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Catalan, Valencian
Català, Valencià
Spoken in: Spain
France
Italy
Andorra 
Region: In Spain:
the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencia, Aragon (in La Franja), Murcia (in El Carxe). Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. The term La Franja ("The Strip" more properly Franja de Aragón or Franja de Poniente "Western Strip" in Spanish) Franja d'Aragó Murcia ( is the capital city of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, located at the river Segura in south-eastern Spain. El Carche ( el Carxe in Valencian) is a mountainous sparsely populated area in Murcia, Spain, lying between the municipalities Jumilla
In France:
Pyrénées-Orientales (Northern Catalonia). This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees Pirineus Orientals Pirenèus Orientals is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier
In Italy (Sardinia):
The city of Alghero (l'Alguer). Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early
In Andorra. Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western
Total speakers: 9. 1 million 
Ranking: 93
Language family: Indo-European
 Italic
  Romance
   Italo-Western
    Western
     Gallo-Iberian
      Ibero-Romance
       East-Iberian
        Catalan, Valencian 
Official status
Official language in: In Spain:
Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands. This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family's Centum branch The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all Gallo-Romance languages Gallo-Italic languages Lombard Western Lombard Eastern This article is about a subdivision of the Romance language family Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean
In Italy:
L'Alguer. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early
In Andorra. Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western
Regulated by: Institut d'Estudis Catalans
Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua
Language codes
ISO 639-1: ca
ISO 639-2: cat
ISO 639-3: cat – Catalan 
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language The Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies or IEC is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua ( AVL) - Valencian Academy of the Language - is an institution created on September 16, 1998 by the ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's
The Catalan-speaking world
Language
Grammar
Phonology and orthography
Institut d'Estudis Catalans
Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua
History
History of Catalonia · Counts of Barcelona
Crown of Aragon · Military history of Catalonia
Catalan constitutions · Furs of Valencia
Treaty of the Pyrenees · Nueva Planta decrees
Geography
Països Catalans
Catalonia · Valencia · Balearic Islands
Northern Catalonia · Franja de Ponent
Andorra · L'Alguer · Carxe
Government and Politics
Generalitat de Catalunya
Generalitat Valenciana
Govern de les Illes Balears
Consell General de les Valls (Andorra)
Politics of Catalonia
Catalan nationalism
Traditions
Castells · Correfoc · Falles · Sardana · 
Moros i cristians · Caganer · Tió de Nadal
Botifarra · Barça · Paella · Rumba
Myths and legends
Arts
Catalan literature · Antoni Gaudí · Modernisme
La Renaixença · Noucentisme
Salvador Dalí · Joan Miró · Antoni Tàpies
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Catalan pronounced /ˈkætəˌlæn/ (català IPA: [kətəˈla] or [kataˈla]) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia—where it is known as Valencian— and in the city of L'Alguer in the Italian island of Sardinia. Catalan grammar is the Grammar of the Catalan language. Morphology For general discussion of morphology (not specific to Catalan see main article The Phonology of Catalan, a Romance language, has a certain degree of dialectal variation This article covers the Orthography of Catalan, a Romance language. The Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies or IEC is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua ( AVL) - Valencian Academy of the Language - is an institution created on September 16, 1998 by the For other perspectives on the History of Catalonia, see also History of Europe; History of Spain; History of France; Crown of Aragon The Count of Barcelona was the major ruler in Catalonia from the 9th until the 17th century The Crown of Aragon was a permanent union of multiple titles and states in the hands of the King of Aragon. Origins The origins of the military force in Catalonia soar to the 13th century, with the Sagramental, the fraternity among several villages to guarantee their Origin The Corts of Barcelona The Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Corts of Barcelona ( corts being the Catalan for courts Furs of Valencia ( Furs de València, in Valencian) were the laws of the Kingdom of Valencia during most of Middle Ages and The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War. The Nueva Planta decrees (Decretos de Nueva Planta were a number of Decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V &mdashthe first Bourbon king of Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The term La Franja ("The Strip" more properly Franja de Aragón or Franja de Poniente "Western Strip" in Spanish) Franja d'Aragó Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early El Carche ( el Carxe in Valencian) is a mountainous sparsely populated area in Murcia, Spain, lying between the municipalities Jumilla The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self government institutions under which the Spanish Autonomous community of Valencia is politically The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The General Council of the Valleys (in Catalan, Consell General de les Valls) is the Unicameral Parliament of Andorra. Catalonia is a Spanish Autonomous Community with a high-level of self-government Catalan Nationalism, or Catalanism (from Catalanisme in Catalan) is a political movement advocating for either further political A castell is a human tower traditionally built during festivals in many places in Catalonia, Spain. Correfocs are amongst the most striking of Catalonia 's festive events " Devils quot play with Fire and with the people The Falles (in Valencian) are a Valencian traditional celebration in praise of Saint Joseph in Valencia Spain. The sardana (Catalan plural sardanes) is a type of Circle dance typical of Catalonia. Moros y Cristianos (in Spanish) or Moros i Cristians (in Valencian) literally means Moors and Christians, and A Caganer (kəɣəˈne is a little statue found in Catalonia, in neighbouring areas with Catalan culture such as Andorra, and in other parts of Spain Portugal and The Tió de Nadal (roughly "Christmas Log" also known as "Tió" (trunk or log a big piece of cut wood or "Tronca" ("log" Botifarra (butiˈfarə is the Catalan name for the Roman Sausage lucanica, made of raw pork and spicesthe recipe for which is still used today in Italy and other parts of the Fútbol Club Barcelona ( Catalan fudˈbɔɫ ˌklup bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish ˈfutβol ˌkluβ baɾθeˈlona known familiarly as Barça (Spanish ˈbaɾsa Catalan Paella (pa'eʎa is an internationally famous dish consisting of White rice, Meat, Seafood, Beans and Vegetables (depending on Catalan myths and legends are the traditional myths and Legends of the Catalan -speaking world especially Catalonia itself passed down for generations Catalan literature is the name conventionally used to refer to Literature written in the Catalan language. Catalan Modernisme (not to be confused with Modernism) was the Catalan equivalent to a number of fin-de-siècle movements such as Symbolism, The Renaixença (rənəˈʃɛnsə was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture akin to the Noucentisme ( Noucentista being its adjective was a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11 1904 &ndash January 23 1989 was a Spanish Catalan Surrealist Joan Miró i Ferrà ( April 20, 1893 &ndash December 25, 1983) was an ethnic Catalan (of Spanish nationality Antoni Tàpies (born in Barcelona, December 13, 1923) is a Spanish Catalan painter The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all A national language is a Language (or language variant, ie Dialect) which has some connection - de facto or de jure - with Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory An autonomous community is a first-level political division of the Kingdom of Spain, established in accordance with the Spanish Constitution. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest This is a list of Islands in the Mediterranean Sea: By area By country Croatia Croatian islands Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) It is also spoken, although with no official recognition, in the autonomous communities of Aragon (in La Franja) and Murcia (in El Carxe) in Spain, and in the historic Roussillon region of southern France, roughly equivalent to the current département of the Pyrénées-Orientales. An autonomous community is a first-level political division of the Kingdom of Spain, established in accordance with the Spanish Constitution. Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. The term La Franja ("The Strip" more properly Franja de Aragón or Franja de Poniente "Western Strip" in Spanish) Franja d'Aragó Murcia ( is the capital city of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, located at the river Segura in south-eastern Spain. El Carche ( el Carxe in Valencian) is a mountainous sparsely populated area in Murcia, Spain, lying between the municipalities Jumilla Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Roussillon ( French: Roussillon, ʀusiˈjɔ̃ Catalan: Rosselló, pronounced; Spanish: Rosellón, pronounced) is This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees Pirineus Orientals Pirenèus Orientals is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier

