There are speakers of Meridional French in all generations, but the accent is most marked among the elderly, who often speak Occitan as their first language.
The phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon of Occitan have all influenced Meridional French, but the phonological effects are perhaps the most salient by producing the characteristic accent, which is used by speakers of Meridional French. Those effects include the following:
The loss of phonemic nasal vowels, which are replaced by an oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant
the frequent realisation of the final atonal vowels of Latin, which are lost by speakers of other varieties of French, as schwa
the presence of lexical stress on the penultimate syllable of many words, in contrast to the phrase-final stress of Standard French
Meridional French is also subject to a phonological law known as the Law of Position in which mid-vowels are subject to allophonic variation based on the shape of their syllables; they are realised as mid-open in closed syllables (those ending in a consonant) and as mid-close in open syllables (those ending in a vowel). The phenomenon has been shown to be somewhat more complex, however, by Durand (1995), Eychenne (2006), and Chabot (2008). The principle is strictly adhered to by speakers of Meridional French, in contrast to those of other varieties of French.
Phonology
Lexical (or word-based) stress is used, unlike the prosodic stress of Standard French.
Nasal vowels have not changed but are still pronounced as in traditional Parisian French or with a nasal consonant after the vowel: enfant[ɑ̃(ŋ)ˈfɑ̃(ŋ)], pain[pɛ̃(ŋ)], timbre[ˈtɛ̃(m)bʁ(ə)], bon[bɔ̃(ŋ)] and brun[bʁœ̃(ŋ)].
The "e caduc" is always pronounced by older speakers, even at the end of words. For example, cerise (cherry) is pronounced [səˈʁiːzə], tête (head) is pronounced [ˈtɛːtə], and it is sometimes pronounced even if there is no e; ciel (sky) [ˈsjɛlə].
/o/, /ø/, /e/ merge with /ɔ/, /œ/, /ɛ/, the resulting phonemes being pronounced open-mid in stressed syllables (unless word-final, where they are close-mid) and close-mid in unstressed syllables (except before /ʁC/ clusters, where they are open-mid).[2] As a result, both notre and nôtre are pronounced as [ˈnɔtʁə] and both jeune and jeûne are as [ˈʒœnə].
Vocabulary
A number of words are peculiar to Meridional French. For example, péguer (Occitan pegar), "to be sticky" (Standard French poisser), chocolatine (Southwest), "pain au chocolat", cagade (Occitan cagat) or flûte (a larger baguette), known as a pain parisien (Parisian loaf) in Paris.
Some phrases are used with meanings that differ from those of Standard French. For example, s'il faut, literally meaning "if necessary", is used to mean "perhaps", which would be rendered in Standard French as peut-être. That is a calque of the Occitan se cal.
Internal variation
Many sub-varieties of Meridional French exist, with distinctive features.
Diatopic variation accounts for the differences between the French varieties spoken in the various areas of Southern France. Phonetics and vocabulary often change from one region to another. For instance, the lexis used in the variety of French spoken in Toulouse, described by Séguy (1950), differs substantially from the variety spoken in Bayonne, described by Lambert (1928).
Diastratic variation is also extant in Meridional French. The sociolects spoken by the Jews of Gascony, whose large set of special vocabulary used only within the group has been linguistically described by Nahon (2018), is one of the most distinctive sub-dialects of Meridional French.
Chabot, Alex (2004). "Suprasegmental Structure in Meridional French and its Provençal Substrate" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-12-19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Durand, Jacques (1995). "Alternances vocaliques en français du midi et phonologie du gouvernement". Lingua. 95 (1–3): 27–50. doi:10.1016/0024-3841(95)90100-0.
Eychenne, Julien (2006). "Aspects de la phonologie du schwa dans le français contemporain. Optimalité, visibilité prosodique, gradience." (PDF) (in French). (PDF) from the original on 2015-07-22. Retrieved 2015-07-22. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Lambert, Jacques (1928), "Sur quelques particularités du parler bayonnais", Bulletin trimestriel de la Société des sciences, lettres & arts de Bayonne: 275–306.
Séguy, Jean (1950), Le Français parlé à Toulouse (in French), Toulouse: Privat.
Nahon, Peter (2018), Gascon et français chez les Israélites d'Aquitaine. Documents et inventaire lexical (in French), Paris: Classiques Garnier, ISBN978-2-406-07296-6.
