View source for Walloon language

{{Short description|Gallo-Romance language of Wallonia, Belgium}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox language
| name          = Walloon
| nativename    = {{lang|wa|walon}}
| states        = [[Belgium]], [[France]]
| region        = [[Wallonia]], [[Ardennes (department)|Ardennes]], minority in [[Door County, Wisconsin]] (United States)
| ethnicity     = [[Walloons]]
| speakers      = 600,000 people have some knowledge of it<ref name="Tapani Salminen 2007"/>
| date          = 2007
| ref           = e18
| speakers2     = Possibly only 300,000 active speakers in rural [[Wallonia]]{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}
| familycolor   = Indo-European
| fam2          = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3          = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4          = [[Latin]]
| fam5          = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6          = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7          = [[Western Romance languages|Western Romance]]
| fam8          = Gallo-Iberian?<ref name="glottoOil">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Oil |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111104954/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |archive-date=2023-11-11 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam9          = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]
| fam10         = Gallo-Rhaetian?<ref name="glottoOil"/>
| fam11         = [[Franco-Provençal|Arpitan]]–[[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam12         = [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| ancestor      = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor2     = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| ancestor3     = [[Proto-Romance language|Proto-Romance]]
| ancestor4     = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Old Gallo-Romance]]
| ancestor5     = [[Old French]]
| dia1          = [[Wisconsin Walloon]]
| script        = [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Walloon orthography]])
| iso1          = wa
| iso2          = wln
| iso3          = wln
| glotto        = wall1255
| glottorefname = Walloon
| lingua        = 51-AAA-hf
| notice        = IPA
| map           = Linguistic map of Wallonia.png
| mapcaption    = Linguistic map of [[Wallonia]]
| map2          = Lang Status 60-DE.svg
| mapcaption2   = {{center|{{small|Walloon is classified as Definitely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2010)}}}}
}}
'''Walloon''' ({{IPAc-en|w|ɒ|ˈ|l|uː|n}}; natively {{lang|wa|walon}}; {{langx|fr|wallon}} {{IPA|fr|walɔ̃||LL-Q150 (fra)-Madehub-wallon.wav}}) is a [[Romance language]] that is spoken in much of [[Wallonia]] and, to a very small extent, in [[Brussels]], Belgium; some villages near [[Givet]], northern France; and a [[Wisconsin Walloon|clutch of communities]] in northeastern [[Wisconsin]], United States.<ref name=wisconsin>Université du Wisconsin : collection de documents sur l'immigration wallonne au Wisconsin, enregistrements de témoignages oraux en anglais et wallon, 1976 {{in lang|en}} [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WI/subcollections/BelgAmrColAbout.html University of Wisconsin Digital Collection : Belgian-American Research Collection ]</ref> 

It belongs to the ''[[langues d'oïl]]'' [[dialect continuum]], the most prominent member of which is [[French language|French]]. The historical background of its formation was the territorial extension since 980 of the [[Principality of Liège]] to the south and west. Walloon is classified as "definitely endangered" by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Endangered languages: the full list|website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=15 April 2011 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered}}</ref>

Despite its rich literature, beginning anonymously in the 16th century and with well-known authors since 1756, the use of Walloon has decreased markedly since [[War of the First Coalition#Battle of Fleurus|France's annexation of Wallonia in 1794]].  This period definitively established French as the language of social promotion, far more than it was before.<ref>"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 lang|fr}} "{{lang|fr|Le décret du 8 pluviôse An II (...) ne prévoit pas d'envoyer des instituteurs dans la Wallonie romane (contre l'avis de [[Henri Grégoire|Grégoire]] 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 lang|fr}} Astrid Von Busekist, ''Politique des langues et construction de l'État'', Éd. Duculot, Gembloux, 1998, pp.&nbsp;22–28</ref> After [[World 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 a [[Language death|dead language]]. Today it is scarcely spoken among younger people, with the vast majority of its native speakers being the [[Elderly people|elderly]] (aged 65 and over). In 2007, the number of people with knowledge of the language was estimated at 600,000.<ref name="Tapani Salminen 2007">"Europe and North Asia" (211–282). Tapani Salminen (2007), C. Moseley, London & New York: Routledge</ref>