Contents

History

Catalan language developed by the 9th century from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern part of Pyrenees mountains (counties of Roussillon, Empúries, Besalú, Cerdanya, Urgell, Pallars and Ribagorça). The 9th century is the period from 801 to 900 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin The Pyrenees (Pirineos French: Pyrénées; Catalan: Pirineus; Occitan: Pirenèus; Aragonese: Perinés Roussillon ( French: Roussillon, ʀusiˈjɔ̃ Catalan: Rosselló, pronounced; Spanish: Rosellón, pronounced) is Empúries ( Catalan name in Spanish: Ampurias) is a town on the Mediterranean coast of the Catalan comarca of Alt Empordà (Spain Besalú is a town in the comarca of Garrotxa, in Catalonia. The town was once more important being the capital of the medieval County Cerdanya (Ceritania Cerdagne Cerdaña is a small region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain and which is historically one of the Urgell (Spanish Urgel) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdanya. The County of Pallars or Pallás was a de facto independent petty state nominally within the Carolingian Empire and then West Francia during Ribagorza is an Aragonese county or Comarca, in the north-east of the province of Huesca, Spain. It shares features with Gallo-romance and Ibero-romance, and it could be said to be in its beginnings no more than an eccentric dialect of Occitan (or of Western Romance). Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan

As a consequence of the Catalan conquests from Al-Andalus to the south and to the west, it spread to all present-day Catalonia, Balearic Islands and most of Valencia. The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to

During the 15th century, during the Valencian Golden Age, the Catalan language reached its highest cultural splendor, which was not matched again until La Renaixença, 4 centuries later. The Renaixença (rənəˈʃɛnsə was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture akin to the

See also History of Catalonia

After the Treaty of the Pyrenees, a royal decree by Louis XIV of France on April 2, 1700 prohibited the usage of Catalan language in present-day Northern Catalonia in all official documents under the threat of being invalidated. For other perspectives on the History of Catalonia, see also History of Europe; History of Spain; History of France; Crown of Aragon The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War. A decree is an order made by a Head of state or government and having the force of Law. Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent [1] Since then, Catalan language has lacked official status in that Catalan-speaking region in France.

On December 10, 2007, the General Council of Pyrénées-Orientales officially recognized Catalan language as own one of the department[2], and searches to further promote it in public life and education. Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

See also Language policy in France

After Nueva Planta Decrees, administrative usage and education in Catalan was also banned in the territories of the Spanish Kingdom. France has one Official language, the French language. The French government does not regulate the choice of language in publications by individuals but The Nueva Planta decrees (Decretos de Nueva Planta were a number of Decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V &mdashthe first Bourbon king of It was not until Renaixença period, that Catalan language started to recover. The Renaixença (rənəˈʃɛnsə was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture akin to the

In Francoist Spain (1939-1975), the usage of Spanish over Catalan was promoted, and public use of Catalan was discouraged by official propaganda campaigns. The use of Catalan in government-run institutions and in public events was banned. During later stages of the Francoist regime, certain folkloric or religious celebrations in Catalan were resumed and tolerated. Use of Catalan in the mass media was forbidden, but was permitted from the early 1950s[3] in the theatre. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" Publishing in Catalan continued throughout the dictatorship. [4]. There was no official prohibition of speaking Catalan in public or in commerce, but all advertising and signage had to be in Spanish alone, as did all written communication in business. [5]

See also Language politics in Spain under Franco

Following the death of Franco in 1975 and the restoration of democracy, the usage of Catalan increased partly because of new affirmative action and subsidy policies and the Catalan language is now used in politics, education and the Catalan media, including the newspapers Avui ("Today"), El Punt ("The Point") and El Periódico de Catalunya (sharing content with its Spanish release and with El Periòdic d'Andorra, printed in Andorra; and the television channels of Televisió de Catalunya (TVC): TV3, the main channel, and Canal 33/K3 (culture and cartoons channel) as well as a 24-hour news channel 3/24 and the TV series channel 300; there are also many local channels available in region in Catalan, such as BTV and Td8 (in the metropolitan area of Barcelona), Canal L'Hospitalet (L'Hospitalet de Llobregat), Canal Terrassa (Terrassa), Televisió de Sant Cugat TDSC (Sant Cugat del Vallès), Televisió de Mataró TVM (Mataró). Language politics in Francoist Spain centered on attempts in Spain under Franco to increase the dominance of the Spanish language over the other Languages of Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic

Classification

The ascription of Catalan to the Occitano-Romance branch of Gallo-Romance languages is not shared by all linguists. The Occitano-Romance branch of Romance languages encompasses the dialects pertaining to the Occitan and the Catalan languages situated in France The Gallo-Romance branch of Romance languages includes French, Occitan, Arpitan, and several other languages spoken in modern France According to the Ethnologue, its specific classification is as follows:[6]

Catalan is very similar to Occitan. Ethnologue Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics a Christian The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family's Centum branch The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all Gallo-Romance languages Gallo-Italic languages Lombard Western Lombard Eastern This article is about a subdivision of the Romance language family Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan (See also Occitan language: Differences between Occitan and Catalan and Gallo-Romance languages. Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan The Gallo-Romance branch of Romance languages includes French, Occitan, Arpitan, and several other languages spoken in modern France ) Catalan shares several similarities with other Romance languages as well.

