68-531: The Vercors massif ( French pronunciation: [vɛʁkɔʁ] ; Occitan : Vercòrs ) is a mountain range in eastern France consisting of rugged plateaus and mountains straddling the départements of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps . It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps , from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and Isère . The cliffs at the massif's eastern limit face
136-553: A common origin (see Occitano-Romance languages ). The language was one of the first to gain prestige as a medium for literature among Romance languages in the Middle Ages. Indeed, in the 12th and 13th centuries, Catalan troubadours such as Guerau de Cabrera , Guilhem de Bergadan, Guilhem de Cabestany, Huguet de Mataplana , Raimon Vidal de Besalú, Cerverí de Girona , Formit de Perpinhan, and Jofre de Foixà wrote in Occitan. At
204-643: A consonant), whereas the southernmost dialects have more features in common with the Ibero-Romance languages (e.g. betacism ; voiced fricatives between vowels in place of voiced stops; - ch - in place of - it -), and Gascon has a number of unusual features not seen in other dialects (e.g. /h/ in place of /f/ ; loss of /n/ between vowels; intervocalic -r- and final -t/ch in place of medieval - ll -). There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there
272-410: A dialect of French spoken by Jews in southern France. Southern Jewish French is now estimated to only be spoken by about 50–100 people. Domergue Sumien proposes a slightly different supradialectal grouping. Prealps The Alpine foothills , or Prealps ( German : Voralpen ; French : Préalpes ; Italian : Prealpi ; Slovene : Predalpe ), may refer generally to any foothills at
340-597: A north-south length of 60 kilometres (37 miles) and an east-west width of 40 kilometres (25 mi). The massif is surrounded by the Chartreuse Mountains to the north, the Matheysine area of the Dauphiné Alps to the east, and the Diois Massif to the south. In the far south-east, the massif joins with the 1,457 metres (4,780 ft) col de Menée . The massif is drained in the north-east and
408-746: A part of a wider Occitano-Romanic group. One such classification posits three groups: According to this view, Catalan is an ausbau language that became independent from Occitan during the 13th century, but originates from the Aquitano-Pyrenean group. Occitan has 3 dialects spoken by Jewish communities that are all now extinct. A sociolect of the Gascon dialect spoken by Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Gascony . It, like many other Jewish dialects and languages, contained large amounts of Hebrew loanwords. It went extinct after World War 2 with
476-540: A second Occitan immigration of this period was assimilated by the similar Navarro-Aragonese language , which at the same time was fostered and chosen by the kings of Aragon . In the 14th century, Occitan across the whole southern Pyrenean area fell into decay and became largely absorbed into Navarro-Aragonese first and Castilian later in the 15th century, after their exclusive boroughs broke up (1423, Pamplona 's boroughs unified). Gascon-speaking communities were called to move in for trading purposes by Navarrese kings in
544-542: A single written standard form, nor does it have official status in France, home to most of its speakers. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, whereas others are based on a particular dialect. These efforts are hindered by the rapidly declining use of Occitan as a spoken language in much of southern France, as well as by the significant differences in phonology and vocabulary among different Occitan dialects. According to
612-476: A unitary language, as it lacks an official written standard . Like other languages that fundamentally exist at a spoken, rather than written, level (e.g. the Rhaeto-Romance languages , Franco-Provençal , Astur-Leonese , and Aragonese ), every settlement technically has its own dialect, with the whole of Occitania forming a classic dialect continuum that changes gradually along any path from one side to
680-625: A written account in Occitan from Pamplona centered on the burning of borough San Nicolas from 1258, while the History of the War of Navarre by Guilhem Anelier (1276), albeit written in Pamplona, shows a linguistic variant from Toulouse . Things turned out slightly otherwise in Aragon, where the sociolinguistic situation was different, with a clearer Basque-Romance bilingual situation (cf. Basques from
748-410: Is "probably not more divergent from Occitan overall than Gascon is". There is no general agreement about larger groupings of these dialects. Max Wheeler divides the dialects into two groups: Pierre Bec divides the dialects into three groups: In order to overcome the pitfalls of the traditional romanistic view, Bec proposed a "supradialectal" classification that groups Occitan with Catalan as
