Misplaced Pages

#291708

86-628: Ain ( / æ̃ / , French: [ɛ̃] ; Arpitan : En ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border , where it neighbours the cantons of Geneva and Vaud . In 2019, it had a population of 652,432. Ain

172-740: A diploma after 2 years of law study, a 'licence' after 3 years, or a Maîtrise after 4 years. This last corresponds to a master's degree in law and offers a specialization in commercial and trade law. At Alimentec, altogether 700 students attend courses. Two streams of study can be followed, applied nutritional sciences or towards qualification by the commercial college of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The research and technology centre for applied nutritional sciences located in Bourg-en-Bresse has faculties for biology, energy sciences, informatics and biotechnology. Also situated in Bourg-en-Bresse

258-494: A much more conservative estimate of speakers in Aosta Valley at 40,000, with 20,000 using the language on a daily basis. In 2018, other linguistic academics estimated the number of speakers of Franco-provençal in Aosta Valley to be between 21,000 and 70,000, depending on whether one would choose the number of speakers designating Franco-provençal as their native language, or whether one included all those declaring they knew

344-509: A neighbouring area, known in English as Burgundy ( French : Bourgogne ). Other areas also had historical or political claims to such names, especially (Meune, 2007). 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" ("mountain highlands"). It

430-520: A regional law passed by the government in Aosta requires educators to promote knowledge of Franco-Provençal language and culture in the school curriculum. Several cultural groups, libraries, and theatre companies are fostering a sense of ethnic pride with their active use of the Valdôtain dialect as well (EUROPA, 2005). Paradoxically, the same federal laws do not grant the language the same protection in

516-479: A significant number of high quality products as well as the presence of several leading companies of this branch. The emblematic poultry industry in Bresse employs only 350 persons. In 1992 the city of Bourg-en-Bresse, the department of Ain, and the local Chamber of Industry and Commerce founded the technology platform "Alimentec". Its tasks are, among others, applied research, technical support, technology transfer and

602-602: A total of 22,973 employees and 9,000 self-employed persons, the commercial sector contributes significantly to overall employment in the department (source: Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Ain, 2006). More than three-thirds of the expenses of the private households amounting to €4.4 billion per year are feeding the commercial businesses inside the department which stand their ground vis-à-vis external competition. The strongly expanding services sector represents 46.6% of all enterprises and about 55,000 employees (source: Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Ain, 2006). Since 2003,

688-432: A type of language that brings together, along with some characteristics which are its own, characteristics partly in common with French, and partly in common with Provençal, and are not caused by a late confluence of diverse elements, but on the contrary, attests to its own historical independence, little different from those by which the principal neo-Latin [Romance] languages distinguish themselves from one another. Although

774-512: Is Bourg-en-Bresse . It is bordered by Jura to the north; Saône-et-Loire to the northwest; Rhône and the Lyon Metropolis to the southwest; Isère to the south; Savoie , Haute-Savoie and Switzerland to the east. In the alphabetical ordering of French departments, used for postal and demographic purposes amongst others, Ain comes first and is thus assigned the number 01 as its department number. The first inhabitants settled in

860-598: Is "probable" that the language will be "on the road to extinction" in this region in ten years. In 2005, the European Commission wrote that an approximate 68,000 people spoke the language in the Aosta Valley region of Italy, according to reports compiled after the 2003 linguistic survey conducted by the Fondation Chanoux. In 2010, anthropologist and ethnologist Christiane Dunoyer proposed

946-583: Is a subprefecture of Ain. The town gave its name to the Pays de Gex , at various times under the jurisdiction of France, Switzerland and the Duchy of Savoy . The future site of Gex was inhabited around 1800 BC. Around 220 BC, a group of Gallic warriors known as the Gaesatae resided in the area around Gex. Afterwards, the town was part of Roman Gaul . In 1252, Léonette of Geneva, Lady of Gex, descendant of

SECTION 10

#1732766124292

1032-588: Is a branch of the Lyon faculty of education, providing 450 places for future school teachers. In Bellignat , at the heart of the 'plastics valley', a polytechnic university was founded in 1992, under the direct control of the Ministry of youth, education and research. The Ecole Supérieure de Plasturgie provides 140 places for future plastics engineers and utilizes a pluridisciplinary research laboratory which qualifies advanced students, notably PhD students. Although it

