Old Occitan (Modern Occitan: occitan ancian, Catalan: occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries.[1][2] Old Occitan generally includes Early and Old Occitan. Middle Occitan is sometimes included in Old Occitan, sometimes in Modern Occitan.[3] As the term occitanus appeared around the year 1300,[4] Old Occitan is referred to as "Romance" (Occitan: romans) or "Provençal" (Occitan: proensals) in medieval texts.
Gallo-Romance languages. 1. Current limits of the Occitan language 2. Former limits of the Occitan language before the 13th century.
Among the earliest records of Occitan are the Tomida femina, the Boecis and the Cançó de Santa Fe. Old Occitan, the language used by the troubadours, was the first Romance language with a literary corpus and had an enormous influence on the development of lyric poetry in other European languages. The interpunct was a feature of its orthography and survives today in Catalan and Gascon.
The official language of the sovereign principality of the Viscounty of Béarn was the local vernacular Bearnès dialect of Old Occitan. It was the spoken language of law courts and of business and it was the written language of customary law. Although vernacular languages were increasingly preferred to Latin in western Europe in the late Middle Ages, the status of Occitan in Béarn was unusual because its use was required by law: "lawyers will draft their petitions and pleas in the vernacular language of the present country, both in speech and in writing".[5]
Old Catalan and Old Occitan diverged between the 11th and the 14th centuries.[6] Catalan never underwent the shift from /u/ to /y/ or the shift from /o/ to /u/ (except in unstressed syllables in some dialects) and so had diverged phonologically before those changes affected Old Occitan.
Phonologyedit
Old Occitan changed and evolved somewhat during its history, but the basic sound system can be summarised as follows:[7]
Written ⟨ch⟩ is believed to have represented the affricate [tʃ], but since the spelling often alternates with ⟨c⟩, it may also have represented [k] in some cases.
Word-final ⟨g⟩ may sometimes represent [tʃ], as in gaug "joy" (also spelled gauch).
Intervocalic ⟨z⟩ could represent either [z] or [dz].
Original /u/ (from Latin /uː/) fronted to /y/. When this occurred is unclear: some scholars prefer the tenth or eleventh century, while others favour the thirteenth century. Either way, original /o/ (from Latin /u/ and /oː/) subsequently raised to the vacated position, becoming /u/. Both phonemes maintained their original spelling (⟨u⟩ for /y/, ⟨o⟩ for /u/), although in the fourteenth century an alternative spelling ⟨ou⟩ was also introduced for /u/ under French influence.[8]
The open-mid vowels [ɛ] and [ɔ] variably diphthongized in stressed position when followed by a semivowel or palatalised consonant, and sporadically elsewhere, but retained their value as separate vowel phonemes with minimal pairs such as pèl /pɛl/ "skin" and pel /pel/ "hair".[9]
Diphthongs and triphthongsedit
Old Occitan diphthongs and triphthongs
IPA
Example
Meaning
falling
/aj/
paire
father
/aw/
autre
other
/uj/
conoiser
to know
/uw/
dous
sweet
/ɔj/
pois
then
/ɔw/
mou
it moves
/ej/
vei
I see
/ew/
beure
to drink
/ɛj/
seis
six
/ɛw/
breu
short
/yj/
cuid
I believe
/iw/
estiu
summer
rising
/jɛ/
miels
better
/wɛ/
cuelh
he receives
/wɔ/
cuolh
he receives
triphthongs stress always falls on middle vowel
/jɛj/
lieis
her
/jɛw/
ieu
I
/wɔj/
nuoit
night
/wɛj/
pueis
then
/wɔw/
uou
egg
/wɛw/
bueu
ox
Graphemicsedit
Old occitan is a non-standardised language regarding its spelling, meaning that different graphemic signs can represent one sound and vice versa. For example:
It had a two-case system (nominative and oblique), as in Old French, with the oblique derived from the Latin accusative case. The declensional categories were also similar to those of Old French; for example, the Latin third-declension nouns with stress shift between the nominative and accusative were maintained in Old Occitan only in nouns referring to people.
