Linguistic Diversity in France

La langue de la Republique est le francais. Article 2 of the cut Constitution, rewrite as recently as 1992, leaves no room for misinterpretation. France is non cognize as a multilingual nation, nor genius with a well cognize multilingual history. How ever so The plain linguistic union of France hides a quite an different reality of considerable linguistic diversity. (Laroussi and Marcellesi 1995, 85) The countrys monolingual facade hides a multitude of regional lyric poems, whose talkers eat up faced ill and suppression for centuries.An enormous amount of conscious manipulation by the powers that agree goerned France through the ages has led to the complex linguistic smirch that can be found in France today. This essay will present an all overview of the historical yetts which have led to Frances present day linguistic situation paid particular attention to the countrys regional phrases and their posture. Breton and Basque will be the two regional languages foc u tilise on. french, the sole language of the french Republic, is for tiree one of the countrys most powerful and influential assets. France has exported the French language all told over the world, go forthing in mingled with seventy trillion and one hundred and ten million native speakers and twenty-nine countries apply it as their prescribed language today. However before introduction this globose platform, French had to establish itself indoors its own country, a deal utmost much complicated than one might think.When the Romans began extending the frontiers of their empire to Gaul, an area which incorporates groundbreaking day France, Belgium, Germany as far as the Rhine and Switzerland from lake Geneva to lake Constance ( line up pose 1993, 39) they encountered a high level of linguistic variety. A mixture of Greek, pre-Indo-European and Celtic languages as well as many different languages that linguists have little familiarity of to this day could be found. As the Romans took control of this area from the second cytosine BC, there followed a period of romanisation, and with this, presumably, latinisation.As put forward by Lodge The rich archaeological record tireviving from the Gallo-Roman period enables historians to trace the interpenetrate of Roman civilisation in Gaul in some dilate (see Theve non 1948). The process of latinisation undoubtedly followed the same paths as that of romanisation, but direct point related to the linguistic history of the period is scanty. In all opportunity the latinisation of Gaul was very gradual (Lodge 1993, 42) As Latin infiltrated Gaul, it most liable(predicate) became make ford by the languages already present, resulting in a variety of non- modular Latins.The Gallo-Roman period lasted for to the highest degree five centuries, until the Barbaric Germanic invaders the Francs, the Visigoths and the Burgundians invaded and took over in the fifth ascorbic acid A. D. leaving behind them a lin guistic legacy. The vulgar Latin already present mutated with the arrival of these new linguistic influences and France, at this point, was the proprietor of a large flake of different dialects. These dialects became clearly split between the one-ninth and the thirteenth centuries forming the dialectical divisions of France the langues doil in the North and the langues doc in the south.This split came about as the northern half, from around Lyon upwards, take oil for yes, whereas the southern half said oc. (Davidson 2011, 110) right away, the langues doil found French, Breton and Alsatian and the langues doc are make up of Occitan, Basque, Catalan and Franco-Provencal. The improbably diverse linguistic platform present at this time allay does not shed much light as to why French emerged as the single language of the French Republic. From this point, French emerges as an arguably planned language. see opine 1993) During the Old French Period, between the tenth and thirteenth c enturies, the dialect of lIle de France, the region which today incorporates Paris, grew in influence, particularly upon the languages of the North, but also on some South of the Loire. This dialect, Francien, replaced a number of dialects already in existence. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, as the influence of Paris became much important, so too did its dialect. The invention of printing in the fifteenth century was a highly significant factor in the spread of Francien.It is in the sixteenth century that we truly begin to see the manipulation of language in France, which has resulted in the complex linguistic situation present today. Although Francien had spread and was an important language in the country, the vast mass of the inhabitants of France had no knowledge of it and spoke a variety of regional languages and dialects. maneuver linguistic legislation was introduced in an effort to regulate the linguistic situation. gestural into police by Francois I on August tenth 1539, the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterets declared that all judicial acts must be carried out in Francien, in French.Articles 110 and 111 state Et afin quil ny ait cause de douter tire lintelligence desdits arrests, nous voulons et ordonnons quils soient faits et escrits si clairement, quil ny ait ne puisse