Gascon language

Gascon ([ɡasˈku]; French: [ɡaskɔ̃]) is usually considered as a dialect of Occitan, even though some specialists regularly consider it a separate language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and Béarn at south of France (in parts of the following French départements: Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Landes, Gers, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Haute-Garonne, and Ariège; and in the Aran Valley of Spain). It has about 250,000 speakers worldwide.

Only Aranese, a southern Gascon variety, is spoken in Spain. Aranese has been greatly influenced recently by Catalan and Spanish. Both these influences tend to differentiate it more and more from the dialects of Gascon spoken in France. Since the 2006 adoption of the new statute of Catalonia, Aranese is co-official with Catalan and Spanish in Catalonia (before, this status was valid for the Aran Valley only).

Linguistic classification

See Occitan: Debates concerning linguistic classification.

Basque substrate

The language spoken in Gascony before Roman rule was part of the Basque dialectal continuum (see Aquitanian language); the fact that the word 'Gascon' comes from the Latin root vasco/vasconem, which is the same root that gives us 'Basque', implies that the speakers identified themselves at some moment as Basque. There is a proven Basque substrate in the development of Gascon. This explains some of the major differences that exist between Gascon and other Occitan languages.

A typically Gascon feature that may arise from this substrate is the change from "f" to "h". Where a word originally began with [f] in Latin, such as festa 'party/feast', this sound was weakened to aspirated [h] and then, in some areas, lost altogether; according to the substrate theory, this is due to the Basque dialects' lack of an equivalent /f/ phoneme. Thus we have Gascon hèsta [ˈhɛsto] or [ˈɛsto]. A similar change took place in continental Spanish. Thus Latin facere gives Spanish hacer ([aˈθer]) (or, in some parts of southwestern Andalusia, [haˈθɛɾ]).^[1]

However, some linguists deny the plausibility of the Basque substrate theory; many have sought a language-internal explanation for this and other changes. The fact that this particular change occurs in both Gascon and Spanish, both of which developed in originally Basque-speaking areas, may be coincidental. Nevertheless, it is highly unlikely and some linguists agree with historians to underline the connection between Gascon and Basque.

Note that modern Basque has had lexical influence from Gascon in words like beira ("glass"), polit ("pretty", Gascon polit/polida) to mention but a few. One way for the introduction of Gascon influence into Basque came about through language contact in bordering areas of the Northern Basque Country. The other one takes place since the XI^th century over the coastal fringe of Gipuzkoa extending from Hondarribia to San Sebastian, where Gascon was spoken and often used in formal documents up to the late XVIII^th century, with evidence of its occurrence in Pasaia still in the 1870s.^[2] A minor focus of influence was the Way of St James and the establishment of ethnic boroughs in several towns based on the privileges bestowed on the Francs by the Navarrese kings from the XI^th till the XV^th century, while the variant spoken and used in written records is mainly Occitan of Toulouse.

Usage of the language

A poll conducted in Béarn in 1982 indicated that 51% of the population spoke Gascon, 70% understood it, and 85% expressed a favourable opinion regarding the protection of the language.^[3] However, use of the language has declined dramatically over recent years as Gascon is rarely transmitted to young generations any longer. The usual term for Gascon is "patois", a word designating in France a non-official and devaluated dialect whatever the concerned region. It is mainly in Béarn that the population uses concurrently the term "Béarnais" to designate its Gascon forms. This is because of the political past of Béarn, which was a sovereign state from 1347 to 1620. In fact, there is no unified Béarnais dialect; the language differs considerably throughout the province. Many of the differences in pronunciation can be divided into east, west, and south (the mountainous regions). For example, the a at the end of words is pronounced "ah" in the west, "o" in the east, and "œ" in the south. Because of Béarn's specific political past, Béarnais is distinguished from Gascon since the 16th century, though not for linguistic reasons.

Subdialects

Gascon comprises three main linguistic areas:

• The 'Garonnais Gascon' used on and next to the river Garonne valley. These regions know the least specific Gascon forms.
• The 'Southern Gascon' used in the south and in the south-west of the linguistic Gascon zone. The Gascon of these regions is the one with the most distinctive characteristics of Gascon, coming mainly from a supposed Basque substratum.
• The 'Intermediary Gascon' in an intermediary zone between the two just mentioned.

English words of Gascon origin

An isard (Pyrenean chamois).

Austrian beret.

cadet

from cabdèt [kad'dɛt] ("captain, chief").^[4]

cep

from cep [sep] 'trunk'.^[5] Now more commonly known by their Italian name of porcini.

izard

from French isard or Gascon isard [i'zar].^[6]

beret

from Bearnese French béret and Gascon berret [ber'ret] "cap".^[7].

Jingo

OED finds an etymology from Basque Jainko ("God") through Gascon possible but not proven.

Influences on other languages

Probably as a consequence of the linguistic continuum of occidental Romania and the French influence over the Hispanic Mark on the medieval times, shared similar and singular features are noticeable between Gascon and other Latin languages on the other side of the frontier: Aragonese and ultraoccidental Catalan (Catalan of La Franja)

Examples

According to the testimony of Bernadette Soubirous, the Virgin Mary spoke to her (Lourdes, 25 March 1858) in Gascon saying: Que sòi era Immaculada Concepcion ("I am the Immaculate Conception", the phrase is reproduced under this statue in the Lourdes grotto with a non-standard spelling), confirming the proclamation of this Catholic dogma four years earlier.

References

• Le Gascon de poche, Jean-Marc Leclercq & Sèrgi Javaloyès, Assimil 2004, ISBN 2-7005-0345-7

See also

• Occitan conjugation
• Languages of France

External links

• Museum of local culture
• Teaching of Occitan and Basque in Aquitania
• Cap'òc : Unitat d'Animacion Pedagogica en Occitan
• Gascon Lanas and Per Noste (Institut d'Estudis Occitans)
• Ethnologue 15th Edition report for Gascon
• Ethnologue 16th Edition report for Occitan, including Gascon as a dialect
• IBG site opposing Gascon and Béarnais to Occitan