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#1732776431139816-631: Is a Romance language spoken in Southern France , Monaco , Italy 's Occitan Valleys , as well as Spain 's Val d'Aran in Catalonia ; collectively, these regions are sometimes referred to as Occitania . It is also spoken in Calabria ( Southern Italy ) in a linguistic enclave of Cosenza area (mostly Guardia Piemontese ). Some include Catalan in Occitan, as the linguistic distance between this language and some Occitan dialects (such as
884-520: Is a low hilly plateau, which lies between the highest summits of the Vercors and the gorge carved out by the Drac. From north to south: By descending altitude: The Tunnel du Mortier links Montaud with Autrans, at an altitude of 1,391 metres (4,564 ft). It was closed on 20 April 1992 after a landslide of 20,000 m of rock which involved part of the slope to the north of the route. The instability of
952-464: Is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility . Gascon is the most divergent, and descriptions of the main features of Occitan often consider Gascon separately. Max Wheeler notes that "probably only its copresence within the French cultural sphere has kept [Gascon] from being regarded as a separate language", and compares it to Franco-Provençal, which is considered a separate language from Occitan but
1020-466: Is an area made up of a number of smaller plateaus. In the north of the Drômois Vercors there are several gorges which are traversed by roads cut into the cliffs. Grassy areas are used as pastures in the summer months, and the biannual migration ( transhumance ) of animals is a period of celebration for the people of Die . The Haut-Plateaux (high plateaus) are the highest wilderness areas of
1088-489: Is much more rigorous than the lowlands surrounding the massif. The village of La-Chapelle-en-Vercors , approximately in the center of the massif, has a Dfb climate under the Köppen Classification system. Winters are cold; summers are warm; and precipitation, often snow in the winter, is abundant in all seasons. The constituent rocks of the Vercors were formed by sedimentation about 165 million years ago, in
1156-413: Is the other native language. Up to seven million people in France understand the language, whereas twelve to fourteen million fully spoke it in 1921. In 1860 , Occitan speakers represented more than 39% of the whole French population (52% for francophones proper); they were still 26% to 36% in the 1920s and fewer than 7% in 1993. Occitan is fundamentally defined by its dialects, rather than being
1224-467: Is worthier and better suited for romances and pastourelles ; but [the language] from Limousin is of greater value for writing poems and cançons and sirventés ; and across the whole of the lands where our tongue is spoken, the literature in the Limousin language has more authority than any other dialect, wherefore I shall use this name in priority. The term Provençal , though implying a reference to
1292-527: The òc language (Occitan), the oïl language (French), and the sì language (Italian). The word òc came from Vulgar Latin hoc ("this"), while oïl originated from Latin hoc illud ("this [is] it"). Old Catalan and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have hoc ( òc ). Other Romance languages derive their word for "yes" from the Latin sic , "thus [it is], [it
1360-640: The Romance of Flamenca (13th century), the Song of the Albigensian Crusade (1213–1219?), Daurel e Betó (12th or 13th century), Las, qu'i non-sun sparvir, astur (11th century) and Tomida femina (9th or 10th century). Occitan was the vehicle for the influential poetry of the medieval troubadours ( trobadors ) and trobairitz : At that time, the language was understood and celebrated throughout most of educated Europe. It
1428-978: The Col de Romeyère and the Col de Rousset . The water hollowed out the cirque of Archiane , the steephead valley of Bournillon, and the Combe Laval . The Vercors have appeared in many films, including; Jean-Jacques, Delannoy (1984). "Le Vercors : un massif de la moyenne montagne alpine" . Karstologia (in French). Fédération Française de Spéléologie et de l'Association Française de Karstologie: 34–45. ISSN 0751-7688 . Occitan language Italy Occitan ( English: / ˈ ɒ k s ɪ t ən , - t æ n , - t ɑː n / ; Occitan pronunciation: [utsiˈta, uksiˈta] ), also known as lenga d'òc ( Occitan: [ˈleŋɡɒ ˈðɔ(k)] ; French : langue d'oc ) by its native speakers, sometimes also referred to as Provençal ,
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#17327764311391496-531: The Cretaceous period, a rise in temperatures combined with shallow waters led to the development of coral reefs, which abounded with molluscs , particularly rudists . These were the origin of the Urgonian Limestone which forms the upper part of the massif, more prominently in the northern half. This primitive fauna left numerous fossils, some of which have been found at a site near Rencurel in
1564-595: The Gascon language ) is similar to the distance between different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century and still today remains its closest relative. Occitan is an official language of Catalonia, Spain, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken (in the Val d'Aran ). Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be
