Disputandum : comment sauver nos langues régionales ?

Program Overview: Disput Enommes

The program “Disput Enommes” examines how to save France’s regional languages, with a focus on Nouvelle-Aquitaine—especially Occitan, Basque, and “poitevin-saintongeais.”

Moderators and guests argue that these languages are still alive, but sociolinguistic data (including UNESCO risk assessments) indicates they remain under serious threat of decline in most areas.

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1) Current Status: Languages Are Alive, but Speaker Numbers Are Falling

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is not “dead” linguistically

• A 2020 sociolinguistic survey suggests speakers still exist.

Occitan: losing ground

• Estimated speaker share: around 7%
• Change over a decade: down at least ~3%
• This points to a continuing downward trend.

Poitevin-Saintongeais: present, but transmission is weak

• The language is described as still existing, but with many “passive speakers”—people who understand more than they actively speak.

Basque: the main success case

• Supported by long-term activism and education models
• A more favorable curve among younger people
• In the French Basque Country, significant proportions of children learn it in childhood.

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2) Three Different Situations Across the Region

Guests compare the three languages as having different survival mechanisms:

• Poitevin-Saintongeais

  • Historically low credibility and status
  • Today, transmission is considered very weak, especially in early schooling

• Occitan

  • Broader territorial presence and more public momentum than Saintonge
  • Key weakness: teaching and continuity for younger generations

• Basque

  • Strongest institutional and educational ecosystem
  • Immersion/bilingual schooling pathways
  • Greater public visibility (notably signage and services)
  • Long-term political and associative support

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3) Why Languages Decline: Structural Causes

The discussion attributes decline to:

• French monolingual ideology and centralization (“Jacobin” culture)

  • Regional languages were pushed to the margins for a long time
  • This weakened intergenerational transmission

• Once speakers disappear, reversal is difficult

  • Especially if bilingual classes, school sections, and long-term learning pathways are hard to open

• Education reforms can accelerate decline

  • The 2018 baccalaureate reform is cited as a key example
  • It reduced the weight/options for regional languages, making student trajectories less stable
  • Fewer students choose these options, partly due to limited recognition and limited continuity

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4) Why Save Them? Identity, Culture, Knowledge, and Dignity

Guests emphasize that regional languages are not just “heritage” artifacts:

• They carry history, cultural practices, and identity
  • Influencing how people perceive their environment
• Preservation is framed as restoring dignity
  • Especially for communities that experienced shame and cultural erasure

Examples offered include:

• Occitan toponymy
  • Place names encode knowledge of nature and history
• Basque vocabulary
  • Linked to lived practices and nature
  • Language as a “world view,” including rituals

A central insistence runs through the discussion: saving languages means protecting cultural biodiversity and maintaining links between people and territory.

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5) Solutions Proposed: Education, Visibility, Cultural Production, Resourcing

The program promotes a multi-pronged strategy:

A) Education and School Pathways

• Expand instruction through schools, especially at the level where choices drop—particularly high school
• Nouvelle-Aquitaine/Occitanie initiatives described:
  • Teacher training and “teacher grant” programs to build human resources
  • A high-school action plan via OPELOT
    • Intended to reverse a sharp decline: from ~7,000 learners in primary/middle school to ~200 in high school
    • Includes budget/operational details: €204,000, 16 actions for the year

B) Public Policy and Legal Support

• The “Molac law” is discussed as a major framework that has been gutted in practice
  • Passed but weakened, reducing intended support

C) Cultural Activism and Artistic Media

Artists and media are presented as essential to keep languages contemporary and attractive for youth:

• Rock/popular music in regional languages
  • Including a modern Basque-themed video and songs in Occitan
• Theater, radio, and television programming in regional languages
• A media initiative dubbing films/cartoons into Occitan
  • Described as professional, scaled, and demand-building

D) Visibility in Everyday Life

• For Basque especially:
  • trilingual signage
  • municipal services
  • administrative presence
• These normalize usage by signaling recognition and reducing stigma

E) Transgenerational Transmission

• Beyond schooling, guests stress continuity across generations:
  • Not only words, but the full cultural ecosystem

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6) Basque as a Model—but Not a Guarantee

Basque is called the “best-case,” but guests warn:

• Even with progress, nothing is permanently secured
• Basque remains fragile
• The language must keep moving into city life and modern contexts
  • Avoid being confined to the “past” or “museum heritage”

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7) Conclusion: Urgency, but “Not Too Late”

The final message is optimistic with urgency:

• Guests reject fatalism: it’s never too late
  • As long as speakers and transmission remain possible
• Advice to young people:
  • Learn languages for beauty, identity, and connection
  • Framed as enriching personal humanity

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Presenters / Contributors (as listed in the subtitles)

• Marianne Château Renault
• Jean-Luc Armand
• Denis (Deissal / “Denis Sal”)
• Yannick Jolin
• Aliandé Boutin (via satellite)
• Jin (identified in subtitles as Yannik Jolin’s counterpart context; appears as “Jin, you too…”)

Also mentioned (not a guest in-studio): Francis Cabrel