Champenois language explained

Champenois
Nativename:champaignat
States:France, Belgium
Region:Champagne-Ardenne, Île-de-France (Seine-et-Marne), Namur
Speakers:?
Familycolor:Indo-European
Fam2:Italic
Fam3:Latino-Faliscan
Fam4:Romance
Fam5:Italo-Western
Fam6:Western Romance
Fam7:Gallo-Romance
Fam8:Oïl
Ancestor:Old Latin
Ancestor2:Vulgar Latin
Ancestor3:Proto-Romance
Ancestor4:Old Gallo-Romance
Ancestor5:Old French
Isoexception:dialect
Glotto:cham1332
Glottorefname:Champenois
Dia1:Eastern
Dia2:Western
Map:Langues d'oïl et Croissant.png
Mapcaption:Situation of Champenois among the Oïl languages.

Champenois (lou champaignat) is a Romance language among the langues d'oïl spoken by a minority of people in Champagne and Île-de-France provinces in France, as well as in a handful of towns in southern Belgium (chiefly the municipality of Vresse-sur-Semois).

While it is classified as a regional language of France, it also has recognized status as a regional language in Wallonia, a region of Belgium. Champenois is considered an endangered language by the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages.[1]

Literature

The language of Chrétien de Troyes is marked by Champenois traits and Rashi used Champenois in his commentaries, but the earliest literature to survive consciously written in Champenois is noted from the end of the 16th century. Le Bontemps de Carnaval de Chaumont was updated and republished in 1660. The language used contrasts the French spoken by the king's messengers with the Champenois of the local inhabitants. A feature of 18th century Champenois literature was the noëls (Christmas chants), which wove contemporary and local references into pious texts.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: 2010 . Moseley . Christopher . Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . Memory of Peoples . 3rd . Paris . UNESCO Publishing . 978-92-3-104096-2 . 2015-04-11 .