Editing Occitan language (section)

==Codification==

===Standardization===
All regional varieties of the Occitan language have a written form; thus, Occitan can be considered as a [[pluricentric language]]. Standard Occitan, also called ''occitan larg'' (i.e., 'wide Occitan') is a synthesis that respects and admits soft regional adaptations (which are based on the convergence of previous regional [[Koiné language|koinés]]).<ref name=sumien2006/> The standardization process began with the publication of ''[[Gramatica occitana segon los parlars lengadocians]]'' ("Grammar of the Languedocien Dialect") by [[Louis Alibert]] (1935), followed by the ''[[Dictionnaire occitan-français selon les parlers languedociens]]'' ("French-Occitan dictionary according to Languedocien") by the same author (1966), completed during the 1970s with the works of [[Pierre Bec]] (Gascon), [[Robèrt Lafont]] (Provençal), and others. However, the process has not yet been completed as of the present.{{clarify|date=April 2013}} Standardization is mostly supported by users of the [[#Writing system|classical norm]]. Due to the strong situation of [[diglossia]], some users{{who|date=February 2022}} thusly reject the standardization process, and do not conceive Occitan as a language that can be standardized as per other standardized languages.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

===Writing system===
{{further|Occitan alphabet}}
There are two main linguistic norms currently used for Occitan, one (known as "classical") based on that of Medieval Occitan, and one (sometimes known as "Mistralian", due to its use by [[Frédéric Mistral]]) based on modern [[French orthography]]. Sometimes, there is conflict between users of each system.
* The ''classical norm'' (or less exactly ''classical orthography'') has the advantage of maintaining a link with earlier stages of the language, and reflects the fact that Occitan is not a variety of French. It is used in all Occitan dialects. It also allows speakers of one dialect of Occitan to write intelligibly for speakers of other dialects (e.g. the Occitan for ''day'' is written ''jorn'' in the classical norm, but could be ''jour'', ''joun'', ''journ'', or even ''yourn'', depending on the writer's origin, in Mistralian orthography). The Occitan classical orthography and the [[Catalan language|Catalan]] orthography are quite similar: they show the very close ties of both languages. The digraphs ''lh'' and ''nh'', used in the classical orthography, were adopted by the [[Portuguese alphabet#Basic digraphs|orthography of Portuguese]], presumably by [[Gerald of Braga]], a monk from [[Moissac]], who became bishop of [[Braga]] in Portugal in 1047, playing a major role in modernizing written [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] using classical Occitan norms.<ref>Jean-Pierre Juge (2001) ''Petit précis – Chronologie occitane – Histoire & civilisation'', p. 25</ref>
* The ''[[Mistralian norm]]'' (or less exactly ''Mistralian orthography'') has the advantage of being similar to that of French, in which most Occitan speakers are literate. Now, it is used mostly in the [[Provençal (dialect)|Provençal]]/[[Niçard]] dialect, besides the classical norm. It has also been used by a number of eminent writers, particularly in Provençal. However, it is somewhat impractical, because it is based mainly on the Provençal dialect and also uses many digraphs for simple sounds, the most notable one being ''ou'' for the {{IPA|[u]}} sound, as it is in French, written as ''o'' under the classical orthography.

There are also two other norms but they have a lesser audience. The ''Escòla dau Pò norm'' (or ''Escolo dóu Po norm'') is a simplified version of the Mistralian norm and is used only in the Occitan Valleys (Italy), besides the classical norm. The ''Bonnaudian norm'' (or ''écriture auvergnate unifiée, EAU'') was created by Pierre Bonnaud and is used only in the [[Auvergnat]] dialect, besides the classical norm.

