Despite its rich literature, beginning anonymously in the 16th century and with well-known authors since 1756, the use of Walloon has decreased markedly sinceFrance's annexation of Wallonia in 1794. This period definitively established French as the language of social promotion, far more than it was before.[6] AfterWorld War I, public schools provided French-speaking education to all children, inducing a denigration of Walloon, especially when accompanied by official orders in 1952 to punish its use in schools. Subsequently, since the middle of the 20th century, generational transmission of the language has decreased, resulting in Walloon almost becoming adead language. Today it is scarcely spoken among younger people, with the vast majority of its native speakers being theelderly (aged 65 and over). In 2007, the number of people with knowledge of the language was estimated at 600,000.[1]
Numerous associations, especially theatre companies, are working to keep the language alive. Formally recognized as alangue régionale endogène (regional indigenous language) of Belgium since 1990,[7] Walloon has also benefited from a continuedcorpus planning process. The "Feller system" (1900) regularized transcription of the different accents. Since the 1990s, a commonorthography was established (theRifondou walon [wa;fr]), which allowed large-scale publications, such as theWalloon Wikipedia officially in 2003. In 2004, a Walloon translation of aTintin comic was released under the nameL'èmerôde d'al Castafiore; in 2007 an album consisting ofGaston Lagaffe comic strips was published in Walloon.
Walloon is more distinct as a language thanBelgian French, which differs from the French spoken in France only in some minor points ofvocabulary andpronunciation.
Linguists had long classified Walloon as adialect of French, which in turn is alangue d'oïl. Like French, it descended fromVulgar Latin. Arguing that a French-speaking person could not understand Walloon easily, especially in its eastern forms,Jules Feller (1859–1940) insisted that Walloon had an original "superior unity", which made it alanguage.[8]
The phonological divisions of regional languages of southern Belgium were studied by the contemporary linguist E.B. Atwood. He defined the precise geographical repartition of the four chief dialects of Walloon. In addition, he defined them against the dialects ofPicard,Lorrain andChampenois.[9]
Since then, most linguists[citation needed] (among themLouis Remacle), and gradually also Walloon politicians, regard Walloon as a regional language, the first in importance inWallonia. It is the only one to have originated from that part of Belgium. The eleventh edition of theEncyclopædia Britannica identified Walloon as the "northernmost Romance language".
Although Walloon was widely spoken until the mid-20th century, today only a small proportion of the inhabitants of the region are fluent in the language. Those born since the 1970s usually know little more than a fewidiomatic expressions, oftenprofanities. The Walloon language is still part of the Walloon heritage; it is one component of Walloon identity.
Four dialects of Walloon developed in four distinct zones of Wallonia:[12]
Central, spoken inNamur (Nameur), the Wallon capital, and the cities ofWavre (Åve) andDinant;
Eastern – in many respects the most conservative and idiosyncratic of the dialects, spoken inLiège (Lidje),Verviers (Vervî),Malmedy (Måmdi),Huy (Hu), andWaremme (Wareme);
Western – the dialect closest to French proper and with a strongPicard influence, spoken inCharleroi (Tchårlerwè),Nivelles (Nivele), andPhilippeville (Flipvile); and
Despite localphonetic differences, there is a regional movement towards the adoption of a common spelling, called theRifondou walon. Thisorthography isdiasystemic, reflecting different pronunciations for different readers, a concept inspired by the spelling ofBreton. The written forms attempt to reconcile current phonetic uses with ancient traditions (notably the reintroduction ofxh andoi that were used for writing Walloon until the late 19th century) and the language's ownphonological logic.
Latin[s] persisted in clusters:spene (Fr.épine "thorn, spine"),fistu "wisp of straw",mwaîsse (Fr.maître "master"),fiesse (Fr.fête "party, feast"),tchestea (Fr.château "castle"), and so on.
Nasal vowels may be followed by nasal consonants, as indjonne "young",crinme "cream",mannet "dirty", etc.
Vowel length has a phonological value. It allows distinguishingcu "arse" andcû "cooked",i l' hosse "he cradles her" andi l' hôsse "he increases it",messe "mass" andmêsse "master", etc.
The Walloon alphabet generally consists of the basicISO Latin Alphabet, and six types ofdiacritic. It also makes frequent use of digraphs. Various orthographies have been used, most notably the Feller system (sistinme Feller) and Unified Walloon (rifondou walon orrfondou walon).[13]
Walloon is distinguished from other languages in thelangue d'oïl family both by archaism coming from Latin and by its significant borrowing from Germanic languages, as expressed in its phonetics, itslexicon, and itsgrammar. At the same time, Walloon phonetics are singularly conservative: the language has stayed fairly close to the form it took during theHigh Middle Ages.
