Which one sounds more democratic?

[@kevinbertet3220]

Okay, so I agree with you for the idea you are trying to convey in your post, however, maybe you should use the right terms. There's no persecution/oppression from the state anymore. It was true in the 19th century, but today these languages are barely spoken by the youth. Only very old people still speak regional languages. It is quite sad in my opinion, I wish these languages were not about to go extinct. While I disagree with the Constitutional Council's decision to veto immersive teaching, I would still not say that these minorities are "persecuted".

[@basedkaiser5352]

Shut up, punkass !

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

I'm French. Just stfu.

[@kyomademon453]

Spain has always respected all its cultures, it wasnt a problem until franco took power

[@pepe7044]

Spain has always respected regional cultures, the only excepcion is Francos fascist dictatorship

[@pumpkin91ful]

They forgot Arpitan language , btw i had the chance to heard occitain language in Dordogne during a dinner with french friends and theirs families ,they start to speak it and for me, italian, it was so amazing to understand it, it was so touching, like "the presence of the ancients romans is still stonger in the south until today", they conquered from Aix en Provance to tne North.

[@TeodorLavilota]

Switzerland, although more respectful of its languages, has also forgotten Arpitan, after all, in the Valais, for example, French and German (Alemannic) are the dominant languages.

[@Ben-kv7wr]

Dante Alighieri wrote several stanza of the divine comedy in Occitan bc of how intelligible it was and the cultural ties at the time

[@christopherellis2663]

Exactly

[@familhagaudir8561]

Arpitan, West-Vlams, Luxemburgish ( yes, it's native in a part of France too ), Lorraine Franconian and all oil languages ( not mutually-intelligible with French, and recognized as languages outside France ) are missing.

[@barmalini]

Banning ones language is not the best way to fight agains the separatism. Living well together, caring about each other, being mindful of the other's interests, allowing all cultures to flourish is the way to go.

[@nothingmuch8865]

My dad grew up speaking Occitan and French and I wish he'd have taught me. Funny how languages of the home soil are denigrated while the farthest thing from regional languages are fetishized and seen as what is really needed. Sad!

[@waldensiandescendant5866]

I'm trying to learn occitan which is my ancestors native language,

[@DanielHerrera-rl1vw]

That map is missing a lot

[@ruthgoh4869]

That linguist is wrong about having to master the basics of French first. I have been teaching languages for many years and I can tell you that children are very well able to learn the languages separately, they will not confuse words from different languages.

[@TeodorLavilota]

The problem is not the use of our languages but French Jacobinism, which is a doctrine based on centralisation and the fear of losing national unity. And yet, this would only have advantages, the Romance languages other than French open portals to Spain, Portugal and Italy, as do Occitan, Catalan, Arpitan and Corsican, while Flemish, Alsatian and Platt de Lorraine open others to Dutch, German and even English! Not forgetting all the languages spoken in the overseas territories. The Spanish model could perhaps be a source of inspiration without going to the excess of independences (or the Swiss model.could be another one).

[@kaisekiryori]

It's especially sad in the case of Occitan because it is a window into a rich culture and a connection to other similar languages in Europe like Catalan

[@sylviamontaez3889]

for the first time in my life, i am ashamed to be french. the french governments chauvinistic attitude towards linguistic minorities and the laicite laws are the things i detest most about the Republic.

[@vincentt2309]

Breton was forbidden at school until 70’s when there was a renewal. So unfortunately many families « lost » their language.

[@SavoX597]

What's the point for a national media broadcast to explore diversity if their own government bans that same diversity?

[@rsdtknqr]

yikes, mistakes!! You missed Flemish in northern France (area of Hazebrouck).

[@peteymax]

France has done it darnest to wipe out its own heritage, especially regional languages. The British tried the same with Celtic languages in Britain and even in colonialism in Ireland. Immersion programmes have been evidenced to improve children’s cognitive skills and preserve their culture all without diminishing unity or the dominant language. The linguists who are against immersion are speaking from a political leanings rather than their professional training. They are either working from outdated theories or are heavily influenced by centralist Frances’s imperialist stance towards its own regions. Politics pervades every single aspect of French life and many have been indoctrinated into this only one type of French person myth.

[@WDH59510]

It was President Pompidou who said that minority languages had no place in France's future. And Predident Mitterand who vowed to do something for them.

