TITLE:
Spaces of Use of the Occitan Language in Périgord
AUTHORS:
Adrian Gorke
KEYWORDS:
Occitan, Perigord, Vitality, Maintenance, Spaces of Use
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.14 No.4,
August
12,
2024
ABSTRACT: The fact that the Occitan area does not constitute an officially established political or administrative entity contributes to the status of a dominated language to which Occitan is relegated, in the same way as the other regional languages existing on French territory and is reflected in a constantly declining number of speakers. By identifying its main areas of use, the article attempts to determine the place of Occitan in everyday life in Périgord, in an area divided almost equally between North Occitan and Southern Occitan. It has to be said that the decline in the use of Occitan in the private-public sphere contrasts with a strong prosperity in the cultural and virtual sphere. The result is the appropriation of the new media and modern means of communication by the Occitan language, which certainly helps to make the younger generation aware of the importance of maintaining it but does not guarantee a positive impact on the number of Occitan speakers in the long term.