There were two distinct conditional tenses: a "first conditional", similar to the conditional tense in other Romance language, and a "second conditional", derived from the Latin pluperfect indicative tense. The second conditional is cognate with the literary pluperfect in Portuguese, the -ra imperfect subjunctive in Spanish, the second preterite of very early Old French (Sequence of Saint Eulalia) and probably the future perfect in modern Gascon.
Extractsedit
From Bertran de Born's Ab joi mou lo vers e·l comens (c. 1200, translated by James H. Donalson):
Bela Domna·l vostre cors gens E·lh vostre bel olh m'an conquis, E·l doutz esgartz e lo clars vis, E·l vostre bels essenhamens, Que, can be m'en pren esmansa, De beutat no·us trob egansa: La genser etz c'om posc'e·l mon chauzir, O no·i vei clar dels olhs ab que·us remir.
O pretty lady, all your grace and eyes of beauty conquered me, sweet glance and brightness of your face and all your nature has to tell so if I make an appraisal I find no one like in beauty: most pleasing to be found in all the world or else the eyes I see you with have dimmed.
Frede Jensen. The Syntax of Medieval Occitan, 2nd edn. De Gruyter, 2015 (1st edn. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1986). Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 208. 978-3-484-52208-4.
French translation: Frede Jensen. Syntaxe de l'ancien occitan. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1994.
William D. Paden. An Introduction to Old Occitan. Modern Language Association of America, 1998. ISBN0-87352-293-1.
Romieu, Maurice; Bianchi, André (2002). Iniciacion a l'occitan ancian / Initiation à l'ancien occitan (in Occitan and French). Pessac: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux. ISBN2-86781-275-5.
Povl Skårup. Morphologie élémentaire de l'ancien occitan. Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997, ISBN87-7289-428-8
Kathrin Kraller. Sprachgeschichte als Kommunikationsgeschichte: Volkssprachliche Notarurkunden des Mittelalters in ihren Kontexten. Mit einer Analyse der okzitanischen Urkundensprache und der Graphie. Universität Regensburg, 2019, ISBN978-3-88246-415-3
^Frank M. Chambers, An Introduction to Old Provençal Versification. Diane, 1985 ISBN0-87169-167-1
^"The Early Occitan period is generally considered to extend from c. 800 to 1000, Old Occitan from 1000 to 1350, and Middle Occitan from 1350 to 1550" in William W. Kibler, Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, 1995, ISBN0-8240-4444-4
^Paul Cohen, "Linguistic Politics on the Periphery: Louis XIII, Béarn, and the Making of French as an Official Language in Early Modern France", When Languages Collide: Perspectives on Language Conflict, Language Competition, and Language Coexistence (Ohio State University Press, 2003), pp. 165–200.
^Riquer, Martí de, Història de la Literatura Catalana, vol. 1. Barcelona: Edicions Ariel, 1964
^The charts are based on phonologies given in Paden, William D., An Introduction to Old Occitan, New York 1998
^Paden, William D. (1998), Introduction to Old Occitan, pp. 102–103
^Kraller, Kathrin (2019). Sprachgeschichte als Kommunikationsgeschichte: Volkssprachliche Notarurkunden des Mittelalters in ihren Kontexten. Mit einer Analyse der okzitanischen Urkundensprache und der Graphie. Regensburg: Universität Regensburg. pp. 292–341. ISBN978-3-88246-415-3.