Numerous associations, especially theatre companies, are working to keep the language alive. Formally recognized as a ''{{lang|fr|[[langue régionale endogène]]}}'' (regional indigenous language) of Belgium since 1990,<ref>Décret Valmy Féaux, 14 December 1990</ref> Walloon has also benefited from a continued [[corpus planning]] process. The "Feller system" (1900) regularized transcription of the different accents. Since the 1990s, a common [[orthography]] was established (the {{ill|Rifondou walon|wa|Rifondou walon|fr|Wallon unifié}}), which allowed large-scale publications, such as the [[:wa:Mwaisse pådje|''Walloon Wikipedia'']] officially in 2003. In 2004, a Walloon translation of a ''[[The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin]]'' comic was released under the name ''[[The Castafiore Emerald|L'èmerôde d'al Castafiore]]''; in 2007 an album consisting of [[Gaston Lagaffe]] comic strips was published in Walloon.

Walloon is more distinct as a language than [[Belgian French]], which differs from the French spoken in France only in some minor points of [[vocabulary]] and [[pronunciation]].

== Disputed nature of Walloon ==
[[File:Plake Hesta.JPG|thumb|''{{lang|wa|Hèsta}}'', the Walloon name of the city of [[Herstal]]]]
Linguists had long classified Walloon as a [[dialect]] of French, which in turn is a ''{{lang|fr|[[langue d'oïl]]}}''. Like French, it descended from [[Vulgar 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 a [[language]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Feller Jules | title = Notes de philologie wallonne | publisher = Vaillant Carmanne | location = Liège | year = 1912}}</ref>

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 of [[Picard language|Picard]], [[Lorrain language|Lorrain]] and [[Champenois]].<ref>E.B. Atwood, "The phonological divisions of Belgo-Romance", in ''Orbis'', 4, 1955, pp. 367–389.</ref>

Since then, most linguists{{Citation needed|reason=Linguists not cited|date=March 2022}} (among them [[Louis Remacle]]), and gradually also Walloon politicians, regard Walloon as a regional language, the first in importance in [[Wallonia]]. It is the only one to have originated from that part of Belgium. The eleventh edition of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' identified Walloon as the "northernmost Romance language".

==Geographic distribution==
===Walloon===
Walloon is spoken in the [[Wallonia]] Region in Belgium. In addition, it is spoken in:
* a small part of France: the ''[[Pointe de Givet]]'' in northern [[Ardennes (département)|Ardennes]], and several villages in the [[Nord (département)|Nord ''département'']], making it one of the regional [[languages of France]];
* a small district of [[Door County, Wisconsin]], US, owing to fairly large-scale immigration there in the 19th century;<ref>[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WI/subcollections/BelgAmrColAbout.html "Belgian-American Research Collection"], University of Wisconsin</ref> as well as portions of [[Kewaunee County, Wisconsin]], US, and [[Brown County, Wisconsin]], US;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://phlegmish-walloony.blogspot.com/2015/10/walloon-ancestry-in-wisconsin-usa.html|title=Phlegmish & Walloony: Walloon ancestry in Wisconsin (USA)|last=Mf|date=2015-10-17|website=Phlegmish & Walloony|access-date=2020-01-17}} and [https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24968/biers_osterhaus.pdf Notes from the Field: Wisconsin Walloon Documentation and Orthography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618081411/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24968/biers_osterhaus.pdf |date=18 June 2021 }} by Kelly Biers and Ellen Osterhaus, ''Language Documentation and Conservation'', Vol. 15, 2021, pp. 1–29</ref> and
* [[Brussels]], by some Walloon residents.

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 few [[idiomatic expression]]s, often [[Profanity|profanities]]. The Walloon language is still part of the Walloon heritage; it is one component of Walloon identity.

===Dialects===
[[File:Wallonie-linguistique-wa.svg|thumb|500px|Main subdivisions of Walloon dialects]]