Geographic distribution

Main article: Catalan countries

Catalan is spoken in:

All these areas are referred to by some as "Catalan Countries" (Catalan: Països Catalans), a denomination based on cultural affinity and common heritage, that have also had a subsequent political interpretation but no official status. Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context

Number of Catalan speakers

Territories where Catalan is official

Region Understands Can speak
Catalonia 6,949,195 6,043,088
Balearic Islands 931,989 746,792
Valencian Community (as Valencian) 3,648,443 2,547,661
Andorra 75,407 61,975
TOTAL 11,605,034 9,399,516

Figures relate to all self-declared speakers, not just native speakers. Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western

Other territories

Region Understands Can speak
L'Alguer (Sardinia, Italy) 20,000 17,625
Northern Catalonia (France) 203,121 125,622
Franja de Ponent 47,250 45,000
Carxe (Murcia) No data No data
Rest of World No data 350,000
TOTAL 270,371 538,247

Figures relate to all self-declared speakers, not just native speakers. Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The term La Franja ("The Strip" more properly Franja de Aragón or Franja de Poniente "Western Strip" in Spanish) Franja d'Aragó El Carche ( el Carxe in Valencian) is a mountainous sparsely populated area in Murcia, Spain, lying between the municipalities Jumilla Murcia ( is the capital city of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, located at the river Segura in south-eastern Spain.

World

Region Understands Can speak
Catalan-speaking territories (Europe) 11,875,405 9,587,763
Rest of World No data 350,000
TOTAL 12,225,405 9,937,763

Notes: The number of people who understand Catalan includes those who can speak it. Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context

Sources: Catalonia: Statistic data of 2001 census, from Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya, Generalitat de Catalunya [1]. Land of Valencia: Statistical data from 2001 census, from Institut Valencià d'Estadística, Generalitat Valenciana [2]. Balearic Islands: Statistical data from 2001 census, from Institut Balear d'Estadística, Govern de les Illes Balears [3]. Northern Catalonia: Media Pluriel Survey commissioned by Prefecture of Languedoc-Roussillon Region done in October 1997 and published in January 1998 [4]. Languedoc-Roussillon ( Occitan: Lengadòc-Rosselhon; Catalan: Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is one of the 26 regions of France. Andorra: Sociolinguistic data from Andorran Government, 1999. Aragon: Sociolinguistic data from Euromosaic [5]. Alguer: Sociolinguistic data from Euromosaic [6]. Rest of World: Estimate for 1999 by the Federació d'Entitats Catalanes outside the Catalan Countries.

Dialects

Dialectal Map of Catalan Language Eastern dialects: █ Northern Catalan █ Central Catalan █ Balearic and Alguerese Western dialects: █ North-Western Catalan █ Ebrenc Catalan █ Valencian
Dialectal Map of Catalan Language
Eastern dialects:
█ Northern Catalan
█ Central Catalan
█ Balearic and Alguerese
Western dialects:
█ North-Western Catalan
█ Ebrenc Catalan
█ Valencian

In 1861, Manuel Milà i Fontanals proposed a division of Catalan into two major dialect blocks: Eastern Catalan and Western Catalan. Northern Catalan is an Eastern Catalan Dialect mostly spoken in Northern Catalonia, but also extending in the northeast part of Southern Catalonia Central Catalan is the Eastern Catalan Dialect with the highest number of speakers since it is commonly spoken in densely populated areas such as the whole Barcelona Balearic is the name given collectively to the group of Catalan variants spoken in the Balearic Islands, Spain. Algherese (standard Catalan Alguerès, Algherese Alguerés) is the variant of the Catalan language spoken in the city of Alghero ( L'Alguer Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language Manuel Milà i Fontanals ( May 4, 1818 - July 16, 1884) Spanish scholar born at Vilafranca del Penedès, near Barcelona Each dialect also encompasses several regional varieties.

There is no precise linguistic border between one dialect and another because there is nearly always a transition zone of some size between pairs of geographically separated dialects (except for dialects specific to an island). The main difference between the two blocks is their treatment of unstressed vowels, in addition to a few other features:

In addition, neither dialect is completely homogeneous: any dialect can be subdivided into several sub-dialects. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of Catalan can be subdivided into two major dialect blocks and those blocks into individual dialects:

Western Catalan

  • North-Western Catalan
  • Transitional Valencian or Ebrenc
  • Valencian
    • Castellonenc (from region of Plana)
    • Apitxat, or Central Valencian
    • Southern Valencian
    • Alacantí (from the Alicante's metropolitan area and most of Vinalopó valley)
    • Majorcan from Tàrbena and la Vall de Gallinera Valencian municipalities