avoir aucune ambiguite ou incertitude, ne lieu a demander interpretation. Et pour ce que de telles choses sont souvent advenues sur lintelligence des mots latins contenus esdits arrests, nous voulons dores en avant que tous arrests, supporting players toutes autres procedures, soient prononcez, enregistrez et delivrez aux parties en langaige maternel francois et non autrement. (Wartburg 1946, 145)This legislation excluded not however Latin, but also all regional languages and dialects, and it is here that we see the first inklings of French gaining superiority over its minor neighbours. Through this law, as the language of public administration, French pronto gai ned importance and by the end of the sixteenth century had achieved a heightened linguistic status. Further language legislation came about in 1635 with the official founding of the Academie francaise, a body to encourage, standardize and manage French as a language in all aspects and to create a grammar and a French dictionary.Then Vaugelas (1585-1650) who was at the forefront of much of the Academies early work published his Remarques sur la lange francaise in 1647 which became a linguistic Bible, the very foundation of le bon usage. (Judge 1993, 11) French had now gained a huge amount of stature. It was the simply language of the upper classes, royalty and the educated. Speakers of Breton, Basque, Alsatian, Catalan and all former(a) forms of regional language and dialect were regarded as second class citizens, as they spoke the tongues of the masses. The derogatory term patois was used to describe this crude form of language.In 1798, as the Ancien Regime was overthrown by the F rench Revolution, linguistic homogeny and standardization became important issues. How could a country proclaim complete unity without being able to go by in a common language to all fellow Frenchmen? The administrator of the first republic, Abbe Gregoire, sought to gain a better understanding of the linguistic situation, in a battle against the common patois, conducting a survey on the state of French in 1790 entitled Sur la necessite et les moyens danteantir les patois et duniversaliser lusage de la langue francoise. His results revealed that French was some a foreign language in the majority of France. though Gregoire was unconditioned as to what they were speaking, describing Corsican as Italian and Alsatian and its meet dialects as German (see Luxardo 2000) he discovered that the vast majority of Frances inhabitants were not speaking French. Only just under an eighth of the entire race spoke the language fluently. The results of Gregoires survey led to the issue and sub stantiation of a decree in 1794 declaring unilingualism in all areas of France.The measures were no more extreme than the goal the complete eradication of the regional languages that undermined Frances unity The monarchy had reasons to resemble the Tower of Babel in democracy, leaving the citizens to ignore the national language, unable to control the power, is betraying the motherland For a free people, the tongue must be one and the same for everyone How much money have we not worn-out(a) already for the translation of the laws of the first two national assemblies in the motley dialects of FranceAs if it were our duty to maintain those barbaric jargons and those coarse lingos that can only serve fanatics and counter-revolutionaries now Bertrand Barere, a member of the National Convention who had presided over the trial of Louis XVI (Davidson 2011, 112) Military conscription, the improvement of communication networks and culture became very important in the spread of the French language and the eradication of regional languages and dialects. any(prenominal) soldiers conscripted into the army from all parts of France were coerce to communicate in a common language French.Communication networks were meliorate and this increased Pariss, the centre from which standard French originated, influence over France. In 1832, primary education was complete and by the end of the nineteenth century Jules Ferry, the Minister for Public Instruction, made it free and compulsory for all French citizens. The introduction of progressive education came simultaneously with the suppression of minority languages. No other language but French was allowed and French culture and ostentation was very much promoted within the classroom.These factors had a huge influence on the growing dominance of the French language. Regional languages and dialects faced a bleak future. Brittany can boast one of the most unique and interesting cultures of France. However, Breton is one of the m ost diminished regional languages in France. It is most concentrated in Le Finistere, and is not, nor has ever been an official language of France. As with all minority communities, the increasing control of the state in all aspects of their everyday lives has subjected the Breton community to a rocess of linguistic and heathenish assimilation into the mainstream of French society. (Davidson 2011, 88) Under the third, fourth and fifth French republics, Breton children caught speaking their native Breton in school, as opposed to French, were subjected to the humiliation of having to wear a symbol around their neck which displayed their offence. Others had to