[@faithlesshound5621]

Many of the 19th century nation-states had a one language policy, and using only the official language in the newly-established elementary schools that everyone had to attend led to the downgrading of the regional languages. Politicians thought that was necessary because these new countries were artificial, in that they were the territories that the current or previous monarchs happened to rule. Around the borders, the regional languages were closer to those used in neighbouring countries such as Italy, Spain or Belgium. These policies inevitably disadvantaged those whose class, religious or ethnic group had a home language further from that used by the ruling class in the capital. They were also exploited by politicians who could support a local identity or use it to attack another group. We see the toxic effect of linguistic chauvinism at present in the former Yugoslavia and former Soviet Union. Provinces where the majority language (or religion) is officially supported are safe for minorities if there is an overarching authority to limit the "tyranny of the majority," such as a federal government or the communist party. Once they become "self-governing" the focus switches from fighting the central power to subjugating the "other."

[@ayangdidi5524]

France is doing it's best to kill no French languages. Breton= Brezhoneg is slowly but surely vanishing because of French imperialistic policy towards no French languages. Comparing Welsh=Kembraeg and Breton=Brezhoneg is awfully distressing. French authorities doesn't follow the international and treaties dealing with respect of minorities languages Thank you for telling the reality of "so called French speaking load abroad of Human rights" . Tien e peb Amzer

[@daylightmoon7285]

Many linguists don't speak a second language. They have a very academic, scientific approach to language. Spoken languages are a result of environment, culture, food, history, ethnicity, etc. Linguists should not have been presented as experts of regional languages.

[@wauliepalnuts6134]

*_CORRECTION: *PRESCRIPTIVIST LINGUISTS._*

[@lazybaby525]

You forget one fact. The linguist can study and compare, for example, the Breton language and the French language, and the linguist can be of Breton origin, and he/she can know Breton as a mothertongue and French as an official language.

[@squirrelvert]

Strongly agree! Linguists should try to stick to their own native languages (or at the very least ones in which they're truly fluent, if any). We need more actual native speakers of these languages as linguists!!

[@JewishAmsterdamChamberEnsemble]

You forgot Flemmish (still spoken in one village) and Italian (Nizza)!

[@clemguitarechal]

and picard (ch'timi) spoken in the north as well as flemmish.

[@jeromecorsi2126]

For Nice it would be Nissart which is an Occitan language :) (occitan is spoken even on Italian Alps)

[@AllanLimosin]

They forgot all oïl languages, except French, Franco-Provençal/Arpitan, Flemish of France/Dunkirkish.

[@fablb9006]

In Nice the regional language is occitan (Nissart is an occitan dialect)

[@masterjunky863]

@@jeromecorsi2126 Nizzardo is a Ligurian dialect with Occitan influences

[@matthewjay660]

Flo, j’habitais en Corse, (Porto-Vecchio), pendant 2 ans et le peuple corse sont très fier d’être corse et de parler cette belle langue. Flo, je dis ceci comme un étranger des Etats-Unis. Diu vi salvi Regina!

[@diegone080]

Porto vecchio is an italian name

[@fortunatoprenestini5290]

Enormi sciocchezze. Il corso, nel suo assieme, e' un normalissimo dialetto che fa parte della famiglia dei dialetti regionali italiani. Anche se a nord e' davvero toscano e a sud e' più vicino alle parlate siculo-calabro meridionali. Non ha avuto, purtroppo, la possibilità storica di evolversi nell'italiano standard. Posso comunque assicurarvi sul fatto di essermi reso conto di essere " bilingue ". Conosco, capisco e "parlo " , da buon calabrese, il " corso ". Specie quello di Sartena.

[@fortunatoprenestini5290]

Assurdo, aberrante definire gli abitanti di Porto Vecchio, vedi guida Michelin, Portovecchiais. Da manicomio.

[@alex_8704]

Alain Betolila's opinion seems exaggeration or may potentially even contradict the evidence. For instance, it is well known that the first language of Alexander Pushkin (by far the most talented Russian poet of all time) was French, and that he learnt Russian with a delay when he was a child. But it didn't prevent him from becoming the most prominent Russian poet and from actually transforming the then prevailing complex Russian literary language into the extremely elegant modern language of his poems.

[@johnmurphy7674]

They forgot a very important language, known as: Francoprovençal / Arpitan / Romand

[@r.v.4241]

You forgot all the langues d’oïl, Picard, Normand, Gallo, Tourangeau, bourguignon-morvandiau, Poitevin, Angevin, Lorrain, franc comtois, Champenois etc… How could you even forget those ???