1118-610: Is a language within the Gallo-Romance family, originally spoken in east-central France , western Switzerland and northwestern Italy . Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separate from but closely related to neighbouring Romance dialects (the langues d'oïl and the langues d'oc , in France, as well as Rhaeto-Romance in Switzerland and Italy). Even with all its distinct dialects counted together,

1204-587: Is also spoken in the Alpine valleys around Turin and in two isolated towns ( Faeto and Celle di San Vito ) in Apulia . In France, it is one of the three Gallo-Romance language families of the country (alongside the langues d'oïl and the langues d'oc ). Though it is a regional language of France , its use in the country is marginal. Still, organizations are attempting to preserve it through cultural events, education, scholarly research, and publishing. Although

1290-506: Is composed of four geographically different areas ( Bresse , Dombes , Bugey and Pays de Gex ), each of which contribute to the diverse and dynamic economic development of the department. In Bresse, agriculture and agro-industry are dominated by the cultivation of cereals, cattle breeding, milk and cheese production as well as poultry farming. In Dombes, pisciculture assumes greater importance, as does winemaking in Bugey. Ain's prefecture

1376-530: Is currently most spoken in Aosta Valley, with Valdôtain having the greatest population of active daily speakers. A 2001 survey of 7,250 people by the Fondation Émile Chanoux revealed that 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 (and used in the 2001 European Commission report). At

1462-412: Is forecast to become a centre for heavy industries in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The diversified agriculture (cattle and poultry breeding, milk and milk products, cereals, vegetables and viticulture) generates products of national and international reputation. In particular are the Bresse poultries ("volaille de Bresse"), blue cheese ("Bleu") of Gex , Grièges and Bresse , carps and sturgeons of

1548-700: Is headquartered just across the border in Geneva , most of CERN 's Large Hadron Collider lies in parts of several communes in the Arrondissement of Gex in Ain. With an unemployment rate of only 5% (compared to 7% in the Rhône-Alpes region and 8% in France), a close-knit community of 11,500 small and medium enterprises ( SMEs ) and a fast-growing, export-oriented economy, mainly to Germany, Italy and Spain, Ain

1634-533: Is important mainly as concerns the connection to Lyon . The department of Ain is marked by very dynamic demographics. The population has grown from 471,019 inhabitants in 1990 to 638,425 in 2016 (estimates of the French statistics office INSEE ). This increase is primarily due to natural growth and secondarily by a slightly positive migration balance. The average population density is 111 inhabitants/km (2016; Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: 114; metropolitan France: 119). While

1720-484: Is no single official standard that covers Franco-Provençal as a whole. The orthographies in use include the following: The table below compares a few words in each writing system, with French and English for reference. (Sources: Esprit Valdôtain (download 7 March 2007), C.C.S. Conflans (1995), and Stich (2003). Gex, Ain It lies 5 km (3.1 mi) from the Swiss border and 16 km (9.9 mi) from Geneva . It

1806-504: 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. Native speakers call this language patouès (patois) or nosta moda ("our way [of speaking]"). Some Savoyard speakers call their language sarde . This is a colloquial term used because their ancestors were subjects of

SECTION 20

#1732766124292

1892-456: Is one of the most dynamic regions in France. Despite its rural image, Ain is highly industrialised. In addition to a multitude of SME's, several big enterprises of international reputation are situated in Ain, such as: Roset-Cinna, Grosfillex, Volvo, Carrier, Smoby-Berchet, CIAT, Renault Trucks, Tréfileurope. With more than a third of all employees working in the industrial and public works sector, Ain holds 6th rank of all departments in regards to

1978-716: Is the same as for French nouns; however, there are many exceptions. A few examples follow: lo trabalh (masc.) la besogne (fem.), le travail (masc.), le labeur (masc.) Verbs in Group 1a end in -ar ( côsar , "to speak"; chantar , "to sing"); Group 1b end in -ier ( mengier , "to eat"); Groups 2a & 2b end in -ir ( finir , "to finish"; venir , "to come"), Group 3a end in -êr ( dêvêr , "to owe"), and Group 3b end in -re ( vendre , "to sell"). The consonants and vowel sounds in Franco-Provençal: There

