Patois (French language)
Patois is the French word for dialect or vernacular . In practice it is used in different meanings.
Original meaning
The word patois probably comes from the Old French patoiier or patoyer , which means " waving your hands" ( patte means "paw" in German). What was meant was possibly an awkward communication with "hands and feet".
Patois originally referred to local language varieties of French in France, for example the dialect of Normandy and the Channel Islands derived from Norman . For many years the use of patois was considered uncultivated and "peasant". This also applied to the Channel Islands, where the dialect survived the longest in the countryside and is still understood today. Especially after Calvin's translation of the Bible into French and the introduction of compulsory schooling in French, the local language variants disappeared more and more. Radio and television did the rest in the 20th century. Only in the last few years have efforts been made to revive the local dialects.
Pejorative meaning
In France , the minority languages (such as Breton or Occitan ) are sometimes pejoratively referred to as patois . Likewise, in various francophone African countries, local languages are also referred to in a derogatory way as patois.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, patois refers to a Franco-Provençal language that was previously spoken in the whole of French-speaking Switzerland (except in the Jura). Today the patois in Switzerland has been almost completely replaced by French and is only spoken as a mother tongue by a small minority in Valais. Efforts have recently been made to save the patois from extinction.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Frogleap: What is a "patois"? In: frog-leap.de. Retrieved February 16, 2014 .