- Bearnese language
Béarnese is a Gascon dialect spoken in
Béarn (in the French department of thePyrénées Atlantiques , in southwesternFrance ). As a written language, it benefited from the fact that Béarn was an independent state from the mid14th century up to 1620. Béarnese was used in legal and administrative documents long after most other Gascon (and/or Occitan) provinces were joined toFrance . Concerning literature and poems, the first important book was a Béarnese translation of thePsalms ofDavid by , at the end of the16th century , contemporary with the Gascon (Armagnac dialect) translation of these Psalms byPey de Garros . Both translations were ordered byJeanne d'Albret , queen of Navarre and mother ofHenri IV of France , to be used at Protestant churches.Béarnese is currently the most prominent variety of Gascon. It is widely used in the normativization attempts to reach a standard Gascon and is bound to succeed mainly because of the
Calandreta educative system but also due to the stronger cultural identity and output of this area.A 1982 survey of the inhabitants of Béarn indicated that 51% of the population spoke Béarnese, 70% understood it, and 85% were in favor of preserving the language. [ [http://www.ethnologue.com/web.asp The Ethnologue (see Gascon)] ]
Currently, the majority of the cultural associations consider Gascon (including Béarnese) an
Occitan dialect. However, other authorities consider them to be distinct languages. The main proponent of this view is Jean Lafitte, who publishes Ligam-DiGam [ [http://www.chez.com/digam/oclp02.html DiGam project] ] a linguistic and lexicography review about gascon. A detailed sociolinguistic study presenting the current status (language practice and different locutors' perceptions) has been made by B. Moreux.References
Bibliography
*
* Moreux, B. (2004). Bearnais and Gascon today: language behavior and perception. "The International Journal of the Sociology of Language",169:25-62.External links
* [http://www.ostaubearnes.fr/ The Ostau Bearnés]
* [http://blog.biarnesa.com/en/index.php/2008/05/15/12-bearnese-language-and-culture/ Method for learning the bearnese language]
* [http://www.institutoccitan.com/ The Occitan Institute (Institut Occitan)]
* [http://perso.numericable.fr/~bernatjd/bernard.dauga/ Ací Gasconha]
* [http://www.biarn-e-gascougne.org/ Biarn-e-Gascougne.org] (Institut Bearnais et Gascon)
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