Actually there is a real revival of the language here. Part of its decline was because it was forbidden by the Vichy and children were punished for speaking it. Mantum mina amica parla Occitan! We have a Radio Occitan from the town of Perigueux which broadcast a few hours of Occitan a day. It is taught in the schools now. It is the language of traditional folk music and there is much literature. I have been reading Eugene LeRoy's (LeRoy was one of the first popular regionalist authors, in the wake of Georges Sands in the middle 1800's) books and he wrote stories that took place around here...his novel Jacquo Le Croquante was made into a big fim back in 2006, but it is a regional classic here. In some of his novels he had to provide a glossary, of the Occitanian words and phrases he uses. In face, now most of the places around here have the names in both languages. My friends play traditional music...pretty raucous stuff, using a form of bagpipe and a cranked instrument played with wooden keys callled a Vielle. The real Occitanian tradition is kept quite alive here through a traditional festival held in a different city every 3 years calle la Fillebree....Instead of dying, Occitan is being reborn in music literature, art and the living language. It It is an interesting language with many variations, because before modern transportation, even villages a few kilometers apart could be quite isolated from each other, so back in the 1800's Occitan speakers from one end of the Dordogne to the other might have a very hard time understanding each other. It is a form of corrupted degraded latin, with of course celtic and germanic influences. My village is named Badefols d'Ans. Another story, but Badefols is a corrupted Occitan phrase that means Screaming idiot!
Hello Microdot, I love the local information and flavors that you pass on from France and Europe in general. It gives the rest of us in the U.S. the viewpoints that we do not hear about in the U.S. local news filters…..especially Fox Programming and the other clones.
One of the lessons that I learned in my travels as a young man was being outside the U.S. looking back in perspectives. I learned that the rest of the world does not hold the same views as Americans or the mass media’s propagation.
I really take a personal interest in France as I did spend a little time in the Provence region as a young man.
You are of great value to us all my friend and I am thankful that I stumbled onto you those years ago in the blog world.
Hello Microdot, I have posted a special “Easter Trivia Treat” on my site……do you know the Medical Instrument? You may soon be introduced to it on your next doctor’s visit and physical if the Tea Party Republican’s have their way.
4 comments:
Fascinating map, thanks for posting it. Is Occitan still a dialect that's used in Southern France? (I hope that's not a dumb question).
Actually there is a real revival of the language here. Part of its decline was because it was forbidden by the Vichy and children were punished for speaking it.
Mantum mina amica parla Occitan!
We have a Radio Occitan from the town of Perigueux which broadcast a few hours of Occitan a day. It is taught in the schools now. It is the language of traditional folk music and there is much literature. I have been reading Eugene LeRoy's (LeRoy was one of the first popular regionalist authors, in the wake of Georges Sands in the middle 1800's) books and he wrote stories that took place around here...his novel Jacquo Le Croquante was made into a big fim back in 2006, but it is a regional classic here. In some of his novels he had to provide a glossary, of the Occitanian words and phrases he uses. In face, now most of the places around here have the names in both languages. My friends play traditional music...pretty raucous stuff, using a form of bagpipe and a cranked instrument played with wooden keys callled a Vielle. The real Occitanian tradition is kept quite alive here through a traditional festival held in a different city every 3 years calle la Fillebree....Instead of dying, Occitan is being reborn in music literature, art and the living language.
It
It is an interesting language with many variations, because before modern transportation, even villages a few kilometers apart could be quite isolated from each other, so back in the 1800's Occitan speakers from one end of the Dordogne to the other might have a very hard time understanding each other.
It is a form of corrupted degraded latin, with of course celtic and germanic influences.
My village is named Badefols d'Ans. Another story, but Badefols is a corrupted Occitan phrase that means Screaming idiot!
Hello Microdot,
I love the local information and flavors that you pass on from France and Europe in general. It gives the rest of us in the U.S. the viewpoints that we do not hear about in the U.S. local news filters…..especially Fox Programming and the other clones.
One of the lessons that I learned in my travels as a young man was being outside the U.S. looking back in perspectives. I learned that the rest of the world does not hold the same views as Americans or the mass media’s propagation.
I really take a personal interest in France as I did spend a little time in the Provence region as a young man.
You are of great value to us all my friend and I am thankful that I stumbled onto you those years ago in the blog world.
Take care and keep up the good work.
Hello Microdot,
I have posted a special “Easter Trivia Treat” on my site……do you know the Medical Instrument? You may soon be introduced to it on your next doctor’s visit and physical if the Tea Party Republican’s have their way.
http://engineerofknowledge.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/do-you-recognize-this-medical-instrument/
Stop by and enjoy. Until then, Have A Great Easter Holiday!!
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