{| class="wikitable"  style="margin:1em auto;" align="center"
|+ Comparison between the four existing norms in Occitan: extract from the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]
|-
! Classical norm
! Mistralian norm
! Bonnaudian norm
! Escòla dau Pò norm
|-
|'''[[Provençal dialect|Provençal]]'''<br /> Totei lei personas naisson liuras e egalas en dignitat e en drech. Son dotadas de rason e de consciéncia e li cau (/fau/) agir entre elei amb un esperit de frairesa.
|'''[[Provençal dialect|Provençal]]'''<br /> Tóuti li persouno naisson liéuro e egalo en dignita e en dre. {{not a typo|Soun}} doutado de rasoun e de counsciènci e li fau agi entre éli em' un esperit de freiresso.
|
|
|-
|'''[[Niçard]] Provençal'''<br /> Toti li personas naisson liuri e egali en dignitat e en drech. Son dotadi de rason e de consciéncia e li cau agir entre eli emb un esperit de frairesa.
|'''[[Niçard]] Provençal'''<br /> Touti li persouna naisson liéuri e egali en dignità e en drech. {{not a typo|Soun}} doutadi de rasoun e de counsciència e li cau agì entre eli em' un esperit de frairessa.
|
|
|-
|'''[[Auvergnat]]'''<br /> Totas las personas naisson liuras e egalas en dignitat e en dreit. Son dotadas de rason e de consciéncia e lor chau (/fau/) agir entre elas amb un esperit de frairesa.
|
|'''[[Auvergnat]]'''<br />Ta la proussouna neisson lieura moé parira pà dïnessà mai dret. Son charjada de razou moé de cousiensà mai lhu fau arjî entremeî lha bei n'eime de freiressà. (Touta la persouna naisson lieura e egala en dïnetàt e en dreit. {{not a typo|Soun}} doutada de razou e de cousiensà e lour chau ajî entre ela am en esprî de freiressà.)
|
|-
|'''[[Vivaroalpenc|Vivaro-Alpine]]'''<br /> Totas las personas naisson liuras e egalas en dignitat e en drech. Son dotaas de rason e de consciéncia e lor chal agir entre elas amb un esperit de fraternitat.
|
|
|'''[[Vivaroalpenc|Vivaro-Alpine]]'''<br /> Toutes les persounes naisoun liures e egales en dignità e en drech. {{not a typo|Soun}} douta de razoun e de counsiensio e lour chal agir entre eels amb (/bou) un esperit de freireso.
|-
|'''[[Gascon language|Gascon]]'''<br /> Totas las personas que naishen liuras e egaus en dignitat e en dreit. Que son dotadas de rason e de consciéncia e que'us cau agir enter eras dab un esperit de hrairessa.
|'''[[Gascon language|Gascon]] (Febusian writing)'''<br /> Toutes las persounes que nachen libres e egaus en dinnitat e en dreyt. Que {{not a typo|soun}} doutades de rasoû e de counscienci e qu'ous cau ayi entre eres dap û esperit de hrayresse.
|
|
|-
|'''[[Limousin dialect|Limousin]]'''<br /> Totas las personas naisson liuras e egalas en dignitat e en drech. Son dotadas de rason e de consciéncia e lor chau (/fau/) agir entre elas emb un esperit de frairesa.
|
|
|
|-
|'''[[Languedocien dialect|Languedocien]]'''<br />Totas las personas naisson liuras e egalas en dignitat e en drech. Son dotadas de rason e de consciéncia e lor cal agir entre elas amb un esperit de frairesa.
|
|
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|+ The same extract in six neighboring [[Romance languages]] and English for comparison
|-
|'''[[French language|French]]'''<br />Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits. Ils sont doués de raison et de conscience et doivent agir les uns envers les autres dans un esprit de fraternité.<ref name="omniglot" />
|'''[[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]]'''<br />Tôs los étres homans nêssont libros et ègals en dignitât et en drêts. Ils ant rêson et conscience et dêvont fâre los uns envèrs los ôtros dedens un èsprit de fraternitât.<ref name="omniglot" />
|'''[[Catalan language|Catalan]]'''<br />Totes les persones neixen/naixen lliures i iguals en dignitat i en drets. Són dotades de raó i de consciència, i cal que es comportin fraternalment les unes amb les altres.<ref name="omniglot">{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/udhr/italic.htm|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)|publisher=Omniglot.com|access-date=15 October 2009|archive-date=18 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018133257/http://www.omniglot.com/udhr/italic.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
|'''[[Spanish language|Spanish]]'''<br />Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos y, dotados como están de razón y conciencia, deben comportarse fraternalmente los unos con los otros.<ref name="omniglot" />
|'''[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]'''<br />Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e direitos. Eles são dotados de razão e consciência, e devem comportar-se fraternalmente uns com os outros.<ref name="omniglot" />
|'''[[Italian language|Italian]]'''<br />Tutti gli esseri umani nascono liberi ed uguali in dignità e in diritti. Sono dotati di ragione e di coscienza e devono comportarsi fraternamente l'uno con l'altro.<ref name="omniglot" />
|'''English'''<br />All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/udhr/germanic.htm|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)|publisher=Omniglot.com|access-date=15 October 2009|archive-date=18 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018170432/http://www.omniglot.com/udhr/germanic.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

Note that Catalan version was translated from the Spanish, while the Occitan versions were translated from the French. The second part of the Catalan version may also be rendered as "Són dotades de raó i de consciència, i els cal actuar entre si amb un esperit de fraternitat", showing the similarities between Occitan and Catalan.

===Orthography IETF subtags===
Several [[IETF language tag|IETF language subtags]] have been registered for the different orthographies:<ref name="IETF">{{cite web |title=Language subtag registry |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry |publisher=IANA |access-date=8 April 2021 |language=en |date=2021-03-05 |archive-date=12 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112063905/http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry |url-status=live }}</ref>
* {{code|oc-grclass}}: Classical Occitan orthography.
* {{code|oc-grital}}: Italian-inspired Occitan orthography.
* {{code|oc-grmistr}}: Mistralian-inspired Occitan orthography.

