Picard
Indo-European
Picard (autonymously Picard, popularly known as Ch'ti from the Romance pronoun "tu" → "ch'ti") is an Oïl Romance language closely related to French, spoken by around 700,000 people in northern France and southern Belgium (Hainaut). Linguistically, Picard preserves features of Old Northern French that were lost in Standard French — most famously the retention of Latin /k/ before /a/ (Latin cattus → Picard cat vs French chat), the preservation of Latin /-iu/ word-finally (Latin senum → Picard senieu vs French sénior), and a different vowel system. The 2008 French film "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" (Welcome to the Sticks) brought significant national attention to Picard culture and made the dialect a recognizable cultural icon. Despite this profile, the language has been losing intergenerational transmission since World War II, with speakers now skewed older and more rural.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Picard
Water
iau
/jo/
Fire
fu
/fy/
Sun
solèl
/sɔlɛl/
Moon
lune
/lyn/
Mother
mère
/mɛʁ/
Father
père
/pɛʁ/
Eat
minger
/mɛ̃ʒe/
Drink
boère
/bwɛʁ/
Love
amour
/amuʁ/
Heart
cœur
/kœʁ/
Tree
abre
/abʁ/
House
mason
/masɔ̃/
Dog
kien
/kjɛ̃/
Cat
cat
/ka/
Hand
main
/mɛ̃/
Eye
œil
/œj/
Hello
bojour
/bɔʒuʁ/
Thank you
merci
/mɛʁsi/
One
un
/œ̃/
Good
bon
/bɔ̃/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European languages
| Meaning | Picard | French | French (African) | French (Belgian) | French (Swiss) | French (Québec) | Classical French (17c., Bel Usage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | iau /jo/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ |
| Fire | fu /fy/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ |
| Sun | solèl /sɔlɛl/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ |
| Moon | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lʏn/ | lune /lyn/ |
| Mother | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛːʁ/ | mère /mɛːr/ |
| Father | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛːʁ/ | père /pɛːr/ |
| Eat | minger /mɛ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| Drink | boère /bwɛʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwɑːʁ/ | boire /bweːr/ |
| Love | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuːʁ/ | amour /amur/ |
| Heart | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœːʁ/ | cœur /kœːr/ |
| Tree | abre /abʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aːʁbʁ/ | arbre /aːrbr/ |
| House | mason /masɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ |
| Dog | kien /kjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ |
| Cat | cat /ka/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃaː/ |
| Hand | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ |
| Eye | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œːj/ |
| Hello | bojour /bɔʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | allô /alo/ | Dieu vous garde /djø vu ɡard/ |
| Thank you | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | grâces /ɡraːs/ |
| One | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ |
| Good | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ |
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