The Arpitan Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Accented Letters & Numerals

Q: How many letters are in the Arpitan alphabet?

The Arpitan alphabet has 25 letters from the Latin script [1] . This includes 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 20 consonants, with the distinctive letter ç (c with cedilla).

Q: What makes the Arpitan alphabet unique?

The Arpitan alphabet has several distinctive features : • Uses ç (c with cedilla) to represent the "ch" sound • Employs grave accents (à, è, ì, ò, ù) to mark stress and pronunciation • The letter j is pronounced like "y" in English • Has a trilled "r" sound like other Romance languages

Q: Where is Arpitan spoken?

Arpitan is primarily spoken in: • France – especially the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region • Switzerland – throughout Romandy • Italy – notably the Aosta Valley and surrounding Alpine communities [2] • UNESCO highlights these cross-border communities when monitoring endangered European languages [3]

Q: Is Arpitan similar to Italian?

While Arpitan and Italian are both Romance languages, Arpitan belongs to the Gallo-Romance branch alongside French and Occitan, not the Italo-Romance branch. [2] Its alphabet therefore keeps grave-accented vowels, ç , and digraphs that match Alpine pronunciations rather than standard Italian spelling.

Q: How do you pronounce Arpitan accented vowels?

Arpitan uses grave accents to indicate stress and open vowel sounds: • à - open "a" sound, stressed • è - open "e" sound (like "bet"), stressed • ì - stressed "i" sound (like "see") • ò - open "o" sound, stressed • ù - stressed "u" sound (like "food") These accents help distinguish word meanings and proper pronunciation !

Q: What is the cultural significance of Arpitan?

Arpitan has deep cultural importance : • Gives a shared identity to Alpine communities that bridge France, Switzerland, and Italy [2] • Listed by UNESCO's Atlas as a language to safeguard, encouraging documentation projects [3] • Inspires bilingual signage, community radio, and cultural festivals that feature the accented alphabet shown above

Arpitan Alphabet at a Glance

26 letters from the Latin script plus accented vowels such as è, ò, ù ^[1]
Gallo-Romance (Franco-Provençal) language spoken in France, Switzerland, and Italy ^[2]
Documented in regions like Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Romandy, and the Aosta Valley ^[2]
Glottolog classifies Arpitan as a "shifting" language because intergenerational transmission is weakening ^[2]
Also called Francoprovençal or Arpitan by native speakers ^[2]
UNESCO's Atlas tracks the language as part of Europe's endangered linguistic heritage ^[3]

French Vowels (Uppercase)

[ah]

[euh]

[ee]

[oh]

[uu]

[ee-grek]

French Vowels (Lowercase)

[ah]

[euh]

[ee]

[oh]

[oo]

[ee-grek]

French Consonants (Uppercase)

French Consonants (Lowercase)

[bay]

[say]

[day]

[eff]

[zhay]

[ash]

[zhee]

[kah]

[ell]

[emm]

[enn]

[pay]

[kuu]

[err]

[ess]

[tay]

[vay]

[double-vay]

[eeks]

[zed]

;

–

—

(

)

[

]

{

}

€

A a

[ah]

B b

[bé]

C c

[sé]

D d

[dé]

E e

[euh]

F f

[effe]

G g

[jé]

H h

[ache]

I i

[ee]

J j

[ji]

K k

[ka]

L l

[elle]

M m

[emme]

N n

[enne]

O o

[oh]

P p

[pé]

Q q

[ku]

R r

[erre]

S s

[esse]

T t

[té]

U u

[oo]

V v

[vé]

W w

[double-vé]

X x

[iks]

Y y

[ee-grek]

Z z

[zède]

À à

[ah-grave]

É é

[ay-acute]

È è

[eh-grave]

Ç ç

[say-cedilla]

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in the Arpitan alphabet?

What makes the Arpitan alphabet unique?

Where is Arpitan spoken?

Is Arpitan similar to Italian?

How do you pronounce Arpitan accented vowels?

What is the cultural significance of Arpitan?

References:

[1] Unicode Consortium. "Basic Latin Unicode Block (U+0000-U+007F)". Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0000.pdf
[2] Glottolog 5.2. "Arpitan". Retrieved from https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/fran1260
[3] UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages. "Arpitan Language Status". Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/