Walloon Language

Walloon Language

Walloon (Walon in Walloon) is a Romance language that was spoken as a primary language in large portions (70%) of the Walloon Region of Belgium and some villages of Northern France (near Givet) until the middle of the 20th century. It belongs to the langue d'oïl language family, whose most prominent member is the French language. The historical background of its formation was the territorial extension since 980 of the Principality of Liège to the south and west.

Despite its rich literature, beginning anonymously in the 16th century and with well-known authors since 1756 (see the paragraph Literature), the use of Walloon has decreased markedly since France's annexation of Wallonia in 1795. This period definitively established French as the language of social promotion, far more than it was before. Although Belgium gained its independence in 1830 (from the Netherlands), French had been established as the primary language of instruction in much of the country. 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 dead language. Today it is scarcely spoken among younger people.

Numerous associations, especially theatre companies, are working to keep the language alive. On a government level, Walloon is officially recognized as a langue régionale endogène (regional indigenous language) (Décret Valmy Féaux, 14 of December 1990). 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, which allowed large-scale publications, such as the Walloon Wikipedia.

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.