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That may be true for some languages such as Occitan or Picard but others were purposefully killed by the republic. Alsatian for instance was forbidden in school

That may be true for some languages such as Occitan or Picard but others were purposefully killed by the republic. Alsatian for instance was forbidden in schools. If prestige only was at play Alsatians may have mostly became bilinguals (similar situation exists in Africa, Hong-Kong, India) instead of unilingual speakers of French.

idoubtit 8y ago
In order to unify the country, the French Republic fought against every language. Alsatian was forbidden in schools, but it was the same for anything outside French. Of course, if Alsatian had been allowed or supported, more people would speak it as bilinguals, but would it be enough to save it? Thousands of languages are dying, especially those that are spoken in a small geographic area where another language seems economically more useful. As an example, Romanche is an official language of Switzerland, yet it is disappearing at an alarming rate. Even the Basque language, which is rare in France because of a century of concealment, is not flourishing in Spain. Basque is a official regional language in Spain, and the population that can speak it grows slowly, but now the majority of those who live in the Basque region don't understand its traditional langage. When only 20-30% of the population can speak correctly a language, how long can it survive?
- adrianratnapala 8y ago
  > In order to unify the country, the French Republic fought against every language. Alsatian was forbidden in schools, but it was the same for anything outside French. Which is kind of at odds with the idea above that "It's more comfortable to blame an abstract entity like the government than your ancestors. "
- AlunAlun 8y ago
  > When only 20-30% of the population can speak correctly a language, how long can it survive? When it has the same legal rights as the dominant language, government funds to help run media and entertainment, and a strong culture determined to nurture it, I would argue that it can survive indefinitely. All of which are the case for Basque, which is in fairly rude health at the moment.

idoubtit 8y ago

In order to unify the country, the French Republic fought against every language. Alsatian was forbidden in schools, but it was the same for anything outside French. Of course, if Alsatian had been allowed or supported, more people would speak it as bilinguals, but would it be enough to save it? Thousands of languages are dying, especially those that are spoken in a small geographic area where another language seems economically more useful. As an example, Romanche is an official language of Switzerland, yet it is disappearing at an alarming rate. Even the Basque language, which is rare in France because of a century of concealment, is not flourishing in Spain. Basque is a official regional language in Spain, and the population that can speak it grows slowly, but now the majority of those who live in the Basque region don't understand its traditional langage. When only 20-30% of the population can speak correctly a language, how long can it survive?

adrianratnapala 8y ago
> In order to unify the country, the French Republic fought against every language. Alsatian was forbidden in schools, but it was the same for anything outside French. Which is kind of at odds with the idea above that "It's more comfortable to blame an abstract entity like the government than your ancestors. "
AlunAlun 8y ago
> When only 20-30% of the population can speak correctly a language, how long can it survive? When it has the same legal rights as the dominant language, government funds to help run media and entertainment, and a strong culture determined to nurture it, I would argue that it can survive indefinitely. All of which are the case for Basque, which is in fairly rude health at the moment.