===Debates concerning linguistic classification and orthography===
The majority of scholars think that Occitan constitutes a single language.{{sfn|Kremnitz|2002|pp=109–111}} Some authors,<ref>Philippe Blanchet, Louis Bayle, Pierre Bonnaud and Jean Lafitte</ref> constituting a minority,{{sfn|Kremnitz|2002|pp=109–111}} reject this opinion and even the name ''Occitan'', thinking that there is a family of distinct {{lang|oc|lengas d'òc}} rather than dialects of a single language.

Many Occitan linguists and writers,<ref>Kremnitz, Georg (2003) "Un regard sociolinguistique sur les changements de la situation de l'occitan depuis 1968" in: Castano R., Guida, S., & Latella, F. (2003) (dir.) ''Scènes, évolutions, sort de la langue et de la littérature d'oc. Actes du VIIe congrès de l'Association Internationale d'Études Occitanes'', Reggio di Calabria/Messina, 7–13 juillet 2002, Rome: Viella</ref> particularly those involved with the pan-Occitan movement centered on the [[Institut d'Estudis Occitans]], disagree with the view that Occitan is a family of languages; instead they believe Limousin, Auvergnat, Languedocien, Gascon, Provençal and Vivaro-Alpine are dialects of a single language. Although there are indeed noticeable differences between these varieties, there is a very high degree of [[mutual intelligibility]] between them<ref>For traditional Romance philology see:
:*{{citation | last=Ronjat | first=Jules | year=1913 | title=Essai de syntaxe des parlers provençaux modernes | publisher=Protat | place=Macon | language=fr | page=12 | url=https://archive.org/stream/essaidesyntaxede00ronjuoft#page/12/mode/2up }}: {{lang|fr|Mais les différences de phonétique, de morphologie, de syntaxe et de vocabulaire ne sont pas telles qu'une personne connaissant pratiquement à fond un de nos dialectes ne puisse converser dans ce dialecte avec une autre personne parlant un autre dialecte qu'elle possède pratiquement à fond.}} (But phonetic, morphological, syntactical and lexical differences are not such that a person quite perfectly fluent in one of our dialects would not be able to have a conversation with another person speaking another dialect with an equally perfect fluency).
:*{{citation | last=Ronjat | first=Jules | year=1930 | title=Grammaire historique des parlers provençaux modernes | publisher=Société des langues romanes (Volume 1) | place=Montpellier | pages=1–32 | url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58339580/f32.image | language=fr | access-date=22 February 2013 | archive-date=11 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911183011/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58339580/f32.image | url-status=live }}.
:For a discussion of the unity of the Occitan [[diasystem]] in structural linguistics see {{harvnb|Bec|1973|pp=24–25}}.</ref> partly because they share a common literary history; furthermore, academic and literary circles have identified them as a collective linguistic entity—the {{lang|oc|lenga d'òc}}—for centuries.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Some Provençal authors continue to support the view that Provençal is a separate language.<ref>Philippe Blanchet, Louis Bayle</ref> Nevertheless, the vast majority of Provençal authors and associations think that Provençal is a part of Occitan.<ref>The most emblematic and productive ones, [[Frédéric Mistral]], [[Robert Lafont]], and their followers ([[Théodore Aubanel]], [http://www.rene-merle.com/ René Merle] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627091610/http://www.rene-merle.com/ |date=27 June 2007 }}, Claude Barsotti, Philippe Gardy, Florian Vernet, Bernard Giély, Pierre Pessemesse...), and also the most important and historic Provençal cultural associations as [https://web.archive.org/web/20230818174610/http://c-oc.org/oc/provenca/article.php3?id_article=10 CREO Provença], [http://www.felibrige.org/spip.php?article3 Felibrige] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015112912/http://www.felibrige.org/spip.php?article3 |date=15 October 2007 }} and [http://www.prouvenco-aro.com/archieu/outobre.htm Parlaren (Assiso de la Lengo Nostro en Prouvènço, 2003)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040228224426/http://www.prouvenco-aro.com/archieu/outobre.htm |date=28 February 2004 }}</ref>

This debate about the status of Provençal should not be confused with the debate concerning the spelling of Provençal.
* The '''classical orthography''' is [[phonemic orthography|phonemic]] and [[diasystem]]ic, and thus more pan-Occitan. It can be used for (and adapted to) all Occitan dialects and regions, including Provençal. Its supporters think that Provençal is a part of Occitan.
* The '''Mistralian orthography''' of Provençal is more or less phonemic but not diasystemic and is closer to the [[French language|French]] spelling and therefore more specific to Provençal; its users are divided between the ones who think that Provençal is a part of Occitan and the ones who think that Provençal is a separate language.