Eastern Catalan

Standards of Catalan language

There are two main standards for Catalan language, one regulated by Institut d'Estudis Catalans, general standard, with Pompeu Fabra's orthography as axis, keeping features from Central Catalan, and the other regulated by Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, restricted scale standard, focused on Valencian standardization on the basis of Normes de Castelló, that is, Pompeu Fabra's orthography but more adapted to Western Catalan pronunciation and features of Valencian dialects. Ribagorçan is a romance dialect spoken in the Aragonese counties of Ribagorça and La Litera, in Huesca, and Alta Ribagorça Ribagorza is an Aragonese county or Comarca, in the north-east of the province of Huesca, Spain. The County of Pallars or Pallás was a de facto independent petty state nominally within the Carolingian Empire and then West Francia during Lleida ( Spanish: Lérida) is a province of north-eastern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Catalonia Amposta is the capital of the comarca of Montsià, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa ( Latin: Dertusa or Dertosa, Arabic: طرطوشة Ṭurṭūšah) is the capital of the comarca Matarraña / Matarranya is a Comarca in eastern Aragon, bordering the Spanish Autonomous Communities of Catalonia and Vinaròs is a town and Municipality in eastern Spain, in the province of Castellón, part of the autonomous community of Valencia (population Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language Castellón de la Plana (in Catalan Castelló de la Plana) is the Capital city of the Province of Castellón, in the Valencian Northern Catalan is an Eastern Catalan Dialect mostly spoken in Northern Catalonia, but also extending in the northeast part of Southern Catalonia Roussillon ( French: Roussillon, ʀusiˈjɔ̃ Catalan: Rosselló, pronounced; Spanish: Rosellón, pronounced) is Central Catalan is the Eastern Catalan Dialect with the highest number of speakers since it is commonly spoken in densely populated areas such as the whole Barcelona The Costa Brava is a coastal region of northeastern Catalonia, Spain, in the comarques of Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà and Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Tarragona (tərəˈɣonə in Catalan) is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. Balearic is the name given collectively to the group of Catalan variants spoken in the Balearic Islands, Spain. Majorca ( Spanish and Mallorca is the largest island of Spain. Minorca ( Catalan and Spanish: Menorca; from Latin Balearis Minor, later Minorica "minor island" is one of the Ibiza (Eivissa is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea about 80 km off the coast of Spain Algherese (standard Catalan Alguerès, Algherese Alguerés) is the variant of the Catalan language spoken in the city of Alghero ( L'Alguer Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early The Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies or IEC is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture Pompeu Fabra i Poch, ( Barcelona 1868 - Prada de Conflent 1948 was a Catalan Grammarian, the main author of the normative reform of contemporary Catalan The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua ( AVL) - Valencian Academy of the Language - is an institution created on September 16, 1998 by the Normes Ortogràfiques de Castelló ( Castelló Orthographic Norms) also simply known as Normes de Castelló or Normes del 32 after the city ( Castelló Pompeu Fabra i Poch, ( Barcelona 1868 - Prada de Conflent 1948 was a Catalan Grammarian, the main author of the normative reform of contemporary Catalan Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official

IEC's Standard, apart from the basis of Central Catalan features, takes also other dialects features considering as standard. Despite this, the most notable difference between both standards is some tonic "e" accentuation, for instance: francès, anglès (IEC) - francés, anglés (AVL) (French, English), cafè (IEC) - café (AVL) (coffee), conèixer (IEC) - conéixer (to know), comprèn (IEC) - comprén (AVL) (he understands). This is because of the different pronunciation of some tonic "e", especially tonic Ē (long "e") and Ǐ (breves "i") from Latin, in both Catalan blocks ([ɛ] in Eastern Catalan and [e] in Western Catalan). Despite this, AVL's standard keeps grave accent "è", without pronouncing this "e" [ɛ], in some words like: què (what), València, èter (ether), sèsam (sesame), sèrie (series) and època (age).

There are also some other divergences like the tl use by AVL in some words instead of tll like in ametla/ametlla (almond), espatla/espatlla (back) or butla/butlla (bull), the use of elided demonstratives (este this, eixe that (near)) in the same level as reinforced ones (aquest, aqueix) or the use of many verbal forms common in Valencian, and some of these common in the rest of Western Catalan too, like subjunctive mood or inchoative conjugation in -ix- at the same level as -eix- or the priority use of -e morpheme in 1st person singular in present indicative (-ar verbs): "jo compre" (I buy) instead of "jo compro".

