Friborgês is a group of Franco-Provençal dialects spoken in the French-speaking part of the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, especially in the Gruyère region.
The different varieties of Friborgês patois include:
Gruvérin, spoken in Gruyère and Veveyse; The patois of Haute-Glâne; Broyard; Kouètse, the patois of the plain, especially Sarine-Campagne.
History
Origins Like other Romance languages, the dialect originated from Vulgar Latin. It was brought to present-day western Switzerland by merchants and soldiers, gradually displacing the native Celtic languages.
The development of the Franco-Provençal dialect can generally only be traced indirectly through loanwords, the evolution of toponyms, or the influence of the local dialect found in Latin documents. Written sources only appear in the modern era. When the first non-Latin documents and records began to emerge in the 13th century, texts in western Switzerland predominantly adopted Parisian French as their standard language, though they were often heavily influenced by the local dialect.Knecht, Pierre (2000). "Die französischsprachige Schweiz". In Bickel H. & Schläpfer, R. (eds.). Die viersprachige Schweiz (2nd ed.). Aarau: Verlag Sauerländer.
In contrast, the city of Fribourg was the only municipality in western Switzerland to develop a local written tradition based entirely on Franco-Provençal.Vitali, David (2008). Mit dem Latein am Ende? Volkssprachlicher Einfluss in lateinischen Chartularen aus der Westschweiz. Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften.
Beginnings of the language shift and the 1886 Patois ban The larger Reformed cities in western Switzerland, such as Geneva and Lausanne, increasingly transitioned to using French as their everyday spoken language during the 18th century,Spichiger, Violaine (1985). "La diffusion du français en Suisse romande âpres 1500". In Histoire Linguistique de la Vallée d’Aoste du moyen âge au XVIIIe Siècle. Actes du séminaire de Saint-Pierre 16–17–18 mai 1983 (pp. 20–30). Saint-Nicolas: Centre d’etudes francoprovençales « René Willien ». and Franco-Provençal completely disappeared in those areas by the early 19th century. In contrast, in the rural areas of the Reformed cantons, as well as in both the countryside and the cities of the cantons of Fribourg and Valais, French was used for writing while Patois continued to be spoken.Pöll, Bernhard (2005). Le français langue pluricentrique ?: Études sur la variation diatopique d’une langue standard. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
By the mid-19th century, the Reformed rural areas and the large Catholic cities, including the city of Fribourg, had also shifted to French. On the plains, Patois was no longer the exclusive everyday language, whereas in the mountainous regions, it remained practically the only spoken language. Historical reports indicate that children in rural areas often barely understood French when they started school, and that in places like the Gruyère region, it was nearly impossible to make oneself understood using French.Gadient, Irma (2010). Patoiseinschränkungsdebatten im Kanton Freiburg (1872–1887): Akteure und Motivlage vor dem Hintergrund von französischer Sprachideologie, Sprachnationalismus und Sprachenpolitik im mehrsprachigen Nationalstaat. Freiburg im Üechtland, FR.
During the 19th century, Patois was viewed by many scholars as an obstacle to learning standard French. Many believed that the dialect made it difficult for the people of Fribourg to speak "pure" French. When the poet Louis Bornet published the story Les Tsévreis in the Gruyère Patois in 1841, one of the first literary works in the Fribourgeois Patois, it sparked an intense debate. Bornet was sharply criticized by Hubert Charles, who argued that the Fribourgeois should focus on cultivating proper French instead of using Patois for literature, dismissing the latter as baragouin inintelligible (incomprehensible gibberish).Aeby, Viviane (2005). "Patois contre français: La querelle des « Tsévreis »". In Cahiers du Musée Gruérien: L’émulation: une revue au XIXe siècle No. 5: Bulle, p. 40. According to Charles, French opened the path to the wider world and modernity, while Patois was merely a harmful influence. Conversely, another writer, Alexandre Daguet, pushed back and even proposed that the French-speaking Swiss should create a common language based on the Patois.Aeby, Viviane (2005). "Patois contre français: La querelle des « Tsévreis »". In Cahiers du Musée Gruérien: L’émulation: une revue au XIXe siècle No. 5: Bulle, pp. 39–44.
Teachers and school directors held differing opinions on this matter. Some wanted to integrate the Patois into the classroom and use it to help teach students French. For example, in 1821, the priest Grégoire Girard published the Grammaire des campagnes (Grammar of the Countryside), which was built upon the Patois.Spichiger, Violaine (1985). "La diffusion du français en Suisse romande âpres 1500". In Histoire Linguistique de la Vallée d’Aoste du moyen âge au XVIIIe Siècle. Actes du séminaire de Saint-Pierre 16–17–18 mai 1983 (pp. 20–30). Saint-Nicolas: Centre d’etudes francoprovençales « René Willien ».
Other teachers and inspectors, however, viewed the Patois as harmful and blamed it for poor academic results. A school report from 1862 stated:„La langue, l’orthographe, la grammaire, la composition, c’est la partie faible de nos écoles […]. L’idiome vulgaire, le patois, est le principal obstacle de nos enfants à parler et à écrire en français. Aussi ne puis-je assez reprocher la mauvaise habitude qui ont certains maîtres de parler patois à leurs enfants, à moins que ce ne soit en passant pour leur donner le sens d’un mot ou l’explication d’une chose qu’ils saisiraient difficilement.“
Language, spelling, grammar, and composition are the weak points of our schools [...]. The vernacular idiom, the Patois, is the main obstacle preventing our children from speaking and writing in French. Thus, I cannot sufficiently criticize the bad habit that certain teachers have of speaking Patois to their children, unless it is just in passing to give them the meaning of a word or the explanation of something they would otherwise have difficulty grasping.
— Report of the school inspector of the Arrondissement of Jogne and Sarine, 1862Kienzle, Clemens-Valentin (2011). Patê, tè fô tè lèvâ! Sprachwechsel und Erhalt des Patois in der Greyerzer Gemeinde Cerniat. Master's thesis, Faculty of Humanities, University of Fribourg (CH).Furthermore, a report from the 1878–1879 school year detailed the ongoing struggles:„A peine un pauvre petit enfant est-il capable d’articuler un son, que sa mère lui apprend avec beaucoup de peine et de patience à bégayer un jargon que j’appellerai barbare et irrationnel dès qu’il ne repose sur aucune base grammaticale. L’enfant ne connais donc que le patois lorsque à l’âge de 6 ou 7 ans, il fait son entrée à l’école il ni a jamais entendu parler d’autre langue. Là pour la première fois il entend sortir de la bouche du maître un langage tout nouveau pour lui. Ce langage qu’il aurait dû apprendre sur les génaux de sa mère il doit l’étudier pour le comprendre. On lui apprend à lire, il fait peu de progrès parce qu’il ne saisit pas la moitié de ce qu’il lit. Le maitre doit s’arrêter à chaque mot lui en demander et expliquer la signification. Enfin les huit années qu’il passe à l’école ne suffisent pas même pour lui apprendre à parler un peu le français.“
Hardly is a poor little child capable of articulating a sound, when his mother teaches him with much effort and patience to stammer a jargon that I would call barbaric and irrational, since it rests on no grammatical basis. The child therefore knows only the Patois when, at the age of 6 or 7, he enters school, having never heard another language spoken. There, for the first time, he hears a completely new language come from the master's mouth. This language, which he should have learned on his mother's lap, he must study in order to understand. He is taught to read, but makes little progress because he does not grasp half of what he reads. The master must stop at every word to ask him and explain its meaning. Ultimately, the eight years he spends in school are not even enough to teach him to speak a little French.
— Rapport sur les Ecoles primaires du 4ieme arrondissement – Année scolaire 1878–79Gadient, Irma (2010). Patoiseinschränkungsdebatten im Kanton Freiburg (1872–1887): Akteure und Motivlage vor dem Hintergrund von französischer Sprachideologie, Sprachnationalismus und Sprachenpolitik im mehrsprachigen Nationalstaat. Freiburg im Üechtland, FR, p. 17.Towards the end of the 19th century, the state took active measures to suppress the Patois. This suppression is particularly evident in the school regulations of the era, which were thoroughly researched in 2010 by Irma Gadient in her master's thesis ''Patoiseinschränkungsdebatten im Kanton Freiburg (1872–1887)'' (Patois Restriction Debates in the Canton of Fribourg).
In the school regulations of 1850, the dialect was still permitted to some extent:„Art. 147. La langue maternelle (le français ou l’allemand) est seule en usage dans l’école. Le maître cependant pourra, de temps à autre, se servir du patois, comme moyen d’interprétation.“
Art. 147. The mother tongue (French or German) is the only one in use in the school. The master may, however, from time to time, use the patois as a means of translation.
— Article 147 of the School Regulations of 1850Gadient, Irma (2010). Patoiseinschränkungsdebatten im Kanton Freiburg (1872–1887): Akteure und Motivlage vor dem Hintergrund von französischer Sprachideologie, Sprachnationalismus und Sprachenpolitik im mehrsprachigen Nationalstaat. Freiburg im Üechtland, FR, p. 17.The Patois was therefore still explicitly permitted in the classroom. In 1876, however, the last sentence of this regulation was struck down. In the following years, an intense debate took place, sparked by the poor results of Fribourg recruits in the annual military examinations. The recruits from Fribourg consistently ranked among the worst of the Swiss cantons, and those from the Gruyère and Sense districts performed even worse. According to Irma Gadient, starting in 1882, the Patois served as a sort of "scapegoat" on which inspectors blamed the poor educational results.Gadient, Irma (2010). Patoiseinschränkungsdebatten im Kanton Freiburg (1872–1887): Akteure und Motivlage vor dem Hintergrund von französischer Sprachideologie, Sprachnationalismus und Sprachenpolitik im mehrsprachigen Nationalstaat. Freiburg im Üechtland, FR, p. 41. Prior to this, the arguments had centered more on the inadequate training and poor pay of teachers, the economic hardship of the population, and the lack of proper school buildings.