External linksedit
A site with a presentation of Old Occitan
February 15, 2024
occitan, modern, occitan, occitan, ancian, catalan, occità, antic, also, called, provençal, earliest, form, occitano, romance, languages, attested, writings, dating, from, eighth, through, fourteenth, centuries, generally, includes, early, middle, occitan, som. Old Occitan Modern Occitan occitan ancian Catalan occita antic also called Old Provencal was the earliest form of the Occitano Romance languages as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries 1 2 Old Occitan generally includes Early and Old Occitan Middle Occitan is sometimes included in Old Occitan sometimes in Modern Occitan 3 As the term occitanus appeared around the year 1300 4 Old Occitan is referred to as Romance Occitan romans or Provencal Occitan proensals in medieval texts Old OccitanOld ProvencalRegionLanguedoc Provence Dauphine Auvergne Limousin Aquitaine GasconyEra8th 14th centuriesLanguage familyIndo European ItalicLatino FaliscanLatinRomanceItalo WesternWesternGallo RomanceOccitano RomanceOld OccitanLanguage codesISO 639 2 span class plainlinks pro span ISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code pro class extiw title iso639 3 pro pro a Glottologoldp1253 Contents 1 History 2 Phonology 2 1 Consonants 2 2 Vowels 2 2 1 Monophthongs 2 2 2 Diphthongs and triphthongs 3 Graphemics 4 Morphology 5 Extracts 6 See also 7 Further reading 8 References 9 External linksHistory edit nbsp Gallo Romance languages 1 Current limits of the Occitan language2 Former limits of the Occitan language before the 13th century Among the earliest records of Occitan are the Tomida femina the Boecis and the Canco de Santa Fe Old Occitan the language used by the troubadours was the first Romance language with a literary corpus and had an enormous influence on the development of lyric poetry in other European languages The interpunct was a feature of its orthography and survives today in Catalan and Gascon The official language of the sovereign principality of the Viscounty of Bearn was the local vernacular Bearnes dialect of Old Occitan It was the spoken language of law courts and of business and it was the written language of customary law Although vernacular languages were increasingly preferred to Latin in western Europe in the late Middle Ages the status of Occitan in Bearn was unusual because its use was required by law lawyers will draft their petitions and pleas in the vernacular language of the present country both in speech and in writing 5 Old Catalan and Old Occitan diverged between the 11th and the 14th centuries 6 Catalan never underwent the shift from u to y or the shift from o to u except in unstressed syllables in some dialects and so had diverged phonologically before those changes affected Old Occitan Phonology editOld Occitan changed and evolved somewhat during its history but the basic sound system can be summarised as follows 7 Consonants edit Old Occitan consonants Labial Dental alveolar Postalveolar palatal VelarNasal m n ɲPlosive p b t d k ɡFricative f v s zAffricate ts dz tʃ dʒLateral l ʎTrill rTap ɾNotes Written ch is believed to have represented the affricate tʃ but since the spelling often alternates with c it may also have represented k in some cases Word final g may sometimes represent tʃ as in gaug joy also spelled gauch Intervocalic z could represent either z or dz Written j could represent either dʒ or j Vowels edit Monophthongs edit Front Central BackClose i y uClose mid e o Open mid ɛ ɔOpen aOriginal u from Latin uː fronted to y When this occurred is unclear some scholars prefer the tenth or eleventh century while others favour the thirteenth century Either way original o from Latin u and oː subsequently raised to the vacated position becoming u Both phonemes maintained their original spelling u for y o for u although in the fourteenth century an alternative spelling ou was also introduced for u under French influence 8 The open mid vowels ɛ and ɔ variably diphthongized in stressed position when followed by a semivowel or palatalised consonant and sporadically elsewhere but retained their value as separate vowel phonemes with minimal pairs such as pel pɛl skin and pel pel hair 9 Diphthongs and triphthongs edit Old Occitan diphthongs and triphthongs IPA Example Meaningfalling aj paire father aw autre other uj conoiser to know uw dous sweet ɔj pois then ɔw mou it moves ej vei I see ew beure to drink ɛj seis six ɛw breu short yj cuid I believe iw estiu summerrising