The plural feminine adjectives before the noun take an unstressed ending-ès (except in the Ardenne dialect): compareli djaene foye "the yellow leaf" andles djaenès foyes "the yellow leaves".
There is no gender difference in definite articles and possessives (except in the Ardenne dialect): compare Walloonli vweteure ("the car", feminine) andli cir ("the sky", masculine), with Frenchla voiture andle ciel; Walloon hassi coir ("his/her body", masculine) andsi finiesse ("his/her window", feminine) with Frenchson corps andsa fenêtre.
Walloon has a few Latin remnants that have disappeared from neighboring Romance languages: compare Walloondispierter toSpanishdespertar andRomaniandeștepta (all with the same meaning: "to awaken").
The most distinctive feature is its number of borrowings from Germanic languages (Dutch and German dialects): compare Walloonflåwe to today's Dutchflauw "weak" (cognate of Englishflaw). Other common borrowings, among hundreds of others, aredringuele ("tip"; Dutchdrinkgeld),crole ("curl"; Dutchkrul),spiter ("to spatter"; same root as the Englishto spit, andto spew, or Germanspützen; Dutchspuwen),li sprewe (thestarling; Dutchspreeuw, or GermanSperling).
The adjective is often placed before the noun: compare Walloonon foirt ome with Frenchun homme fort, "a strong man";ene blanke måjhon and Frenchune maison blanche, "a white house".
Borrowing from Germanic languages, the constructionCwè çki c'est di ça po ene fleur? "What kind of flower is this?" can be compared word for word to GermanWas ist das für eine Blume? and DutchWat is dat voor een bloem?, as opposed to Standard FrenchQuelle sorte de fleur est-ce? or (colloquially)Quelle sorte de fleur est-ce que c'est?.
From a linguistic point of view,Louis Remacle has shown that a good number of the developments that we now consider typical of Walloon appeared between the 8th and 12th centuries. Walloon "had a clearly defined identity from the beginning of the 13th century". In any case, linguistic[clarification needed] texts from the time do not mention the language, although they mention others in thelangue d'oïl family, such asPicard andLorrain. During the 15th century, scribes in the region called the language "Roman" when they needed to distinguish it. It is not until the beginning of the 16th century that first occurrence of the word "Walloon" appeared in the current linguistic sense. In 1510 or 1511,Jean Lemaire de Belges made the connection betweenRommand toVualon:
Et ceux cy [les habitants de Nivelles] parlent le vieil langage Gallique que nous appellons Vualon ou Rommand (...). Et de ladite ancienne langue Vualonne, ou Rommande, nous usons en nostre Gaule Belgique: Cestadire en Haynau, Cambresis, Artois, Namur, Liège, Lorraine, Ardenne et le Rommanbrabant, et est beaucoup differente du François, lequel est plus moderne, et plus gaillart.
And those people [the inhabitants of Nivelles] speak the old Gallic language which we call Vualon or Rommand (...). And we use the said old Vualon or Rommand language in our Belgian Gaul: That is to say in Hainaut, Cambrai, Artois, Namur, Liège, Lorraine, Ardennes and Rommand Brabant, and it is very different from French, which is more fashionable and courtly.
The word "Walloon" thus came closer to its current meaning: thevernacular of the Roman part of theLow Countries. One might say that the period which saw the establishment of the unifying supremacy of theBurgundians in the Walloon country was a turning-point in their linguistic history. The crystallization of a Walloon identity, as opposed to that of thethiois (i.e. Dutch-speaking) regions of the Low Countries, established "Walloon" as a word for designating its people. Somewhat later, the vernacular of these people became more clearly distinct from central French and other neighbouringlangues d'oïl, prompting the abandonment of the vague term "Roman" as a linguistic, ethnic, and political designator for "Walloon".
Also at this time, following theOrdinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539, the French language replaced Latin for all administrative purposes in France. Established as the academic language, French became the object of a political effort at normalization;La Pléiade posited the view that when two languages of the samelanguage family coexist, each can be defined only in opposition to the other. Around the year 1600, theFrench writing system became dominant in the Wallonia. From this time, too, dates a tradition of texts written in a language marked by traces of spoken Walloon. The written language of the preceding centuries,scripta, was a composite language with some Walloon characteristics but it did not attempt to be a systematic reproduction of the spoken language.