In Balearic Islands, IEC's standard is used but adapted into Balearic dialect by University of the Balearic Islands's philological section, Govern de les Illes Balears's consultative organ. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The University of the Balearic Islands (Universitat de les Illes Balears Spanish: Universidad de las Islas Baleares) or UIB for short is a Spanish The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean In this way, for instance, IEC says it is correct writing "cantam" as much as "cantem" (we sing) and University says that priority form in Balearic Islands must be "cantam" in all fields. Another feature of Balearic standard is the non-ending in 1st person singular in present indicative: "jo cant" (I sing), "jo tem" (I fear), jo "dorm" (I sleep).

In L'Alguer, IEC has adapted his standard into Alguerese dialect. Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early Algherese (standard Catalan Alguerès, Algherese Alguerés) is the variant of the Catalan language spoken in the city of Alghero ( L'Alguer In this standard one can find, among other features: the lo article instead of el, special possessive pronouns and determinants la mia (my), lo sou/la sua (his/her), lo tou/la tua (your), and so on, the use of -v- in the imperfect tense in all conjugations: cantava, creixiva, llegiva; the use of many archaic words, usual words in Alguerese: manco instead of menys (less), calqui u instead of algú (someone), qual/quala instead of quin/quina (which), and so on; and the adaptation of weak pronouns. The weak pronouns in Catalan (known in Catalan as "clítics" or "pronoms febles") are Proforms that as the name indicates

The status of Valencian

Main article: Valencian

The official language academy of the Valencian Community (the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua) considers Catalan and Valencian simply to be two names for the same language[7]. Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua ( AVL) - Valencian Academy of the Language - is an institution created on September 16, 1998 by the All universities teaching Romance languages, and virtually all linguists, consider these all to be linguistic variants of the same language (similar to Canadian French versus Metropolitan French). Canadian French is an Umbrella term for the varieties of the French language used in Canada.

There is a roughly continuous set of dialects covering the various regional forms of Catalan/Valencian, with no break at the border between Catalonia and the Valencian Community (i. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of e. villages contiguous to both sides of the border speak exactly the same), and the various forms of Catalan language, among them, the Valencian ones, are basically mutually intelligible. This is so even though in some cases only educated speakers may have real linguistic competence, like it is the case when the most divergent Eastern dialects such as the one from Alghero or from the Balearics are confronted to Valencian or other Western varieties. Linguistic competence is defined as the ability of a speaker-hearer to speak and understand language in a grammatically correct manner.

All in all, differences do exist: Valencian accent is recognisable, there are differences in subjunctive terminations, and there are a large number of words unique to Valencian varieties; but those differences are not any wider than among North-Western Catalan and Eastern Catalan. In fact, Northern Valencian (spoken in the Castelló province and Matarranya valley, a strip of Aragon) is more similar to the Catalan of the lower Ebro basin (spoken in southern half of Tarragona province and another strip of Aragon) than to apitxat Valencian (spoken in the area of L'Horta, in the province of Valencia). Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. The Ebro ( Ebre) is Spain 's most voluminous river Its source is in Fontibre ( Cantabria) A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, Tarragona is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia.

The Valencian language has often been seen as a dialect of Catalan due to their basic mutual intelligibility. Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language However, the issue of language versus dialect is as much a matter of politics as of linguistics. By the criterion of mutual intelligibility, Valencian and other varieties of Catalan are dialects of a single language; but according to this criterion, Galician and Portuguese are also dialects of a single language, as are Norwegian and Danish, a contentious conclusion in either case. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the

What gets called a language is defined in part by mutual comprehensibility, but also by political and cultural factors. In this case, the perceived status of Valencian as a "dialect of Catalan" has historically had important political implications including Catalan nationalism and the idea of the Països Catalans or "Catalan countries. Catalan Nationalism, or Catalanism (from Catalanisme in Catalan) is a political movement advocating for either further political Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context "

Catalonia and the Valencian Community are two different Autonomous Communities of Spain, but were the feeling of a common Catalan identity to become strong enough, some believe, or fear, that there could develop into a political will for a single large Catalan region which might wish to become independent of Spain. Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to An autonomous community is a first-level political division of the Kingdom of Spain, established in accordance with the Spanish Constitution. The language(s) debate is part of this. Some Valencians who advocate distinguishing two Catalan languages do so to resist a perceived Catalan nationalist agenda aimed at absorbing Valencian language and identity, and incorporating Valencians into what they feel is a "constructed" nationality centered on Barcelona. This idea is promoted by organisations opposed to a union between Catalonia and Valencia.

