Alsatian language
Low Alemannic German dialect spoken in most of Alsace, a region in eastern France From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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Statistics
In 2012, the Office pour la Langue et la Culture d’Alsace did a survey:[2]
- 43% said they had a good knowledge of Alsatian, and they used it regularly.
- 33% said they had a basic knowledge or understanding of Alsatian
- 25% said they didn't know Alsatian.
Of those who speak Alsatian:
- 96% speak it with their families
- 88% speak it with friends
- 48% speak it at the office
Those who speak Alsatian are generally older:
- In the age group 60 years and older, 74% speak Alsatian
- In the age group 44-59, 54% do
- Of those 30-44, 24% do,
- 12% of the 18-30 year old
- only 3% of the 3 to 17 year old
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.
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References
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