El valón (autoglotónimo wallon) es una lengua románica del norte, de la misma rama que el francés (pero diferente de éste, en particular por un aporte léxico y fonético considerable de las lenguas germánicas, y por un carácter de un latín conservador, mucho más importante). Se habla en el sur de Bélgica, en las provincias del Brabante valón, Lieja (salvo en la parte de habla alemana al este), este de Henao, Namur y Luxemburgo (excepto en la región de Arlon y una franja al sur), así como en la región alrededor de la ciudad francesa de Givet. Es el idioma descendiente del latín más septentrional de toda la familia lingüística. No se debe confundir el valón con el francés que se habla en el sur de Bélgica (picardo). No es un habla uniforme y se divide en los dialectos: \n* Liejense (Liégeois), en el este, en la villa de Lieja \n* Namurense (Namurois), en el centro, cerca de Namur \n* Valón del Oeste (Wallon de l'Ouest), hablado entre Nivelles y Charleroi-Thuin \n* Valón del Sur (Wallon du Sud), entre Saint-Hubert y Neufchâteau Estas hablas, sin embargo, se van perdiendo, ya que eran habladas por el 80 % de la población valona en 1950 y sólo por el 50 % en 1980, porque han sido víctimas de la desintegración sintáctica y morfológica.

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Walloon (Walon in Walloon) is a Romance language that was spoken as a primary language in large portions (70%) of Wallonia in Belgium, in some villages of Northern France (near Givet) and in the northeast part of Wisconsin until the mid 20th century and in some parts of Sweden. It belongs to the langue d'oïl language family, whose most prominent member is the French language. The historical background of its formation was the territorial extension since 980 of the Principality of Liège to the south and west. Despite its rich literature, beginning anonymously in the 16th century and with well-known authors since 1756, the use of Walloon has decreased markedly since France's annexation of Wallonia in 1795. This period definitively established French as the language of social promotion, far more than it was before. After World War I, public schools provided French-speaking education to all children, inducing a denigration of Walloon, especially when accompanied by official orders in 1952 to punish its use in schools. Subsequently, since the middle of the 20th century, generational transmission of the language has decreased, resulting in Walloon almost becoming a dead language. Today it is scarcely spoken among younger people. In 1996, the number of people with knowledge of the language was estimated at between 1 and 1.3 million. Numerous associations, especially theatre companies, are working to keep the language alive. Formally recognized as a langue régionale endogène (regional indigenous language) of Belgium since 1990, Walloon has also benefited from a continued corpus planning process. The "Feller system" (1900) regularized transcription of the different accents. Since the 1990s, a common orthography was established (the Rifondou walon), which allowed large-scale publications, such as the Walloon Wikipedia officially in 2003. In 2004, a Walloon translation of a Tintin comic was released under the name L'èmerôde d'al Castafiore; in 2007 an album consisting of Gaston Lagaffe comic strips was published in Walloon. Walloon is more distinct as a language than Belgian French, which differs from the French spoken in France only in some minor points of vocabulary and pronunciation.

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