Definition of "Provençal"

“Mirèio” first appeared at Paris in September, 1859, having beside the Provençal a parallel French version of the author's own, or rather a prose translation divided into verses to correspond with the stanzas of the original. […] I must, however, hasten to disclaim any thing approaching to a critical knowledge of the rich and charming Provençal dialect,—or rather language, for it is more than a dialect.

1872, Frédéric Mistral, translated by Harriet W. Preston, Mirèio: A Provençal Poem, translation of original in Provençal, Preface, page x

It was the first time I had heard Provençal spoken – there seemed to be moss packed between every syllable.

1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 343

The Normans were putting it about that the Provençals were experts at foraging, to the neglect of fighting. Their children had a refrain with which they taunted their southern French counterparts: ‘the Franks go to fight, the Provençals to food’.

2011, Conor Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem: Crusade and Conquest in 1099‎, Bloomsbury