The Linguistic Borders of Gascon

isoglosses

A conservative definition of Gascon can be based on the linguistic changes indicated in the map legend on the left. In the examples given below, Central Occitan forms are provided in square brackets for comparison.

  • Gascon horca ‘pitchfork’ [forca]
  • Gascon lua ‘moon’ [luna]
  • Gascon bèra, bèth ‘beautiful-F, -M’ [bèla, bèl]
  • Gascon entenut ‘heard’ [entendut]
  • Gascon cama ‘leg’ [camba]
  • Gascon arròda ‘wheel’ [ròda]

For additional traits, some of which may be more recent than those indicated above, see Rohlfs 1970.

Note : the map is based on the characteristics of the 20th-century dialects of Gascon, as described in the Atlas linguistique de la Gascogne.

Rohlfs, Gerhard. 1970. Le Gascon: Études de philologie pyrénéenne. Tübingen/Pau : Niemeyer/Marrimpouey.

Séguy, Jean. 1957-1974. Atlas linguistique et ethnographique de la Gascogne, 6 v. Paris : CNRS.