Languedocien dialect

Languedocien is spoken in certain parts of three French regions. • 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, Catalan, Limousin, and Auvergnat, as well as the unrelated Basque language. == Characteristics ==

The following are the main characteristics of the Languedocien dialect: • occlusives are kept at the end of a word: cantat [kanˈtat] (in 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 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 dialects. Languedocien is both a central and conservative dialect. For these reasons, certain linguists are in favour of a standardisation of Occitan using Languedocien as a basis for this. == Variations ==

Languedocien encompasses a number of variations, the classification of which is still ongoing. Jules Ronjat gives three sub-groups: • 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: File:Sumien supradialectal.jpg|Supradialectal classification of Occitan according to D. Sumien == 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. UNESCO, which is the only organisation to treat Languedocien independently, estimates the number at around 500,000, and considers the language under serious threat. == See also ==