Berrichon dialect
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2016) |
| Berrichon | |
|---|---|
| berrichon | |
| Native to | France |
| Region | Berry |
Early forms | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | berr1239 |
 | |
Berrichon(French pronunciation:[beʁiʃɔ̃]or[bɛʁiʃɔ̃]) is anOïl languagevery closely related toFrenchor adialectof it traditionally spoken in the historical area of the French province ofBerry.The word is also used as ademonymand as an adjective meaning "pertaining to Berry".
History
[edit]The dialect evolved out of thelangues d'oïlwhich evolved during the Middle Ages out of theVulgar Latinspoken in northernGaul.Its general use in the Berry region began to decline in the sixteenth century as the local aristocracy and bourgeoisie began to adoptstandard French,leaving Berrichon as a "patois"used by the peasantry in the countryside. Subsequent developments, such as theFrench Revolution,which created a sense ofnationalism,and theestablishment of free, mandatory, primary educationunder the Minister of Public Instruction,Jules Ferry,which greatly expanded the teaching of French, further undermined the position of Berrichon.
Current status
[edit] |
The decline of Berrichon has virtually led to it being regarded as a sub-standard dialect of French rather than a separate language. Additionally, as most speakers in its region now speak standard French, it is no longer possible to say that a Berrichon "patois" exists, but rather that a regional version of French does. Nevertheless, traces of Berrichon and its regional varieties remain today. This is exemplified in the continued use of Berrichon terms in spoken French among speakers in the region.
Phonology and lexicon
[edit]Although Berrichon does not have an official grammar or pronunciation, there are general rules as to how it differs from French. Berrichon differentiates between closed and opena.Rs arerolledand emphatic. Words which have theosound in standard French are pronounced with aclose back rounded vowel,resulting in, for example,un houmme(man),une poumme(apple). Theoi[wa] sound becomesoé[oe]. Thesuffix-eurbecomes -euxin Berrichon, and -eaubecomes -iau;therefore,leurs(theirs) isieuxandun seau d'eau(a bucket of water) isun siau d'iau.
Conjugation is also different. Thepresent indicativeof the first-personsingular, the third-person singular and the third-person plural are all conjugated in the same manner, which results in phrases of the type, "j'menons les oies"(" I lead thegeese"). There is also frequent truncation:"i m'nons les oies"(" they lead the geese "). Tense endings are also different from standard French, as in the third person pluralimperfectending-aientis replaced by-aint,e.g., "i's étaint"instead of"ils étaient"(" They used to be ").
In Berry, it is customary to precede given names witharticles:lafor women's names andeulfor men's names.
When referring to weather terms, the pronounçais used in place of the Frenchil.For example, "Il pleut" (It is raining.) would be "Ça pleut" in Berrichon.
Examples of Berrichon vocabulary being used instead of their French counterparts include:
| Berrichon | French(Paris) | English |
|---|---|---|
| agouant | pénible | pain in the neck |
| cagoui | escargot | snail |
| caqueziau | moustique | mosquito |
| carroué | carrefour | intersection, crossroads |
| chian | chien | dog |
| chieuve | chèvre | goat |
| ch'tit | mauvais, méchant | bad |
| daguenettes | pommes/poires séchées | dried apples/pears |
| ediasse (North), ajasse (South) | pie | magpie |
| formion, fromion | fourmis | ant |
| jau | coq | rooster |
| mainguion | petit repas | light meal |
| Naud | Noël | Christmas |
| ouche | jardin (de la maison) | house garden |
| pal'tau | veste | jacket |
| patin | pantoufle | slipper |
| pochon | sac | bag |
| rag'nasser | faire du bruit | to make noise |
| s'accutter | s'asseoir | to sit down |
| tantôt | après-midi | afternoon |
| s'tantôt | cet après-midi | this afternoon |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2022-05-24)."Oil".Glottolog.Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-10-08.Retrieved2022-10-07.
