The Occitan Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Numerals & more

Q: How many letters are in the Occitan alphabet?

The Occitan alphabet has 26 letters [2] , the same as the standard Latin alphabet. Out of these, 5 are vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u) and the remaining 21 letters are consonants. Additionally, Occitan uses accented vowels and the cedilha (ç).

Q: What is the punt volat (·) in Occitan?

The punt volat (middle dot ·) is a distinctive feature of Occitan orthography: • Purpose - used to indicate geminated (doubled) l sound • Written as - l·l (with a raised dot between two l's) • Examples - col·leccion (collection), intel·ligent (intelligent) • Pronunciation - represents a double "l" sound, unique to Occitan orthography !

Q: What are the accented vowels in Occitan and how are they used?

Occitan uses various accented vowels for important phonetic purposes: • Grave accents (à, è, ò) - indicate open vowel quality • Acute accents (á, é, í, ó, ú) - indicate closed vowel quality or stress • Examples - parlà (spoken), sèt (seven), d'òc (of oc) These accents are essential for correct pronunciation !

Q: Where is Occitan spoken and what is its historical importance?

Occitan has a rich history and geographic distribution: • Main regions - Southern France (Provence, Languedoc, Gascony, Limousin, Auvergne) [3] • Also spoken in - parts of Italy (Occitan Valleys) and Spain (Val d'Aran) • Historical significance - language of the medieval troubadours and courtly love poetry • 1.5 million speakers make it a significant regional language of Europe !

Q: What is the cedilha (ç) and when is it used in Occitan?

The cedilha (ç) is an important letter in Occitan: • Appearance - letter c with a small tail underneath (ç) • Pronunciation - always pronounced like "s" in "sun" • When used - before a, o, u to create an "s" sound instead of "k" • Example - França (France), where ç makes the "s" sound This letter is shared with other Romance languages like French, Portuguese, and Catalan!

Q: What are the different dialects of Occitan?

Occitan has several major dialectal groups: • Languedocian - spoken in central southern France • Provençal - spoken in Provence, southeastern France • Gascon - spoken in Gascony, including Béarnais • Limousin - spoken in the Limousin region • Auvergnat - spoken in the Auvergne region Despite dialectal variation, all use the same alphabet system !

Q: Why is Occitan called "Lenga d'òc"?

The name "Lenga d'òc" has historical linguistic significance: • Meaning - "language of òc" (where òc means "yes") • Historical division - medieval France was divided by how people said "yes" • Langue d'òc - southern France, using "òc" for yes • Langue d'oïl - northern France, using "oïl" (later "oui") for yes This linguistic boundary reflects the deep cultural divide in medieval France!

Q: What is the role of the Institut d'Estudis Occitans?

The Institut d'Estudis Occitans (IEO) plays a crucial role: • Founded - 1945, to promote and preserve Occitan language and culture [1] • Standardization - developed standardized orthography and grammar • Education - promotes Occitan language teaching in schools • Cultural preservation - preserves troubadour poetry and cultural heritage The IEO is essential for Occitan language revival efforts !

The Occitan alphabet consists of 26 letters plus accented characters, based on the Latin script^[2]. Also known as Lenga d'òc, Occitan uses the standard Latin alphabet with special features including accented vowels (à, è, é, ò, ó, ú, í) and the cedilha (ç). A distinctive characteristic of Occitan orthography is the punt volat (·), a middle dot used to indicate geminated l (l·l). The five vowels A, E, I, O, U form the foundation, while consonants include familiar letters and the special ç. This alphabet is used by approximately 1.5 million speakers^[3] primarily in southern France, with communities in parts of Italy and Spain.

Uppercase Vowels:

[A]

[E]

[I]

[O]

[U]

Lowercase Vowels:

[a]

[e]

[i]

[o]

[u]

Uppercase Consonants:

[Be]

[Ce]

[Ce cedilha]

[De]

[Efe]

[Ge]

[Hache]

[Jòta]

[Ka]

[Ela]

[Ema]

[ena]

[Pe]

[Qu]

[Erra]

[Essa]

[Te]

[Ve]

[Ve dobla]

[Ics]

[I grèga]

[Zèta]

Lowercase Consonants:

[be]

[ce]

[ce cedilha]

[de]

[efe]

[ge]

[hache]

[jòta]

[ka]

[ela]

[ema]

[ena]

[pe]

[qu]

[erra]

[essa]

[te]

[ve]

[ve dobla]

[ics]

[i grèga]

[zèta]

[a grave]

[a acute]

[e grave]

[e acute]

[i acute]

[o grave]

[o acute]

[u acute]

[A grave]

[A acute]

[E grave]

[E acute]

[I acute]

[O grave]

[O acute]

[U acute]

[zèro]

[un]

[dos]

[tres]

[quatre]

[cinc]

[sièis]

[sèt]

[uèit]

[nòu]

;

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in the Occitan alphabet?

What is the punt volat (·) in Occitan?

What are the accented vowels in Occitan and how are they used?

Where is Occitan spoken and what is its historical importance?

What is the cedilha (ç) and when is it used in Occitan?

What are the different dialects of Occitan?

Why is Occitan called "Lenga d'òc"?

What is the role of the Institut d'Estudis Occitans?

References:

[1] Institut d'Estudis Occitans. "The Occitan Language and Alphabet". Retrieved from https://www.ieo-oc.org/
[2] Unicode Consortium. "Latin Script in Unicode". Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0000.pdf
[3] Ethnologue. "Occitan Language Statistics". Retrieved from https://www.ethnologue.com/language/oci