Provençal language (redirected from Provençal)

Provençal language (prôväNsäl`): see Occitan.

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Occitan language

 or Provençal language

Romance language spoken in Occitania, a region of southern France. The 1.5 million people of this region use Occitan dialects in everyday life and French as their official and cultural language. The term langue d'oc is based on the use of the word oc for “yes.” The name Provençal originally referred to the dialects of the Provence region, used by medieval troubadours and as a standard and literary language in France and northern Spain in the 12th–14th centuries. Today's major dialects are those of Limousin, Auvergnat, Provence, and Languedoc. Gascon, spoken in southwestern France and usually classified as an Occitan dialect, is sometimes considered a distinct language. Occitan is closely related to Catalan and, despite recent French influences, has more in common with Spanish than with French.