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Occitan

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Occitan (ôksētäN`) or Provençal (prôväNsäl`), member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Romance languages Romance languages, group of languages belonging to the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Italic languages). Also called Romanic, they are spoken by about 670 million people in many parts of the world, but chiefly in Europe and the Western
..... Click the link for more information. ). The language label Provençal is often restricted in its reference to the dialects of Provence, a region of SE France, but it can be extended to include other related dialects of S France. In its latter, broader sense, Occitan is spoken today, usually along with French, by as many as 5 million people in France; however, it has no official status in that country. Additional speakers are also found in Pyrenean Catalonia, Spain, and in parts of Italy (mainly in the northwest).

In the Middle Ages, Provençal, also called langue d'oc (see langue d'oc and langue d'oïl langue d'oc and langue d'oïl , names of the two principal groups of medieval French dialects.
..... Click the link for more information. ), became important as the medium of the great literature of the troubadours troubadours , aristocratic poet-musicians of S France (Provence) who flourished from the end of the 11th cent. through the 13th cent. Many troubadours were noblemen and crusader knights; some were kings, e.g.
..... Click the link for more information. , who developed it into a standard local Romance language. After the Albigensian Crusade (see under Albigenses Albigenses [Lat.,=people of Albi, one of their centers], religious sect of S France in the Middle Ages. Beliefs and Practices


Officially known as heretics, they were actually Cathari, Provençal adherents of a doctrine similar to the
..... Click the link for more information. ) weakened S France, Provençal culture declined and in time the Provençal language was wholly replaced by French as the standard language of France. In the 19th cent. an unsuccessful movement arose to bring back the former glory of Provençal by restoring it as the literary and regional tongue of S France.

Bibliography

See D. C. Haskell, Provençal Literature and Language (1925).
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9780521872409 The Occitan War; a military and political history of the Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1218.
The Occitan War; a military and political history of the Albigensian ... by Reference & Research Book News
For years France's regional languages were seen by Paris as a taboo that threatened national unity and should be repressed - children were punished for speaking Breton in the playground, banned from speaking Occitan in southern schools or Alsatian dialect in the east.
Local language recognition angers French academy by guardian.co.uk / guardian.co.uk
And Montpellier travel to the Occitan stronghold boasting their new French internationals Francois Trinh-Duc and Francois Ouedraogo.
Rugby Union: Boosted visitors have all the luck; TOP 14: Eurosport, ... by The Racing Post (London, England)
 
 
 
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