Regional Languages Not Official Elsewhere: Breton, Corsican, Franco-Provençal, Occitan and the Langues d’oïl

Abstract

The reason for making the distinction between RLs which are official or not official elsewhere is that this alters profoundly the dynamics of the problem. This chapter examines those languages which do not benefit from being official elsewhere. They include Breton, Corsican, Franco-Provençal, Occitan and the langues d’oïl. This does not mean that none of these are spoken on the other side of the French border. In some cases they are but without having an official status. In a few cases, they do have official status but the number of speakers is so small as to have no significant impact on the RL as spoken in France. Thus the fact that Occitan is the official language of the Val d’Aran is pleasing but does little to help Occitan in France.