Editing Languedocien dialect

{{Short description|Occitan dialect}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{redirect|Languedocien|other uses|Languedoc}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Languedocian
| nativename       = ''lengadocian''
| states           = France
| region           = [[Southern France]]
| speakers         = 5,000
| date             = no date
| ref              = <ref>{{e15|lnc|Languedocien}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3             = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4             = [[Latin]]
| fam5             = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6             = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7             = [[Western Romance languages|Western Romance]]
| fam8             = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]
| fam9             = [[Occitano-Romance languages|Occitano-Romance]]
| fam10             = [[Occitan language|Occitan]]
| map              = Lengadocians.jpg
| mapcaption       = The extent of Languedocien in the Occitan area
|iso3=lnc
|iso3comment=(retired); subsumed in {{code|oci}}
| ietf             = {{wikidata|property|references|P305}}
| glotto           = lang1309
| glottorefname    = Languedocian Occitan
}}

'''Languedocien''' (French name, {{IPA|fr|lɑ̃ɡdɔsjɛ̃|pron|LL-Q150 (fra)-Lepticed7-languedocien.wav}}), '''Languedocian''', or '''Lengadocian''' ({{IPA|oc|ˌleŋɡɔðuˈsja}}) is an [[Occitan language|Occitan]] dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as [[Languedoc]], [[Rouergue]], [[Quercy]], [[Agenais]] and Southern [[Périgord]]. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennais.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Ronjat|first=Jules|title=Grammaire istorique [sic] des parlers provençaux modernes|publisher=Société des langues romanes|year=1930–1941|location=Montpellier}}</ref> Due to its central position among the dialects of Occitan, it is often used as a basis for a Standard Occitan.<ref>Claudi Balaguer, "Languedocian: A Central and Interface Dialect within Occitan", in John Partridge (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xF4nBwAAQBAJ&q=Languedocian&pg=PA137 ''Interfaces in Language''], Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010</ref>

About 10% of the population of Languedoc are fluent in the language (about 300,000), and another 20% (600,000) "have some understanding" of the language. All speak French as their first or second language.

== Geographic distribution ==
Languedocien is spoken in certain parts of three French regions.

* [[Occitania (administrative region)|Occitanie]]: Aveyron, Lot, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne except Lomagne, Ariège (except a western part), Haute-Garonne (except the districts of Saint-Gaudens and Muret), Aude, Hérault, Lozère, western and northern parts of Gard and Fenouillèdes.
* [[Nouvelle-Aquitaine]]: south of the Dordogne, east of the Gironde, north-eastern two-thirds of Lot-et-Garonne, the southern fringe of Corrèze.
* [[Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes]]: area of Bas-Vivarois, Languedocien-Nord-Cévenol

Other dialects spoken in these areas include: [[Gascon language|Gascon]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Limousin dialect|Limousin]], and [[Auvergnat dialect|Auvergnat]], as well as the unrelated [[Basque language|Basque]] language.

== Characteristics ==
The following are the main characteristics of the Languedocien dialect:

* [[occlusive]]s are kept at the end of a word: ''cantat'' [kanˈtat] (in [[Provençal dialect|Provençal]]: [kãnˈta]);
* preservation of the final ''s'' of a word: ''los òmes'' [luˈzɔmes] (in Limousin: [luzɔˈmej]);
* the final ''n'' of a word is dropped: ''occitan'' [utsiˈta] (in Provençal: [usiˈtãn]);
* absence of [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalisation]] of CA and GA groups: ''cantar'', ''gal'' (in Auvergnat: ''chantar'', ''jal'');
* preservation of the final ''l'' of a word (i.e. not vocalised): ''provençal'' (in Provençal and in Gascon: ''provençau'');
* lack of distinction between the sounds ''b'' and ''v'' ([[betacism]]): ''vin'' [bi] (in Auvergnat, Limousin and Provençal: [vji], [vi], [vin]).

None of these characteristics are unique to Languedocien; many are shared with one or more other [[Occitan language|Occitan]] dialects. Languedocien is both a central and [[Linguistic conservatism|conservative]] dialect. For these reasons, certain linguists are in favour of a standardisation of Occitan using Languedocien as a basis for this.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Teulat|first=Roger|title=Memento grammatical de l'occitan référentiel|publisher=Cap e cap|year=1976|location=Sauvagnes|pages=12}}</ref>

== Variations ==
[[File:Sumien.jpg|thumb|317x317px|Dialects and sub-dialects of Occitan according to D. Sumien<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Sumien|first=Domergue|title=Classificacion dei dialèctes occitans|year=2009}}</ref>]]
Languedocien encompasses a number of variations, the classification of which is still ongoing.

