Nothing is more difficult than to define a language. A language is commonly characterized political: a codified standard (acrolect), which has formal validity within certain limits, is considered as a separate language. Of course this can not satisfy a linguist. Often, a make linguists no fixed boundaries between language versions, so are languages for him fairly homogeneous compositions or by certain similarities marked dialect communities within a more or less graded continuum, where allochthonous languages (ie languages of immigrants) are not taken into account. And this continuum is not necessarily only spatially but also temporally! be complicated by the facts or by the fact that in many regions is a standard font, which differs considerably from the local language forms. This situation is often observed in Europe: the standard German superimposed on low-, medium-, and High German dialects, represent the many communication barriers, and Frisian, which is really close to the English language. The Florentine (now Italian) dominates over the other East Romance tongues and dialects of Sardinian, Catalan (at Alghero), Provencal, Padanian, Venetian and the Romansch language versions (Ladin, Furlan and Grischun), but also Bavarian and Slovenian as a non-Roman languages. Castilian English superimposed Catalan, Portuguese (Galician) and Basque. And French, covered in addition to German and Basque as non-Roman languages, especially Catalan, Gascon, the Corsican and Occitan. In return, the South Slavic Standard Serbo-Croatian recently in three or four more or less independent languages split - where there is actually no understanding barrier.
For Roger Bacon and his contemporaries, by the way were all Romance dialects of Latin languages: the dialect is another body of each distinct special kind of language, such as Picard, French and Provencal, is because the Latin language after all one and the same substance , but varies depending on the dialect.
about this quotation illustrates how ideology influenced the separation of language and dialect in general. The scope of the term dialect depends primarily on what a separate "language" will accept. And here, primarily, the presence of a own written tradition to be relevant.
languages are generally defined political, and the transcript, plays a crucial role in the political presence. Languages are mostly seen only as an independent if they also have a standardized writing system and an official territory: "A shprakh iz a diyalekt with Armey on un a flot", so Max Weinreich stated quite correctly (YIVO blet 25.1.13 -. New York, 1945).
, linguistics is of course a different approach. Many anthropologists and linguists provide as a minimum criterion for the categorization of independent language barrier to understanding. An empirical means of status determination is the lexicostatistical Distance: varies strongly, the vocabulary of two language versions, they are considered separate languages. The vocabulary is largely identical, however, you are considered dialects of a language. These measurable statement of the taxonomic distance between two language variants has been since the 1960s among linguists use and has been constantly refined.
is considered the scientific language Occitan language the Gallo-Roman community, which in turn is one of the Western Roman branch of the Indo-European language family. This is already established some basic characteristics: As members of the Indo-European is an inflected language with some heteroclitic stems (ie stems with alternating sound pattern) and a relative preponderance of consonants compared to the vowels. And while the East Romance tongues languages (the main representatives are Italian, Corsican, Romanian, Aromanian and the extinct Dalmatian the eastern Adriatic coast cities), the nichtpalatalisierten Velarplosive / g / and / k / before light vowels (e and i) by a subsequent H mark (gh ~ and ch ~), write the western Romance languages here usually ~ ~ gu and qu. This is precisely the H refers orthographically usually indicates a palatalization (eg French: chat, chevalier - English. Noche, hacha - port: piranha, alho). This can usually have on hand the graphics to make a distinction. Structurally, the two groups differ mainly by the different plurals in the noun: whereas the Western Romance languages mark the plural by a suffix ~ S, East Romance tongues, the languages the plural form of vowel change in final position. The reason is the late Latin Flexionsverfall, where only two cases in the singular and plural have been preserved: caballus (nominative singular), caballu (accusative singular), caballi (nominative plural) and caballos (accusative plural). To the east was in the plural Nominativbildung exist in the West during the accusative form remained. This deviation seems to be the general failure of final ~ S in the East Romance tongues languages go hand in hand (Italian: tre - English: tres / Italian: hai - English: has / Italian: Us - English: somos). This led to the division between Eastern and Western Romance. Only the Sardinian falls out of this scheme because it forth from the sound image very close to the classical Latin is (all spelling C with the K-playing sound).
There are also less traditional division in central and marginal Romance Romance languages: the Romance languages in Central Europe have some structural and lexical innovations that reached the edge groups are not, so that the Balkan Romance and the Ibero-Romance Said a slightly archaic language status represent.
