Niçard dialect

Niçard
niçard/nissart/niçart
Pronunciation[niˈsaʀt]
Native toFrance, Monaco
RegionCounty of Nice, Monaco
Latin
Official status
Regulated byConselh de la Lenga Occitana (classic orthography) / Félibrige (Mistralian orthography)
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolognica1249
Linguasphere51-AAA-gd
IETFoc-nicard
 Niçard in today's Alpes-Maritimes department, according to Dalbera

Niçard (Classical orthography), nissart/Niçart (Mistralian orthography, IPA: [niˈsaʀt]), niçois (/niːˈswɑː/ nee-SWAH, French: [niswa]), or nizzardo (Italian: [nitˈtsardo]) is the dialect that was historically spoken in the city of Nice, in France, and in a few surrounding communes. Niçard is a subdialect of Provençal, itself a dialect of Occitan. Some Italian irredentists have claimed it as a Ligurian dialect, on false grounds.

Most residents of Nice and its region no longer speak Niçard, and the very few[quantify] who do are fully bilingual in French as Nissard has lost its function of a vernacular language decades ago.[according to whom?] Nonetheless, today there is a developing revival of the use of the language. Some local television news is presented in Niçard (with French subtitles) and street signs in the old town of Nice are written in the dialect as well as in French. The Niçard song Nissa La Bella is often regarded as the "anthem" of Nice.

Writing system

Niçard is written using two forms:

  • Classical orthography. Preferring the native traditions of the language, this form was developed by Robert Lafont (Phonétique et graphie du provençal, 1951; L'ortografia occitana, lo provençau, 1972) and Jean-Pierre Baquié (Empari lo niçard, 1984). It is regulated by the Conselh de la Lenga Occitana.
  • Mistralian orthography. Closer to written French, it was invented by the Félibrige (although there also exists an Acadèmia Nissarda).

An Italian orthography was abandoned when Nice joined the French Empire in 1861. It was briefly reinstated in 1942 and 1943 when Italy occupied and administered the city.

Orthography Comparison (from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
English Classical Mistralian
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Toti li persona naisson liuri e egali en dignitat e en drech. Son dotadi de rason e de consciéncia e li cau agir entre eli emb un esperit de frairesa. Touti li persouna naisson lib(e)ri e egali en dignità e en drech. Soun doutadi de rasoun e de counsciència e li cau agì entre eli em' un esperit de frairesa.

Classification

The classifications of Occitan in dialects hesitate between defining Niçard as a specific dialect or including it in Maritime Provençal. Niçard is sharing some phonetical archaisms with Occitan areas as distant as Aranese, which is also using proparoxytone words. It is also sharing with Aranese a quite heavy influence of a neighbouring language (Catalan for Aranese, Italian for Niçard). Regional differences are broadly accepted by linguists and French national education authorities in Occitan. Domergue Sumien defined in his PhD thesis Occitan as a pluricentric language, and included Niçard among the seven regional standards to be taught. The French Ministry of National Education uses either “nissart-langue d’oc” or “occitan-langue d’oc nissart”.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-10-27 16:28 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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