1632-519: The Petits Goulets . The Gervanne , in the south-west, is a rugged area of hills at the foot of the plateau, with picturesque villages. It looks towards Crest . The Diois is a part of the Drôme valley around Die. This region has a Mediterranean character, with vineyards and fields of lavender . It acts as a buffer between Gervanne and the interior of the massif. The Trièves , in the east,
1700-468: The UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages , four of the six major dialects of Occitan (Provençal, Auvergnat , Limousin and Languedocien) are considered severely endangered , whereas the remaining two ( Gascon and Vivaro-Alpine ) are considered definitely endangered . The name Occitan comes from the term lenga d'òc ("language of òc "), òc being the Occitan word for yes. While
1768-582: The Val d'Aran cited c. 1000 ), but a receding Basque language (Basque banned in the marketplace of Huesca, 1349). While the language was chosen as a medium of prestige in records and official statements along with Latin in the early 13th century, Occitan faced competition from the rising local Romance vernacular, the Navarro-Aragonese , both orally and in writing, especially after Aragon's territorial conquests south to Zaragoza , Huesca and Tudela between 1118 and 1134. It resulted that
1836-714: The col de Rousset or journey 70 kilometres (43 mi) via Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte in the north. The villages at the far northern end were isolated by a landslide near the Mortier tunnel. Another example is the Peuil plateau in the east. During the Ice Age , the Grésivaudan glacier reached the Peuil plateau leaving a marsh. The central part of the Vercors Massif is divided into several regions. The Coulmes, in
1904-519: The Bourne and Furon Gorges. These have imposing cliffs often exceeding 400 metres (1,300 ft) such as the Combe Laval and the Cirque d'Archiane . Mont Aiguille stands apart from the rest of the massif as the result of erosion. Other parts are isolated from the rest of the massif due to its relief. For example, to reach Gresse-en-Vercors in the south, one must travel 100 kilometres (62 mi) via
1972-740: The Coulmes. In the Paleogene period, the Tethys ocean closed up and at the start of the Miocene , the raising of the Alps involved the thrusting of a nappe to the west. Sedimentary rocks were raised 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above the current location of the Massif des Écrins and faulted and folded in the process. Subsequent marine transgressions were responsible for secondary sedimentation in
2040-613: The Judeo-Occitan dialects, Judeo-Niçard was spoken by the community of Jews living in Nice , who were descendants of Jewish immigrants from Provence, Piedmont, and other Mediterranean communities. Its existence is attested from a few documents from the 19th century. It contained significant influence in both vocabulary and grammar from Hebrew. All three of these dialects have some influence in Southern Jewish French,
2108-541: The Réseau de Coufin-Chevaline (grotte de Choranche), a show cave in the Bourne Gorge which has almost 30 kilometres (19 miles) of mapped passages. The Vercors has several resorts for cross-country skiing and for down-hill skiing. Villard-de-Lans is the biggest down-hill ski resort. This sporting area is environmentally protected, and although the natural environment has been drastically altered throughout history for
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2176-566: The basins. There was widening of the gorges and erosion of the cliffs from runoff, leading to the formation of the molasse in the Royans and also in the valleys of Lans, Autrans, and Rencurel. At the close of the Miocene , a new period of uplifting brought about the final receding of the sea. Once formed, the massif underwent severe erosion, which accentuated the relief. The different synclines grew larger, eventually forming valleys including those of Autrans, Méaudre and Lans, Villard, Corrençon ,
2244-452: The cities in southern France is unlikely to hear a single Occitan word spoken on the street (or, for that matter, in a home), and is likely to only find the occasional vestige, such as street signs (and, of those, most will have French equivalents more prominently displayed), to remind them of the traditional language of the area. Occitan speakers, as a result of generations of systematic suppression and humiliation (see Vergonha ), seldom use
2312-607: The city of Grenoble . Over time, various features of the complex geography have been recognised including, the Quatre Montagnes (four mountains), the Coulmes (gorges), the Vercors Drômois (Drome Vercors), the Hauts-Plateaux (high plateaus) and, in the foothills, Royans, Gervanne, Diois, and Trièves. The massif is sometimes called the "fortress". The movement of people tends to be between the massif and
