Southern Regional French: A Linguistic Analysis of Language and Dialect Contact

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Despite apparent interest in defining francais regional since as early at the nineteenth century, we have been left wondering about the precise origins and changing nature of contemporary regional varieties of French, particularly in the south of France. Through an examination of linguistic transfer, in a situation of bilingualism, and of levelling and diffusion during dialect contact, this study examines the hypothesis that regional French pronunciations have resulted from contact with France’s minority languages, and challenges the received view that young Southerners are abandoning their regional lilt in favour of a more cosmopolitan Parisian accent. The differential mechanisms of linguistic change active during the genesis and evolution of both northern and southern regional French, as well as broader questions concerning the interface between language and dialect contact in France, are also discussed.

Damien Mooney is Lecturer in French Linguistics at the University of Bristol.