do extra homework or received corporal punishment for their transgressions. In Davidsons book, a Breton looks pricker on his grandparents experiences at school My grandparents speak Breton too, though not with me.As children, they used to have their fingers smacked if they happened to say a word in Breton. Back then, the French of the Republic, one and indivisible, was to be heard in all schools, and those who dared challenge this policy were humiliated by having to wear a clog around their necks or kneel down on a ruler under a sign that read It is forbidden to spit on the ground and speak Breton. Thats the reason why some older folks wint transmit the language to their children it brings trouble upon yourself. Nicolas de la Casiniere, Ecoles Diwan, la bosse du Breton) (Davidson 2011, 113) speaking ones native Breton tongue had so many negatively charged repercussions that it was far easier to submit to the imposition of the French language, which greatly reduced the number of Breton speakers. The Basque language faced similar repression to Breton. Basque culture is one of great pride in a unique society which differs from the French and Spanish cultures surrounding its locale.Their most apparent distinction is their language The most obvious contrariety between the Basques and their neighbours in F rance and Spain is their extraordinary language which the Basques themselves call euskera or euskara depending on which dialect they speak. (Hooper 1986, 231) The most incredible feature of the Basque language is that, apart from person words absorbed from French and Spanish, it displays no similarities with its neighbouring languages, nor any trace of romantic, or even Indo-European roots. There is thus an understandable pride in this exceptional language.A language of antiquity, Basque certainly has important ancient roots. Many Basques desire that their language was once spoken all over Europe. Some even state the whole world once spoke Basque. According to Davidson nonpareil theory even has Adam and Eve speaking Basque. (Davidson 2011, 122) The enormous maven of pride in this regional language did not prevent its declension at the hands of the French government. As in in Brittany, children were forced not to speak their native tongue at school, but rather to communicate in the langue de la Republique. Failure to do so would result in punishment. it is schooling in French that has largely accelerated the process of debasquisation. (Laroussi and Marcellesi 1993, 88) The situation for regional languages was dire. However, the linguistic state of affairs with regard to these minorities improved slightly with the introduction of the Loi Deixonne in 1951 which allowed for the teaching of regional languages and dialects in the classroom. though it was a step in the just direction, the law was criticised for being only tolerant, but not accommodating in the promotion of these languages.Article 3 of the law states Every teacher who so requests will be authorised to founder each week, one hour of activities to the teaching of elementary notions of reading and composition in the local idiom and to the study of selected texts from the corresponding literature. This teaching is nonmandatory for the pupils. (article 3, Deixonne Law, cited in Grau 1987 161) ( Oakes 2001, 181) This law allowed for Breton and Basque as well as all other native languages and dialects of France to be taught in schools. Extra teaching hours of the languages could also be allocated outside the curriculum.The introduction of these languages into education slowly made allowances for non state-funded immersion schools to be set up in both regions Diwan schools in Brittany and Ikastolas in Iparralde, the Basque region. In Brittany today, bilingual road signage can be seen. Due to the more important co-official status of Basque within the Spanish Basque country, Basque television, radio and newspapers are available. Though there is now a more sympathetic attitude towards the regions of France which had their master copy languages or dialects suppressed, the situation today is by no means ideal.Breton, Basque and other regional languages do not have official status, nor are they ever used by the authorities. Even though article 75-1 that was added to the French re putation in 2008 states that regional languages are part of the patrimony of the state, their legal status is inappropriate given their historic relevance. France remains one of the few countries not to have ratified the European Charter for Regional or minority Languages. These languages still cower beneath the oppressive power of French and the apparent linguistic unity certainly does hide a little cognize linguistic diversity.In a country with the maxim of Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, one is forced to wonder, as the language of the republic is French and French alone, where is this liberte and egalite in the suppression of the right to speak, learn and live ones own language? recognise Bibliography Constitution de la Republique francaise in Assemblee national http//www. assemblee-nationale. fr/connaissance/constitution. asp (accessed 19th display 2012) Davidson J. P. 2011. Planet Word, London Penguin Hagege C. 1996. 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