2064-615: The langues d'oc group ( Provençal ) and gave Franco-Provençal its name. Ascoli (1878, p. 61) described the language in these terms in his defining essay on the subject: Chiamo franco-provenzale un tipo idiomatico, il quale insieme riunisce, con alcuni caratteri specifici, più altri caratteri, che parte son comuni al francese, parte lo sono al provenzale, e non proviene già da una confluenza di elementi diversi, ma bensì attesta sua propria indipendenza istorica, non guari dissimili da quella per cui fra di loro si distinguono gli altri principali tipi neo-latini. I call Franco-Provençal

2150-571: The Dombes region as well as the wine of Bugey . The total number of farms in the department amounts to 5,170, including 2,750 full-time farms. Over the previous 25 years the number of farms has steadily diminished. While there were 14,600 farms in 1979, only 11,320 were counted in 1988 and 6,320 in 2000. The total farm land of the department amounts to 268,361 ha, containing 150,917 ha arable farm land and 118,000 plant cultures (range land, viticulture, fruit meadows, tree nurseries). The value of

2236-516: The Gothic style of architecture. At the start of the 16th century, the Duchy of Savoy was at the peak of its power and Ain was inherited by Margaret of Habsburg , the widow of Philibert II, Duke of Savoy . In Brou , she erected a church and a monastery in late-Gothic style. Bourg-en-Bresse became a bishop's see. After Margaret's death, Francis I of France , a nephew of the Dukes of Savoy, claimed

2322-583: 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 France's Forez region and appears in the titles of dictionaries and other regional publications. Gaga (and the adjective gagasse ) comes from a local name for the residents of Saint-Étienne , popularized by Auguste Callet's story " La légende des Gagats " published in 1866. The historical linguistic domain of

2408-484: The Linguasphere Observatory (Dalby, 1999/2000, p. 402) follows: A philological classification for Franco-Provençal published by Ruhlen (1987, pp. 325–326) is as follows: 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

2494-569: The Maquis in Cerdon , the memorial of the children of Izieu , and the museum of the resistance and deportation in Nantua . In the second half of the 20th century, industrialisation of the department proceeded, favoured by an expansive road and railway network. Ain is a department of geographic contrasts. In the north, the plain of Bresse is bordered by the river Saône and rises slightly towards

2580-534: The Oyonnax basin, three of four employments are directly or indirectly depending on the plastics industry. The agricultural industry , mainly located in Bresse , accounts for more than 5,000 employees. It represents more than a fifth of the employees in the area of Bourg-en-Bresse who work in the meat industry and in tinned food factories. The pillars of the agro-industry are an efficient agriculture providing for

2666-578: The Piedmont . This area covers territories once occupied by pre-Roman Celts , including the Allobroges , Sequani , Helvetii , Ceutrones , and Salassi . By the fifth century, the region was controlled by the Burgundians . Federico Krutwig has also suggested a Basque substrate in the toponyms of the easternmost Valdôtain dialect . Franco-Provençal is first attested in manuscripts from

Ain - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-537: The Province of Turin because there Franco-Provençal speakers make up less than 15% of the population. Lack of jobs has resulted in their migration from the Piedmont's alpine valleys, and contributed to the language's decline. Switzerland does not recognize Romand (not be confused with Romansh ) as one of its official languages . Speakers live in western cantons where Swiss French predominates; they converse in

2838-760: The Saône valley, the Côtière , Bourg-en-Bresse and the Gex region have a high density of population, the mountainous Bugey area is less populated. Population development since 1791: Several colleges and research institutions are located in Bourg-en-Bresse , as well as one in Bellignat . In Bourg-en-Bresse, they include the Centre for University Studies, Alimentec, the Ecole Supérieure de Plasturgie,

2924-572: The count of Geneva , Amadeus I , married Simon of Joinville, son of Simon of Joinville and Beatrix of Auxonne, Lady of Marnay . The city of Gex was included in her dowry . Later that century, the Joinvilles set up a castellan and a judge in the town. On November 13, 1353, the town of Gex as well as its castle were captured by Savoy , and the pays de Gex was incorporated into the Savoyard state for nearly two centuries. The pays de Gex

