Linguistic Diversity in France

La langue de la Republique est le francais. article 2 of the French Constitution, revised as recently as 1992, leaves no room for misinterpretation. France is not cognize as a multilingual nation, nor genius with a well k todayn multilingual history. However The unming conduct lingual congruity of France hides a rather different reality of considerable lingual diversity. (Laroussi and Marcellesi 1995, 85) The countrys monolingual facade hides a multitude of regional addresss, whose speakers allow faced chastisement and suppression for centuries.An wide amount of conscious manipulation by the powers that have g everyplacened France through the ages has led to the multiform lingual stake that can be found in France today. This essay will present an overview of the pastal events which have led to Frances present day linguistic situation paying particular attention to the countrys regional deliverys and their status. Breton and Basque will be the two regional linguistic processs focused on.French, the sole language of the French Republic, is surely one of the countrys most powerful and influential assets. France has exported the French language both over the world, resulting in between seventy million and one hundred and ten million native speakers and 29 countries using it as their official language today. However before world this global platform, French had to spend a penny itself within its own country, a process far more complicated than one might think.When the Romans began extending the frontiers of their empire to Gaul, an area which incorporates modern day France, Belgium, Germany as far as the Rhine and Switzerland from lake Geneva to lake Constance (see rest 1993, 39) they encountered a racy level of linguistic variety. A mixture of Greek, pre-Indo-European and Celtic languages as well as many new(prenominal) languages that linguists have little knowledge of to this day could be found. As the Romans took control of this area fro m the second coke BC, there followed a period of romanisation, and with this, presumably, latinisation.As put forward by Lodge The rich archaeological file surviving from the G all toldo-Roman period enables historians to keep an eye on the spread of Roman civilisation in Gaul in some(prenominal) detail (see Thevenot 1948). The process of latinisation undoubtedly followed the corresponding paths as that of romanisation, nevertheless direct evidence related to the linguistic history of the period is scanty. In all probability the latinisation of Gaul was very gradual (Lodge 1993, 42) As Latin infiltrated Gaul, it most likely became influenced by the languages already present, resulting in a variety of non-standard Latins.The Gallo-Roman period lasted for about vanadium centuries, until the Barbaric Germanic invaders the Francs, the Visigoths and the Burgundians invaded and took over in the fifth century A. D. leaving behind them a linguistic legacy. The vulgar Latin alread y present mutated with the arrival of these new linguistic influences and France, at this point, was the proprietor of a large number of different dialects. These dialects became clearly split between the 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 about Lyon upwards, said oil for yes, whereas the southern half said oc. (Davidson 2011, 110) Today, the langues doil comprise French, Breton and Alsatian and the langues doc are made up of Occitan, Basque, Catalan and Franco-Provencal. The incredibly diverse linguistic platform present at this time still 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 appraise 1993) During the Old French Period, between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, the dialect of lIle de France, the re gion 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 more important, so too did its dialect. The invention of make in the fifteenth century was a highly significant factor in the spread of Francien.It is in the one-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 majority of the inhabitants of France had no knowledge of it and spoke a variety of regional languages and dialects. Direct linguistic legislation was introduced in an run to regulate the linguistic situation. Signed into law by Francois I on August tenth 1539, the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotteret s verbalize 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 sur l apprehension 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, ensemble toutes autres procedures, soient prononcez, enregistrez et delivrez aux parties en langaige maternel francois et non autrement. (Wartburg 1946, 145)This legislation excluded not only Latin, but also all regional languages and dialects, and it is here that we see the first inklings of French contacting superiority over its little neighbours. Through this law, as the language of public administration, French quickly gained importance and by the end of the sixteenth century had a chieved 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 promulgated his Remarques sur la lange francaise in 1647 which became a linguistic Bible, the very foundation of le bon usage. ( hear 1993, 11) French had now gained a huge amount of stature. It was the only language of the upper classes, royalty and the educated. Speakers of Breton, Basque, Alsatian, Catalan and all different forms of regional language and dialect were regarded as second class citizens, as they spoke the tongues of the masses. The derogatory enclosure patois was used to describe this crude form of language.In 1798, as the Ancien Regime was overthrown by the French Revolution, linguistic homogeny and standardizati on became important issues. How could a country proclaim issue unity without