Savoyard is an
Arpitan language of the
Franco-Provençal family. It is spoken in some territories of the historical
Duchy of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416.
It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...
, nowadays a geographic area spanning
Savoie and
Haute-Savoie,
France and the
Canton of Geneva,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. It has around 35,000 speakers today.
Some words
Several subdialects of Savoyard exist that exhibit unique features in terms of phonetics and vocabulary. This includes many words that have to do with the weather: ''bacan'' (French: ''temps mauvais''); ''coussie'' (French: ''tempête''); ''royé'' (French: ''averse''); ''ni
le'' (French: ''nuage''); ...and, the environment: ''clapia, perrier'' (French: ''éboulis''); ''égra'' (French: ''sorte d'escalier de pierre''); ''balme'' (French: ''grotte''); ''tova'' (French: ''tourbière''); and ''lanche'' (French: ''champ en pente'').
Linguistic studies
Savoyard has been the subject of detailed study at the ''Centre de dialectologie'' of the
Stendhal University
Stendhal University (french: Université Stendhal, also known as Grenoble III) was a university located in the outskirts of Grenoble, France that offered courses in foreign languages and cultures, ancient and modern literature, language and commun ...
,
Grenoble, currently under the direction of
Michel Contini.
See also
*
Languages of France
Of the languages of France, French is the sole official language according to the second article of the French Constitution. French, a Gallo-Romance language, is spoken by nearly the entire population of France.
In addition to French, several ...
References
Notes
Franco-Provençal language
Languages of France
Arpitania
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