This Saturday, January 30 at 7 p.m., Ràdio Nissa Pantai will broadcast live the 19th Occitan Dictée in Nice, conducted by its author Paul Gaymard, featuring versions in Alpine-Occitan and Nissart-Occitan.
From January 30 to February 5, the famous Occitan dictation will take place in Nice across 11 educational institutions:
– Risso College in Nice, with professor David Assas-Silveri
- Sasserno High School in Nice, with professor Cristòu Daurore
La Bourgade College in La Trinité, with professor David Assas-Silveri
Goscigny High School in Drap, with professor Béatrice Rolando
Parc Impérial High School in Nice, with professor Patrice Arnaudo
Estienne d’Orves High School in Nice, with professor Patrice Arnaudo
Masséna High School in Nice, with professor Olivier Pasquetti
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this educational event is being held remotely via Radio Nissa Pantai. The aim of this initiative is to restore the prestige of Nissart-Occitan, which is better known for its oral tradition than its written form. The text of the dictation will allow anyone with some knowledge of the language to try writing it, with all spellings accepted. The event is free and open to all. A convivial and cheerful atmosphere is expected; the main thing is to participate!
The transmission of Niçois writing
According to Cristòu Daurore, a Nissart teacher at Sasserno High School, the Niçois language is more easily passed down orally. As for writing, that’s another story. “In everyday society, jobs and positions requiring the regional language are scarce. In terms of education, we have faced challenges, especially since the reform of the Baccalauréat. We have lost half of the students in middle school and high school in Nice and the rest of the Alpes-Maritimes due to the changes in coefficients. As a result, local languages hold less importance for the new Bac, which will be launched in June.”
This dictation will therefore serve to maintain some knowledge of writing in Occitan and Nissart. And what better way to recite the latter than by the author of the text himself? Paul Gaymard, born in 1945 and originally from Chasternòu d’Entraunas (Châteauneuf d’Entraunes), is a retired technology teacher and has written numerous articles for the Occitan information gazette: Lo Jornalet (www.jornalet.com)
During the writing, there will be 41 words for primary school children, 69 for middle schoolers, 120 for high schoolers, and finally 159 for the more “experienced”.
The Niçois dictation will take place on Saturday, January 30 at 10 a.m. at Massena High School, limited to 40 people. But it will be broadcast live. Anyone wishing to follow it from an internet point can do so by registering at the linked address so we know how many people could follow the event: https://framadate.org/SUNF5aHmfHOykH7p