[@hetwitblad6544]

as well as Flemish

[@mbd501]

I think they only listed the ones with a significant amount of modern speakers.

[@r.v.4241]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@mbd501It still wouldn’t make sense "Occitan" is not one language, it’s a group of languages, like langues d’oïl in the north, many dialects of Occitan have a few thousands of speakers only or are extinct. + There are 50 000 basque speakers and 130 000 Corsican speakers in France while there are 600 000 Picard speakers and 200 000 gallo speakers so it doesn’t have anything to do with the amount of modern speakers.

[@TommyIsh]

Im a bit late, but these arent languages, they are dialects. I know for a fact that breton basque occitan and corse are all languages whereas the rest are variations of french/german

[@r.v.4241]

@@TommyIsh French itself is a dialect of Langues d’oïl, as picard, as Normand, as Gallo etc. The langues d’oïl aren’t dialects of French like you said, this theory was used since the Revolution by the republicans who explained that the langues d’oïl were "patois" or "bad French" that needed to be eradicated. No most if not all linguists agree that this theory is garbage and obsolete, each langue d’oïl existed before French was even a thing.

[@SinilkMudilaSama]

Brittany has always been Celtic and not 👎 Latin and not French, it gives independence to Brittany and Occitania, France must stay in the regions of the seed oil langues, not everyone wants to be more French, that's the price to pay for "France for the French" from le penns. Let the breakaway regions go in peace and better to leave than to have Paris destroyed. The hypocrisy of the unjda france is no longer sustainable. Anyone who doesn't want to be French has the sacred constitutional right to leave in peace. This applies to Occitania, Brittany Alsace and Lorraine and Walonia and Basque Country.

[@mango2005]

The origin of the language policy goes back to the French Revolution. Many of the peasantry were royalist, and spoke regional languages. Standard French is the Parisian dialect, and support for the revolution was strongest in Paris. So the thinking went that the peasants would understand and embrace the revolution if they spoke the language of Paris.

[@theshamanite]

Don't forget Gallo!

[@algerianamazigh5442]

Long live Corsica

[@SinilkMudilaSama]

Si Corsega y Sardenha son naciones hermanas y juntas forman un excelente país. 🤝🤝🤝🥂🥂🍾🍾🍻🍻🍸🍸👏👏👏👏👏

[@renedemov8507]

Where is Flemish?

[@spicysealion-et8kf]

These languages have no home but France and deserve to be cherished

[@user-wr5pt4un4e]

It's a pity you forget the flemish (neerlandais) language in and around Lille (Rijsel)

[@geeboom]

Does anyone still speak Flemish in Lille?

[@nomdeplume8355]

This is so crazy to me. While they certainly aren't super-common, it is perfectly legal to have immersive schools in the U.S., and parents often search them out to give their kids an advantage later on in life. My local school district had an elementary school with a Chinese (Mandarin) immersion option.

[@saye1580]

vive le breton

[@ME-eu9sf]

West-Vlams is missing on the map.

[@lixing5200]

Francique ? 😕

[@poyoAesthetic]

I hate that she names them by their french names.

[@SinarNila]

They lied and omitted arpitan in a cinic way, horrible this action.

[@PeterBuvik]

Tecnically Catalan is a Occitan Dialect.

[@markperez8177]

not really it has some similarities and differences

[@AllanLimosin]

It took more and different foreign influences (mostly from Spanish) and isolated a lot. And it comes from Proto-Occitano-Romance, not from Occitan.

[@pepe7044]

No, it is a mix of proto Iberian and Occitan or provincian, but not a dialect

[@Elkarus]

@@AllanLimosin Most Spanish influences are quite modern because Catalan was gradually more and more forbidden in Spain. You can call Catalan an Occitan Dialect if you consider Occitan as a very diverse language or as they're usually called in Catalonia as being "sibling languages". The sure is that they come from the Old Occitan.

[@floquet-de-civada]

De nos jours, ce n'est plus un dialecte occitan. Le catalan est une langue à part entière. C'est comme si tu traitais le français de dialecte latin.

[@WDH59510]

One you missed was West Flemish in the North of France. I believe efforts have been made to promote it in primary schools in the North and more and more towns in the North are putting up signs announcing you are entering their town in two languages. I have always believed you repress a regional language at your peril ( look for example at attempts to repress Irish in Northern Ireland).