Four dialects of Walloon developed in four distinct zones of Wallonia:<ref>Steven G. Kellman ''Switching languages: translingual writers reflect on their craft'', p.&nbsp;152.</ref>
* Central, spoken in [[Namur]] (''{{lang|wa|Nameur}}''), the Wallon capital, and the cities of [[Wavre]] (''{{lang|wa|Åve}}'') and [[Dinant]];
* Eastern – in many respects the most conservative and idiosyncratic of the dialects, spoken in [[Liège]] (''{{lang|wa|Lidje}}''), [[Verviers]] (''{{lang|wa|Vervî}}''), [[Malmedy]] (''{{lang|wa|Måmdi}}''), [[Huy]] (''{{lang|wa|Hu}}''), and [[Waremme]] (''{{lang|wa|Wareme}}'');
* Western – the dialect closest to French proper and with a strong [[Picard language|Picard]] influence, spoken in [[Charleroi]] (''{{lang|wa|Tchårlerwè}}''), [[Nivelles]] (''{{lang|wa|Nivele}}''), and [[Philippeville]] (''{{lang|wa|Flipvile}}''); and
* Southern – close to the [[Lorrain language|Lorrain]] and to a lesser extent [[Champenois]] languages, spoken in [[Bastogne]], [[Marche-en-Famenne]] (''{{lang|wa|Måtche-el-Fåmene}}''), and [[Neufchâteau, Luxembourg Province|Neufchâteau]] (''{{lang|wa|Li Tchestea}}''), all in the [[Ardennes]] region.

Despite local [[phonetic]] differences, there is a regional movement towards the adoption of a common spelling, called the [[:wa:Rifondou walon|Rifondou walon]]. This [[orthography]] is [[diasystem]]ic, reflecting different pronunciations for different readers, a concept inspired by the spelling of [[Breton language|Breton]]. The written forms attempt to reconcile current phonetic uses with ancient traditions (notably the reintroduction of ''xh'' and ''oi'' that were used for writing Walloon until the late 19th century) and the language's own [[phonology|phonological]] logic.

===Other regional languages===
Other regional languages spoken in Wallonia, outside the Walloon domain, are:
* [[Picard language|Picard]], in [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]], [[Ath]], and [[Tournai]];
* [[Lorrain language|Lorrain]] (also called ''Gaumais'' locally), in [[Virton]];
* [[Champenois language|Champenois]], in [[Bohan, Wallonia|Bohan]]; and
* [[Luxembourgish]], in [[Arlon]] and [[Martelange]].

The Picard, Lorrain and Champenois dialects spoken in Wallonia are sometimes also referred to as "Walloon", which may lead to confusion.

== Phonetics and phonology ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Consonant phonemes of Walloon
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br> [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br> alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]/<br>[[Affricate]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t̪|t}}
|{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d̪|d}}
|{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s̪|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| ({{IPA link|ç}})
|
| ({{IPA link|χ}})
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|v}}
| {{IPA link|z̪|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʒ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|({{IPA link|r}})
|
|
|
|{{IPA link|ʀ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! {{small|plain}}
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[Labialization|rounded]]}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɥ}}
| {{IPAlink|w}}
|
|
|}

* {{IPA|/ʃ/}} may also be heard as {{IPA|[ç]}} or {{IPA|[χ]}} in word-final positions.

* {{IPA|/ʀ/}} may also be pronounced as an alveolar trill {{IPA|[r]}} among speakers.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Vowel phonemes
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="6" | [[Front vowel|Front]] !! rowspan="3" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="3"  rowspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! colspan="3" | <small>[[Roundedness|unrounded]]</small>
! colspan="3" | <small>[[Roundedness|rounded]]</small>
|-
! <small>oral</small>
! <small>long</small>
! <small>[[Nasal vowel|nasal]]</small>
! <small>oral</small>
! <small>long</small>
! [[Nasal vowel|<small>nasal</small>]]
! <small>oral</small>
! <small>long</small>
! [[Nasal vowel|<small>nasal</small>]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|iː}}
| {{IPA link|ĩ}}
| {{IPA link|y}}
| {{IPA link|yː}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|u}}
| {{IPA link|uː}}
|
|-
![[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
|{{IPA link|ɪ}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ʏ}}
|
|
|
|{{IPA link|ʊ}}
|({{IPA link|ʊː}})
|
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
|{{IPA link|eː}}
| {{IPA link|ẽ}}
| {{IPA link|ø}}
| {{IPA link|øː}}
|
| {{IPA link|ə}}
|
| {{IPA link|oː}}
|
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
| {{IPA link|ɛː}}
| {{IPA link|ɛ̃}}
| {{IPA link|œ}}
|{{IPA link|œː}}
| {{IPA link|œ̃}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɔ}}
| {{IPA link|ɔː}}
| {{IPA link|ɔ̃}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|a}}
| 
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|{{IPA link|ɑː}}
|{{IPA link|ɑ̃}}
|}

* {{IPA|/oː, uː/}} can have an allophone of {{IPA|[ʊː]}}.

