Do you know the Val d’Aran? No doubt, as long as you live in the Toulouse region. Maybe not, if you live far from the Pink City. In any case, if I talk to you about it today, it is to illustrate this simple idea, but vigorously contested in France: we can absolutely save a regional language as long as we give it a try. the means. The proof, therefore, by the Val d’Aran.
Let’s start at the beginning by presenting this very unique territory. It is as a result of a historical-geographical oddity that the Val d’Aran is today integrated into Spain. Indeed, the Pyrenean border generally follows the watershed line. As a result, this valley, which essentially belongs to the upper course of the Garonne, should logically depend on France. However, this is not the case, but it does not matter because, as is often the case, from evil comes good.
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Now let’s move on to the question at hand. The historic language of the Val d’Aran, Aranese, is a variant of Occitan. In our country, unfortunately, this ancient language is losing speakers, and many sincerely believe that there is nothing we can do about it. However, this is not at all the case in this valley which has escaped Parisian centralism.
During the time of the dictator Franco, Aranese was banned, as were all the regional languages of Spain. Only Castilian had the right to citizenship. Everything changed with the return of democracy. In 1990, Aranese obtained official language status, along with Catalan and Spanish. The start of a new era.
Concretely, Occitan has since then been the language of the local “government”, eth Conselh Generau of Aran. It is used in town halls, administrations and, of course, in schools. The results of this new policy are spectacular: from now on, Aranese regularly gains speakers. Better: these are proportionally more numerous in the younger generations. 75% of 15-29 year olds now know how to speak it (54% among 45-64 year olds), and 72% write it (37% among 45-64 year olds).
Let’s put it another way. In this small area of around 10,000 inhabitants, Occitan seems saved. While, on the French side, this great language of culture no longer counts in the Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions as 7% of speakers, often elderly. UNESCO says it loud and clear: it is now threatened with disappearance.
The conclusion is obvious: the decline of a minority language is not inevitable. It all depends on the measures that are taken – or not – in their favor. Corollary: if we really want to save the regional languages of France, we just need to do like the Val d’Aran and grant them co-official status. I translate and I reassure: this means that French would retain the status of an official language everywhere and could be used by everyone. The only difference is that Occitan would have the same status in Occitan-speaking areas, and the same would apply to Alsatian in Alsace, Basque in the Basque Country, Martinican Creole in Martinique, etc.
Oh, I know what some of you are thinking. Doesn’t the Val d’Aran belong to Catalonia, and isn’t Catalonia following a dangerous path towards independence? Consequently, does this measure not risk having the same effects in France? These fears are entirely legitimate, but we can provide four answers.
1. Until the early 2010s, Spanish Catalans were predominantly autonomist. It was Madrid’s refusal of a statute extending this autonomy which contributed to radicalizing part of the electorate in the mode “since autonomy is impossible, all we have left is independence” (see our “Read also”, above).
2. What the defenders of Occitan want is simply, modestly, humbly, to be able to continue to practice and transmit the language of this region, while remaining French. There is no National Liberation Front of Occitania!
3. We must not confuse the notion of “single French language”, synonymous with cultural standardization and impoverishment, and that of “common French language”, which reinforces national unity while showing respect for linguistic diversity of our country. This is obviously what 99% of regional language activists aspire to.
4. I told you that since the death of Franco, Occitan has experienced a real renaissance in the Val d’Aran. I didn’t tell you that the inhabitants of this astonishing valley also speak Catalan, Castilian and often… French fluently. Proof if any were needed that the practice of minority languages does not confine their speakers to their small territory, but on the contrary encourages openness towards other cultures.
So I want to end this article with a suggestion. Could the head of continuing education of the very centralist Constitutional Council impose on its august members a one-week course in the Val d’Aran? Perhaps such a stay would allow them to get away from ideology and understand that, if France really intends to be considered “the country of human rights”, taking inspiration from Franco is not necessarily the best solution.
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Read elsewhere
In Martinique, justice refuses the co-officiality of Creole and French
Very interesting analysis by the Justice for our Languages collective after the annulment by the administrative court of Martinique of the deliberation of the local authority granting Martinican Creole the status of co-official language on the island, alongside French. The judge upholds the restrictive reading of article 2 by the Constitutional Council: “The language of the Republic is French.” And this to the detriment of article 11 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, which enshrines freedom of expression: “Every citizen can therefore speak, write, print freely.” Conclusion of the collective: this trial “shows how much an evolution of French law is necessary, so that all fundamental human rights are finally fully recognized in France.”
