Franco-Provençal language

Franco-Provençal is a Romance language consisting of dialects that can be found in Italy (Valle d'Aosta, Piemonte), in Switzerland (cantons Fribourg, Valais, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Geneva, non-German speaking parts of Bern, but not Jura, where the dialects spoken are French) and in France (Dauphinois, Lyonnais, Savoy).

The language forms a linguistic sub-group of its own between the langue d'oïl and langue d'oc. The name Franco-Provençal was given to the group of dialects in the 19th century as they shared features of French and Provençal without belonging to either. Although the name of the language is well established, there is some dissatisfaction with the name, given that the distinguishing feature of Franco-Provençal is that it is neither French nor Provençal. The name Arpitan is sometimes used, as are, individually, the names of the various dialects (Savoyard, Lyonnais, etc.) It is now considered an endangered language.

Franco-Provençal is classified as a regional language of France.

Words of Franco-Provençal origin that may be found in English include:

• avalanche
• moraine
• névê