Walloon was the predominant language of the Walloon people until the beginning of the 20th century, although they had a passing knowledge of French. Since that time, the use of French has spread to the extent that now only 15% of the Walloon population speak their ancestral language. Breaking the statistics down by age, 70–80% of the population aged over 60 speak Walloon, while only about 10% of those under 30 do so. Passing knowledge of Walloon is much more widespread: claimed by some 36–58% of the younger age bracket. Laurent Hendschel estimates there are 1,300,000 bilingual people in Wallonia (Walloon-French, Picard-French...).[14] Many French words that pertain to mining and to the textile trade derive from the Walloon-Picard complex.[15]
Legally, Walloon has been recognized since 1990 by theFrench Community of Belgium, the cultural authority of Wallonia, as an "indigenous regional language" which must be studied in schools and encouraged. The Walloon cultural movement includes theUnion Culturelle Wallonne, an organization of over 200 amateur theatre circles, writers' groups, and school councils. About a dozen Walloon magazines publish regularly. TheSociété de Langue et de Littérature Wallonne, founded in 1856, promotes Walloon literature and the study (dialectology,etymology, etc.) of the regional Roman languages of Wallonia. There is a difference between the Walloon culture, according to theManifesto for Walloon culture, and the Walloon language (even if the latter is a part of the culture).[vague]
The singerWilliam Dunker [wa] (right)Cartoon in Walloon byJosé Schoovaerts [wa] for a 2010 issue of Walloon-speaking magazineLi Rantoele [wa]Walloon lyrics to the song "Tins d' eraler" (Time to go home).
Walloon-language literature has been printed since the 16th century, or at least since the beginning of the 17th century.[16] It had its "golden age" during the peak of theFlemish immigration to Wallonia in the 19th century: "That period saw an efflorescence of Walloon literature, plays and poems primarily, and the founding of many theaters and periodicals."[17]
TheNew York Public Library holds a large collection of literary works in Walloon, quite possibly the largest outside Belgium, and its holdings are representative of the output. Out of nearly a thousand works, twenty-six were published before 1880. Thereafter the numbers rise gradually year by year, reaching a peak of sixty-nine in 1903. After that, publications in Walloon fell markedly, to eleven in 1913.[17] Yves Quairiaux counted 4,800 plays for 1860–1914, published or not.[18] In this period, plays were almost the only popular entertainment in Wallonia. The Walloon-language theatre remains popular in the region; theatre is flourishing with more than 200 non-professional companies playing in the cities and villages of Wallonia for an audience of over 200,000 each year.[19]
During the 19th-century renaissance of Walloon-language literature, several authors adapted versions ofAesop's Fables to the racy speech (and subject matter) of Liège.[20] They includedCharles Duvivier (in 1842); Joseph Lamaye (1845); and the team ofJean-Joseph Dehin (1847, 1851–1852) andFrançois Bailleux (1851–1866), who covered books I-VI.[21] Adaptations into other dialects were made by Charles Letellier (Mons, 1842) and Charles Wérotte (Namur, 1844). Decades later, Léon Bernus published some hundred imitations ofLa Fontaine in the dialect ofCharleroi (1872);[22] he was followed during the 1880s byJoseph Dufrane, writing in theBorinage dialect under the pen-nameBosquètia. In the 20th century, Joseph Houziaux (1946) published a selection of 50 fables in theCondroz dialect.[23] The motive among Walloon speakers in both France and Belgium was to assert regional identity against the growing centralism and encroachment of the language of the capital, on what had until then been predominantly monoglot areas.
There are links between French literature and Walloon literature. For instance, the writerRaymond Queneau set the publication of a Walloon Poets' anthology forEditions Gallimard.Ubu roi was translated into Walloon byAndré Blavier, an important'pataphysician ofVerviers, and friend of Queneau, for the new and importantPuppet theater of Liège of Jacques Ancion. TheAl Botroûle theater operated "as the umbilical cord" in Walloon, indicating a desire to return to the source.[24] Jacques Ancion also wanted to develop a regular adult audience. "From the 19th century he included the Walloon playTati l'Pèriquî by E. Remouchamps and the avant-gardeUbu roi byA. Jarry."[24] The scholar Jean-Marie Klinkenberg writes, "[T]he dialectal culture is no more a sign of attachment to the past but a way to participate to a new synthesis".[25]
Walloon is also being used in popular song. The best-known singer in Walloon in present-day Wallonia isWilliam Dunker (b. 15 March 1959).
Bye (from Goodbye, a contraction of "God be with ye")
Bondjoû
[bɔ̃dʒuː]
Bonjour
Daag
Goedendag
Guten Tag
Hello (Good day)
A
[a]
Salut
Ha/haj
Hoi
Hallo
Hi (often followed by another expression)
A rvey
[arvɛj]
Au revoir
Saluu/Daag/Hajje/Diè wah
Tot ziens
Auf Wiedersehen
Goodbye (lit. See you again/See you later)
Cmint dit-st on?
