Saintongeais (
saintonjhais) is a dialect spoken halfway down the western coast of
France in the former provinces of
Saintonge,
Aunis and
Angoumois, all of which have been incorporated into the current
départements of
Charente and
Charente-Maritime as well as in parts of their neighbouring
départements of
Deux-Sèvres,
Vendée and
Gironde. Although many of the same words are used in both Charente départements, they differ in many respects, i.e., in what they mean or in how they are pronounced.