2380-490: The early 12th century to the coastal fringe extending from San Sebastian to the river Bidasoa , where they settled down. The language variant they used was different from the ones in Navarre, i.e. a Béarnese dialect of Gascon. Gascon remained in use in this area far longer than in Navarre and Aragon, until the 19th century, thanks mainly to the fact that Donostia and Pasaia maintained close ties with Bayonne . Though it
2448-435: The eastern edge has several summits over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). The interior varies between 800 metres (2,600 ft) and 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). The massif also has wide valleys including the valley of Lans-en-Vercors , the regions around Autrans , and La Chapelle-en-Vercors , and plateaus including forêt des Coulmes , forêt de Lente , and the high plateau. There are a number of deeply incised gorges, including
2516-921: The end of the 11th century, the Franks , as they were called at the time, started to penetrate the Iberian Peninsula through the Ways of St. James via Somport and Roncesvalles , settling in various locations in the Kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon enticed by the privileges granted them by the Navarrese kings . They settled in large groups, forming ethnic boroughs where Occitan was used for everyday life, in Pamplona , Sangüesa , and Estella-Lizarra , among others. These boroughs in Navarre may have been close-knit communities that tended not to assimilate with
2584-645: The fauna and flora. Members of the cult the Order of the Solar Temple infamously committed mass murder-suicide in the Vercors in 1995. The name Massif du Vercors is derived from the name of a local tribe who lived in the area at the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul , who were known as the Vertamocorii (also spelled Vertamocori, Vertacomicorii, or Vertacomocorii), meaning excellent troops or troops of
2652-534: The geographical territory in which Occitan is spoken is surrounded by regions in which other Romance languages are used, external influences may have influenced its origin and development. Many factors favored its development as its own language. Catalan in Spain's northern and central Mediterranean coastal regions and the Balearic Islands is closely related to Occitan, sharing many linguistic features and
2720-476: The language at the beginning of the 13th century by Catalan troubadour Raimon Vidal de Besalú(n) in his Razós de trobar : La parladura Francesca val mais et [es] plus avinenz a far romanz e pasturellas; mas cella de Lemozin val mais per far vers et cansons et serventés; et per totas las terras de nostre lengage son de major autoritat li cantar de la lenga Lemosina que de negun'autra parladura, per qu'ieu vos en parlarai primeramen. The French language
2788-460: The language in the presence of strangers, whether they are from abroad or from outside Occitania (in this case, often merely and abusively referred to as Parisiens or Nordistes , which means northerners ). Occitan is still spoken by many elderly people in rural areas, but they generally switch to French when dealing with outsiders. Occitan's decline is somewhat less pronounced in Béarn because of
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2856-480: The language. Following the pattern of language shift , most of this remainder is to be found among the eldest populations. Occitan activists (called Occitanists ) have attempted, in particular with the advent of Occitan-language preschools (the Calandretas ), to reintroduce the language to the young. Nonetheless, the number of proficient speakers of Occitan is thought to be dropping precipitously. A tourist in
2924-528: The larger collection of dialects grouped under the name langues d'oïl ) should be used for all French administration. Occitan's greatest decline occurred during the French Revolution , in which diversity of language was considered a threat. In 1903, the four Gospels ( "Lis Evangèli" , i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were translated into Provençal as spoken in Cannes and Grasse. The translation
2992-515: The last speakers being elderly Jews in Bayonne . About 850 unique words and a few morphological and grammatical aspects of the dialect were transmitted to Southern Jewish French. Judeo-Provençal was a dialect of Occitan spoken by Jews in Provence . The dialect declined in usage after Jews were expelled from the area in 1498, and was probably extinct by the 20th century. The least attested of
3060-772: The latter term for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal . One of the oldest written fragments of the language found dates back to 960, shown here in italics mixed with non-italicized Latin: De ista hora in antea non decebrà Ermengaus filius Eldiarda Froterio episcopo filio Girberga ne Raimundo filio Bernardo vicecomite de castello de Cornone ... no·l li tolrà ni no·l li devedarà ni no l'en decebrà ... nec societatem non aurà , si per castellum recuperare non o fa , et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo lo tornarà , per ipsas horas quæ Froterius et Raimundus l'en comonrà . Carolingian litanies ( c. 780 ), though
