For centuries, the inhabitants of the Causses and Cévennes, regions shaped by nature and steeped in history, have developed a unique language, a dialect full of color and expressions that resonate like little stories. If you'd like to learn more about the expressions and traditions of the Cévennes, you've come to the right place.
From A to Z, embark on an adventure exploring our local expressions…
Amarine: willow
Aret: ram
Aplechaire: jouattier (maker of yokes for oxen, for example)
Balet: covered terrace
Banasta: large chestnut basket for transporting agricultural products
Barrada: long bar suspended from a beam by two ropes and which supported the towers of sausages and salami from production to drying.
Barralièr: cooper
Bestalhieras: one who loves and knows animals
Bigot: pickaxe with two long points
Biscotin: dry biscuit
Borda: straw
Bondon: barrel made of woven straw
Borbolhadas: herb dish
Boriaires: farmers, tenants
Borias: farms, agricultural holdings
Borieta: small farm
DIY enthusiast: handyman in the sense of a weekend handyman
Cabrat: herd of goats
Cairissa: refers to a limestone pavement
Camp of the Aesir: Field of the Donkeys
Campaneta: small bell
Cap de Jovents: Conscripts
Capelan: priest
Cardosset: field thistle
Chabrot: soup diluted with a glass of wine
Clapasses: piles of blocks of all sizes created during the clearing of stones from fields and even pastures
Clapetas: small bell used for young sheep
Coca: a type of focaccia presented in rectangular sheets composed of individual portions
Colle: a team of seasonal workers comprising five to twenty workers
Conco: hollow
Cocir: to cut the boxwood branches
Cotelado: sheep shearing using a blade technique
Crès: outcrop of the bedrock
MagalieRuas
S. BieDalha: fake army
Dralhaus: large bells for sheep undergoing transhumance
Nozzle: funnel
Espère: small circular dry-stone structure where hunters lay in wait.
Esquilièr: maker of sheep bells
Estamaire: tinsmith
Eune: ivy
Fedas: sheep
Fogassa: a type of brioche in the shape of a crown
Fornièra: person who puts the bread in the oven
Franchiman: French more or less tinged with Occitan
Gleizette: small church
Gostar: lunch
Gostassor: snack
Jacquou: a goat that traditionally accompanied the flock of sheep, whose symbolic protection it ensured; it played the role of the scapegoat.
Jas: gîte
Jasse: sheepfold
Juèrs: branches
Lauza: flat stone
Lavogne/Lavagne: a pond created by humans. Lavogne is the term used on the Grands Causses.
Magnans: silkworms
Marcas: marks, notches on a wooden slat attesting to a purchase
Martelet: small hammer: a game that consists of striking a door or shutters with a stone attached to the end of a long string operated remotely
Massage: hamlet
Masc: enchanter
Menaires: animals at the head of a herd; they must lead the bulk of the herd behind them and have already made the journey several times
Merluça burrada: cod brandade
Molon: pile of grain and winnowing baskets
Padenada: pan-fried black pudding
Palhasson: container
Pastiera: kneading
Patas de galinas: burnet
Pegot: shoemaker
Perusse: wild pears
Perussiers: wild pear trees
Raissés: strip cuts of sheep's fleece
Ramssès: bundles of branches intended to feed livestock during the bad season
Recipe: all the dishes prepared for the meal
Let's replant: rapunzel, wild asparagus
Rebarba: a very strong, soft, brownish-colored, unappetizing cheese, obtained by mixing Roquefort debris with curd, seasoned with pepper, cloves, brandy and preserved in earthenware jars for several months.
Roselo: poppy
Ruscaire: bark stripper; in the off-season, day laborers would go into the garrigue to strip the bark from holm oaks.
Sambucs: black elderberry
Sanaire: pig butcher
Sot/sotch: rounded depression specific to crops
Soupar: dinner
Trescola: passes from one side of the hill to the other via a mountain pass
Valat: dry stream
Source: Adrienne Durand-Tullou, "The Land of Asphodels"
Hervé Leclair