An overview of Francoprovençal vitality in Europe and North America

Abstract

We review the current status of Francoprovençal (FP) in all regions where it is spoken. This article is the first of its kind, in that it reports on FP in both Europe and North America (for the latter this is the first demographic report). Figures cited for speaker numbers are therefore speculative. For each region, we present an overview of the linguistic history, current glottopolitical status of FP and demographic information. We describe each variety’s vitality, using Brenzinger et al.’s (2003, Language vitality and endangerment. Paris: UNESCO Expert Meeting on Safeguarding Endangered Languages) UNESCO scale.