FrenchOccitan

FrenchOccitan is a sociolinguistic label used to describe the interaction between French and Occitan in the regions where speakers of both languages live and work. It is not a single language, but a set of contact phenomena arising from prolonged bilingualism, including code-switching, lexical borrowing, and cross-influence in phonology and syntax. The term is often used in studies of linguistic landscapes, education, and cultural exchange in southern France and nearby border areas.

Occitan denotes a group of Romance varieties spoken in southern France and adjacent regions, with dialects including Languedocian, Provençal, Gascon, and Auvergnat. French, the national language, has long shaped public life. In practice, communities often exhibit bilingual repertoires in which Occitan and French influence each other through everyday speech and writing, giving rise to patterns scholars describe under the umbrella of FrenchOccitan.

Revival and current status: Occitan is endangered, yet revival efforts exist, including community schools, media, and linguistic associations. The Institut d'Estudis Occitans (IEO) and other groups promote Occitan language standards, literature, and education. In media and online spaces, FrenchOccitan forms appear in poetry, music, and digital communication as part of language contact culture.

Academic usage: The concept of FrenchOccitan helps researchers study bilingualism, code-switching, loanword networks, and contact-induced changes in phonology and syntax. It emphasizes a spectrum rather than a binary division between languages, recognizing shared lexical fields and social identities that arise from interlingual contact.

See also: Occitan language; French language; bilingualism; language contact; orthography.