jɛ miels better wɛ cuelh he receives wɔ cuolh he receivestriphthongsstress always falls on middle vowel jɛj lieis her jɛw ieu I wɔj nuoit night wɛj pueis then wɔw uou egg wɛw bueu oxGraphemics editOld occitan is a non standardised language regarding its spelling meaning that different graphemic signs can represent one sound and vice versa For example l lh or ll for ʎ s or ss for s z or s for z word final g or ch for tʃ 10 Morphology editSome notable characteristics of Old Occitan It had a two case system nominative and oblique as in Old French with the oblique derived from the Latin accusative case The declensional categories were also similar to those of Old French for example the Latin third declension nouns with stress shift between the nominative and accusative were maintained in Old Occitan only in nouns referring to people There were two distinct conditional tenses a first conditional similar to the conditional tense in other Romance language and a second conditional derived from the Latin pluperfect indicative tense The second conditional is cognate with the literary pluperfect in Portuguese the ra imperfect subjunctive in Spanish the second preterite of very early Old French Sequence of Saint Eulalia and probably the future perfect in modern Gascon Extracts editFrom Bertran de Born s Ab joi mou lo vers e l comens c 1200 translated by James H Donalson Bela Domna l vostre cors gens E lh vostre bel olh m an conquis E l doutz esgartz e lo clars vis E l vostre bels essenhamens Que can be m en pren esmansa De beutat no us trob egansa La genser etz c om posc e l mon chauzir O no i vei clar dels olhs ab que us remir O pretty lady all your grace and eyes of beauty conquered me sweet glance and brightness of your face and all your nature has to tell so if I make an appraisal I find no one like in beauty most pleasing to be found in all the world or else the eyes I see you with have dimmed See also editOccitan conjugation Occitan phonologyFurther reading editFrede Jensen The Syntax of Medieval Occitan 2nd edn De Gruyter 2015 1st edn Tubingen Niemeyer 1986 Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur romanische Philologie 208 978 3 484 52208 4 French translation Frede Jensen Syntaxe de l ancien occitan Tubingen Niemeyer 1994 William D Paden An Introduction to Old Occitan Modern Language Association of America 1998 ISBN 0 87352 293 1 Romieu Maurice Bianchi Andre 2002 Iniciacion a l occitan ancian Initiation a l ancien occitan in Occitan and French Pessac Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux ISBN 2 86781 275 5 Povl Skarup Morphologie elementaire de l ancien occitan Museum Tusculanum Press 1997 ISBN 87 7289 428 8 Nathaniel B Smith amp Thomas Goddard Bergin An Old Provencal Primer Garland 1984 ISBN 0 8240 9030 6 Kathrin Kraller Sprachgeschichte als Kommunikationsgeschichte Volkssprachliche Notarurkunden des Mittelalters in ihren Kontexten Mit einer Analyse der okzitanischen Urkundensprache und der Graphie Universitat Regensburg 2019 ISBN 978 3 88246 415 3References edit Rebecca Posner The Romance Languages Cambridge University Press 1996 ISBN 0 521 28139 3 Frank M Chambers An Introduction to Old Provencal Versification Diane 1985 ISBN 0 87169 167 1 The Early Occitan period is generally considered to extend from c 800 to 1000 Old Occitan from 1000 to 1350 and Middle Occitan from 1350 to 1550 in William W Kibler Medieval France An Encyclopedia Routledge 1995 ISBN 0 8240 4444 4 Smith and Bergin Old Provencal Primer p 2 Paul Cohen Linguistic Politics on the Periphery Louis XIII Bearn and the Making of French as an Official Language in Early Modern France When Languages Collide Perspectives on Language Conflict Language Competition and Language Coexistence Ohio State University Press 2003 pp 165 200 Riquer Marti de Historia de la Literatura Catalana vol 1 Barcelona Edicions Ariel 1964 The charts are based on phonologies given in Paden William D An Introduction to Old Occitan New York 1998 Paden 1998 100 102 Paden William D 1998 Introduction to Old Occitan pp 102 103 Kraller Kathrin 2019 Sprachgeschichte als Kommunikationsgeschichte Volkssprachliche Notarurkunden des Mittelalters in ihren Kontexten Mit einer Analyse der okzitanischen Urkundensprache und der Graphie Regensburg Universitat Regensburg pp 292 341 ISBN 978 3 88246 415 3 External links editA site with a presentation of Old Occitan Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Old Occitan amp oldid 1203343997, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