For example, the classical system writes ''Polonha'', whereas the Mistralian spelling system has ''Poulougno'', for {{IPA|[puˈluɲo]}}, 'Poland'.

The question of [[Gascon language|Gascon]] is similar. Gascon presents a number of significant differences from the rest of the language; but, despite these differences, Gascon and other Occitan dialects have very important common lexical and grammatical features, so authors such as Pierre Bec argue that they could never be considered as different as, for example, Spanish and Italian.<ref>{{harvnb|Bec|1963|p=46}}: The close ties between Gascon and others Occitan dialects have been demonstrated through a common diasystem.</ref> In addition, Gascon's being included in Occitan despite its particular differences can be justified because there is a common elaboration (''[[Ausbau language|Ausbau]]'') process between Gascon and the rest of Occitan.{{sfn|Kremnitz|2002|pp=109–111}} The vast majority of the Gascon cultural movement considers itself as a part of the Occitan cultural movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pernoste.com/|title=Per Noste edicions|website=www.pernoste.com|access-date=12 June 2007|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207014340/https://www.pernoste.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://perso.orange.fr/anaram/ Perso.orange.fr] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712234051/http://perso.orange.fr/anaram/ |date=12 July 2007 }}, Aranaram Au Patac</ref> And the official status of [[Val d'Aran]] ([[Catalonia]], Spain), adopted in 1990, says that [[Aranese]] is a part of [[Gascon language|Gascon]] and Occitan. A grammar of Aranese by Aitor Carrera, published in 2007 in [[Lleida]], presents the same view.{{sfn|Carrera|2007}}

The exclusion of [[Catalan language|Catalan]] from the Occitan sphere, even though Catalan is closely related, is justified because there has been a consciousness of its being different from Occitan since the later Middle Ages and because the elaboration (''Ausbau'') processes of Catalan and Occitan (including Gascon) have been quite distinct since the 20th century. Nevertheless, other scholars point out that the process that led to the affirmation of Catalan as a distinct language from Occitan started during the period when the pressure to include Catalan-speaking areas in a mainstream Spanish culture was at its greatest.<ref>Lluis Fornés, see his thesis. {{Cite thesis |last=Fornés |first=Lluis |title=El pensament panoccitanista (1904–2004) en les revistes Occitania, Oc, L'Amic de les Ats, Taula de Lletres Valencianes, Revista Occitana i Paraula d'Oc |date=2004 |publisher=University of Valencia |url=http://www.oc-valencia.org/files/autors/El_Pensament_Ultima.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003112058/http://www.oc-valencia.org/files/autors/El_Pensament_Ultima.pdf |language=ca-valencia |trans-title=The pan-occitanista thought (1904–2004) in the magazines Occitania, Oc, L'Amic de les Ats, Taula de Lletres Valencianes, Revista Occitana and Paraula d'Oc |via=www.oc-valencia.org |archive-date=3 October 2008 |accessdate=19 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The answer to the question of whether [[Gascon language|Gascon]] or [[Catalan language|Catalan]] should be considered dialects of Occitan or separate languages has long been a matter of opinion or convention, rather than based on scientific ground. However, two recent studies support Gascon's being considered a distinct language. For the first time, a quantifiable, statistics-based approach was applied by Stephan Koppelberg in attempt to solve this issue.<ref>Stephan Koppelberg, El lèxic hereditari caracteristic de l'occità i del gascó i la seva relació amb el del català (conclusions d'un analisi estadística), Actes del vuitè Col·loqui Internacional de Llengua i Literatura Catalana, Volume 1 (1988). Antoni M. Badia Margarit & Michel Camprubi ed. (in Catalan)</ref> Based on the results he obtained, he concludes that Catalan, Occitan, and Gascon should all be considered three distinct languages. More recently, Y. Greub and J.P. Chambon (Sorbonne University, Paris) demonstrated that the formation of Proto-Gascon was already complete at the eve of the 7th century, whereas Proto-Occitan was not yet formed at that time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chambon |first1=Jean-Pierre  |last2=Greub |first2=Yan  |year=2002 |title=Note sur l'âge du (proto)gascon |journal=Revue de Linguistique Romane |language=fr |volume=66 |pages=473–495}}</ref> These results induced linguists to do away with the conventional classification of Gascon, favoring the "distinct language" alternative.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} Both studies supported the early intuition of the late [[Kurt Baldinger]], a specialist of both medieval Occitan and medieval Gascon, who recommended that Occitan and Gascon be classified as separate languages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baldinger |first=Kurt |year=1962 |title=La langue des documents en ancien gascon |journal=Revue de Linguistique Romane |language=fr |volume=26 |pages=331–347}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baldinger |first=Kurt |year=1962 |title=Textes anciens gascons |journal=Revue de Linguistique Romane |language=fr |volume=26 |pages=348–362}}</ref>