(Classical orthography), (Mistralian orthography, ), ( , ), or () is the dialect that was historically spoken in the city of Nice, in France, and in a few surrounding communes. Niçard is generally considered a subdialect of Provençal, itself a dialect of Occitan.Jean-Philippe Dalbéra. Les parlers des Alpes Maritimes: étude comparative, essai de reconstruction. London: Association Internationale d’Études Occitanes, 1994. Some Italian irredentists have claimed it as a Ligurian dialect.
Most residents of Nice and its region no longer speak Niçard, and the very few who do are fully bilingual in French as Niçard has lost its function of a vernacular language decades ago. Nonetheless, today there is a developing revival of the use of the language. Some local television news is presented in Niçard (with French subtitles) and street signs in the old town of Nice are written in the dialect as well as in French. The Niçard song is often regarded as the "anthem" of Nice.
Writing system
Niçard is written using two forms: Classical orthography. Preferring the native traditions of the language, this form was developed by Robert Lafont (, 1951; , 1972) and Jean-Pierre Baquié (, 1984). It is regulated by the . Mistralian orthography. Closer to written French, it was invented by the (although there also exists an ).
An Italian orthography was abandoned when Nice joined the French Empire in 1861. It was briefly reinstated in 1942 and 1943 when Italy occupied and administered the city.
Orthography Comparison (from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) English Classical MistralianAll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Classification The classifications of Occitan in dialects hesitate between defining Niçard as a specific dialect or including it in Maritime Provençal. Niçard shares some phonetical archaisms with Occitan areas as distant as Aranese, which is also using proparoxytone words. It also shares with Aranese quite a heavy influence of a neighbouring language (Catalan for Aranese, Italian for Niçard).Domergu Sumien. “Classificacion dei dialèctes occitans”, Lingüistica occitana 7, 2009 Regional differences are broadly accepted by linguists and French national education authorities in Occitan. Domergue Sumien defined in his PhD thesisDefence in 2004. Published as La standardisation pluricentrique de l’occitan. Nouvel enjeu sociolinguistique, développement du lexique et de la morphologie. Turnhout: Brepols. 2006 Occitan as a pluricentric language, and included Niçard among the seven regional standards to be taught. The French Ministry of National Education uses either “nissart-langue d’oc” or “occitan-langue d’oc nissart”.
See also Occitan language Félibrige Nissa La Bella Italian irredentism in Nice
Notes
References
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