Abstract: Phonological and Morphological Free Variation in the Dialect of Nice – an Illustration. A project has been launched to make a dialectal dictionary of Nice and its surroundings. As an important amount of data is being gathered from various texts and in the field, the proportion of free variation in the Occitan dialect spoken in the city of Nice appears to be significantly greater than what studies (especially grammars and dictionaries) report. Using a substantial set of examples, this descriptive article shares with the scientific community some important features of phonological and morphological polymorphism in urban Niçois. In the phonological part, it also shows the links that tie together polymorphism and diatopic variation in a relatively homogeneous dialectal area.

Keywords: free variation, phonology, morphology, Niçois (Niçard, Nissart), Occitan