Savoyard dialect
| Savoyard | |
|---|---|
| Savoyârd | |
| Native to | France |
| Region | Savoy |
Native speakers | 35,000[1] |
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Italy (protected by statute). France (region language). |
| Regulated by | Institute Savoyard language |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | savo1253 |
 | |
Savoyard is a dialect of Arpitan (Franco-Provençal). It is spoken in some territories of the historical Duchy of Savoy, nowadays a geographic area spanning France (in Savoie and Haute-Savoie) and Switzerland (in the canton of Geneva). The varieties are commonly known as patois. It has around 35,000 speakers today.
Some words
Several subdialects of Savoyard exist that exhibit unique features in terms of phonetics and vocabulary. Among them, many words have to do with the weather: bacan (French: temps mauvais); coussie (French: tempête); royé (French: averse); ni[v]ole (French: nuage); ...and, the environment: clapia, perrier (French: éboulis); égra (French: sorte d'escalier de pierre); balme (French: grotte); tova (French: tourbière); and lanche (French: champ en pente).
Linguistic studies
Savoyard has been the subject of detailed study at the Centre de dialectologie of the Stendhal University, Grenoble, currently under the direction of Michel Contini.
See also
References
Notes
- ^ Le francoprovençal, langue oubliée, Gaston Tuaillon in Vingt-cinq communautés linguistiques de la France, tome 1, p.204, Geneviève Vernes, éditions L’Harmattan.