Alsatian | |
---|---|
Native to | France |
Region | Alsace |
Native speakers | 900,000 (2013)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
Regulated by | No official regulation |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | gsw (with Swiss German) |
Glottolog | swis1247 Swiss German |
Alsatian (French: Alsacien, German: Elsässisch) is a Germanic language. It is spoken in Alsace (eastern part of France). It is used for a number of dialects, spoken in Alsace, Franche-Comté, and Jura. Linguistically, we are looking at a number of dialects, with common properties.
Most of the Alsatian dialects are Germanic. Alsatian is also used for a few dialects that are based on French, and that are spoken in the Vosges, Franche-Comte, territoire de Belfort, and Jura (on both sides of the border).
There are slight differences in the dialects, the one in the north have a sligtly different vocabulary and grammar to the ones in the south. The dialect spoken in the city of Strasbourg is also slighlty different from those in the sourrounding areas.
In 2012, the Office pour la Langue et la Culture d’Alsace did a survey:[2]
Of those who speak Alsatian:
Those who speak Alsatian are generally older:
In the three big cities of the region (Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse), Alsatian is spoken less. There, fewer than a third of the adults say they speak Alsatian. Around Wissenbourg, Haguenau, and Saverne, over half the people answered they were good speakers.