A linguist has produced a map in which each region relates to the form most used by its inhabitants. One of the two terms is used more than the other.
For years, the chocolatine VS pain au chocolat controversy has fueled the web, to the point that the fight has become a joke on social networks. When renaming the new territories, some suggested calling Occitania “Chocolate”, during the presidential elections, some inserted “Chocolate” ballots into the ballot box … Internet users are not lacking in ideas.
Today, thanks to a survey based on the responses of several thousand French people, the debate can be closed. Matthew Avanze, a linguist who specializes in regional French at the Catholic University of Louvain, produced a map in which each region is associated with the form most used by its inhabitants. One conclusion emerges from this: The victory of pain au chocolat is overwhelming.
© Matteo Avanzi
This media battle, according to linguists, has had the effect of spreading the term chocolate in areas where it is not used, he writes. France 3. It is up to you whether or not you accept the results of this study.