| Catalan | |
| Also Known As: | