Burgundian language (Oïl)

The Burgundian language is an Oïl language spoken in Burgundy and particularly in the Morvan area of the region.

Burgundian
bregognon
Native to	France
Region	Burgundy
Native speakers	50,000 have some knowledge of the language (1988)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Gallo-Romance Oïl Burgundian
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	bour1247
Linguasphere	51-AAA-hk & 51-AAA-hl
Situation of Burgundian among the Oïl languages.

Name

It is also known by French names Bourguignon-morvandiau, Bourguignon, and Morvandiau,

Influences

Burgundian has being in contact with Germanic languages in several occasions:

• When the Burgundians arrived to the area.
• When the Low Countries were occupied by the Dukes of Burgundy. In this case, Burgundian entered in contact with Dutch.

The Arpitan language has influenced dialects of the south along the Saône river, such as Brionnais-Charolais.

Literature

Very little literature from before the 19th century has survived. In 1854 the Papal Bull Ineffabilis Deus was translated into two Burgundian dialects:

• the Abbé Jacques-François Baudiau translated it to the Morvan dialect,
• the Abbé Lereuil translated it into the Dijon dialect.

By the end of the 19th century, some writers created an original literature:

• Achille Millien (1838–1927) collected songs from the oral tradition in the Nivernais.
• Louis de Courmont was a chansonnier. After working in Paris, he returned to his native region.
• Emile Blin wrote some stories for tourists. A colleciton of them was published in 1933 under the title Le Patois de Chez Nous.
• Alfred Guillaume published in 1923 a book in Burgundian, L'âme du Morvan.
• Marinette Janvier published Ma grelotterie (1974) and Autour d'un teugnon (1989).

Bibliography

• Paroles d'oïl, 1994, ISBN 2-905061-95-2