Overcoming genetical and typological differences, they have thus been able to influence each other over the centuries. Moreover, in this century, French has gained more and more impact on both languages. Speakers who define themselves as Gascon speak Gascon and French with equal proficiency. As the parents-child transmission of Gascon has almost completely stopped after the second Word War and substituted by French, it is nearly impossible to find speakers of Gascon under the age of forty.
Basque speakers are slightly more loyal to their language.
Some families keep on raising their children in Basque and French, although French monolingualism is the rule. There is a strong political movement in favor of Basque, whereas efforts to conserve Gascon are very weak. People used to go to the market not only for commercial reasons, but also for their amusement and in order to meet people. Among the social functions that they fulfilled, they were a favorite place to pave the way for marriages. Traders from Gascony came here to sell their goods, Basque farmers from behind the contact zone also went to these markets, and had to have at least some basic knowledge of Gascon in the field of commercial exchange.