Lorrain, also known as Lorrain roman, is a langue d'oïl spoken by a minority of people in the region of Lorraine in northeastern France, as well as in some parts of Alsace and Gaume in Belgium. It is often referred to as a patois.
It is a regional language of France. In Wallonia, it is known as Gaumais It is derived from Latin grammar that is no longer used in modern French.
Variations
The Linguasphere Observatory distinguishes seven variants:
- Argonnais (Argonne, Woëvre, eastern French Ardennes, Meuse, Meurthe-et-Moselle)
- Longovician (Longwy, Longuyon, northern Meurthe-et-Moselle)
- Gaumais (arrondissement of Virton, cantons of Montmédy and Stenay in Meuse and the canton of Carignan in Ardennes)
- Messin (Metz, Metzgau and all of French-speaking Moselle)
- Nancéien (Nancy, southern Meurthe-et-Moselle)
- Spinalian (Épinal, central Vosges)
- Deodatian (Saint-Dié, Hautes-Vosges)
After 1870, members of the Stanislas Academy in Nancy noted 132 variants of Lorrain from Thionville in the north to Rupt-sur-Moselle in the south, which means that main variants have sub-variants.
See also
- Welche dialect
- Ban de la Roche region
- Language policy of France
External links
- http://www.travelphrases.info/languages/lorrain.htm
- Essai sur le patois lorrain des environs du comté du Ban de la Roche, Jeremias Jacob Oberlin, 1775