From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saintongeais (patouê saintonjhouê,
jhabrail) is a dialect spoken halfway down the western coast
of France in the former
provinces of Saintonge,
Aunis and Angoumois, all of which have been
incorporated into the current départements of Charente and Charente-Maritime as well as in parts
of their neighbouring départements of Deux-Sèvres, Vendée and Gironde. Although many of the
same words are used in both Charente départements, they differ in
many respects, i.e., in what they mean or in how they are
pronounced.
Saintongeais has significantly influenced the Acadian and Cajun dialects of French spoken in
the USA and Canada however the Québécois has been
influenced by three dialects of langues d'oïl which are the Norman, Francien and Saintongeais
dialects.
Geographic distribution
Its area covers the entire department of Charente-Maritime, the west and
centre of the department of Charente, the northern department of Gironde with its Pays
Gabaye and its enclaves around Saintonge, Monségur; also the
Aunisien (south Vendée) and Saintongeais (south Deux-Sèvres) parts
of the Marais
Poitevin. Today, Saintongeais is no longer widely spoken except
in the countryside. It is still used in shows, magazines, and
radio. Some words from Saintongeais are still used in the region.
Words like since (floorcloth) are so widespread that they
can be wrongly considered to be French.
Cultural
distribution
Along with French, Saintongeais is used in the magazine
Xaintonge, which is published twice a year. The
great promoters of spoken Charentais at the beginning of the
twentieth century were "le Barde Saintongeais" Goulebenéze,
succeeded by Odette Comandon, author of comedy and folk tales,
patois actress and storyteller.
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