Joan deu Peiroton's superb Lo blòg deu Joan remains my favorite place to encounter modern Occitan as a living language on its own turf. With posts in Gascon, Lengadocian and even Catalan, there's something for everyone here; however, I find Joan's at his best when writing about cultural-linguistic matters having to do with regional identities (for example, frontier communities that are half-Catalan/half-Occitan) and/or language issues that are somewhat complicated in nature themselves (i.e. what the standardization of Gascon would entail). The only "problem" is that Joan's blogging so much these days that I find it hard to keep up with him even with the trusty online dictionaries he provides on his site!Because of my interest in older Occitan literature, though, I've also been reading a translation of the twelfth-century Canso d'Antioca put out by Carol Sweetenham and Linda M. Paterson a few years back. While I don't have my "review" ready just yet, it's no secret that this epic from the Lemosin (French Limousin) deals with the crusaders' victory at Antioch during the course of the First Crusade. In anticipation of a follow-up post on the work later in the week, here's the first six verses from the opening laisse of the poem. I hope it gives those who might be new to the language at least a little taste of medieval Occitan's inherent aesthetic "coolness."
La batalha renguero lo divenres mati
pres la bafumaria al cap del pont perri.
Reis Corbarans de Persa demandet Arloÿ,
al cortes dogroman qe enten so lati:
'Quals es aqesta gens que vei estar aisi?
On vai, ni que demanda, ni qe quer, ni qe ditz?'
[On the Friday morning they drew up the order of battle,
near the mosque at the end of the stone bridge.
King Kerbogha of Persia asked Herluin,
the courtly interpreter who understands his language:
'What are these people I see standing here?
Where are they heading, what claims are they making,
what do they want and what do they say?']
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