Ursula von der Leyen speaks in English three times out of four
This is the result of the survey carried out by the GEM + association (for multilingual European governance) by observing the speeches on the State of the Union by the President of the European Commission. The other languages used come very far behind and are, in that order, German, French and Italian.
“The ‘globish’ testifies to class contempt”
Excellent column by socialist senator Mickaël Vallet, who warns of the democratic issues of the use of anglicisms by a certain elite. “Globish”, he writes, is “hermetic to this majority part of the population that the winners of globalization caricature as ‘rednecks’. That is the subject.” Without ever falling into purism, he believes that the use of “globish” demonstrates “class contempt, because it is the most disadvantaged who are the first victims of this abandonment by our elites of a language understood by all.”
Niger renames avenue Charles-de-Gaulle
Niger renamed several emblematic places in Niamey formerly associated with France on Tuesday October 15. Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle thus became Avenue Djibo-Bakary, in homage to a post-war independence activist. The Place de la Francophonie, for its part, was renamed “Place de l’Alliance des Études du Sahel”, a confederation created in 2023 with Mali and Burkina Faso. These changes are part of a context of progressive deterioration of relations between Niger and France since the military coup of July 26, 2023.
Threats to regional language radio stations
This could be the consequence of the 35% reduction in subsidies granted to the radio expression support fund planned in the 2025 budget. A reduction which would primarily affect community radio stations, therefore those broadcasting in regional languages. “A good part of them will disappear,” warns a good observer of the sector.
Like every year for more than forty years, October 28 will be dedicated to the Creole language and culture. It notably includes a unique cultural festival of its kind: the festival Kreyol month. It takes place in mainland France, in the West Indies, in Guyana, but also in London and Montreal.
The Digital Farga (the Digital Forge), a portal for Occitan language technologies published by the Permanent Congress of the Occitan Language, was officially inaugurated on October 10 in Pau. It aims to bring together the community of professionals and volunteers who develop the digital tools this language needs.
The 42nd International Meetings of Franco-Provençal will be held in Paris
Franco-Provençal is spoken in Switzerland, Italy and France, from Geneva to Val d’Aosta via Lyonnais and Savoie. But there are also a very large number of inhabitants from these regions in Paris. This is why the next International Meetings of Francoprovençal will be held in Montmartre on November 9 and 10, 2024. On the program: conference, exhibition and festive meals.
The Commission of Neology and Terminology for the Picardy Language is working to find new terms for this langue d’oïl. It is possible to participate remotely, regardless of your level of knowledge of the language. The next meeting will take place on Monday October 28 at 6 p.m. by videoconference on Zoom. Meeting ID: 835 8166 6311. Passcode: 729241.
A charge against “so-called inclusive language”
A collective of writers and intellectuals publishes in the journal The Novel Workshop a collection of texts to oppose inclusive writing. According to them, this “artificial language that we want to believe is beneficial for gender equality” contributes on the contrary to “distorting the official language”, to “building a distinct language community within French society” and “reproducing the deceptions of communist newspeak”.
The Novel Workshop No. 118, “So-called inclusive language”.
Nantes: justice orders the removal of the Breton flag from the town hall
On October 16, 2024, the Nantes administrative court ordered the city to remove the Breton flag which flies in the main courtyard of the city hall.
Right-left, continued
A reader keen on etymology, Pierre Avenas, brings a welcome nuance to the article I wrote last week on the right and the left. “When the Greeks interpreted the flight of birds, they turned towards the north and then considered the right (the east, the rising sun) as favorable and the left (the west, the setting sun) unfavorable,” he writes in one of his books, The Prodigious History of the Names of the Elements. On the contrary, the Romans turned towards the south, so that the flight of birds was considered favorable when it arrived from the left. The difference between the two traditions would therefore come from the position of the observer.
To watch
This short video from the show Karambolage d’Arte gives, in a few minutes, an overview of the linguistic situation in Spain. A shock, for a French mind. A banal tolerance, in many other European countries.
Have you never heard Aranese or maybe even Occitan? Hurry up to this video by the young singer Alidé Sans. Logically, those of you who have a dusty image of so-called regional languages should change your mind…
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