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Provençal dialect

Provençal
Prouvençau (mistralian norm)
Provençau (classical norm)
Native to France, Italy, Monaco
Native speakers
(350,000 cited 1990)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog prov1235

Provençal /prɒvɒnˈsæl/ (Occitan: Provençau or Prouvençau [pʀuveⁿˈsaw]) is a variety of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English-speaking world, the term "Provençal" has historically also been used to refer to all of Occitan, but is now mainly understood to refer to the variety spoken in Provence.

"Provençal" (with "Limousin") is also the customary name given to the older version of the langue d'oc used by the troubadours of medieval literature, while Old French or the langue d'oïl was limited to the northern areas of France.

In 2007, the ISO 639-3 code for Provençal, [prv], was retired and merged into [oci] Occitan.

The main subdialects of Provençal are:

Gavòt (in French Gavot), spoken in the Western Occitan Alps, around Digne, Sisteron, Gap, Barcelonnette and the upper County of Nice, but also in a part of the Ardèche, is not exactly a subdialect of Provençal, but rather a closely related Occitan dialect, also known as Vivaro-Alpine. So is the dialect spoken in the upper valleys of Piedmont, Italy (Val Maira, Val Varacha, Val d'Estura, Entraigas, Limon, Vinai, Pignerol, Sestriera). Some people view Gavòt as a variety of Provençal since a part of the Gavot area (near Digne and Sisteron) belongs to historical Provence.


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