Languages in Cannes

Nowadays, most Cannois speak French with a lilting southern accent. However, the
inhabitants of Cannes spoke Cannois, a variant of Provençal-Maritime until 1914, when the language was banned to promote the speaking of French. 95% of place names in Cannes derive from this branch of Provençal, the language of southern France.

Suquet means ‘hill-top’ in Cannois and Forville means outside the town. To hear Cannois nowadays, one needs to listen to the small fishing community at the Vieux Port and the boules players at the Allees de la Liberte who call boules ‘bocho’ and the jack ‘boulien’; ‘au revoir’ becomes ‘a si reveire’ and ‘adieu’ ‘adessias’.