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Auvergnat

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{{Infobox Language |name=Auvergnat |nativename=Auvernhat |states= France |region=Auvergne, Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Allier, Cantal, Communities in Limousin |speakers=1.3 millionCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). (for whom the Auvergnat is a language of its own, see the light orange line on the map – note it is including the easternmost part of the Marchois dialect) and for instance Roger Teulat[1].

Auvergnat dialect delimitation

Language boundaries

  • 1 – Latin pratus (meadow) > pra (Occitan, Francoprovençal) vs. pré (French)
  • 2- Latin nepos (nephew) > nebot (Occitan) vs. neveu… (French, Francoprovençal)

Light blue area labelled fr is for French-Langue d’Oïl. Light purple area labelled frp is for Francoprovençal.

Dialect boundaries

  • 0 – No paroxyton on the North – defines the Marchois dialect, name often given to the Occitan spoken in the Croissant area. The area labelled m is the one of the Marchois dialect.
  • 3 – The ca/cha boundary separated Northern Occitan (Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine, Marchois) and Southern Occitan (Gascon, Languedocien, Provençal). It is part of Auvergnat boundary, along with 7, in the Cantal. The area labelled lm is for Limousin dialect, the va one if the Vivaro-Alpine, the lg one is for the Languedocien.
  • 4 – Feminines in “–ada” have lost intervocalic “d” and became “–aa” : this separates Auvergnat and Vivaro-Alpine (almost the same boundary for first persons of indicative present in –o [u], another characteristic of Vivaro-Alpine)

Definition boundaries

These are not characteristic of Auvergnat as a whole, but allow defining a boundary:

  • 5 and 6 – These match the Core Auvergnat according to Pierre Bonnaud. They may be used for the Western Boundary of Auvergnat. The area limited by 5 is the pronunciation [jaR] of “èr” (around [ɛR]), the one limited by 6 is the palatalisation of “cl” to [kʎ] or to [çʎ].
  • 7 – South-eastern boundary: opposition between “dreita” and “drecha”
  • 8 – This is for the southern boundary: the plural of “braç” has the same pronunciation than the singular, only the use of the article allows differentiating it.

Note that most Occitanists use rather 7 than 8 to define the Southern Boundary.

Internal variation

Note some of the definition boundaries allow defining an internal variation. The most traditional one between Lower or Northern Auvergnat and Upper or Southern Auvergnat is set by the mutation of “s” before [k], [p], and [t] (line 9). Lower Auvergnat defined by Teulat is the light green area labelled 1 on the map. Upper Auvergnat defined by Teulat is the light brown-yellow area labelled 2 on the map. A broader area (light yellow, label 2a) is generally defined. A Northwestern Auvergnat may be defined as well by 5 and 6. The Northeastern (East of 5 and 6, North of 9) has got, according to Bonnaud, a stronger influence of French phonetics (a bit like Marchois).

Subdialects

Auvergnat is most often categorized in the Northern Occitan dialect group, along with Limousin and Vivaro-Alpine.

There are two primary distinctions in Auvergnat:

  • Northern Auvergnat (nord-auvergnat, also bas-auvergnat) in Puy-de-Dôme and Allier (Bourbonnais) and Haute-Loire north of Brioude.
    • In the south of Allier (Bourbonnais), the local nord-auvergnat has been heavily influcenced by French, but Auvergnat linguistic traits remain dominant. This transition zone to French, called locally le Croissant, includes the northern fringe of Limousin. See also the article on Bourbonnais.
  • Southern Auvergnat (sud-auvergnat, also haut-auvergnat) spoken in Cantal, Haute-Loire (with a part of Ardèche and most of Lozère).

The suggestion that Auvergnat is an independent language, distinct from Occitan, has found little resonance with linguists, especially romance linguists. It is strongly defended by those who espouse the norme bonnaudienne a standardization of Auvergnat.

Linguistic Vitality and Usage

An understanding of the vitality and overall usage of Auvergnat can be garnered from a study performed in 2006 in the Auvergne region.[2].

The largest group of the two languages spoken in the Auvergne region is referred to as patois (78% of the population) compared with other regional terms, with certain cultural identities emerging, such as auvergnat (10%), occitan (8%), bourbonnais (5%) or langue d’oc (4%).

The regional language, whether it's Occitan (in the whole of the Auvergne region) or Oïl (the north of Allier), represents a strong presence in the region:

  • 61% claim to understand their regional language more-or-less, with 22% claiming to understand it easily or perfectly.
  • 42% claim to be able to speak it more-or-less, with 12% claiming it as easy.
  • 29% claim to read Auvergnat more-or-less, with 10% claiming it easy.
  • 17% claim to write Auvergnat more-or-less, with 4% declaring it easy.

A large part of the population that understands or speaks even a little or, moreover, fluently, neither know how to write nor read in that language.

Language learning is found to be essential within the home, according to the survey, (grandparents noted as 61%, orother family members at 50%) with a very weak result from the schools (10%). Herein is found the problem of language-transmission when dependent upon State sponsorship. 40% of adults who did not teach their language to their children report regretting it at the time of the survey. This feeling is reported more strongly among the 35 or less demographic, at 58%. The desire to learn the local language is reported strongly, with increasing representation among the young, reported at 23%. According to the survey the desire to incorporate local language learning in schools is as follows: Haute-Loire (53%), Puy-de-Dôme (51%) et Cantal (74%). The desire to teach to their own children is strong (41%) and is stronger still with the 35 and under demographic (58%). 71% of the region's inhabitants are favorable to the idea of maintaining the regional language and culture, with a stronger result in the 35-and-unders (76%). To achieve this desire, different institutions are expected to play a role (in percentage of those surveyed):

  • France 3 Auvergne, the local television chain should offer regional language programming (54%)
  • The Region (54%), National Education (43%), the Culture Ministry (42%) and the communities are seen by most Auvergnats as the most correct venues to develop and pass on the Auvergnat language and culture.

Authors

The following are authors who have published in Auvergnat:

  • Pierre Bonnaud
  • Daniel Brugès
  • François Cognéras
  • Étienne Coudert
  • Andrée Homette
  • Karl-Heinz Reichel
  • Jean Roux
  • Henri-Antoine Verdier, Mémoires d'un papi auvergnat, text in Auvergnat dialect and French, 2000.

Poets

Poets using Auvergnat:

  • Louis Delhostal (1877-1933)
  • Faucon, La Henriade de Voltaire, mise en vers burlesques par Faucon, Riom ; 1798; Le Conte des deux perdrix
  • Roy Gelles, Le Tirage, poem, Clermont, 1836; Le Maire compétent, Clermont, 1841,
  • Camille Gandilhon Gens d'Armes
  • Ravel, La Paysade, epic poem ;
  • Joan de Cabanas

See also

References

  1. ^ TEULAT, Rogièr, "Per una definicion d'un espaci occitan del centre-nòrd (auvernhat)", in Quasèrns de linguistica occitana, 10, 1981, Clermont-Ferrand (ISSN 0338-2419).
  2. ^ Enquête de l'IFOP en 2006 pour le compte de l'Institut d'études occitanes de la Région Auvergne.
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