Franco-Provençal (
Francoprovençal),
Arpitan or
Romand (in Switzerland) (
Vernacular: ; ; ) is a
Gallo-Romance language spoken in east-central
France, western
Switzerland, northwestern
Italy, and in enclaves in the
Province of Foggia in
Apulia, Italy. Franco-Provençal has several distinct
dialects and is separate from but closely related to neighboring
Romance languages:
Oïl languages,
Occitan,
Gallo-Italian, and
Romansh. The name
Franco-Provençal was given to the language by
G.I. Ascoli in the 19th century because it shared features with
French and
Provençal without belonging to either.
Arpitan, a
neologism, is becoming a popular name for the language and the people who speak it.