Misplaced Pages

#858141

34-507: Lectoure ( French pronunciation: [lɛktuʁ] ; Gascon : Leitora [lejˈtuɾɔ] ) is a commune in the Gers department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France . It is located 32 km (20 mi) north of Auch , the capital of the department, 30 km (19 mi) south of Agen and approximately 76 km (47 mi) northwest of Toulouse . In 1473,

68-474: A sociolect of Gascon with special phonetic and lexical features, which linguistics named Judeo-Gascon . It has been superseded by a sociolect of French that retains most of the lexical features of this former variety. Béarnais , the official language when Béarn was an independent state, does not correspond to a unified language: the three forms of Gascon are spoken in Béarn (in the south, Pyrenean Gascon, in

102-615: A different native language. While Aranese is the mother tongue of 62.87% of people born in the region, it is less frequent among residents born outside the valley. In 1313, James II of Aragon granted administrative and political autonomy to the Aran Valley, the legal details of which are described in a Latin manuscript called the Querimonia . The devolution of power was a reward for the Aranese pledging allegiance to James II in

136-510: A dispute with the kingdoms of France and Mallorca over control of the valley. This status was suppressed in 1834, when the Valley was integrated into the new Province of Lleida, in the context of the establishment of the Spanish provinces at the beginning of the liberal state. On 19 October 1944, Spanish Communist Party guerrillas invaded the valley in an attempt to bring about the fall of

170-804: Is a national monument. The town hall was built between 1676 and 1682 by bishop Hugues de Bar. Lectoure is a town on the Via Podiensis , one of the three major French arms of the Way of St. James . This route is followed by those making the pilgrimage from Le Puy by way of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostella in northwest Spain . Pilgrims arrive at Lectoure after Miradoux and next pass through Marsolan and La Romieu . Locally produced Armagnac and foie gras are available and popular delicacies . Gascon language Gascon ( English: / ˈ ɡ æ s k ə n / ; Gascon: [ɡasˈku(ŋ)] , French: [ɡaskɔ̃] )

204-662: Is the change from "f" to "h". Where a word originally began with [f] in Latin, such as festa 'party/feast', this sound was weakened to aspirated [h] and then, in some areas, lost altogether; according to the substrate theory, this is due to the Basque dialects' lack of an equivalent /f/ phoneme , causing Gascon hèsta [ˈhɛsto] or [ˈɛsto] . A similar change took place in Spanish . Thus, Latin facere gives Spanish hacer ( [aˈθer] ) (or, in some parts of southwestern Andalusia , [haˈsɛɾ] ). Another phonological effect resulting from

238-521: Is the vernacular Romance variety spoken mainly in the region of Gascony , France . It is often considered a variety of Occitan , although some authors consider it a different language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and Béarn ( Béarnese dialect ) in southwestern France (in parts of the following French départements : Pyrénées-Atlantiques , Hautes-Pyrénées , Landes , Gers , Gironde , Lot-et-Garonne , Haute-Garonne , and Ariège ) and in

272-654: The Catalan independence movement due to lack of a strong Catalan identity. Aranese is the standardized form of the local Gascon variety of the Occitan language . Aranese has been regularly taught at school since 1984. Like several other minority languages in Europe that recently faced decline, Aranese is experiencing a renaissance. The name Aran comes from Basque haran , meaning valley. Maps and road signs in Spain use

306-591: The Val d'Aran of Catalonia. Aranese , a southern Gascon variety, is spoken in Catalonia alongside Catalan and Spanish . Most people in the region are trilingual in all three languages, causing some influence from Spanish and Catalan. Both these influences tend to differentiate it more and more from the dialects of Gascon spoken in France. Most linguists now consider Aranese a distinct dialect of Occitan and Gascon. Since

340-470: The seneschal , the crown's agent of order, was created for the county of Armagnac . The building out of which the seneschal operated, Seneschalcy of Armagnac , was built in the commune of Lectoure. The position/building remained active until the French Revolution , in which it was abolished and abandoned by 1835. The village is located on the right bank of the Gers , which flows north through

374-457: The 11th century over the coastal fringe of Gipuzkoa extending from Hondarribia to San Sebastian , where Gascon was spoken up to the early 18th century and often used in formal documents until the 16th century, with evidence of its continued occurrence in Pasaia in the 1870s. A minor focus of influence was the Way of St James and the establishment of ethnic boroughs in several towns based on

