{"id":33785,"date":"2021-06-01T05:30:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T03:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=33785"},"modified":"2021-05-31T16:42:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T14:42:16","slug":"a-world-of-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/a-world-of-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"A world of languages"},"content":{"rendered":"

French is a world language<\/a>, but France also has its own world of languages. Like many countries, modern-day France evolved out of a collection of smaller duchies, principalities, kingdoms, and territories \u2026 regions that – in addition to their own political structure – often had their own language.<\/p>\n

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Photo [CC0] courtesy of\u00a0Pixabay<\/a>\u00a0vie Pexels.<\/p><\/div>\n

One country \u2026 a world of languages<\/h3>\n

While le fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> is the langue officiel de la R\u00e9publique<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>official language of the Republic<\/em><\/span> it is far from the only language spoken in France.<\/p>\n

It’s literally in the constitution \u2026 Article 2 of the constitution of the Ve<\/sup><\/abbr>\u00a0R\u00e9publique<\/strong><\/a> makes French the official language of the country. It also states that “l\u2019embl\u00e8me national est le drapeau tricolore, blue, blanc, rouge<\/a><\/strong> 2<\/a><\/sup>the national symbol is the tri-color flag, blue, white, red<\/em><\/span>; l’hymne national est “La Marseillaise<\/i><\/a>“<\/strong> 3<\/a><\/sup>the national anthem is La Marseillaise<\/em><\/span>; la devise de la R\u00e9publique est “Libert\u00e9, \u00c9galit\u00e9, Fraternit\u00e9<\/a>“<\/strong> 4<\/a><\/sup>the Republic’s motto is Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood<\/em><\/span>; et son principe est: gouvernement du peuple, par le peuple et pour le peuple<\/a>“<\/strong>.\u00a05<\/a><\/sup>its form of government is government of the people, by the people, for the people<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n

From the Celt-ish breton<\/em> in the west to basque<\/em> in the south; from the germanic alsacien<\/em> in the east to picard<\/em> in the north, the French government recognizes une vingtaine de langues r\u00e9gionales<\/strong><\/a>6<\/a><\/sup>more than 20 regional languages<\/em><\/span> just in l’hexagone<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0And as it has from time to time, the status of those languages has become a source of political conflict across the country. Why?<\/p>\n

La loi Molac<\/h3>\n

At the end of 2019, French deputy Paul Molac<\/a> introduced a bill to protect and promote regional French languages<\/a>. “La loi reconnait, dans le code du patrimoine<\/a>, l’existence d’un patrimoine linguistique, constitue de la langue fran\u00e7aise et des langues r\u00e9gionales.”<\/b>7<\/a><\/sup>The law recognizes, within the rules of patrimony, the existence of a linguistic patrimony, made up of French and the regional languages.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The law initially passed in early April, but on May 21 the Conseil constitutionnel declared<\/a> two parts of the law –\u00a0l\u2019enseignement immersif et l’utilisation des signes diacritiques comme le tilde (~) dans les actes d\u2019\u00e9tat civil<\/b> 8<\/a><\/sup>immersive education<\/em> (in which all, or a major part, of the day’s education is delivered in the target language) and the use of accents like the tilde<\/em> (which are not part of the French alphabet\/language) in official documents<\/em><\/span>– unconstitutional9<\/a><\/sup>The Constitutional Council is responsable for reviewing laws and determining their alignment to the principles set out in the French constitution.<\/span> (given Article 2).<\/p>\n

This latest decision of the Conseil\u00a0<\/strong>constitutionnel<\/b> led to protests across France, especially since “15 000 enfants apprennent une langue r\u00e9gionale en immersion. Il y en a 4 400 en Bretagne, 4 000 au Pays basque, ou encore 1 200 en Alsace.<\/strong>” 10<\/a><\/sup>15,000 kids already learn a regional language in immersion including 4,400 in Bretagne, 4,000 in the Basque region, and 1,200 in Alsace.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0You can see what all the fuss is about here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Things are at un tel point<\/strong>11<\/a><\/sup>such a state<\/em><\/span> that the President of the Republic had to weigh in. In a Tweet, Emmanuel Macron said<\/a> that “Les langues de France sont un tr\u00e9sor national. Toutes, qu’elles soient issues de nos r\u00e9gions en m\u00e9tropole ou de nos territoires d’outre-mer, ne cessent d\u2019enrichir notre culture fran\u00e7aise<\/strong>”\u00a0and “en tant que Pr\u00e9sident de la R\u00e9publique, je suis tout \u00e0 la fois protecteur de la langue fran\u00e7aise et gardien de la richesse que constituent nos langues r\u00e9gionales<\/strong>.”12<\/a><\/sup>The languages of France are a national treasure. All, whether they arise from metropolitan France or our overseas territories, continuously enrich our shared culture; as the President of the Republic, I am both defender of the French language and guardian of the richness of our regional languages<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Cool resource alert! <\/strong>Would you like to hear how the different regional languages of France sound? This site<\/a>, un atlas sonore des language r\u00e9gionales de France<\/strong>13<\/a><\/sup>an audio atlas of the regional languages of France<\/em><\/span>, lets you listen to one of Aesop’s Fables in the different regional languages.<\/div>\n

La derni\u00e8re classe<\/h3>\n

My favorite story about language is the charming\u00a0The Last Class\u00a0<\/em>from French author Alphonse Daudet. You can find it in his\u00a0Contes du<\/em> lundi<\/em>14<\/a><\/sup>Monday tales<\/em><\/span> on Project Gutenberg<\/a>. The story includes a reference to a poem by the French writer Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Mistral<\/a> that is very a propos of today’s topic:<\/p>\n

Car meme si, face contre terre,<\/strong>15<\/a><\/sup>For even if, face to the ground,<\/em><\/span>
\nUn peuple tombe en esclavage,<\/strong>16<\/a><\/sup>A people falls into slavery,<\/em><\/span>
\nS’il garde sa langue, il garde la cl\u00e9<\/strong>17<\/a><\/sup>If they keep their language, they keep the key<\/em><\/span>
\nQui de ses chaines le d\u00e9livre \u2026<\/strong> 18<\/a><\/sup>That from their chains will deliver them\u00a0<\/em>\u2026<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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