Berrichon (French pronunciation: [beʁiʃɔ̃] or [bɛʁiʃɔ̃]) is an Oïl language very closely related to French or a dialect of it traditionally spoken in the historical area of the French province of Berry. The word is also used as a demonym and as an adjective meaning "pertaining to Berry".
The dialect evolved out of the langues d'oïl which evolved during the Middle Ages out of the Vulgar Latin spoken in northern Gaul. Its general use in the Berry region began to decline in the sixteenth century as the local aristocracy and bourgeoisie began to adopt standard French, leaving Berrichon as a "patois" used by the peasantry in the countryside. Subsequent developments, such as the French Revolution, which created a sense of nationalism, and the establishment of free, mandatory, primary education under the Minister of Public Instruction, Jules Ferry, which greatly expanded the teaching of French, further undermined the position of Berrichon.
The decline of Berrichon has virtually led to it being regarded as a sub-standard dialect of French rather than a separate language. Additionally, as most speakers in its region now speak standard French, it is no longer possible to say that a Berrichon "patois" exists, but rather that a regional version of French does. Nevertheless, traces of Berrichon and its regional varieties remain today. This is exemplified in the continued use of Berrichon terms in spoken French among speakers in the region.
Phonology and lexicon
Although Berrichon does not have an official grammar or pronunciation, there are general rules as to how it differs from French. Berrichon differentiates between closed and open a. Rs are rolled and emphatic. Words which have the o sound in standard French are pronounced with a close back rounded vowel, resulting in, for example, un houmme (man), une poumme (apple). The oi [wa] sound becomes oé [oe]. The suffix -eur becomes -eux in Berrichon, and -eau becomes -iau; therefore, leurs (theirs) is ieux and un seau d'eau (a bucket of water) is un siau d'iau.
Conjugation is also different. The present indicative of the first-person singular, the third-person singular and the third-person plural are all conjugated in the same manner, which results in phrases of the type, "j'menons les oies" ("I lead the geese"). There is also frequent truncation: "i m'nons les oies" ("they lead the geese"). Tense endings are also different from standard French, as in the third person plural imperfect ending -aient is replaced by -aint, e.g., "i's étaint" instead of "ils étaient" ("They used to be").
In Berry, it is customary to precede given names with articles: la for women's names and eul for men's names.
When referring to weather terms, the pronoun ça is used in place of the French il. For example, "Il pleut" (It is raining.) would be "Ça pleut" in Berrichon.
Examples of Berrichon vocabulary being used instead of their French counterparts include:
berrichon, dialect, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Berrichon dialect news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Berrichon French pronunciation beʁiʃɔ or bɛʁiʃɔ is an Oil language very closely related to French or a dialect of it traditionally spoken in the historical area of the French province of Berry The word is also used as a demonym and as an adjective meaning pertaining to Berry BerrichonberrichonNative toFranceRegionBerryLanguage familyIndo European ItalicLatino FaliscanRomanceItalo WesternWestern RomanceGallo RomanceGallo Rhaetian 1 possibly OilBerrichonEarly formsOld Latin Vulgar Latin Proto Romance Old Gallo Romance Old FrenchLanguage codesISO 639 3 Glottologberr1239 Contents 1 History 2 Current status 3 Phonology and lexicon 4 See also 5 ReferencesHistory EditThe dialect evolved out of the langues d oil which evolved during the Middle Ages out of the Vulgar Latin spoken in northern Gaul Its general use in the Berry region began to decline in the sixteenth century as the local aristocracy and bourgeoisie began to adopt standard French leaving Berrichon as a patois used by the peasantry in the countryside Subsequent developments such as the French Revolution which created a sense of nationalism and the establishment of free mandatory primary education under the Minister of Public Instruction Jules Ferry which greatly expanded the teaching of French further undermined the position of Berrichon Current status EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message The decline of Berrichon has virtually led to it being regarded as a sub standard dialect of French rather than a separate language Additionally as most speakers in its region now speak standard French it is no longer possible to say that a Berrichon patois exists but rather that a regional version of French does Nevertheless traces of Berrichon and its regional varieties remain today This is exemplified in the continued use of Berrichon terms in spoken French among speakers in the region Phonology and lexicon EditAlthough Berrichon does not have an official grammar or pronunciation there are general rules as to how it differs from French Berrichon differentiates between closed and open a Rs are rolled and emphatic Words which have the o sound in standard French are pronounced with a close back rounded vowel resulting in for example un houmme man une poumme apple The oi wa sound becomes oe oe The suffix eur becomes eux in Berrichon and eau becomes iau therefore leurs theirs is ieux and un seau d eau a bucket of water is un siau d iau Conjugation is also different The present indicative of the first person singular the third person singular and the third person plural are all conjugated in the same manner which results in phrases of the type j menons les oies I lead the geese There is also frequent truncation i m nons les oies they lead the geese Tense endings are also different from standard French as in the third person plural imperfect ending aient is replaced by aint e g i s etaint instead of ils etaient They used to be In Berry it is customary to precede given names with articles la for women s names and eul for men s names When referring to weather terms the pronoun ca is used in place of the French il For example Il pleut It is raining would be Ca pleut in Berrichon Examples of Berrichon vocabulary being used instead of their French counterparts include Berrichon French Paris Englishagouant penible pain in the neckcagoui escargot snailcaqueziau moustique mosquitocarroue carrefour intersection crossroadschian chien dogchieuve chevre goatch tit mauvais mechant baddaguenettes pommes poires sechees dried apples pearsediasse North ajasse South pie magpieformion fromion fourmis antjau coq roostermainguion petit repas light mealNaud Noel Christmasouche jardin de la maison house gardenpal tau veste jacketpatin pantoufle slipperpochon sac bagrag nasser faire du bruit to make noises accutter s asseoir to sit downtantot apres midi afternoons tantot cet apres midi this afternoonSee also EditLanguages of France Langues d oilReferences Edit Hammarstrom Harald Forkel Robert Haspelmath Martin Bank Sebastian 2022 05 24 Oil Glottolog Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Archived from the original on 2022 10 08 Retrieved 2022 10 07 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Berrichon dialect amp oldid 1153863451, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