January 20, 2023
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This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations February 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Meridional French French francais meridional also referred to as Francitan is a regional variant of the French language It is widely spoken in Marseille Avignon and Toulouse and is influenced by the Occitan language Meridional Frenchfrancais meridionalNative toOccitaniaLanguage familyIndo European ItalicLatino FaliscanRomanceItalo WesternWestern RomanceGallo RomanceGallo Rhaetian 1 possibly OilFrenchMeridional FrenchEarly formsOld Latin Classical Latin Vulgar Latin Old Gallo Romance Old French Middle FrenchLanguage codesISO 639 3 GlottologNoneThere are speakers of Meridional French in all generations but the accent is most marked among the elderly who often speak Occitan as their first language Contents 1 Characteristics 2 Phonology 3 Vocabulary 4 Internal variation 5 ReferencesCharacteristics EditThe phonology morphology syntax and lexicon of Occitan have all influenced Meridional French but the phonological effects are perhaps the most salient by producing the characteristic accent which is used by speakers of Meridional French Those effects include the following The loss of phonemic nasal vowels which are replaced by an oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant the frequent realisation of the final atonal vowels of Latin which are lost by speakers of other varieties of French as schwa the presence of lexical stress on the penultimate syllable of many words in contrast to the phrase final stress of Standard FrenchMeridional French is also subject to a phonological law known as the Law of Position in which mid vowels are subject to allophonic variation based on the shape of their syllables they are realised as mid open in closed syllables those ending in a consonant and as mid close in open syllables those ending in a vowel The phenomenon has been shown to be somewhat more complex however by Durand 1995 Eychenne 2006 and Chabot 2008 The principle is strictly adhered to by speakers of Meridional French in contrast to those of other varieties of French Phonology EditLexical or word based stress is used unlike the prosodic stress of Standard French Nasal vowels have not changed but are still pronounced as in traditional Parisian French or with a nasal consonant after the vowel enfant ɑ ŋ ˈfɑ ŋ pain pɛ ŋ timbre ˈtɛ m bʁ e bon bɔ ŋ and brun bʁœ ŋ The e caduc is always pronounced by older speakers even at the end of words For example cerise cherry is pronounced seˈʁiːze tete head is pronounced ˈtɛːte and it is sometimes pronounced even if there is no e ciel sky ˈsjɛle o o e merge with ɔ œ ɛ the resulting phonemes being pronounced open mid in stressed syllables unless word final where they are close mid and close mid in unstressed syllables except before ʁC clusters where they are open mid 2 As a result both notre and notre are pronounced as ˈnɔtʁe and both jeune and jeune are as ˈʒœne Vocabulary EditA number of words are peculiar to Meridional French For example peguer Occitan pegar to be sticky Standard French poisser chocolatine Southwest pain au chocolat cagade Occitan cagat or flute a larger baguette known as a pain parisien Parisian loaf in Paris Some phrases are used with meanings that differ from those of Standard French For example s il faut literally meaning if necessary is used to mean perhaps which would be rendered in Standard French as peut etre That is a calque of the Occitan se cal Internal variation EditMany sub varieties of Meridional French exist with distinctive features Diatopic variation accounts for the differences between the French varieties spoken in the various areas of Southern France Phonetics and vocabulary often change from one region to another For instance the lexis used in the variety of French spoken in Toulouse described by Seguy 1950 differs substantially from the variety spoken in Bayonne described by Lambert 1928 Diastratic variation is also extant in Meridional French The sociolects spoken by the Jews of Gascony whose large set of special vocabulary used only within the group has been linguistically described by Nahon 2018 is one of the most distinctive sub dialects of Meridional French References 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 Le dialecte francais de Toulouse occitanet free fr Retrieved 2021 03 23 France portalChabot Alex 2004 Suprasegmental Structure in Meridional French and its Provencal Substrate PDF Retrieved 2010 12 19 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Durand Jacques 1995 Alternances vocaliques en francais du midi et phonologie du gouvernement Lingua 95 1 3 27 50 doi 10 1016 0024 3841 95 90100 0 Eychenne Julien 2006 Aspects de la phonologie du schwa dans le francais contemporain Optimalite visibilite prosodique gradience PDF in French Archived PDF from the original on 2015 07 22 Retrieved 2015 07 22 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Lambert Jacques 1928 Sur quelques particularites du parler bayonnais Bulletin trimestriel de la Societe des sciences lettres amp arts de Bayonne 275 306 Seguy Jean 1950 Le Francais parle a Toulouse in French Toulouse Privat Nahon Peter 2018 Gascon et francais chez les Israelites d Aquitaine Documents et inventaire lexical in French Paris Classiques Garnier ISBN 978 2 406 07296 6 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Meridional French amp oldid 1118953820, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