* Latin {{IPA|/k/}} before {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} before {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, or {{IPA|/a/}} gave Walloon affricate phonemes spelled ''tch'' {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} and ''dj'' {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}: {{lang|wa|vatche}} (vs. French {{lang|fr|vache}} "cow"), {{lang|wa|djambe}} ({{abbr|Fr.|French}} {{lang|fr|jambe}} "leg").
* Latin {{IPA|[s]}} persisted in clusters: {{lang|wa|spene}} (Fr. {{lang|fr|épine}} "thorn, spine"), {{lang|wa|fistu}} "wisp of straw", {{lang|wa|mwaîsse}} (Fr. {{lang|fr|maître}} "master"), {{lang|wa|fiesse}} (Fr. {{lang|fr|fête}} "party, feast"), {{lang|wa|tchestea}} (Fr. {{lang|fr|château}} "castle"), and so on.
* [[Final obstruent devoicing]]: {{lang|wa|rodje}} "red" is pronounced exactly as {{lang|wa|rotche}} "rock".
* [[Nasal vowel]]s may be followed by nasal consonants, as in {{lang|wa|djonne}} "young", {{lang|wa|crinme}} "cream", {{lang|wa|mannet}} "dirty", etc.
* [[Vowel length]] has a phonological value. It allows distinguishing {{lang|wa|cu}} "arse" and {{lang|wa|cû}} "cooked", {{lang|wa|i l'&nbsp;hosse}} "he cradles her" and {{lang|wa|i l'&nbsp;hôsse}} "he increases it", {{lang|wa|messe}} "mass" and {{lang|wa|mêsse}} "master", etc.

== Orthography ==
{{main|Walloon orthography}}
The Walloon alphabet generally consists of the basic [[ISO Latin Alphabet]], and six types of [[diacritic]]. It also makes frequent use of digraphs. Various orthographies have been used, most notably the Feller system ({{lang|wa|sistinme Feller}}) and Unified Walloon ({{lang|wa|rifondou walon}} or {{lang|wa|rfondou walon}}).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Saratxaga |first1=Pablo |title=Introduction |url=https://croejhete.walon.org/node17.html |website=Grammaire wallonne en ligne |access-date=26 June 2022}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
===Language family===
Walloon is distinguished from other languages in the ''[[langue d'oïl]]'' family both by archaism coming from Latin and by its significant borrowing from Germanic languages, as expressed in its phonetics, its [[lexicon]], and its [[grammar]]. At the same time, Walloon phonetics are singularly conservative: the language has stayed fairly close to the form it took during the [[High Middle Ages]].

=== Morphology ===
* The plural feminine adjectives before the noun take an unstressed ending {{lang|wa|-ès}} (except in the Ardenne dialect): compare {{lang|wa|li djaene foye}} "the yellow leaf" and {{lang|wa|les djaenès foyes}} "the yellow leaves".
* There is no gender difference in definite articles and possessives (except in the Ardenne dialect): compare Walloon {{lang|wa|li vweteure}} ("the car", feminine) and {{lang|wa|li cir}} ("the sky", masculine), with French {{lang|fr|la voiture}} and {{lang|fr|le ciel}}; Walloon has {{lang|wa|si coir}} ("his/her body", masculine) and {{lang|wa|si finiesse}} ("his/her window", feminine) with French {{lang|fr|son corps}} and {{lang|fr|sa fenêtre}}.

=== Lexicon ===
* Walloon has a few Latin remnants that have disappeared from neighboring Romance languages: compare Walloon {{lang|wa|dispierter}} to [[Spanish language|Spanish]] {{lang|es|despertar}} and [[Romanian language|Romanian]] {{lang|ro|deștepta}} (all with the same meaning: "to awaken").
* The most distinctive feature is its number of borrowings from Germanic languages (Dutch and German dialects): compare Walloon {{lang|wa|flåwe}} to today's Dutch {{lang|nl|flauw}} "weak" (cognate of English ''flaw''). Other common borrowings, among hundreds of others, are {{lang|wa|dringuele}} ("tip"; Dutch {{lang|nl|drinkgeld}}), {{lang|wa|crole}} ("curl"; Dutch {{lang|nl|krul}}), {{lang|wa|spiter}} ("to spatter"; same root as the English ''to spit'', and ''to spew'', or German {{lang|de|spützen}}; Dutch {{lang|nl|spuwen}}), {{lang|wa|li sprewe}} (the [[starling]]; Dutch {{lang|nl|spreeuw}}, or German {{lang|de|Sperling}}).