[@custodecimiteriale]

Italy only refuses to call its linguistic heritage "regional languages" and insists in defining "dialects" real languages such as Emilian, Lombard, Sicilian, Neapolitan-Calabrese, Venetan, Romagnol and Ligurian.

[@brawndothethirstmutilator9848]

Hilarious propaganda from monolingual Statists.

[@kazkazimierz1742]

I lived in Aix-en-Provence for ten months in the mid 80's. Never heard Occitan spoken except for a 15 minute program on TV once in a while.

[@kompo1012]

I don't hear native american languages either in america.

[@waldensiandescendant5866]

That's sad

[@SinarNila]

France should be divided in news germanics, latines and celtics nations. France is multiethnic should dissapear very conflictuos and divide insidely. No cure for this situation.

[@petervanhulle7459]

Why do you skip the part of Flanders that is still occupied by France?

[@CSCharlesIV]

Please don’t hate me. But Ioften wish France had chosen Occitan instead of Parisian French…. This would have made French a lot more similar to the other Romance languages.

[@hannofranz7973]

The map misses out Corse, Chtii, Provençal, Franconian, Flemish and of course overseas languages.

[@tcbbctagain572]

Don't forget Norman

[@veranarosa8500]

Provençal is dialect of Occitan.

[@KENNYd04360]

@@veranarosa8500 The Prouvençau have dialect too, and have some important differences with the Occitan

[@Sanaqueen2323]

Such a shame recently i thought france is a great country minorities doesnt have any right shame!!!!!!!!!!! The only plus of yours was you abolished the monarchy but rest is clear colonization etc... Just like usa

[@ReinholdOtto]

Flamande is missing...

[@marcelcharbonnier297]

My father (1919-1995) was the last one knowing his occitan dialect in my family. My brother, who is only 3 years older, knows a lot more of it than me. Isn't that odd ? (My father was originated of Le Puy-en-Velay region, in the Haute-Loire district).

[@fp2374]

Diwan schools teach Breton in Brittany or Breizh !!

[@MichaelHoare-bh5pg]

France could have 4 different regional languages if they were given a chance.1)Breton which closer to Cornish and Welsh2)Alsatian which is closer to German3)Basque4) Catalan which sounds like a cross between French and Spanish.

[@_tracia_212]

Serbia is doing exactly the same with Romanian

[@inigoacha1166]

Le occitan.... ???????????????????? Actually Gascony goes over Bourdeos and Aquitanie is part of Euskal Herria. Le basque territory is way bigger than that. Is funneh to call this France heritage when they spoiled all the kingdoms around them without provocation. In fact these idioms are not co-oficial like in Spain.

[@AitorKravitz]

There are more "regional" languages in France, like dutch, arpitan, gallo, etc.

[@Kurdedunaysiri]

There are also Picard, Arpitan.

[@floquet-de-civada]

Le picard est un dialecte français. Ce n'est pas une langue.

[@Kurdedunaysiri]

@@floquet-de-civada Si

[@floquet-de-civada]

@@Kurdedunaysiri Non. Ouvre des livres de linguistique. Le picard n'est pas reconnu en tant que langue à part. C'est un dialecte français. Chaque langue a des dialectes. C'est l'un des dialectes français.

[@Kurdedunaysiri]

@@floquet-de-civada si

[@Vince_ExE]

​@Kurdedunaysiri Picard is a variety of french

[@johnestruch5232]

Bilingualism of course, once you’ve mastered the national language, not before.

[@susomedin5770]

And arpitan, corsican and flemish....

[@dfurianz]

Where is the Flemish in the North?

[@HirayaManawari-nx5px]

"Linguistic treasures" that's why France wants to bury them.

[@RaeKearns]

Get the impression that Occitan is on the way out, such a pity…

[@manaspratimdas707]

Where is Franco-Provençal (Arpitan)?? It can't be neglected, it is spoken in Southeastern France and also in French speaking Switzerland. And please don't include it in Langue d'Oil, it is an independent branch and transition between French(Langue d'Oil) and Occitan(Langue d'Oc). Very beautiful language.

[@fablb9006]

Arpitan is also called franco Provençal. It from middle eastern France, not southeastern France.

[@safuwanfauzi5014]

Franco-Provençal its like French but with Italian-Spanish ending, like you said, it transition between French n occitian/spanish/italian like languages

[@mrmingsun]

3 Romance, 1 Germanic, 1 Celtic and 1 isolate.

[@pietromacarovpierremac4908]

Oh you forget the Franco provençal, or arpitan!!

