Where is Provencal actively spoken ?

Glenn   Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:51 am GMT
What are the names of some villages in which people are still actively speaking Provencal ?
Guest   Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:34 am GMT
Only in Italy in Piedmont and in Aosta valley. In France is vanished.
Guest   Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:18 pm GMT
"in Aosta valley": this French-speaking province has been Italianized by force under military occupation, but has never spoken Provençal.
Guest   Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:30 pm GMT
"in Aosta valley: this French-speaking province has been Italianized by force under military occupation, but has never spoken Provençal."

Aosta valley is official bilingual by years. Italy preserve minority languages. In Aosta valley 60% of people speak franco-provencal.

Nice and Corsica were Francesized: this is hisory.
Guest   Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:55 pm GMT
About Aosta valley from wikipedia:

"Italian and French are used for the regional government's acts and laws, though Italian is much more widely spoken. The regional language is a dialect of Franco-Provençal called Valdôtain (Valdoten) or patois. It is spoken as a second language by 68,000 residents, about 58% of the population, according to a poll taken by the Fondation Émile Chanoux in 2002. The residents of the villages of Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Gressoney-La-Trinité and Issime, in the Lys Valley, speak a dialect of German origin. As of 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 4,976 foreign-born immigrants live in Aosta Valley, equal to 4.0% of the total regional population."
Guest   Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:17 pm GMT
Provençal has not completely vanished in France. You would have to go to remote villages to hear Provençal still being spoken. However, a) much of PACA isn't so remote anymore but practically crowded with people from other places, and b) Provençal speakers tend to speak it only in their homes and not among strangers. So it would be very difficult to find speakers unless you actively look for them.

You have a better chance of hearing Gavòt in the isolated valleys of Piedmont (Italy), Languedocien in the Cevennes and Midi-Pyrénées, and Gascon in the Pyrénées and Val d'Aran (Spain).
Glenn   Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:08 am GMT
But does anyone know any villages in Provence where Provencal is still spoken ?
Güest   Fri Aug 01, 2008 6:59 pm GMT
Among younger generations: Unfortunately nowhere.
Glenn   Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:01 pm GMT
I don't care what age the people are that are speaking it. Is there any town or village where I might hear it being spoken ? I just want to hear it.
Guest   Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:11 am GMT
Nowadays unfortunately not anymore.
Sorry.
Alessandro   Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:00 am GMT
In Italy, in Piedmont, in some valleys of the Province of Cuneo.

www.tradizioneterreoccitane.com/valli.htm
Alessandro   Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:14 am GMT
Quale è la regione italiana in cui si parla il provenzale?

Tutte le valli della piana di Cuneo dalla metà in sù, verso il confine con la Francia, sono provenzali, ma già scendendo di 5-6 km verso sud sentiamo parlare il piemontese.
Mentre se da Coumboscuro valico il collo della Maddalena e scendo ad Avignone posso parlare liberamente il mio patois ed essere capito. Ogni anno in gennaio si tiene qui la giornata del Provenzale, con rappresentazioni teatrali in lingua e anche chi viene da Avignone e dintorni comprende perfettamente ciò che viene detto.

Quanti sono i parlanti di provenzale in Italia?

Facendo un calcolo approssimativo direi in tutto circa 3500-4000 persone.

Source: www.eurac.edu/Focus/Languageminorities/linguistic_islands_coumboscuro_it.htm