=== Syntax ===
* The adjective is often placed before the noun: compare Walloon {{lang|wa|on foirt ome}} with French {{lang|fr|un homme fort}}, "a strong man"; {{lang|wa|ene blanke måjhon}} and French {{lang|fr|une maison blanche}}, "a white house".
* Borrowing from Germanic languages, the construction {{lang|wa|Cwè çki c'est di ça po ene fleur?}} "What kind of flower is this?" can be compared word for word to German {{lang|de|Was ist das für eine Blume?}} and Dutch {{lang|nl|Wat is dat voor een bloem?}}, as opposed to Standard French {{lang|fr|Quelle sorte de fleur est-ce?}} or (colloquially) {{lang|fr|Quelle sorte de fleur est-ce que c'est?}}.

==History==
[[File:Crupet JPGW.jpg|thumb|An [[Inn|auberge]]'s sign in [[Crupet]]]]

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{{Clarify|date=February 2015}} texts from the time do not mention the language, although they mention others in the ''[[langue d'oïl]]'' family, such as [[Picard language|Picard]] and [[Lorrain language|Lorrain]]. 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 between ''{{lang|frm|Rommand}}'' to ''{{lang|frm|Vualon}}'':

{{blockquote|''{{lang|frm|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.}}''}}

{{blockquote|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: the [[vernacular]] of the Roman part of the [[Low Countries]]. One might say that the period which saw the establishment of the unifying supremacy of the [[Burgundian (party)|Burgundians]] in the Walloon country was a turning-point in their linguistic history. The crystallization of a Walloon identity, as opposed to that of the ''{{lang|fr|thiois}}'' (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 neighbouring ''langues d'oïl'', prompting the abandonment of the vague term "Roman" as a linguistic, ethnic, and political designator for "Walloon".

Also at this time, following the [[Ordinance 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; ''{{lang|fr|[[La Pléiade]]}}'' posited the view that when two languages of the same [[language family]] coexist, each can be defined only in opposition to the other. Around the year 1600, the [[French language#Writing system|French 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 society and culture==
[[File:Fosses-la-Ville JPG06W.jpg|thumb|[[Bilingual sign|Bilingual]] French-Walloon street sign in [[Fosses-la-Ville]]]]

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...).<ref>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. {{ISBN|2-87399-072-4}}</ref> Many French words that pertain to mining and to the textile trade derive from the Walloon-Picard complex.<ref>Steven G. Kellman, ''Switching languages: translingual writers reflect on their craft'', p.&nbsp;152.</ref>

Legally, Walloon has been recognized since 1990 by the [[French 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 the ''Union Culturelle Wallonne'', an organization of over 200 amateur theatre circles, writers' groups, and school councils. About a dozen Walloon magazines publish regularly.  The ''{{lang|fr|Société 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 the [[Manifesto for Walloon culture]], and the Walloon language (even if the latter is a part of the culture).{{vague|date=October 2013}} <!-- Every language is only part of a culture and not the culture itself. Isn't it supposed to mean that one can speak Walloon living in a non-Walloon culture & vice versa? -->

==Literature==
[[File:Dunker et Otjacques.jpg|thumb|The singer {{Interlanguage link|William Dunker|wa}} (right)]]
[[File:Djåcreye 1886.jpg|thumb|Cartoon in Walloon by {{Interlanguage link|José Schoovaerts|wa}} for a 2010 issue of Walloon-speaking magazine {{Interlanguage link|Li Rantoele|wa|3=Li Rantoele (gazete)}}]]
[[File:Tchanson longuès pupes tere Walons Wisconsene.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|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.<ref>In his ''Anthologie de la littérature wallonne'', Mardaga, Liège, 1978, {{ISBN|2-8021-0024-6}} Maurice Piron is speaking (p. 5) about ''four dialogues printed between 1631 and 1636''</ref> It had its "golden age" during the peak of the [[Flemish 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."<ref name=Kellman>''Switching Languages, Translingual Writers Reflect on Their Craft,'' Ed. y Steven G. Kellman, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2003, p. 153.  {{ISBN|978-0-8032-2747-7}}</ref>

