Poitevin–Saintongeais

Poitevin–Saintongeais (French pronunciation: [pwatvɛ̃ sɛ̃tɔ̃ʒɛ]; endonym: poetevin-séntunjhaes;^[3] also called Parlanjhe, Aguiain or Aguiainais in French) is a language spoken in the regions of the Pays de la Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Poitevin–Saintongeais is officially recognised by the French Ministry of Culture as a language with two dialects: Poitevin and Saintongeais.^[4] The language belongs to the langues d'oïl subbranch of the Gallo-Romance languages.

Poitevin–Saintongeais
poetevin–séntunjhaes
Native to	France
Region	Pays de la Loire Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Native speakers	200,000–300,000 (2017)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Latinic Romance Italo-Western Western Gallo-Iberian[2] Gallo-Romance Gallo-Rhaetian?[2] Arpitan–Oïl Oïl Poitevin–Saintongeais
Early forms	Old Latin Vulgar Latin Proto-Romance Old Gallo-Romance Old French
Dialects	Saintongeais Poitevin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	poit1240  Poitevin sant1407  Santongeais
Linguasphere	51-AAA-ha
The Poitevin-Saintongeais-speaking area

Statue of Evariste Poitevin, a poet who wrote in Poitevin–Saintongeais

Some descendants of Poitevin–Saintongeais speakers became the Acadian people of Atlantic Canada as well as the Cajun people of Louisiana.^{[citation needed]}

The dialects of this language are peculiar to the historical regions and provinces of Poitou and Saintonge. It is classified as severely endangered by UNESCO.^[5]