Labyrinth

Note on Language

In the medieval period, the langue d’Oc – from which the region of Languedoc takes its name – was the language of the Midi from Provence to Aquitaine. It was also the language of Christian Jerusalem and the lands occupied by the Crusaders from 1099, and spoken in some parts of northern Spain and northern Italy. It is closely related to Provencal and Catalan.

In the thirteenth century, the langue d’oil – the forerunner of modern day French – was spoken in the northern parts of what is now France.

During the course of the invasions of the south by the north, which began in 1209, the French barons imposed their language on the region they conquered. From the middle of the twentieth century, there has been an Occitan language revival, led by authors, poets and historians such as Rene Nelli, Jean Duvernoy, Deodat Roche, Michel Roquebert, Anne Brenon, Claude Marti and others. At the time of writing, there is a bilingual Oc/French school in La Cite in the heart of the medieval citadel of Carcassonne and the Occitan spellings of towns and regions appear alongside the French spellings on road signs.

In Labyrinth, to distinguish between the inhabitants of the Pays d’Oc and the French invaders, I have used Occitan or French accordingly. As a result, certain names and places appear in both French and Oc – for example, Carcassonne and Carcassona, Toulouse and Tolosa, Beziers and Besiers.

Extracts of poetry and sayings are taken from Proverbes amp; Dictons de la langue d’Oc collected by Abbe Pierre Trinquier and from 33 Chants Populaires du Languedoc.

Inevitably there are differences between medieval Occitan spellings and contemporary usage. For the sake of consistency, I have for the most part used La Planqueta by Andre Lagarde – an Occitan-French dictionary – as my guide.