The [[New 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.<ref name=Kellman /> Yves Quairiaux counted 4,800 plays for 1860–1914, published or not.<ref>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. {{ISBN|2-8040-2174-2}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://users.skynet.be/lorint/wallang/index.html Lorint Hendschel, "The Walloon Language Page"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208194146/http://users.skynet.be/lorint/wallang/index.html |date=8 December 2011 }}, Skynet, accessed 21 October 2010</ref>

During the 19th-century renaissance of Walloon-language literature, several authors adapted versions of ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'' to the racy speech (and subject matter) of Liège.<ref>''Anthologie de la littérature wallonne'' (ed. Maurice Piron), Liège, 1979; limited preview at Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=zhpx-DbBkBkC&pg=PR9 Google Books]</ref> They included [[:wa:Charles du Vivier de Streel|Charles Duvivier]] (in 1842); Joseph Lamaye (1845); and the team of [[:wa:Jean-Joseph Dehin|Jean-Joseph Dehin]] (1847, 1851–1852) and [[François Bailleux]] (1851–1866), who covered books I-VI.<ref>There is a partial preview at [https://books.google.com/books?id=pscTAAAAQAAJ Google Books ]</ref> Adaptations into other dialects were made by Charles Letellier (Mons, 1842) and Charles Wérotte (Namur, 1844).  Decades later, Léon Bernus published some hundred imitations of [[La Fontaine]] in the dialect of ''Charleroi'' (1872);<ref>The text of four can be found at [http://rifondou.walon.org/bernus-rif.html Walon.org]</ref> he was followed during the 1880s by [[:fr:Joseph Dufrane|Joseph Dufrane]], writing in the ''Borinage'' dialect under the pen-name ''Bosquètia''. In the 20th century, Joseph Houziaux (1946) published a selection of 50 fables in the ''Condroz'' dialect.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lulucom.com/fables00.htm#intro |title=Lulucom.com |publisher=Lulucom.com |access-date=2013-03-09}}</ref> 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 writer [[Raymond Queneau]] set the publication of a Walloon Poets' anthology for [[Editions Gallimard]]. ''[[Ubu roi]]'' was translated into Walloon by [[André Blavier]], an important [['Pataphysics|'pataphysician]] of [[Verviers]], and friend of Queneau, for the new and important [[Puppet theater]] of Liège of Jacques Ancion. The [[Al Botroûle]] theater operated "as the umbilical cord" in Walloon, indicating a desire to return to the source.<ref name=Gross /> Jacques Ancion also wanted to develop a regular adult audience. "From the 19th century he included the Walloon play ''Tati l'Pèriquî'' by E. Remouchamps and the avant-garde ''[[Ubu roi]]'' by [[Alfred Jarry|A. Jarry]]."<ref name=Gross>Joan Gross, ''Speaking in Other Voices: An Ethnography of Walloon Puppet Theaters.'' Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Press, 2001, {{ISBN|1-58811-054-0}}</ref> 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".<ref>Benoît Denis et Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, "Littérature : entre insularité et activisme" (Literature: between insularity and activism), in ''Le 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...''</ref>

Walloon is also being used in popular song. The best-known singer in Walloon in present-day Wallonia is [[William Dunker]] ({{abbr|b.|born}} 15 March 1959).