3010-749: The public works sector represents a significant share of the department's economy. About a quarter of all industry employees are working in this sector. The future development of the building sector benefits from the department's economic and demographic growth. Thanks to its vast forests (more than a third of the department's land area), the timber industry employed (in September 2007) approximately 4,500 workers. The nuclear industry represents another economic factor. The nuclear power plant in Bugey produces about 4.2% of French electricity, employs more than 1,350 workers and secures moreover numerous employments in

3096-498: The " languages of France ", but its constitution bars it from ratifying the 1992 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) that would guarantee certain rights to Franco-Provencal. This language has almost no political support in France and it is associated with generally low social status. This situation affects most regional languages that comprise the linguistic wealth of France. Speakers of regional languages are aging and live in mostly rural areas. Franco-Provençal

3182-514: The 12th century, possibly diverging from the langues d'oïl as early as the eighth–ninth centuries (Bec, 1971). However, Franco-Provençal is consistently typified by a strict, myopic comparison to French, and so is characterized as "conservative". Thus, commentators such as 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

3268-626: The 17th century, sculpture, painting, and literature prospered. During the 18th century, streets and small industries emerged. On 28 March 1762, the Count of Eu , son of the Duke of Maine, ceded the region of Dombes to Louis XV . In 1790, during the French Revolution , the departments of Ain and Léman were created. Ain was subdivided into nine districts, 49 cantons (now 23 cantons) and 501 communes. The Revolution did not claim many victims in

3354-449: The 19th century. In the late 20th century, it was proposed that the language be referred to under the neologism Arpitan (Franco-Provençal: arpetan ; Italian : arpitano ), and its areal as Arpitania . The use of both neologisms remains very limited, with most academics using the traditional form (often written without the hyphen: Francoprovençal ), while language speakers refer to it almost exclusively as patois or under

3440-430: The Aosta Valley special powers to make its own decisions about certain matters. This resulted in growth in the region's economy and the population increased from 1951 to 1991, improving long-term prospects. Residents were encouraged to stay in the region and they worked to continue long-held traditions. The language was explicitly protected by a 1991 Italian presidential decree and a national law passed in 1999. Further,

3526-529: The Cigliàje variety of this dialect in Brantford , Ontario . At its peak, the language was used daily by several hundred people. As of 2012 this community has dwindled to fewer than 50 daily speakers across three generations. 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 (figures for Switzerland: Lewis, 2009). In

Ain - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-558: The Duchy for himself and conquered it in 1536. Following a treaty concluded in 1559 at Savoy, the territory of Ain was restored to the Duke of Savoy, who immediately started fortifying it. During the Franco-Savoyard War of 1600–1601 , Henri IV of France reconquered the region, although the citadel of Bourg remained impregnable. The Treaty of Lyon of 17 January 1601 finally ended the conflict. Ain now belonged to Burgundy. In

3698-484: The Franco-Provençal language are: The Aosta Valley is the only region of the Franco-Provençal area where this language is still widely spoken as native by all age ranges of the population. Since 1948 several events have combined to stabilize the language ( Valdôtain dialect ) in this region. The constitution of Italy was amended to change the status of the former province to an autonomous region. This gives

3784-619: The French Revolution and the First Empire , a large number of churches were destroyed, but in 1823 the diocese of Belley was refounded. The Curé of Ars became famous. During the Second French Empire , numerous churches were rebuilt, agriculture changed profoundly, and the railways expanded. Due to its distance from the front line, the department was spared the destruction of World War I (1914–1918). However,

3870-711: The Pays de Gex were annulled by Art 435 of the Treaty of Versailles . In November 1923 France moved its customs office to Gex, and the matter was brought before the Permanent Court of International Justice (predecessor of the International Court of Justice ), which decided in favour of Switzerland; this case is also notable for being an early example of the doctrine of fundamentally changed circumstances being invoked before an international court. A compromise

3956-488: The Suran (50 km) and notably the river Ain (190 km) which is itself fed by 118 small rivers and creeks. The most populous commune is the prefecture Bourg-en-Bresse . As of 2019, there are 8 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants: Ain is situated at the crossroads of a large national and international flow of commodities and is therefore an important transit region. More than 4000 km of transport routes serve

