When we talk about the languages of France, we would most likely tend to gravitate towards the French language. But in the southern parts of France, Monaco, and some regions in Italy and Spain, there is another language not as known as its French counterpart. Like the major languages spoken in the region (except Basque), this language is a Romance language, but has a rather weird etymology. Today, we will be talking about the language that literally translates to “language of yes”. This is Occitan.

In French, and sometimes Occitan, this language is known as langue d’oc and lenga d’òc respectively. And given the translation earlier, the word òc is the Occitan word for ‘yes’. This is not a mistake, as we can see the earliest records of the language go back to the medieval times. Among these is the Italian poet Dante, who wrote De vulgari eloquentia, which covered the predominant Romance literary languages in the region. In that publication, is the Latin phrase nam alii oc, alii si, alii vero dicunt oil. This translates to “for some say òc, some sì, yet some say oïl“. This alludes to the languages known in Italy, based on their word for ‘yes’; French as it was spoken then was known as the oïl language, Italian was the sì language, and of course, Occitan was the òc language.

But where did the òc come from? This originated in the Latin word for ‘this’, hoc. This word origin is shared with the Catalan word for ‘yes’ (in Northern Catalonia), which is coincidentally òc. In Catalan, oi or sì would also be used in different contexts. And as a bonus, the French ‘yes’, oui, did come from oïl, which ultimately comes from Latin’s hoc illud (this is it).

Contrary to lesser-known languages in the region like Catalan and Galician, Occitan does not really have a standard orthography, having different systems of writing it instead. Some pertain to specific variants of Occitan, while others could be expanded to several or all variants currently spoken (which would normally be based on French or Catalan orthography). What I do find weird is its official status, as Occitan is not recognised as an official language of France, but more rather, a regional language, while it is an official language in the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain. This is despite France being home to a majority of Occitan speakers, which number around 110 000 according to Ethnologue in 2022, or 610 000 in 1999, according to the INSEE census. These figures vary widely, but it is likely to number in the 100 000 to 200 000 range. This is in contrast to the 4 000 Occitan speakers in Spain, in the region of Val d’Aran.

Occitan is most closely related to Catalan, and you would find many similarities shared between the two languages. There are six main variants of Occitan that are widely recognised, although each variant could branch out into more subvariants of the language. Furthermore, it could be assessed that each Occitan-speaking settlement or region has its own dialect, and thus it could technically be said that Occitan is a dialect continuum. These main variants are Gascon, Languedocien, Limousin, Auvergnat, Provençal, and Vivaro-Alpine. However, in France, people might use Provençal to refer to the Occitan language, when in fact it is just one of the variants.

From the geographical range of Occitan, we could try to infer the various influences that influenced the origin and evolution of the language. The first thought that comes to mind is the Pyrenees mountain range that defines the border between France and Spain (and Andorra). This likely formed a geographical barrier between Occitan-speaking populations and Catalan-speaking populations, which contributed to the divergence into the two languages over time from their common ancestor. Towards the east, we have the Alps, which define the border between France and Italy, once again, separating the Occitan-speaking and Italian-speaking populations geographically.

Next, some linguists have identified several hundred words in the Occitan lexicon that are unique, and not found in the French variants spoken in the regions. There is also much less influence from Germanic language variants, such as Old Franconian, and no influence from the Celtic languages. Geography likely contributes to this, as the Occitan-speaking regions are bounded by the Alps, Pyrenees, the Mediterranean Ocean, and the Atlantic ocean, and seems to be separated from the Breton-speaking regions by the Loire. Germanic influences would likely have to pass through Northern France first, or through the Atlantic coast by sea. This geographic separation would limit Germanic influences on Occitan.

With geography, some demography, and some etymology done, let us briefly look into what Occitan is. As there is currently no Standard Occitan, when we talk about phonology, there will be differences between the various dialects used in the Occitan-speaking regions.

But what we do know is that French and Catalan have influenced the sounds of Occitan to some extent, particularly in the vowel department. This includes the similarity between the French “u” and the Occitan “u”, and the stressed Latin “a” shared between Occitan and Catalan, but not French. An example of this is the French mer (ocean), which translates as mar in Occitan and Catalan, derived from Latin mare.

Some dialects of Occitan have taken notes from French, and just drop final consonants, and use the guttural ‘r’ we often associate with the French language. Nasal vowels also exist in some Occitan variants, sharing a phonological similarity between French and Occitan. Some also share similarities with sound changes that occur in Catalan, such as the merging of the /b/ and /v/ sounds in some Occitan dialects. Another example is, what were “mb” and “nd” sounds in Latin became /m/ and /n/ in Catalan and some Occitan dialects.

Occitan verb conjugation can vary from dialect to dialect, but amongst these, a common pattern could be identified for the conjugation for the plural “you”, which is “-tz” in Occitan. This is distinct from its Catalan counterpart, which is “-u”.

Despite these differences, Occitan and Catalan are still surprisingly mutually intelligible, and this is even more prominent in their written forms. But the same could not be said four Occitan’s survival. The suppression of Occitan in favour of French was, in a way, an echo of the suppression of the Welsh language in favour of English in Wales. First taking place in 1863, French legislation essentially forbade the education of Occitan, and students who spoke Occitan in school were humiliated, much like students who spoke Welsh in schools in Wales around the same period were humiliated. Needless to say, this resulted in a drastic decline of the Occitan language.

Today, all main dialects of Occitan are endangered, and with Occitan falling in favour of French for the vast majority of its speaking population, Occitan is expected to decline towards extinction if preservation policies are not effectively implemented. With most speakers today being older adults (average age of 66), and the return of bilingual education in French and regional languages in 1993, more efforts have to be made to ensure Occitan’s survival in the 21st century.

However, there is reason for optimism, as local Occitan-speaking communities do organise and promote activities and lessons in Occitan for those who are interested. This, combined with cultural events, seeks to preserve Occitan’s heritage, language, and culture for years to come.