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Occitans
The Occitans () are a Romance-speaking ethnic group originating in the historical region of Occitania (southern France, northeastern Spain, and northwestern Italy and Monaco). They have been also called Gascons, Provençals, and Auvergnats.The Occitan members of the Order of Malta were grouped into two tongues, of Provence and Auvergne. The Occitan language Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, ... is still used to varying levels by between 100,000 and 800,000 speakers in southern France and northern Italy. Since 2006, the Occitan language is recognized as one of the Languages of Spain, official languages in Catalonia, an autonomous region of Spain. The Occitans are concentrated in Occitania, but also in large urban centres in neighbouring regions: Lyon, Paris, Turin, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occitania
Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except the French Basque Country and French Catalonia) as well as part of Spain ( Aran Valley), Monaco, and parts of Italy ( Occitan Valleys). Occitania has been recognized as a linguistic and cultural concept since the Middle Ages. The territory was united in Roman times as the '' Seven Provinces'' () and in the Early Middle Ages (''Aquitanica'' or the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse, or the share of Louis the Pious following Thionville ''divisio regnorum'' in 806). Currently, the region has a population of 16 million, and between 200,000 and 800,000Fabrice BERNISSAN (2012). "Combien l'occitan compte de locuteurs en 2012 ?", ''Revue de Linguistique Romane'', 76 (12/2011-07/2012), pp. 467-512« De fait, le nombre des locuteurs de l� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occitan Language
Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, these regions are sometimes referred to as Occitania. It is also spoken in Calabria ( Southern Italy) in a linguistic enclave of Cosenza area (mostly Guardia Piemontese) named Gardiol, which is also considered a separate Occitanic language. Some include Catalan as a dialect of Occitan, as the linguistic distance between this language and some Occitan dialects (such as the Gascon language) is similar to the distance between different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century and still today remains its closest relative. Occitan is an official language of Catalonia, Spain, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken (in the Val d'Aran). Since September 2010, the Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catalans
Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autonomous community in Spain and the inhabitants of the Roussillon historical region in southern France, today the Pyrénées Orientales department, also called Northern Catalonia and '' Pays Catalan'' in French. Some authors also extend the word "Catalans" to include all people from areas in which Catalan is spoken, namely those from Andorra, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, eastern Aragon, Roussillon, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia. The Catalan government regularly surveys its population regarding its "sentiment of belonging". As of July 2019, the results point out that 46.7% of the Catalans and other people living in Catalonia would like independence from Spain, 1.3% less than the year before. Historical background In 15 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-enclave bordered by France to the north, east and west. The principality is home to nearly 39,000 residents as of the 2020s, of whom about 9,883 are Monégasque people, Monégasque nationals. It is recognised as one of the wealthiest and most expensive places in the world. The official language of Monaco is French language, French. Monégasque dialect, Monégasque, English language, English and Italian language, Italian are also spoken and understood by many residents. With an area of , Monaco is the List of countries and dependencies by area, second-smallest sovereign state in the world, after Vatican City. Its population of 38,423 in 2024 makes it the List of countries by popula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French People
French people () are a nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common Culture of France, French culture, History of France, history, and French language, language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the native speakers of langues d'oïl from northern and central France, are primarily descended from Roman people, Romans (or Gallo-Romans, western European Celts, Celtic and Italic peoples), Gauls (including the Belgae), as well as Germanic peoples such as the Franks, the Visigoths, the Suebi and the Burgundians who settled in Gaul from east of the Rhine after the fall of the Roman Empire, as well as various later waves of lower-level irregular migration that have continued to the present day. The Norsemen also settled in Normandy in the 10th century and contributed significantly to the ancestry of the Normans. Furthermore, regional ethnic minorities also exist within France that have distinct lineages, languages and cultures such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valencians
