Romandy
|
Map of the languages of Switzerland; Romandy is shown in
purple. |
Romandy (in
French and
German Romandie), or
la Suisse romande, is the
French-speaking part of
Switzerland. It covers the area of the
cantonsof
Geneva,
Vaud,
Neuchâtel, and
Jura as well as the French-speaking parts of the cantons of
Berne,
Valais, and
Fribourg. About 1.5 million people (or 20% of the Swiss population) live in Romandy.
Swiss French and French are the same language, with some differences. For example, like some other regions of the French-speaking world, Swiss people use
septante (seventy) instead of
soixante-dix (literally,
sixty ten) and "nonante" (ninety) instead of "quatre-vingt-dix" ("four twenties and ten"). In some parts of Romandy, speakers use "huitante" (eighty) in place of the standard in France and elsewhere of "quatre vingt" (four twenties) and "sou" for a 20-centime coin. http://www.langue-fr.net/index/S/septante.htm
The term does not formally exist in the political system but is used to distinguish and unify the French-speaking population of Switzerland. The
television channel
Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) serves the
Romande community across Switzerland, and is syndicated to
TV5.
*
German speaking part of Switzerland*
Francophonie*
French language*
Arpitania