4042-436: The adjacent province of Turin were estimated to be the home of another 22,000 speakers. Regis estimated the number of speakers in Piedmont in 2019 to be around 15,000. The Faetar and Cigliàje dialect was thought to be spoken by 1,400 people in an isolated pocket of the province of Foggia , in the southern Italian Apulia region. Beginning in 1951, strong emigration from the town of Celle Di San Vito to Canada established

4128-404: The advanced technical education in the agro-industrial sector. The activities of Alimentec focus on three priorities: ventilation systems, plastics packing and applied hygiene. The industrial fabric of Ain is also a result of its metal processing (cables, wire drawing, electrical wires) and engineering industry (automobile industry, France's most important site for truck production) as shown by

4214-548: The beginning of the Gallic Wars . Under the Merovingians , the four historic regions of the modern department belonged to the Kingdom of Burgundy . At the start of the 6th century AD, the diocese of Belley ( Bellicum ) was created as the first bishopric in the region. Abbeys of the order of Saint Benedict were established in the valleys. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun assigned the territories that comprised Ain to

4300-465: The city of Oyonnax, is a highly productive branch of the economy and enjoys an excellent reputation. " Plastics Valley " comprises 10% of France's plastics industry which constitutes the highest concentration of plastics enterprises in Europe. The 349 enterprises which have been established here employ about 11,000 persons, more than a fourth of all employees of the tertiary sector (without public works). In

4386-676: The commercial college of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and a branch of the Lyon faculty of education. Bellignat is home of the polytechnic for plastics engineering. The Centre for University Studies, which was relocated from the University Jean Moulin in Lyon to Bourg-en-Bresse, has 540 students who pursue their studies in 6 different branches. They are: modern foreign languages, being English-German and English-Spanish; economic and social administration; business administration; and 3 levels of study in law. Law students may gain

SECTION 50

#1732766124292

4472-434: The culturally prestigious French. 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

4558-475: The degree of industrialisation and is the most industrialised department within the Rhône-Alpes region. The small and medium enterprises contribute most to the industrial development of the department. While enterprises with more than 500 employees represent only 27% of all industrial employment, businesses with less than 100 employees account for 47%. The plastics industry , which is located mainly around

4644-529: The department's agricultural production reached €545 million. 52% of this amount (€274 million) is allotted to animal products (cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, carp, milk) and 44% (€240 million) concern crop (cereals, oil plants, wine, vegetables, flowers). The commercial sector comprises 5,861 enterprises including 717 wholesalers and distributors (12.2%), 539 automobile dealers and garages as well as 1,643 retailers and repair businesses (28%) (source: Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Ain, 2006). With

4730-539: The department, but it destroyed numerous valuable historical monuments. During the first French Consulate (1802), the districts were abolished. The Congress of Vienna dissolved the department of Léman and assigned the arrondissement of Gex to the department of Ain. However, 7 communes of Gex was given to Geneva for linking Canton of Geneva with rest of Switzerland after signing second Treaty of Paris signed on November 20, 1815: Bellevue, Collex-Bossy, Meyrin, Pregny, Grand-Saconnex, Vernier and finally Versoix. During

4816-689: The department, the Crêt de la Neige (1720 m), can be found. Gex belongs geographically to the Lake Geneva basin. The river Saône represents the western border of the department. It is fed by three smaller rivers: the Reyssouze (76 km), the Veyle (68 km) and the Chalaronne (52 km). The river Rhône forms the department's borders in the east and the south. Its main tributaries are

4902-404: The department. In addition to a well-developed transport network of former national roads, which were transferred to the department in 2007, Ain is crisscrossed by 220 km of highway. For national and international flights, the international airports of Lyon ( Saint-Exupéry ) and Geneva (Cointrin) are located within a rather short distance. The department of Ain also contains two waterways,

4988-659: The dialects mainly as a second language. The 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 the Evolène dialect. Franco-Provençal has had a precipitous decline in France. The official language of the French Republic has been designated as French (article 2 of the Constitution of France ). The French government officially recognizes Franco-Provençal as one of

