Lous dreyts de l’Ome[1] :
par Pierre Bernadau
Bordeau, le 10 septembre, l’an second de la Revolution de France (1790). en gascon.
Prumeyrement.–Lous omes nèchen et damoren libres et egaux en dreyts, et g’nia que l’abantage dau puplic que pot fa establi de les distinctiouns entre lous citoiens”(191-192).
Les Droits de l’homme :
Premièrement.–Les Hommes naissent et demeurent libres et égaux en droits, et il n’y a que l’avantage du public qui puisse faire établir des distinctions entre les citoyens.
I wanted to share with the class another version of the literary genre we now call the “declaration of independence”, or “of man” etc.. We should remember that it was often the biggest news of the time and it had to be “officially” decreed. Ironically, when the documents arrived in the various country sides in France, it was not even understood by the majority of this new French Republic. Therefore, there was a constant circulation of translated proclamations, pamphlets, and laws distributed such that speakers of the various “patois” could understand. Here below, you will find a gascon translation of the first article of “Les Droit de l’homme”. Oftentimes, in addition to the the “y”‘s and “i”‘s being interchangeable, one will also see that some of the spellings also are on the account of variations between the regional pronunciations. Note also the presence in the French documents of the Revolutionary Calendar, also known as the Republican Calendar.
[1] Certeau, Michel de, Dominique Julia, and Jacques Revel. Une Politique De La Langue : La Révolution Française Et Les Patois : L’enquête De Grégoire. Collection Folio/Histoire, 117. Paris: Gallimard, 2002, 191-192.
