Champenois language

Champenois (lou champaignat) is a Romance language among the langues d'oïl spoken by a minority of people in Champagne and Île-de-France provinces in France, as well as in a handful of towns in southern Belgium (chiefly the municipality of Vresse-sur-Semois).

Champenois
champaignat
Native to	France, Belgium
Region	Champagne-Ardenne, Île-de-France (Seine-et-Marne), Namur
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Latinic Romance Italo-Western Western Gallo-Iberian[1] Gallo-Romance Gallo-Rhaetian?[1] Arpitan–Oïl Oïl Francien and Frankish zones Champenois
Early forms	Old Latin Vulgar Latin Proto-Romance Old Gallo-Romance Old French
Dialects	Eastern[citation needed] Western[citation needed]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	cham1332
Situation of Champenois among the Oïl languages.

While it is classified as a regional language of France, it also has recognized status as a regional language in Wallonia, a region of Belgium. Champenois is considered an endangered language by the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages.^[2]

Literature

The language of Chrétien de Troyes is marked by Champenois traits and Rashi used Champenois in his commentaries, but the earliest literature to survive consciously written in Champenois is noted from the end of the 16th century. Le Bontemps de Carnaval de Chaumont was updated and republished in 1660. The language used contrasts the French spoken by the king's messengers with the Champenois of the local inhabitants. A feature of 18th-century Champenois literature was the noëls (Christmas chants), which wove contemporary and local references into pious texts.