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 a Romance language variety spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). It in turn belongs to a broader category known as the Occitan language along with other forms of speech in the south of France such as Provençal and Gascon.^[2][3] There is also a small Vivaro-Alpine enclave in the Guardia Piemontese, Calabria, where the language is known as gardiol. It belongs to the Northern Occitan dialect block, along with Auvergnat and Limousin.

Naming and classification

Vivaro-Alpine had been considered as a sub-dialect of Provençal, and named provençal alpin (Alpine Provençal) or Northern Provençal.^[4]

Its use in the Dauphiné area has also lead to the use of dauphinois or dauphinois alpin to name it.^[5] Along with Ronjat^[5] and Bec,^[6] it is now clearly recognized as a dialect of its own.

The UNESCO Atlas of World's languages in danger^[7] 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