[@johnmanole4779]

This made me laughed at how you are liers! You have been trying for centuries tried to get read of these languages

[@jerrelfontenot747]

If you don't preserve the regional languages now they will soon disappear ! The national language needs no protection; the national dominance supports the French language . We in Louisiana have witnessed the demise of the french language due to the dominance of the english language in our country (we were reprimanded of speaking french in school). Because the US has squelched french, Spanish has emerged: a lost french culture. I hope you will learn from our experience.

[@aliali-ce3yf]

Fear is the mind killer

[@MrAelin]

Basically like in Spain. We speak Spanish and Galician, Catalan and basque are official

[@pieterm.7615]

A national treasure, says it all. It's like a beautiful oldtimer. You admire it, it is in the garage and you ride it from time to time to remind yourself you have it. You shouldn't admire your own language like beautiful cutlery by putting it behind a glass case, but by actively using it. The Parisian sameness is backed by a constitution France purposefully misinterprets to justify forced assimilation. Example of an alternative: Italian is Italy's language, nobody denies that. However, the Italian government has granted German South Tyrol autonomy, also after assimilation attempts. And if you are so afraid they will separate from you because they don't feel like you, maybe it is because they are not. Who are you to force them to be. How can France claim it has égalité (equality), when it doesn't even see its own peoples and languages as equals.

[@HermitKing731]

You are probably not even French. Stop saying what my country should do. All of these regions of France are a part of France and therefor they MUST speak French. We will not grant them autonomy ever because only weak countries do that. Besides, no one wants to bring back regional languages because hardly anyone speaks them.

[@waldensiandescendant5866]

​@@HermitKing731 shut up colonizer

[@TheNovak220]

None of this matters since everyone will have to learn arabic eventually.

[@quarter1248]

Ah yes, the undermined peoples

[@NotLeftarded1]

I still struggle with standard French. Must be because my roots are Occitania my modern identity is Acadian we speak mostly Franglais we call it chiac. The joy of living in the anglosphere.

[@HamzaPKR]

Occitan is beautiful

[@edwinhidalgo1242]

But Paris is so selfish!

[@hetwitblad6544]

What about Flemish?

[@blaznfattyz]

Monégasque

[@markplain2555]

There is only one important language all French people should learn !!! . . . . . English of course.

[@AngloAm]

This is why I don't want an official language. France's dirigisme is needless and anti-freedom. Also I love to see francophones in Quebec argue the exact opposite - for separatism, for linguist particularity, for communitarianism. Good for them when they're a minority, bad when the francophones are in charge.

[@Alex-mp1zb]

Local languages are pushed forward by the EU in Brussels whose aim is to destroy European nations. Just look at Spain where local languages are much more common and, gradually, the State is crumbling. The same in Belgium. In France all local languages had disappeared and very few people can still speak them naturally. Their revival is just artificial as, originally, each village had its own dialect.

[@rolandscales9380]

Hey! I don't see Gallo, Norman, Picard, Poitevin-Saintongeais or Flamand on your map!

[@musafawundu6718]

The French state in the 19th and 20th century suppressed every other dialect of Oil and other different languages very greatly... Things have changed greatly...

[@macvideo]

French is dominate language because it was not allowed to teach and speech these languages. 😂 Libertè only in french, under Paris strong hands.

[@jaysterling26]

So not teaching the language formally will make the language decline? I don't know how the Galicians , Basques , Aragonese & Catalans learnt their languages up to '75?

[@igzo2738]

those are not regions, those are nations, they do NOT identify as french.

[@jnusslein6301]

Free Catalan

[@HermitKing731]

Shut up. You will never be free.

[@awellculturedmanofanime1246]

Bruh 🤦‍♂️ catalan isnt even as pressured as britanny and other actually endangered languages and communities so relax

[@floquet-de-civada]

​@@awellculturedmanofanime1246Sur le territoire français, le catalan a presque disparu.

[@VitorEmanuelOliver]

I can understand the government's position a little bit. Let's say a kid from Paris moves to a region that speaks Occitan. This kid is probably gonna struggle in class because they wouldn't be able to understand the math class in the regional language. Teaching the local language in class though would be a good thing

[@___E]

Destroy everyone's culture to not inconvenience the Parisians.

[@Deelom100]

So Flemish in French-Flanders is officially dead?! :(