Franco-provençal is the definition under which since 1873, the year when linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli defined its main features, linguists the world over group the dialects spoken in the Alpine valleys of Western Piedmont, from Val Sangone south, up to Soana Valley, with the inclusion of low Val di Susa, Val Cenischia, Valle di Viu' , Valle dale, Val Grande, Val di Lanzo and the Valle dell'Orco; these dialects are also related to those in the Val d'Aosta and, beyond the Alps, those in the French parts of Switzerland and those of various departments in South-East France.
If we had to define Franco Provencal, we could maybe call it a "missed language" . After a very brilliant and promising beginning, (think, for example, of Marguerite d' Doing’s poetry ) , the process of French unification and centralization hampered the establishment of a linguistic unity for the constellation of dialects that we now scientifically gather under the name of Franco Provencal. The definition, which was coined by Italian linguist Ascoli, is therefore a negative definition: Franco Provencal is that which is not French, not Occitan, not Gallo italic or Piedmonts.
Yet, there is something – whose scientific definition is certainly a lot less easy – that ideally connects the 70,000 Franco Provencal inhabitants of the Alpine valleys from Sangone to Dora Bal tea with the French living in the Lyon region, Fore, Savoye, Jura and the Swiss inhabitants of Valais, Neuchatel, Freiburg, etc. This "something", which is no longer defined negatively but positively, is the common awareness of an identity that goes beyond "natural" borders of the Alpine arch and the artificial borders between countries. It is the fieriness hidden behind the sentence "we speak our own way", "we speak patois".
Here the historical unity that was missed, the linguistic unity that fragmented into many dialects, is brought back together in the recognition of an identical Alpine culture and of common features in the way of talking. It is true that, to describe the moment of thaw, they say "dazgeillet" in Ribordone,"zgeillet" in Chialamberto, "dezgeillet" in Balme, "dijale" in the Condovese mountains, "dejalet" in Mattie, "dezjalat" in Coazza, "dezale" in Bessans, "dezile" in Tigne, and so on; but it is also true that, behind this seeming difference, there are two enormously significant unifying elements: first and foremost, the common experience, in all these places, of thaw as the start of the good season, and of work in the fields, secondly, the partial similarity of all these patois dialects that makes mutual understanding possible, with some very small adaptation effort.
An understanding that is not possible between patois and Piedmontese, between patois and French, between patois and Italian.
Beyond internal differences, therefore, it is the awareness of their historic, linguistic and especially cultural characteristic that must be safeguarded and protected with courage and commitment. This defence does not mean hostility for those who are different or the desire to overwhelm – as unfortunately was and still is often the case – but the simple statement of the inalienable right to be "francoprovençal", and to behave, linguistically and culturally, as francoprovençals.