Vivaro-Alpine dialect

A map of the Vivaro-Alpine dialect in the Occitan language area.

Vivaro-Alpine (English name) or Vivaroalpenc, Vivaroaupenc (native name) is the northeastern dialect of the Occitan language.^[1][2] It belongs to the Northern Occitan dialectal group. Vivaro-Alpine is spoken in Southern France and North-Western Italy, and in the remote Guardia Piemontese, Calabria, where it is known as gardiol. The other Northern Occitan dialects are Limousin and Auvergnat.

Naming and classification

Vivaro-Alpine had been considered as a sub-dialect of Provençal, and named provençal alpin (Alpine Provençal) or Northern Provençal.^[3]

Its use in the Dauphiné area has also lead to the use of dauphinois or dauphinois alpin to name it.^[4] Along with Ronjat^[4] and Bec,^[5] it is now clearly recognized as a dialect of its own.

The UNESCO Atlas of World's languages in danger^[6] uses the Alpine Provençal name, and considers it as seriously endangered.

Subdialects

• Western: Vivarodaufinenc (native name) or Vivaro-Dauphinois (French name) near northern Vivarais (Annonay), northeastern Velay (Yssingeaux), a southern fringe of Forez (Saint-Bonnet-le-Château and around Saint-Étienne), Drôme department (Valence, Die, Montélimar) and a fringe in southern Isère department.
• Eastern: Alpine (English name) or Alpenc, Aupenc (native name), in the Occitan Alps.
  • Gavòt (native name) or Gavot (French name) in the western Occitan Alps, which are located in France, around Digne, Sisteron, Gap, Barcelonnette and the upper County of Nice.
  • Cisalpine or Eastern Alpine (native names: Cisalpenc or Alpenc Oriental) in the eastern Occitan Alps AKA Occitan Valleys, which are located in Italy (Piedmont and Liguria).

References

See also

• Occitan conjugation
• Baìo