Gascon (was: Phonetics vs. Phonemics)

Joe wrote:
> Mark J. Reed wrote:
[snip]
>> Yeah, that's part of why I said they aren't that far apart.  Spanish
>> had /f/ -> /h/ -> zero (fabulare -> hablar /hablar/ -> /ablar/); I
>> don't know about Gascon.  I didn't even know there was a Gascon
>> language!
>
> Well, I think it's generally counted as a dialect of Provencal,
My understanding is that it is a dialect of _Occitan_ of which Provençal
is another dialect, distinct from Gascon. Occitan AFAIK exists in six
principal dialects: Provençal, Gascon, Languedoc, Limousine, Alpine and
Auvergnat. I believe the 'dialects' are not all mutually comprehensible.

My understanding is that Gascon itself has four sub-dialects: Landese,
Bearnese, Ariegese and Aranese. The first three are spoken in France;
Aranese is spoken in the Val d'Aran in Spain where it is co-official
with Castilian and Catalan. Aranese has been much influenced by Catalan
and the Aragonese language of northern Spain, which makes this dialect
markedly different from those spoken in France (where the language has
no official standing).

> though
> it's really transitional between Provencal and Catalan..
Eh? How do you defend that statement?

--
Ray
==================================
ray@carolandray.plus.com
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

Replies