Post

In Canto 18 of his Inferno, Dante puts a lot of people from Bologna in Hell, and mentions their local word for 'yes': sipa. Words for 'yes' matter to Dante; he's the first on record to recognise sì, òc and oïl as alternatives in Romance – hence the lenga d'òc (Occitan) and langues d'oïl in France.

11/10/26, 9:48 am10 reposts80 likes

Frank’s back

@frankhopper.bsky.social

The linguist’s yes man?

Little Bisexual Raccoon 🏳️‍🌈🦝

@roastedcauliflower.bsky.social

We had a substitute French teacher, I think a langue d'Oc speaker?, who pronounced "de" with a soft r at the end. Unintentionally following Dante, we called her "the der lady."

Dr Danny Bate

@dannybate.com

That "hence" is intentionally ambiguous in what relation it expresses – I presume that the lenga d'òc/Occitan at least get its name from a popular recognition of a distinctive feature, rather being down to Dante?