==Phrases==
{|
|- style="background:#ffd800;"
!Walloon !! Phonetic !! French !! Limburgian !! Dutch !! German !! English !!
|-
| {{lang|wa|Walon}} || {{IPA|[walɔ̃]}} || {{lang|fr|Wallon}} || {{lang|li|Waals}} || {{lang|nl|Waals}} || {{lang|de|Wallonisch}} || Walloon
|-
| {{lang|wa|Diè wåde}} || {{IPA|[djɛ woːt] / [djɛ wɔːt]}} || {{lang|fr|Adieu}} || {{lang|li|Diè wah}}|| {{lang|nl|Tot ziens}} || {{lang|de|Tschüss}} || Bye (from Goodbye, a contraction of "God be with ye")
|-
| {{lang|wa|Bondjoû}} || {{IPA|[bɔ̃dʒuː]}} || {{lang|fr|Bonjour}} || {{lang|li|Daag}} || {{lang|nl|Goedendag}} || {{lang|de|Guten Tag}} || Hello (Good day)
|-
| {{lang|wa|A}} || {{IPA|[a]}} || {{lang|fr|Salut}} || {{lang|li|Ha}}/{{lang|li|haj}} || {{lang|nl|Hoi}} || {{lang|de|Hallo}} || Hi (often followed by another expression)
|-
| {{lang|wa|A rvey}} || {{IPA|[arvɛj]}} || {{lang|fr|Au revoir}} || {{lang|li|Saluu}}/{{lang|li|Daag}}/{{lang|li|Hajje}}/{{lang|li|Diè wah}} || {{lang|nl|Tot ziens}} || {{lang|de|Auf Wiedersehen}} || Goodbye (lit. See you again/See you later)
|-
| {{lang|wa|Cmint dit-st on?}} || {{IPA|[kmɛ̃ dɪstɔ̃]}} || {{lang|fr|Comment dit-on?}} || {{lang|li|Wie zaet me?}} || {{lang|nl|Hoe zegt men?}} || {{lang|de|Wie sagt man?}} || How do you say (How does one say)?
|-
| {{lang|wa|Cmint daloz?}} || {{IPA|[kmɛ̃ dalɔ]}} || {{lang|fr|Comment allez-vous?}} || {{lang|li|Wie geit 't?}} || {{lang|nl|Hoe gaat het?}} || {{lang|de|Wie geht es?}} || How are you? (How goes it? / How's it going?)
|-
| {{lang|wa|Dji n'&nbsp;sais nén}} || {{IPA|[dʒɪn sɛː nɛ̃ ] / [dʒɪn se nẽ]}} || {{lang|fr|Je ne sais pas}} || {{lang|li|Ich weit 't neet}} || {{lang|nl|Ik weet het niet}} || {{lang|de|Ich weiß es nicht}} || I don't know
|}
[[File:Universal Declaration of Human Rights - wal - ezwa - Art1.ogg|thumb|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 language|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 language|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.''

==See also==
* [[Languages of Belgium]]
* [[Walloons]] &ndash; the people
* [[Belgian French]] &ndash; French as spoken in Belgium
* [[Doncols]] & [[Sonlez]]: formerly Walloon-speaking villages in the Grand Duchy of [[Luxembourg]].
* [[Manifesto for Walloon culture]]
* [[Flemish dialects]]
* [[History of the term Wallon]]

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}

===Citations===
* Maurice Piron, ''Anthologie de la littérature wallonne'', Mardaga, Liège, 1978 (661 pages) {{ISBN|2-8021-0024-6}}.
*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.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Walloon language}}
{{InterWiki|code=wa}}
*[http://rifondou.walon.org/index-engl.html Web page of Common Written Walloon]
*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
**[http://aberteke.walon.org/abertekes-engl.html#pweti-en Abstract]
**[http://denee.walon.org/~lucyin/guerni/Prezintaedje_Pwetî.odp Synthetic presentation]
*[http://users.skynet.be/lorint/croejh/ Comprehensive grammar of Walloon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051217235255/http://users.skynet.be/lorint/croejh/ |date=17 December 2005 }} (in French and under GFDL)
*[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Walloon_Swadesh_list Walloon Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh list appendix])
*[http://users.skynet.be/lorint/croejh/node8.html phonetic system of Walloon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427023811/http://users.skynet.be/lorint/croejh/node8.html |date=27 April 2006 }}
*[http://www.ucwallon.be/ Union Culturelle Wallonne]
*[http://users.skynet.be/lorint/linux/wi.html Walloon - English dictionary of computing terms - Motî walon - inglès des copiutreces] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925034733/http://users.skynet.be/lorint/linux/wi.html |date=25 September 2020 }}

{{Languages of Belgium}}
{{Languages of the Benelux}}
{{Gallo-Romance languages and dialects}}
{{Romance languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walloon Language}}
[[Category:Oïl languages]]
[[Category:Languages of France]]
[[Category:Languages of Belgium]]
[[Category:Wallonia]]
[[Category:Culture of Wallonia]]
[[Category:Hainaut (province)]]
[[Category:Liège Province]]
[[Category:Luxembourg (Belgium)]]
[[Category:Namur (province)]]
[[Category:Walloon Brabant]]
[[Category:Ardennes (department)]]