The Western Romance languages can be broken down again in the Gallo-Roman and Ibero-Romance group - with the assignment of the individual languages is not always clear. The Gallo-Romance languages in the territory of modern France are divided basically into two groups - north and south of the Loire: the northern langue d'oil (from the Old French word for yes oïl) and the Southern Langues d'oc (from Old Occitan word for yes ÒC) . From the latter name is also the name for the region of Languedoc, but covers only a part of the whole language area. Both words (oil and ÒC) developed independently from the vulgar Latin phrase hoc ille, expressed consent. This distinction was first made by Dante Alighieri in his De Tues vulgari eloquentia (around 1300) that separated even by Langues de si. The modern French is originally the Parisian dialect of the langue d'oil - the so-called Picard. The Occitan - a term from the Middle Ages, which are now back together the langue d'oc - is divided in turn into regional dialects. In the north it includes the Limousin tables, the Auvergnats and various alpine varieties (Piedmont). In the south it is composed of the Languedokischen, Provençal (Proensal) and the Nissart (in the area of Nice) together. Structurally, the Occitan language is closer to Catalan than French, only the spelling is more aligned with the French, while the Catalan inspired by the Castilian model. From a vocabulary ago, the three groups (French, Occitan and Catalan) are more likely attributable to the Gallo-Roman area and stand out in this respect from the Ibero-Romance: port: azul - English: azul - katal: blue - okzit. blue. . - French: bleu. But since the Franco-Norman influence in the south of modern France was less strong, kept the Occitan (like Catalan) compared to the French rather its Romanesque character.
a middle position between the Langues d'oil Langues d'oc and occupies the Arpitan that, although it has no standard, but nevertheless clearly from both groups. It is spoken in the western Aplenregion (Switzerland, Italy, France) and at Lyon (Rhone Valley and Savoy). In the 12th
Century became the Occitan language to a cultural identity - especially as the bearer of Trobaire seal - the radiated far into the Roman surroundings and neighboring languages lasting influence. The Troubadours (singular: trobaire - fran: trouve, later, as a loan word. from the south of the form set by troubadour) saw themselves as "creators" of a new poetry, women's service and devotion to the fair sex had to content and for the vernacular used. Walking through the busy activities of the Minne-singers a fairly common language was created for this poem, which even extends to the neighboring areas. The widespread impact of these Trobaire seal was so great that were written for example in neighboring Catalonia that time, the prose texts in Catalan and in Occitan poetry. The Albigensian Crusade brought this flower but an abrupt end.
The French king Philip II used after some hesitation, the 1209 Call of Pope Innocent III. a religious war and attacked the weakened abruptly south. 1229 this violent and papal-sanctioned annexation by Louis VIII, was completed after previously a significant proportion of the resident population had been killed. The Inquisition was in the years that followed her to the extinction of many indigenous speakers at. Through the centralization of state, Louis XIV was abolished as the Occitan language of instruction and pushed back completely on the use of private life. This policy has been tightened since the French Revolution in 1789. With the new idea of nationhood, the only official language of each state (equal to nation) allowed to gradually all other languages in the country have been systematically eliminated. It was a perfidious education to apply: If a student in the classroom accidentally used a non-French word, he got a wooden stick in his hand, which he had long kept, used the wrong word to another. Then he was allowed to pass on the floor. At the end of the school day that students were punished for speech offenses, who held the rod end.
Almost all European countries followed the same process of displacement of languages on the French model. Only today is recognized, what causes this loss of cultural language. Therefore, now there are efforts to curb this trend stop or even reverse. have been developed so now there is a codified language of Occitan literature, the guidelines of the Institut d'Estudis occitane in Tolosa (Toulouse). Unfortunately, this standard is only a part of the surviving speaker accepted - is above all in Provence fought for the recognition of a separate provincial standards (Proensal). Today there are in the south of France still an estimated two to three million speakers of Occitan, which are mainly to older people in the country. Official language is Castilian only find in Val d'Aran in Spain (Aranese).
A text example (poetry) of Old Occitan by Giraut de Bornelh (second Half of the 12th Century): glorious
rice, verais lums e clartatz, Deus poderos, Senhen, si a vos places, Al meu companh siatz Fizel aiuda; Qu'eu no lo vi, pos la noche so venguda, Et ades sera l'alba!
Glorious king, true light and true splendor, mighty God, Lord, if you like it, be my companion a loyal assistance, for since the dawn of the night I saw him, and soon will dawn the morning!
nouns in comparison
Lat: * Carboni - rum. Carbune - Italian. - French carbone. Charbon - oczit: carbon - katal. Carbo - English. Carbon - port: carvão (coal)
Lat.: Frater - space.: Frate - undersown Italian: Frate - Sarde.: Frade - fran.: Frere - okzit.: Fraire - katal.: Effectively conducted - Port.: Frade (Bruder)
Lat.: Gay - space .: about - undersown Italian: uomo - Sarde.: omine - fran.: homme - okzit.: about - katal.: home - span.: hombre - Port.: Homem (Mann, Mensch)
Lat.: nox - spaces.: noapte - undersown Italian: notte - Sarde.: notte - fran.: nuit - okzit.: noitz - katal.: nit - span.: Noche - Port.: Noite (Night)
Lat.: piscator - undersown Italian : Pescatore - Sarde.: piscadore - fran.: Pêcheur - okzit.: pescaire - katal.: pescaire - div.: fisher - port.: fisherman (Fischer)
Lat.: Blood - rum.: Singer - italo.: blood - mackerel.: Sambene - fran.: Sang - okzit.: sancs - katal.: sanc - div.: blood - port.: blood (Blut)
Lat.: VIRTUS - rum.: vărtuţi - italo.: virtù - mackerel.: strength - fran.: vertu - okzit.: virtutz - katal. : virtute - div.: strength - port.: virtue (Tugend)
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