Good afternoon,
Here is the information required for the procedure:
*Name of the language:* Provençal / Prouvençau *Codes:* ISO-639 1: oc ISO-639 2: oc ISO-639: oci *Number of living native speakers:* about 400.000 (no recent official census) It can be considered as a dialect of the Occitan language but some particularities make it very different from the other Occitan dialects. Moreover, the way of writing is not the same: a different written form is used in the provençal area, a specific one, designed for the Provençal language/dialect, and called "mistralian norm". It is a norm which uses forms closer to the oral language, and thus easier to read, and is the majority written form used in the region. Because of the fact that provençal, like all other regional languages of France, has never been taught in schools until now, most of the native speakers can't understand a written text, even if they speak the language and they understand it orally. If one of those speakers want to read a Wikipedia article in the language (s)he speaks, he will find nothing but an article written in general Occitan, that (s)he won't understand because of the dialectal differences and the written form used, an unfamiliar norm (s)he won't be able to read easily.
That's the reason why we need a Provençal version of Wikipedia, and why I send you this email. Please consider all these elements before taking a decision. I am ready to provide more elements if necessary.
What I told you is not a politic or a personal opinion; it's the result of my ambition of preserving and promoting this language, an ambition shared by many other people. Adding Provençal to the Wikipedia languages would help us to make it alive.
Thank you very much,
Regards,
C. E.