5074-453: The enterprises of the supply chain. Every day between 300 and 1,000 external employees work in the power plant. Its importance for the local economy can not be underestimated. Ain comprises, finally, several industrial parks . Apart from the aforementioned Plastics Valley and numerous smaller business parks which have been founded by local initiatives, the large industrial park of the plain of Ain has to be mentioned. With 700 ha, this park

5160-559: The foreword of his Savoyard dialect dictionary, states: The antiquated character of the Savoyard patois is striking. One can note it not only in phonetics and morphology, but also in the vocabulary, where one finds numerous words and directions that clearly disappeared from French. 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 isolated from each other because of

5246-597: The kingdom of Lothar I ( Lotharingia ). The first big fiefdoms ("seigneuries") emerged between 895 and 900 in Bâgé-le-Châtel , which formed the nucleus of the pays of Bresse , and in Coligny . Numerous castles were erected in a low rolling terrain that was not otherwise easily defended. In the 12th century, Romanesque architecture flourished. In the 11th century, the Counts of Savoy and Valromey settled in

SECTION 60

#1732766124292

5332-868: The language loss by generation was 90%, made up of: "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". This was a greater loss than undergone by 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 (figures for France: Héran, Filhon, & Deprez, 2002; figure 1, 1-C, p. 2). Note: The overview in this section follows Martin (2005), with all Franco-Provençal examples written in accordance with Orthographe de référence B (see "Orthography" section, below). Franco-Provençal has grammar similar to that of other Romance languages. In general, inflection by grammatical gender (masculine and feminine)

5418-456: The language, irrespective of native language considerations. That same year, academic Riccardo Regis calculated that there were 50,000 Franco-provençal speakers in Aosta Valley. The 2009 edition of ethnologue.com (Lewis, 2009) reported that there were 70,000 Franco-Provençal speakers in Italy. However, these figures are derived from the 1971 census. Outside of Aosta Valley, the alpine valleys of

5504-403: The majority of the vineyards could no longer be cultivated, and disappeared. Industrialization of the department began in Oyonnax and Bellegarde . Construction of the Barrage de Génissiat started in 1937. World War II (1939–1945) vehemently struck the department of Ain and took its toll as 600 people were deported, half whom did not return. Commemorating this tragic era are: the monument of

5590-422: 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 ("patois"). Only in recent years have speakers who are 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

5676-438: The mountains. In addition, the internal boundaries of the entire speech area were divided by wars and religious conflicts. France, Switzerland, the Franche-Comté (part of the Spanish Monarchy ), 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,

5762-601: 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 ( francoprovençal ) was generally adopted following a conference at the University of Neuchâtel in 1969; however, most English-language journals continue to use the traditional spelling. The name Romand has been in use regionally in Switzerland at least since 1424, when notaries in Fribourg were directed to write their minutes in both German and Rommant . It continues to appear in

5848-476: The name Franco-Provençal suggests it is a bridge dialect between French and the Provençal dialect of Occitan , it is a separate Gallo-Romance language that transitions into the Oïl languages Burgundian and Frainc-Comtou to the northwest, into Romansh to the east, into the Gallo-Italic Piemontese to the southeast, and finally into the Vivaro-Alpine dialect of Occitan to the southwest. The philological classification for Franco-Provençal published by

5934-448: The names of its distinct dialects ( Savoyard , Lyonnais , Gaga in Saint-Étienne , etc.). Formerly spoken throughout the Duchy of Savoy , Franco-Provençal is nowadays (as of 2016) spoken mainly in the Aosta Valley as a native language by all age ranges. All remaining areas of the Franco-Provençal language region show practice limited to higher age ranges, except for Evolène and other rural areas of French-speaking Switzerland . It

6020-402: 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 (French: "burgondien" ) did not take hold, mainly because of the potential for confusion with an Oïl language known as Burgundian , which is spoken in

6106-438: The nature and structure of human speech. Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (1829–1907), 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 ( Franco ) and

6192-452: The north-east. In the south-east, the territory of Dombes has more than a thousand ponds and lakes. In the east, the mountain chain of the southern Jura overlooks the plain of Bresse. The busy transport axes to Italy and Switzerland crisscross the valleys. The Gex region is separated from the rest of the department by the last eastern mountain chain of the Jura where the highest elevation in

