The Catalonian, observes Itaynouard, is the living language which most resembles the old Romance of the Troubadours, and that of the Valdenses of Pignerol in Piedmont is the next. The following are among the shades of difference between the Catalonian and the Romance:-1. The Romance substantives and adjectives ending in an, en, in, and en, add in Catalonian the euphonic final vowel y; affan, estran, estrany, &c. The plural feminine in as is changed into es.
Thu Catalonian often changes the a into an x; a.ri, : it doubles the 1 at the beginning and at the end of words; «quell, Much, Ilan y ; it sometimes changes the e iuto an i, especially of the Romance partici ples in eat ; dormint, serrint, fugint, premint : it adds a final u to some inflections of the verbs, fie. The Catalouian has retained the affixes of the Romance, of which the following are specimens taken from the poems of Ausias March, the Valencian Troubadour :, mourn in la nem de cera esperanca, Ile as mostra Den lo mon que vol noir Tot mon partar els que no us auran vista, No solameat los leigs qui t venen contra.
The popular patois or dialects of the south of France, after being long neglected, have of late years attracted the attention of philologists. Colomb de Batines has given an account of the patois of Dauphine ; Sainte Beuve inserted a notice in the ' Revue des Deux Mondes,' vol. x., 1837, of the poems of Jasmin, the barber poet of Agen ; a Recucil de Poesies Ildarnoises; was published at Pau in 1827. (The Bearnese dialect is a Romance and not a Basque dialect, and resembles the Gascon.) The dialect of Gascony has been illustrated by the Viscount de 316tivier `De l'Agriculture et du D6frichemeut des Landes,' Bordeaux, 1839; and also by Du 3Iege Statistique des D6partemens des Pyrdndes.' The Languedocian boasts of two graceful poets, brothers : Pasias Patouesas de P. A. et Cyr. Iligaud,' 31ounpey6, 1806 ; 316Ianges sur les Langues, Dialeetes, et Patois,' Paris, 1831 ; Beronie, Dictionnaire Patois,' Tulle, 1820; the poems of Verdid, a self-instructed artisan of Bordeaux, who died in 1820—whose works, full of humour and nature, are unknown beyond the precincts of his native town ; an imitation of the fables of Lafontaine, in the dialect of Limousin, by J. Fousaud, 1835; Brunet, `Notices et Extraits de
quelques ouvrages derits en Patois du Midi de la France,' Paris, 1840; Millin, ' Easel sur la Longue et la Litt6raturo Provencale; Paris, 1811 ; J. Champollion Figeac, Nouvelles Recherches sur lea Patois on Idiomea vulgaires de la France, et en particulier sur ceux du Ddparte. ment do l'Isere, suivies d'un Essai stir la Littdrature Dauphinoise, et d'un Appendix contenant des pieces en very et en prose peu eonuues, et un Vocabulaire,' Paris, 1809; Grinet, Vocabulaire Limousin,' a dialect which resembles those of Franche Cornt6 and Western Switzerland.
With regard to the ancieut Languo d'Oe, or Longue Romano, the most refined of all the southern dialects, but which may be considered now as a dead language, it was illustrated in the Last century, in Italy, by Bastero, Crusca Provenzale; ' and in France, by L'Abb6 Millet, Littiraire des Troubadours,' who compiled his work from the voluminous manuscript folios of M. do Saiute Palaye. lu the present century, Raynouard has been the most industrious and most successful investigator of the Romance language and literature. His Lexique Roman, ou Diet. do la Laugue. des Troubadours,' was pub lished iu 6 vole. 8vo, Par. 1836-44. M. Honnorat has published a ' Dictionnaire Provencal-Francaise,' or Dictionary of the Longue d'Oc, ancient and modern, 2 vols. 4to, Paris, 1846–•19; and G. F. Burguy a ' Grammaire do la Longue d'Oil, ou gram:mires des dialectes Franeaim aux XII. et X111. sleeks,' accompanied by a glossary, 2 vols., Berlin, 1853-54. Other valuable works have also appeared, either written or edited by Mahn, Villemarque, &c.
In Italy, the dialect of time valleys of Pigucrol, or of the Valdenses, has most affiuity to the old Romance. The Piedmontese, which is a written language, and is spokcu by all classes of people, bears also considerable affinity to the modem Romance dialects of Southern France, and we have heard it stated that natives of Languedoc can understand those of Piedmont with ease. Dr. Pipino published a Piedmontese grammar, Turin. 1783; and Ponza published, in 18'27.8, a Dictionary, Piedmontese and Italian. The language of Nice is also a corrupt dialect of the Langue d'Oc.