[[Jules Ronjat]] gives three sub-groups:<ref name=":0" />

* Eastern Languedocien dialects: Alésien, Montpelliérain, Lodévois, and Bitterrois (the latter tending towards Western Languedocien).
* Western Languedocien dialects: Narbonnais, Carcassonnais, Toulousain (including Fuxéen and Capcinois), Albigeois, Montalbanais, Agenais (the latter tending towards Guyennais and Gascon).
* Guyennais dialects: Rouergat, Gévaudanais (Lozère, Cévennes), Quercinois, Aurillacois, Sarladais, Bergeracois.
* He also classes Bas-Vivarois as a Languedocien dialect but separate from the above categories.

[[Louis Alibert]] uses four sub-groups:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alibert|first=Louis |title=Gramatica occitana segon los parlars lengadocians |year=1976 |publisher=IEC |location=Montpellier |isbn=978-2-85910-274-6}}</ref>

* Eastern dialects: Cévenol, Montpelliérain, Bitterois.
* Southern dialects: Toulousain, Fuxéen, Donezanais, Narbonnais, "Central" (Carcassonais), Agenais.
* Western dialects: Bergeracois, Villeneuvois, Sarladais, Haut-Quercinois, Bas-Quercinois, Albigeois.
* Northern dialects: Aurillacois, Rouergat, Gévaudanais.

[[Domergue Sumien]] defines the categories thus:<ref name=":1" />

* Eastern dialects: Cévenol, Montpelliérain.
* Southern dialects: Toulousain, Fuxéen, Donezanais, Narbonnais, Carcassonais.
* Western dialects: Bas-Quercinois, Albigeois, Agenais, Bitterois.
* Northern dialects: Bergeracois, Villeneuvois, Sarladais, Haut-Quercinois, Aurillacois, Rouergat, Gévaudanais, Bas-Vivarois.

In their supra-dialectal classification of Occitan, [[Pierre Bec]] and Domergue Sumien divide Languedocien into one or two supra-dialectal groups:

* Pierre Bec places Southern Languedocien dialects in the Aquitanian-Pyrenean group and the rest of the Languedocien dialects in the Central Occitanian group.
* Domergue Sumien classifies these Languedocien dialects similarly, but groups both Aquitanian-Pyrenean and Central Occitanian under the title of Pre-Iberian.
<gallery>
File:Bec supradialectal.jpg|Supradialectal classification of Occitan according to P. Bec<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bec|first=Pierre|title=Manuel pratique d'occitan moderne|publisher=Picard|year=1973|location=Paris}}</ref>
File:Sumien supradialectal.jpg|Supradialectal classification of Occitan according to D. Sumien<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sumien|first=Domergue|title=La standardisation pluricentrique de l'occitan: nouvel enjeu sociolinguistique, développement du lexique et de la morphologie|publisher=Brepols|year=2006|location=Turnhout}}</ref>
</gallery>

== Usage ==
With the absence of a linguistic census, it is difficult to obtain exact figures on the number of speakers. The most recent global studies on Occitan say the number of speakers ranges from 500,000 to 700,000 for the language as a whole.<ref>Philippe Martel, "Qui parle occitan ?" in ''Langues et cité'' Archived 16 March 2012 at the [[Wayback Machine]] n°10, December 2007.</ref> [[UNESCO]], which is the only organisation to treat Languedocien independently, estimates the number at around 500,000, and considers the language under serious threat.<ref>{{Cite web|title=UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/interactive-atlas-00206|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unesco.org%2Fculture%2Fich%2Findex.php%3Fpg%3D00206|archive-date=27 August 2021|access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Occitan conjugation]]
* [[Languages of France]]
* [[Langue d'oc]]
* [[Émile Mazuc]], scholar of the Languedocien language

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Expand French|Languedocien|date=January 2020}}

{{Romance languages}}
{{Occitano-Romance languages and dialects}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Occitan language]]
[[Category:Languages of France]]