6278-452: The number of Franco-Provençal speakers has been declining significantly and steadily. According to UNESCO , Franco-Provençal was already in 1995 a "potentially endangered language" in Italy and an " endangered language " in Switzerland and France. Ethnologue classifies it as "nearly extinct". The designation Franco-Provençal (Franco-Provençal: francoprovençâl ; French : francoprovençal ; Italian : francoprovenzale ) dates to

6364-454: 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 ( Institut national d'études démographiques ) states that

6450-419: The particular economic importance of this sector. The handcraft, which employs approximately 29,000 persons, has always been an essential element of the local economy. Within the sector, the production is of particular importance, followed by the construction, the services and the alimentary sector. Arpitan language Italy Switzerland Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal , Patois or Arpitan )

6536-423: The presence of several major companies in this sector (Tréfileurope, Alcatel Cables, Renault Trucks). Foundry, metal processing and electrical industry employ approximately 8,200 workers. Due to the diversity of the activities of these industries and their dispersion over the whole department, polarisation effects similar to those in the plastics sector have not yet been observed. Counting more than 12,900 employees,

6622-557: The region of Belley. In 1272, when Sibylle de Bâgé , sole heir, married Amadeus V, Count of Savoy , they added Bresse to their domains, and – by the Treaties of Paris in 1355 – the territories of Dauphiné and Gex on the right bank of the Rhône . At the start of the 15th century, almost the whole region of Ain was united under the house of Savoy . New monasteries were founded in the cities and churches were constructed or reshaped in

6708-750: The rivers Saône and Rhone, on which building materials, such as gravel, are shipped. The most important harbour is situated in Jassans-Riottier on the river Saône. The railway network is of great importance, in particular the TGV connections Paris–Geneva (with a stop in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine ) and Paris–Lyon (passing by the Saône valley). The upgraded Ligne du Haut-Bugey was opened in 2010, reducing travel time between Paris and Geneva by 20 minutes. The regional TER (train and bus) network

6794-418: The services branch has employed more people than any other economic sector. Within the sector, services for enterprises represent 32.2% of the employees. Consulting and IT services are of growing importance. Educational services as well as health and social services are also sought after. They represent about a quarter of all employees in the services sector. More than 9,000 handcraft businesses in Ain highlight

6880-534: The territory of today's Ain about 15000 BC. The menhir of Pierrefiche in Simandre-sur-Suran dates from the mid- Neolithic era, in the fourth or third millennium BC. The late-second century BC Calendar of Coligny bears the oldest surviving Gaulish inscription . In 58 BC, Julius Caesar 's military action against the Helvetians , advancing through Gaul over the territory of today's Ain, marked

6966-492: The time, 55.77% of residents said they knew Franco-provençal and 50.53% said they knew French, Franco-provençal and Italian. This opened a discussion about the concept of mother tongue when concerning a dialect. The Aosta Valley was confirmed as the only area where Franco-provençal is actively spoken in the early 21st century. A report published by Laval University in Quebec City , which analyzed this data, reports that it

7052-561: The town of Gex was burned in 1590 on July 23 and again on July 30; few of the houses withstood the fires. In 1601, during the reign of Henry IV , control of the pays de Gex passed to France as part of the Treaty of Lyon . With the 1815 Protocol of the Conference of Paris , (signed on 20 November) and the Treaty of Paris of the same date, Gex was placed in the Customs region of Switzerland and neutralised. The resolutions regarding

7138-413: Was confirmed in the parliament of the Duchy of Savoy on 4 March 1540 (the duchy was partially occupied by France since 1538). The edict explicitly replaced Latin (and by implication, any other language) with French as the language of law and the courts (Grillet, 1807, p. 65). The name Franco-Provençal ( franco-provenzale ) is due to Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (1878), chosen because the dialect group

7224-480: Was invaded in 1536 by the Canton of Bern . The Bernese established a bailiwick at Gex, managed by a bailiff . Walls were built in 1550. The pays de Gex was returned to the Duchy of Savoy by the treaties of Nyon in 1563 and Lausanne in 1564. The Genevans seized it in 1589. Savoy, with the assistance of Spain , tried several times to take back the pays de Gex , but they were unsuccessful. During these attacks,

7310-554: 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 (Arpitan Cultural Alliance) is 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

7396-402: 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

#291708