being able to buy the farm in a common language to all fellow Frenchmen? The executive of the first republic, Abbe Gregoire, sought to gain a better netherstanding of the linguistic situation, in a battle against the common patois, conducting a batch 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 almost a foreign language in the majority of France. Though Gregoire was ignorant as to what they were speaking, describing Corsican as Italian and Alsatian and its surrounding 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 population spoke the language fluently. The results of Gregoires survey led to the issue and ratification of a decree in 1794 declaring unilingua lism 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 subject language, unable to control the power, is betraying the m otherland For a free people, the tongue must be one and the same for everyone How much money have we not spent already for the translation of the laws of the first two home(a) assemblies in the various dialects of FranceAs if it were our duty to maintain those barbaric jargons and those coarse lingos that can only dish up 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 converse networks and precept became very important in the spread of the French language and the eradication of regional languages and dial ects. each soldiers conscripted into the army from all parts of France were forced to communicate in a common language French.Communication networks were improve and this increased Pariss, the centre from which standard French originated, influence over France. In 1832, primary education was established and by the end of the nineteenth century Jules Ferry, the Minister for Public Instruction, made it free and tyrannical for all French citizens. The entrance of progressive education came simultaneously with the suppression of minority languages. No other language but French was allowed and French culture and pride 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 mere(a) future. Brittany can boast one of the most unique and interesting cultures of France. However, Breton is one of the most diminished regional languages in France. It is most concentrated in Le Fi nistere, 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 cultural assimilation into the mainstream of French baseball club. (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 unornamented homework or received corporal punishment for their transgressions. In Davidsons book, a Breton looks back 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 article in Breton. Back then, the French of the Republic, one and indivisible, was to be heard in all sch ools, and those who dared challenge this form _or_ system of government 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 earth and speak Breton. Thats the reason why some older folks wont point 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 negative 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 deflection between the Basques and their neighbours in France 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 undreamt of feature of the Basque language is that, apart from individual 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 believe that their language was once spoken all over Europe. Some even state the whole world once spoke Basque. According to Davidson One system even has Adam and Eve speaking Basque. (Davidson 2011, 122) The enormous sense of pride in this regional language did not prevent its decline at the hands of the French government. As in in Brittany, children were forced not to speak their native tongue at school, but instead to communicate in the langue de la Republique. Failure to do so would result in punishment. it is schooling in French that has largely speed up 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 pedagogics of regional languages and dialects in the classroom. Though it was a step in the right direction, the law was criticised for being only tolerant, but not accommodating in the promotion of these languages.Article 3 of the law states both teacher who so requests will be authorised to devote each week, one hour of activities to the teaching of elementary notions of reading and writing in the local idiom and to the study of selected texts from the corresponding literature. This teaching is nonobligatory 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 a ll 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 assiduousness schools to be set up in both regions Diwan schools in Brittany and Ikastolas in Iparralde, the Basque region. In Brittany today, bilingualist road signage can be seen. Due to the more important co-official status of Basque within the Spanish Basque country, Basque television, radio receiver and newspapers are available. Though there is now a more sympathetic attitude towards the regions of France which had their original 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 personality in 2008 states that regional languages are p art 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 known 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, break and live ones own language? Select Bibliography Constitution de la Republique francaise in Assemblee field http//www. assemblee-nationale. fr/connaissance/constitution. asp (accessed 19th March 2012) Davidson J. P. 2011. Planet Word, London Penguin Hagege C. 1996. Le francais, histoire dun combat, Boulogne-Billancourt Editions Michel HagegeHooper J. 1986. The New Spaniards, London Pengu in Judge A. 1993. French a planned language? in Sanders C. (ed) 1993. French Today Language in its mixer Context, Cambridge Cambridge University Press Kinsella C. 2011. 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