Gaby (Aosta Valley)

Gaby
Country	Italy
region	Aosta Valley
Coordinates	45 ° 42 '  N , 7 ° 53'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 42 '16 "  N , 7 ° 53' 2"  E
height	1047  m slm
surface	32.46 km²
Residents	448 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	14 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	11020
prefix	0125
ISTAT number	007029
Popular name	Gabesi (Italian) Gabençois (French) Gabistro ( French )
Website	http://www.comune.gaby.ao.it/

Central square with town hall

Gaby (in the Franco-Provencal local dialect Goby, in the Walser German of the neighboring Gressoney Goobi, in that of the neighboring Issime Uberlann ) is an Italian municipality in the Aosta Valley with 448 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

geography

In addition to the main town ( called Chef-lieu here ), the municipality also includes Bouri, Chanton Desor, Chanton Desout, Crusmato, Gattinery, Gruba, Niel, Pont-de-Trentaz, Rubin, Serta Desor, Serta Desout, Tzen de la boa, Pro Du Toucco, Yair Desout, Moulin, Palatz, Halberpein, Voury, Yair Desor, Zappegly and Zuino.

The neighboring municipalities are Andorno Micca ( BI ), Brusson , Callabiana (BI), Gressoney-Saint-Jean , Issime , Piedicavallo (BI), Rassa (VC) and Sagliano Micca ( BI ). Gaby lies in the Lystal and is a member of the Union of Aosta Valley Walser Communities . Nevertheless, Gaby is not a language island of the Walser, it is dominated by the Franco-Provençal dialect typical of the Aosta Valley .

history

For a long time the community belonged to the community of Issime and was called Issime-Saint-Michel or Überland. In 1952 it gained the status of an independent municipality. The name Gaby comes from "Gabbio", which used to refer to a fenced private property.

economy

The municipal ban consists to a large extent of forests and is crossed by small mountain streams. Thanks to the relaxed atmosphere that the Cheflieu and especially the hamlets around it convey, and thanks to the dry, cool climate, summer tourism was able to develop in Gaby; winter tourism is due to the proximity to the ski areas Weißmatten in Gressoney-Saint-Jean and Monterosa Ski in Gressoney-La-Trinité . Like Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Gressoney-La-Trinité and Issime, Gaby belongs to the Comunità Montana Walser Alta Valle del Lys .

languages

A 2001 survey by the Émile Chanoux Foundation found that 66.89 % of the population made Italian their mother tongue , the traditional vernacular, the Franco-Provençal dialect Patois, and 23.83% of the population. 3.17% said Piedmontese was their mother tongue.

As numerous German field names in Gaby and Niel show, there must have been Walser German-speaking residents here in the past . There is evidence that this was still the case for the hamlet of Niel in the first half of the 20th century. Linguistically, the Walser von Gaby belonged to those of Issime, because - unlike the Walser von Gressoney - they knew the monophthonging of the Middle High German diphthongs and no rounding (see names like Gruba, Minischgut, Niilmatti, Hööji, Rück ) according to the field names .

Web links

Commons : Gaby  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
2. ↑ Émile Chanoux (born January 9, 1906, Rovenaud near Valsavarenche ; † May 18, 1944, Aosta), notary and anti-fascist politician, member of the Resistancea , died in Nazi-fascist imprisonment.
3. ↑ Fondation Emile Chanoux , Sondage Linguistique, Résultats Vallée d'Aoste : The figures are based on the evaluation of 7,500 questionnaires. The survey took place in September 2001.
4. ↑ According to a letter from Fritz Gysling to Rudolf Hotzenköcherle , archived in the material of the Language Atlas of German-speaking Switzerland , there were still German speakers in Niel in 1929, but none when visiting in 1950.
5. ↑ See Paul Zinsli : Südwalser Namengut. Bern 1984, pp. 106 and 531-538.