Similarly to Serbian and Croatian, the issue of whether Catalan and Valencian constitute different languages or merely dialects has been the subject of political agitation several times since the end of the Franco era. Serbian (sr-Cyrl српски језик sr-Latn ''srpski jezik'' is a South Slavic language, Croatian language ( hrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in neighbouring The latest political controversy regarding Valencian occurred on the occasion of the drafting of the European Constitution in 2004. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE commonly referred to as the European Constitution, was an unimplemented international Treaty intended The Spanish government supplied the EU with translations of the text into Basque, Galician, Catalan, and Valencian, but the Catalan and Valencian versions were identical. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain While professing the unity of the Catalan language, the Spanish government claimed to be constitutionally bound to produce distinct Catalan and Valencian versions because the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community refers to the language as "Valencian". In practice, the Catalan, Valencian, and Balearic versions of the EU constitution are identical: the government of Catalonia accepted the Valencian translation without any changes under the premise that the Valencian standard is accepted by the norms set forth by the IEC.

Valencian and Central Catalan have fewer differences from one another than do American English and British English, although this is partially because the English phonetic system is much more complex than that of Catalan. Central Catalan is the Eastern Catalan Dialect with the highest number of speakers since it is commonly spoken in densely populated areas such as the whole Barcelona Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the Phonetics (from the Greek φωνή ( phonê) "sound" or "voice" is the study of the physical sounds of human speech The differences between British English and American English can roughly be compared to those between Valencian and Catalan. For example, British English and American English have a different vowel system, as do Valencian and Catalan. In Valencia, as in America, the language is generally rhotic (that is, final "r" is pronounced); in Catalonia, as in England, it generally is not. English pronunciation is divided into two main accent groups the rhotic (ˈroʊtɪk and non-rhotic, depending on when the sound typically represented There are pairs of words similar to "truck"/"lorry" or "cookie"/"biscuit", for example "mirall"/"espill" (meaning "mirror") or "rentar"/"llavar" ("to wash"). There are different spellings for the same word à la "color"/"colour", for example "seva"/"seua" ("his"); although in this case the pronunciation is not the same, it is a common feature in dialectal and not-so-old Catalan to turn intervocalic "u" into "v", so "seva" and "seua" are phonologically identical (/'seua/), although phonetically different ([ˈsevə] vs. [ˈsewa]. ) There are differences in conjugation just like "lit"/"lighted", for example, "acomplix"/"acompleix" ("accomplishes"). There are verbal forms which are not frequently used in either dialect - "aní"/"vaig anar", just like "I advise that he come"/"I advise him to come". In short, much like English, Catalan is a multi-centric language - there exist two standards, one for Oriental Catalan, regulated by the IEC, which is centered around Central Catalan (with slight variations to include Balearic verb flexion) and one for Occidental, regulated by the AVL, centered around Valencian.

The AVL accepts the conventions set forth in the Normes de Castelló as the normative spelling, shared with the IEC that allows for the diverse idiosyncrasies of the different language dialects and varieties. Normes Ortogràfiques de Castelló ( Castelló Orthographic Norms) also simply known as Normes de Castelló or Normes del 32 after the city ( Castelló As the normative spelling, these conventions are used in education, and most contemporary Valencian writers make use of them. Nonetheless, a small minority mainly of those who advocate for the recognition of Valencian as a separate language, use in a non-normative manner an alternative spelling convention known as the Normes del Puig.

Sounds and writing system

Main articles: Catalan phonology and Catalan orthography

Grammar

Main article: Catalan grammar

The first descriptive and normative grammar book of modern Catalan was written by Pompeu Fabra in 1918. The Phonology of Catalan, a Romance language, has a certain degree of dialectal variation This article covers the Orthography of Catalan, a Romance language. Catalan grammar is the Grammar of the Catalan language. Morphology For general discussion of morphology (not specific to Catalan see main article Pompeu Fabra i Poch, ( Barcelona 1868 - Prada de Conflent 1948 was a Catalan Grammarian, the main author of the normative reform of contemporary Catalan In 1995 a new grammar by Antoni M. Badía i Margarit was published, which also documents the Valencian and Balearic varieties.

The grammar of Catalan mostly follows the general pattern of Western Romance languages.

