Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian, or Lengadocian is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennais. Due to its central position among the dialects of Occitan, it is often used as a basis for a Standard Occitan. About 10% of the population of Languedoc are fluent in the language (about 300,000), and another 20% (600,000) "have some understanding" of the language. All speak French as their first or second language.

Geographic distribution

Languedocien is spoken in certain parts of three French regions. Other dialects spoken in these areas include: Gascon, Catalan, Limousin, and Auvergnat, as well as the unrelated Basque language.

Characteristics

The following are the main characteristics of the Languedocien dialect: None of these characteristics are unique to Languedocien; many are shared with one or more other Occitan dialects. Languedocien is both a central and conservative dialect. For these reasons, certain linguists are in favour of a standardisation of Occitan using Languedocien as a basis for this.

Variations

Languedocien encompasses a number of variations, the classification of which is still ongoing. Jules Ronjat gives three sub-groups: Louis Alibert uses four sub-groups: Domergue Sumien defines the categories thus: In their supra-dialectal classification of Occitan, Pierre Bec and Domergue Sumien divide Languedocien into one or two supra-dialectal groups:

Usage

With the absence of a linguistic census, it is difficult to obtain exact figures on the number of speakers. The most recent global studies on Occitan say the number of speakers ranges from 500,000 to 700,000 for the language as a whole. UNESCO, which is the only organisation to treat Languedocien independently, estimates the number at around 500,000, and considers the language under serious threat.