Valencians ( ; ) are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Autonomy as a ''nationality'' "within the unity of the Spanish nation". The official languages of Valencia are Valencian and Spanish.Art. 6.2 of thValencian Statute of Autonomy The Valencian Community is politically divided in three provinces, from south to north: Alicante, Valencia and Castellón. Its capital is the city of Valencia. Historical background In 1237, the Andalusi Taifa of Valencia was taken by king James I the Conqueror of the Crown of Aragon. The population of the new kingdom was by far mostly Muslim, so the crown started a campaign of repopulation of the lands with Christians, as usual in the ''Reconquista''. The new Christian arrivals came from Catalonia and Aragon. Aragonese presence was most dominant in the interior parts of the kingdom (as can be assumed by geographical factors); th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cagots
The ''Cagots'' () were a persecuted minority who lived in the west of France and northern Spain: the Navarrese Pyrenees, Basque provinces, Béarn, Aragón, Gascony and Brittany. Evidence of the group exists as far back as 1000 CE. The name they were known by varied across the regions where they lived. The origins of the Cagots remain uncertain, with various hypotheses proposed throughout history. Some theories suggest they were descendants of biblical or legendary figures cursed by God, or the descendants of medieval lepers, while others propose they were related to the Cathars or even a fallen guild of carpenters. Some suggest descent from a variety of other marginalized racial or religious groups. Despite the varied and often mythical explanations for their origins, the only consistent aspect of the Cagots was their societal exclusion and the lack of any distinct physical or cultural traits differentiating them from the general population. The discriminatory treatment they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meridional French
Meridional French (), also referred to as Francitan (a portmanteau of and ), is the regional variant of the French language spoken in the area of Marseille, Avignon and Toulouse. It is influenced by the Occitan language. There are speakers of Meridional French in all generations, but the accent is most marked among the elderly, who often speak Occitan as their first language. Characteristics The phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon of Occitan have all influenced Meridional French, but the phonological effects are perhaps the most salient by producing the characteristic accent, which is used by speakers of Meridional French. Those effects include the following: * The loss of phonemic nasal vowels, which are replaced by an oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant * the frequent realisation of the final atonal vowels of Latin, which are lost by speakers of other varieties of French, as schwa * the presence of lexical stress on the penultimate syllable of many words, in con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Language Shift
Language shift, also known as language transfer, language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are perceived to be of higher-status stabilize or spread at the expense of other languages that are perceived—even by their own speakers—to have lower status. An example is the shift from Gaulish to Latin during the time of the Roman Empire. Language assimilation may operate alongside other aspects of cultural assimilation when different cultures meet and merge. Mechanisms Prehistory For prehistory, Forster ''et al''. (2004) and Forster and Renfrew (2011) observe that there is a correlation of language shift with intrusive male Y chromosomes but not necessarily with intrusive female mtDNA. They conclude that technological innovation (the transition from hunting-gathering to farming, or from stone to metal tools) or military prowess (as in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern France
Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas et géographie de la France moderne, Flammarion, Paris, 1984. Spain, the Mediterranean Sea and Italy. It includes southern Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the west, Occitania in the centre, the southern parts of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the northeast, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in the southeast, as well as the island of Corsica in the southeast. Southern France is generally considered part of southern Europe because of its association with the Mediterranean Sea. The colloquial French name for the region, ''le Midi'', is derived from an Old French compound composed of ''mi'' ("middle") and ''di'' ("day"), meaning literally "midday". Thus, the term is comparable in both origin and meaning to , which to indicates southern Italy, and Romanian whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is mainly on the western bank of the Po (river), River Po, below its Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga hill. The population of the city proper is 856,745 as of 2025, while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million. The city was historically a major European political centre. From 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy, and the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1865. Turin is sometimes called "the cradle of Italian liberty" for having been the politi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the List of cities proper by population density, 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2022. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, culture, Fashion capital, fashion, and gastronomy. Because of its leading role in the French art, arts and Science and technology in France, sciences and its early adoption of extensive street lighting, Paris became known as the City of Light in the 19th century. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 inhabitants in January 2023, or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