3128-664: The leader sang in Latin , were answered to in Old Occitan by the people ( Ora pro nos ; Tu lo juva ). Other famous pieces include the Boecis , a 258-line-long poem written entirely in the Limousin dialect of Occitan between the year 1000 and 1030 and inspired by Boethius 's The Consolation of Philosophy ; the Waldensian La nobla leyczon (dated 1100), Cançó de Santa Fe ( c. 1054 –1076),
3196-728: The massif became important in World War II with the establishment of the Free Republic of Vercors , led by the Maquis du Vercors , a base for the French Resistance against German occupation. The Vercors includes the largest alpine karst area in the Northern French pre-alps, and contains a number of large and deep cave systems. These include Gouffre Berger , which is over 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) deep, and
3264-627: The massif. The area is managed and the pastures are used for grazing in the summer. At the fringes of the massif, the Vercors regional park has four geographical areas. The Royans , the north-west foothills are the location of walnuts growing. Three valleys descend to the edge of the Royans: the Gorges de la Bourne , the cirque of the Combe Laval , and the Échevis valley, including the Grands and
3332-612: The middle Jurassic period, at the bottom of the Piemont-Liguria Ocean . The deposition of animal material formed limestone, with detritus rocks, formed primarily from the erosion of marl from the Variscan orogeny formed the massif in a period marked by changing climatic conditions and ocean depth. At Diois and Trièves is a layer of the massif, formed in the Tithonian age . Then, about 130 million years ago, in
3400-415: The modern Occitan-speaking area. After Frédéric Mistral 's Félibrige movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. According to Joseph Anglade , a philologist and specialist of medieval literature who helped impose the then archaic term Occitan as the standard name, the word Lemosin was first used to designate
3468-422: The negative sense: for example, "Vous n'avez pas de frères?" "Si, j'en ai sept." ("You have no brothers?" "But yes, I have seven."). The name "Occitan" was attested around 1300 as occitanus , a crossing of oc and aquitanus ( Aquitanian ). For many centuries, the Occitan dialects (together with Catalan ) were referred to as Limousin or Provençal , after the names of two regions lying within
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#17327764311393536-478: The north-west by the Isère , in the east by the Drac , and in the south by the Drôme . The western side overlooks the Rhône Valley . The Vercors Massif is known as the fortress or as the French dolomites because of its geomorphology. The massif is likened to a plateau: the fall from the massif to its inner valleys is a few hundred metres, while the fall to the surrounding areas is between 800 metres (2,600 ft) and 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). The crest of
3604-455: The north-west, are heavily covered in forest. Folds of Urgonian limestone are rounded, making the area appear mountainous. The four mountains area has been developed for tourism and skiing but is also known for its traditional activities such as the breeding of dairy cows and cheese making. The main villages, Autrans , Méaudre , Lans-en-Vercors , and Villard-de-Lans , are spread over two plateaus covered by wooded hills. The Drômois Vercors
3672-488: The officially preferred language for use in the Val d'Aran. Across history, the terms Limousin ( Lemosin ), Languedocien ( Lengadocian ), Gascon , in addition to Provençal ( Provençal , Provençau or Prouvençau ) later have been used as synonyms for the whole of Occitan; nowadays, the term "Provençal" is understood mainly as the Occitan dialect spoken in Provence , in southeast France. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or Spanish , Occitan does not have
3740-424: The other. Nonetheless, specialists commonly divide Occitan into six main dialects: The northern and easternmost dialects have more morphological and phonetic features in common with the Gallo-Italic and Oïl languages (e.g. nasal vowels ; loss of final consonants; initial cha/ja- instead of ca/ga- ; uvular ⟨r⟩ ; the front-rounded sound /ø/ instead of a diphthong, /w/ instead of /l/ before
3808-431: The predominantly Basque -speaking general population. Their language became the status language chosen by the Navarrese kings, nobility, and upper classes for official and trade purposes in the period stretching from the early 13th century to the late 14th century. Written administrative records were in a koiné based on the Languedocien dialect from Toulouse with fairly archaic linguistic features. Evidence survives of
3876-555: The province's history (a late addition to the Kingdom of France), though even there the language is little spoken outside the homes of the rural elderly. The village of Artix is notable for having elected to post street signs in the local language. The area where Occitan was historically dominant has approximately 16 million inhabitants. Recent research has shown it may be spoken as a first language by approximately 789,000 people in France , Italy , Spain and Monaco . In Monaco, Occitan coexists with Monégasque Ligurian , which
