Gascon language

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The Gascon language is an Occitan dialect mostly spoken in Gascony (in the French départements of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Landes, Gers, Gironde, a part of Lot-et-Garonne, a part of Haute-Garonne, and a part of Ariège), and in the small Spanish valley Val d'Aran, in the Northwest of Catalonia. Some linguists consider it a separate language but usually these are not speakers of Gascon. Gascon comprises four subdialects:

Landese (Landés, Landais)
Bearnese (Bearnés, Béarnais)
Ariegese (Ariejés, Ariégeois)
Aranese (Aranés, Aranais)

Of these, only Aranese is spoken in Spain. Aranese has been greatly influenced by Catalan and Aragonese. This influence differentiates it from the dialects of Gascon spoken in France. Aranese is co-official with Spanish and Catalan in the Val d'Aran.

Gascon and the Basque language have had mutual influences.

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Usage of the language

A poll in 1982 in Béarn indicated that 51% of the population spoke Gascon, 70% understood it, and 85% expressed a favourable opinion regarding the protection of the language.

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