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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.

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?

11/10/26, 11:49 am0 reposts11 likes

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