SECTION 10

#1732776700859

408-600: The 2006 adoption of the new statute of Catalonia , Aranese is co-official with Catalan and Spanish in all of Catalonia (before, this status was valid for the Aran Valley only). It was also one of the mother tongues of the English kings Richard the Lionheart and his younger brother John Lackland . While many scholars accept that Occitan may constitute a single language, some authors reject this opinion and even

442-425: The Basque substrate may have been Gascon's reluctance to pronounce a /r/ at the beginning of words, resolved by means of a prothetical vowel. Although some linguists deny the plausibility of the Basque substrate theory, it is widely assumed that Basque, the "Circumpyrenean" language (as put by Basque linguist Alfonso Irigoyen and defended by Koldo Mitxelena , 1982), is the underlying language spreading around

476-642: The French influence over the Hispanic Mark on medieval times, shared similar and singular features are noticeable between Gascon and other Latin languages on the other side of the border: Aragonese and far-western Catalan (Catalan of La Franja ). Gascon is also (with Spanish, Navarro-Aragonese and French) one of the Romance influences on the Basque language . Val d%27Aran This valley constitutes

510-805: The Joèu river (from the slopes of Aneto mountain ) which passes underground at the Forau d'Aigualluts . It then reappears in the Val dera Artiga de Lin before reaching the Aran valley, then through France and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean . The Noguera Pallaresa river, whose source is only a hundred meters from that of the Garonne, flows the opposite way towards the Mediterranean . Aran borders France on

544-788: The Pyrenees onto the banks of the Garonne River, maybe as far east as the Mediterranean in Roman times ( niska cited by Joan Coromines as the name of each nymph taking care of the Roman spa Arles de Tech in Roussillon , etc.). Basque gradually eroded across Gascony in the High Middle Ages (Basques from the Val d'Aran cited still circa 1000), with vulgar Latin and Basque interacting and mingling, but eventually with

578-454: The Spanish dictatorship . They took control of several villages until October 27, 1944, but were forced to retreat back into France after Franco sent reinforcements to defend Vielha. Before the construction of the Vielha tunnel , opened in 1948, the Aran valley had no direct communication with the south side of the mountains during winter. In 1987 it became an administrative comarca. In 1990

612-460: The center and in the east, Eastern Gascon; to the north-west, Western Gascon). A poll conducted in Béarn in 1982 indicated that 51% of the population could speak Gascon, 70% understood it, and 85% expressed a favourable opinion regarding the protection of the language. However, use of the language has declined dramatically over recent years as a result of the Francization taking place during

646-467: The concerned region. It is mainly in Béarn that the population uses concurrently the term "Béarnais" to designate its Gascon forms. This is because of the political past of Béarn, which was independent and then part of a sovereign state (the shrinking Kingdom of Navarre ) from 1347 to 1620. In fact, there is no unified Béarnais dialect, as the language differs considerably throughout the province. Many of

680-435: The differences in pronunciation can be divided into east, west, and south (the mountainous regions). For example, an 'a' at the end of words is pronounced "ah" in the west, "o" in the east, and "œ" in the south. Because of Béarn's specific political past, Béarnais has been distinguished from Gascon since the 16th century, not for linguistic reasons. Probably as a consequence of the linguistic continuum of western Romania and

714-709: The divisions dates from the 15th century. Since 1991, Aran has an autonomous government called the Conselh Generau d'Aran ( Occitan : General Council of Aran ), headed by the Síndic d'Aran . The major political parties are the Unity of Aran - Aranese Nationalist Party (the local chapter of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia ), the Aranese Democratic Convergence (the local chapter of

SECTION 20

#1732776700859

748-593: The former replacing the latter north of the east and middle Pyrenees and developing into Gascon. However, modern Basque has had lexical influence from Gascon in words like beira ("glass"), which is also seen in Galician-Portuguese . One way for the introduction of Gascon influence into Basque came about through language contact in bordering areas of the Northern Basque Country , acting as adstrate. The other one has taken place since