3944-407: The purposes of agriculture and forestry, plans for afforestation will make it one of the major forests of Metropolitan France and a reserve for species such as the southern tulip and black grouse , two symbols of the park, as well as the re-introduced griffon vulture and the alpine ibex . The differences in climate and altitude across the Vercors are reflected in the high level of diversity in
4012-466: The region of Provence , historically was used for Occitan as a whole, for "in the eleventh, the twelfth, and sometimes also the thirteenth centuries, one would understand under the name of Provence the whole territory of the old Provincia romana Gallia Narbonensis and even Aquitaine ". The term first came into fashion in Italy . Currently, linguists use the terms Provençal and Limousin strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitan, using
4080-411: The slopes have proved an impediment for the realisation of further work below the site, particularly work on the gorges d'Engins to Sassenage road, the D531. The commune in which the cave is situated is given in italics. The Grotte de Bournillon , located in the commune of Châtelus, has the highest cave opening in Europe at 105 metres (344 ft). The climate of the Vercors due to its elevation
4148-404: The summit . Modern inhabitants are referred to as Vertacomiriens . Prior to the 1900s, the name Vercors referred only to the upper valleys of the Vernaison near the township of La Chapelle-en-Vercors . At the beginning of the 20th century, Henri Ferrand explored the massif, taking numerous photographs, publishing books, and describing the geology of the mountains. Ferrand was the first to use
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#17327764311394216-399: The surrounding plains rather than between the various parts of the massif itself. Until the mid twentieth century, the name Vercors was used to describe only the township of La Chapelle-en-Vercors (with Royans ), and the northern area around Lans-en-Vercors , Villard-de-Lans , Autrans , and Méaudre (with Grenoble ) and was known as the Four Mountains area. In June and July 1944,
4284-486: The term Vercors in its extended contemporary sense. The geographers Raoul Blanchard and Jules Blache , popularised the term in the late 1920s and early 1930s. By the 1950s, the term was ubiquitous. The Vercors Massif lies in the Prealps , in the south-east France, straddling the departments of Drôme and Isère, both of which are part of the Rhône-Alpes region, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south-east of Lyon. The massif covers 135,000 hectares (520 sq mi) with
4352-525: The term would have been in use orally for some time after the decline of Latin, as far as historical records show, the Italian medieval poet Dante was the first to have recorded the term lingua d'oc in writing. In his De vulgari eloquentia , he wrote in Latin, "nam alii oc, alii si, alii vero dicunt oil" ("for some say òc , others sì , yet others say oïl "), thereby highlighting three major Romance literary languages that were well known in Italy, based on each language's word for "yes",
4420-444: Was done], etc.", such as Spanish sí , Eastern Lombard sé , Italian sì , or Portuguese sim . In modern Catalan, as in modern Spanish, sí is usually used as a response, although the language retains the word oi , akin to òc , which is sometimes used at the end of yes–no questions and also in higher register as a positive response. French uses si to answer "yes" in response to questions that are asked in
4488-425: Was given the official Roman Catholic Imprimatur by vicar general A. Estellon. The literary renaissance of the late 19th century (in which the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Frédéric Mistral, among others, was involved) was attenuated by World War I , when (in addition to the disruption caused by any major war) many Occitan speakers spent extended periods of time alongside French-speaking comrades. Because
4556-543: Was still an everyday language for most of the rural population of southern France well into the 20th century, it is now spoken by about 100,000 people in France according to 2012 estimates. There is a movement in regions of France where Occitan was widely spoken to introduce educational programs to encourage young people in these regions to learn the language. According to the 1999 census, there were 610,000 native speakers (almost all of whom were also native French speakers) and perhaps another million people with some exposure to
4624-411: Was the maternal language of the English queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and kings Richard I (who wrote troubadour poetry) and John . With the gradual imposition of French royal power over its territory, Occitan declined in status from the 14th century on. The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) decreed that the langue d'oïl (French – though at the time referring to the Francien language and not
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