[kmɛ̃dɪstɔ̃]
Comment dit-on?
Wie zaet me?
Hoe zegt men?
Wie sagt man?
How do you say (How does one say)?
Cmint daloz?
[kmɛ̃dalɔ]
Comment allez-vous?
Wie geit 't?
Hoe gaat het?
Wie geht es?
How are you? (How goes it? / How's it going?)
Dji n' sais nén
[dʒɪnsɛːnɛ̃]/[dʒɪnsenẽ]
Je ne sais pas
Ich weit 't neet
Ik weet het niet
Ich weiß es nicht
I don't know
Walloon pronunciation
Below is the first article of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Walloon, French and German.
Walloon:Tos lès-omes vinèt-st-å monde lîbes, èt so-l’minme pîd po çou qu’ènn’èst d’leu dignité èt d’leus dreûts. I n’sont nin foû rêzon èt-z-ont-i leû consyince po zèls, çou qu’èlzès deût miner a s’kidûre onk’ po l’ôte tot come dès frés.
French:Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits. Ils sont doués de raison et de conscience et doivent agir les uns envers les autres dans un esprit de fraternité.
German:Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren. Sie sind mit Vernunft und Gewissen begabt und sollen einander im Geiste der Brüderlichkeit begegnen.
^"It seems the revolutionaries themselves consider the fact French was enough close to the Walloon language so as not to manage Wallonia as Brittany, Corsica, Alsace or Flanders."(in French) "Le décret du 8 pluviôse An II (...) ne prévoit pas d'envoyer des instituteurs dans la Wallonie romane (contre l'avis deGrégoire qui souhaitait une campagne linguistique couvrant tout le territoire). Les révolutionnaires eux-mêmes semblent donc considérer que la proximité entre le français et le wallon est suffisamment grande pour ne pas traiter la Wallonie comme la Bretagne, la Corse, l'Alsace ou la Flandre."(in French) Astrid Von Busekist,Politique des langues et construction de l'État, Éd. Duculot, Gembloux, 1998, pp. 22–28
^Steven G. KellmanSwitching languages: translingual writers reflect on their craft, p. 152.
^Saratxaga, Pablo."Introduction".Grammaire wallonne en ligne. Retrieved26 June 2022.
^Some other figures in Laurent Hendschel, "Quelques indices pour se faire une idée de la vitalité du Wallon", in Lucien Mahin (editor),Qué walon po dmwin?, Quorum, 1999, p. 128.ISBN2-87399-072-4
^Steven G. Kellman,Switching languages: translingual writers reflect on their craft, p. 152.
^In hisAnthologie de la littérature wallonne, Mardaga, Liège, 1978,ISBN2-8021-0024-6 Maurice Piron is speaking (p. 5) aboutfour dialogues printed between 1631 and 1636
^abSwitching Languages, Translingual Writers Reflect on Their Craft, Ed. y Steven G. Kellman, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2003, p. 153.ISBN978-0-8032-2747-7
^Yves Quairiaux,L'image du Flamand en Wallonie, Essai d'analyse sociale et politique (1830-1914) (The Image of Flanders in Wallonia, Essay in Social and Political Analysis), Bruwxelles: Labor, 2006, p. 126.ISBN2-8040-2174-2
^abJoan Gross,Speaking in Other Voices: An Ethnography of Walloon Puppet Theaters. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Press, 2001,ISBN1-58811-054-0
^Benoît Denis et Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, "Littérature : entre insularité et activisme" (Literature: between insularity and activism), inLe Tournant des années 1970. Liège en effervescence, Bruxelles, Les Impressions nouvelles, 2010, pp. 237–253, p. 252. French :Ancion monte l'Ubu rwè en 1975 (...) la culture dialectalisante cesse d'être une marque de passéisme pour participer à une nouvelle synthèse...
Maurice Piron,Anthologie de la littérature wallonne, Mardaga, Liège, 1978 (661 pages)ISBN2-8021-0024-6.
de Reuse, Willem J.La phonologie du français de la région de Charleroi (Belgique) et ses rapports avec le wallon. La Linguistique Vol. 23, Fasc. 2. 1987.
Hendschel, Lorint.Li Croejhete Walone Contribution à une grammaire de la langue wallonne. 2001, 2012.
Walloon, a living language in the 22nd century? by Lucien Mahin at the meeting "Promoting or demoting: the transmission of minority languages from past to present", University of Poitiers, France, 6 and 7 April 2018