782-582: The last centuries, as Gascon is rarely transmitted to young generations any longer (outside of schools, such as the Calandretas ). By April 2011, the Endangered Languages Project estimated that there were only 250,000 native speakers of the language. The usual term for Gascon is "patois", a word designating in France a non-official and usually devaluated dialect (such as Gallo ) or language (such as Occitan ), regardless of

816-407: The name Occitan : instead, they argue that the latter is a cover term for a family of distinct lengas d'òc rather than dialects of a single language. Gascon, in particular, is distinct enough linguistically to have been described as a language in its own right. The language spoken in Gascony before Roman rule was part of the Basque dialectal continuum (see Aquitanian language ); the fact that

850-450: The name "era Val d'Aran" to refer to the valley, where era is the Aranese singular feminine article. The same practice goes for all towns and other locations in Aran, for example, the Aranese spelling Vielha is used instead of Catalan and Spanish Viella to refer to the capital of Aran. Basque toponyms reveal that Basque was spoken further east along the Pyrenees than today. The growing influence of Latin began to drive Basque out after

884-511: The north, the Autonomous Community of Aragon to the west and the Catalan comarques of Alta Ribagorça to the south and Pallars Sobirà to the east. Its capital, Vielha e Mijaran, has 5,474 inhabitants (2014). The entire population of the valley is about 9,991 (2014). As of 2001, a plurality of people in Aran spoke Spanish (38.78%) as their native language, followed by Aranese (34.19%), then Catalan (19.45%) with 7.56% having

918-508: The only contiguous part of Catalonia located on the northern side of the Pyrenees. Hence, this valley holds the only Catalan rivers to flow into the Atlantic Ocean (for the same reason, the region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, instead of a Mediterranean one). The Garonne river flows through Aran from its source on the Pla de Beret (Beret Flat) near the Port de la Bonaigua . It is joined by

952-510: The privileges bestowed on the Francs by the Kingdom of Navarre from the 12th to the early 14th centuries, but the variant spoken and used in written records is mainly the Occitan of Toulouse. The énonciatif (Occitan: enunciatiu ) system of Gascon, a system that is more colloquial than characteristic of normative written Gascon and governs the use of certain preverbal particles (including

986-468: The sometimes emphatic affirmative que , the occasionally mitigating or dubitative e , the exclamatory be , and the even more emphatic ja / ye , and the "polite" se ) has also been attributed to the Basque substrate. Gascon is divided into three varieties or dialect sub-groups: The Jews of Gascony, who resided in Bordeaux , Bayonne and other cities, spoke until the beginning of the 20th century

1020-610: The special status of Aran within Catalonia was restored by the Parliament of Catalonia , reestablishing the Conselh Generau, granting it a degree of home rule and declaring Occitan as official language. In 2015 the Catalan Parliament passed a new law which increased the powers of the Conselh Generau and recognized Aran as an "Occitan national reality". The population of Val d'Aran has generally been opposed to

1054-526: The town on behalf of Louis XI. and after its fall put the whole population to the sword. In 1562 it again suffered severely at the hands of the Catholics under Blaise de Montluc. Lectoure has been designated as a " town of art and history " (French: Villes et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire ) by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication since 1985. The 12th-16th century former Lectoure Cathedral

Lectoure - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-468: The turn of the first millennium. Administratively, Aran is a "unique territorial entity" roughly equivalent to a comarca with additional powers, and informally referred to as a comarca. This status was most recently formalised in February 2015. The area is divided into six administrative divisions called terçons (meaning "thirds", as there were formerly three divisions). The current arrangement of

1122-552: The western part of the commune. The river Auroue forms part of the commune's southeastern and northeastern borders. Lectoure was a prehistoric oppidum , capital of Lactorates . Barbarian invasions forced residents to raise the walls and make Lectoure a stronghold for centuries. The town became the capital city of the Earldom of Armagnac in 1325, ruled by a powerful family descended from the ancient Dukes of Gascony, who held court at Lectoure. In 1473 Cardinal Jean de Jouffroy besieged

1156-414: The word 'Gascon' comes from the Latin root vasco / vasconem , which is the same root that gives us 'Basque', implies that the speakers identified themselves at some point as Basque. There is a proven Basque substrate in the development of Gascon. This explains some of the major differences that exist between Gascon and other Occitan dialects. A typically Gascon feature that may arise from this substrate

#858141