Substantives and adjectives are not declined by case, as in Classical Latin. There are two grammatical genders—masculine and feminine. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong

Grammatical articles originally developed from Latin demonstratives. Demonstratives are deictic words (they depend on an external frame of reference that indicate which entities a speaker refers to and distinguishes those entities from others The actual form of the article depends on the gender and the number and the first sounds of the word and can be combined with prepositions that precede them. A unique feature of Catalan is a definite article that may precede personal names in certain contexts. A personal name is the Proper name identifying an individual Person. Its basic form is en and it can change according to its environment (the word "en" has also other lexical meanings). One of the common usages of this article is in the word can, a combination of "casa" shortened to ca (house) and en, which means "The house of. " For example "Can Sergi" means "Sergi's house".

Verbs are conjugated according to tense and mood similarly to other Western Romance languages—present and simple preterite are based on Classical Latin, future is formed from infinitive followed by the present form of the auxiliary verb haver (written together and not considered periphrastic), and periphrastic tenses are formed from the conjugated auxiliary verbs haver and ésser followed by the past participle. A unique tense in Catalan is the periphrastic simple preterite, which is formed from the conjugated present form of the verb anar (to go) which is followed by the infinitive of the verb. Thus, "Jo vaig parlar" (or more simply "Vaig parlar") means "I spoke. "

Nominative pronouns are often omitted, as the person can be usually derived from the conjugated verb. The Catalan rules for combination of the object pronoun clitics with verbs, articles and other pronouns are significantly more complex than in most other Romance languages; see Weak pronouns in Catalan. In Linguistics, a clitic is a grammatically independent and phonologically dependent Word. The weak pronouns in Catalan (known in Catalan as "clítics" or "pronoms febles") are Proforms that as the name indicates

Catalan names

Catalan naming customs are similar to those of Spain. In most Spanish -speaking countries people have two surnames. Although it is not mandatory, according to tradition a person often receives two last names—his father's and his mother's. The two last names are usually separated by the particle "i", meaning "and". (In Spanish the last names are sometimes separated by the equivalent word "y", but usually they are not separated at all. )

For example, the full name of the architect Antoni Gaudí is Antoni Gaudí i Cornet after his parents: Francesc Gaudí i Serra and Antònia Cornet i Bertran.

Examples

Some common Catalan phrases (pronounced as in the Central dialect -Barcelona and outskirts-):

Some useful Valencian phrases (pronounced as in the standard Valencian):

Learning Catalan

Catalan courses are offered at a number of universities in Europe and North America.

English words of Catalan origin

See also

References

  1. ^ L'interdiction de la langue catalane en Roussillon par Louis XIV; taken from the website "CRDP de l'académie de Montpellier"
  2. ^ Charte en faveur du Catalan
  3. ^ Marc Howard Ross, "Cultural Contestation in Ethnic Conflict", page 139. This article covers the Orthography of Catalan, a Romance language. The Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies or IEC is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua ( AVL) - Valencian Academy of the Language - is an institution created on September 16, 1998 by the Pompeu Fabra i Poch, ( Barcelona 1868 - Prada de Conflent 1948 was a Catalan Grammarian, the main author of the normative reform of contemporary Catalan Catalan literature is the name conventionally used to refer to Literature written in the Catalan language. There are a number of languages of France. The French language is by far the most widely spoken and the only Official language of France, but several The official language of Italy is Standard Italian, a descendant of the Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin (some 75% of Italian words are of Latin origin The Languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. In most Spanish -speaking countries people have two surnames. Algherese (standard Catalan Alguerès, Algherese Alguerés) is the variant of the Catalan language spoken in the city of Alghero ( L'Alguer Balearic is the name given collectively to the group of Catalan variants spoken in the Balearic Islands, Spain. Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language QWERTY keyboardjpg|thumb|right|300px|QWERTY keyboard on a Laptop of 2007]]A keyboard layout is any specific mechanical, visual, or functional Cambridge University Press, 2007
  4. ^ The Resurgence of Catalan Earl W. Thomas Hispania, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Mar. , 1962), pp. 43-48 doi:10. 2307/337523
  5. ^ Orden del Excmo. Sr. Gobernador Civil de Barcelona. EL USO DEL IDIOMA NACIONAL EN TODOS LOS SERVICIOS PÚBLICOS. 1940.
  6. ^ Ethnologue Report
  7. ^ Dictamen de l'Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua sobre els principis i criteris per a la defensa de la denominació i l'entitat del valencià - Report from Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua about denomination and identity of Valencian.
  8. ^ a b (1991) Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-433286-5.  

External links

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About the Catalan language

Monolingual Dictionaries

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Learning resources

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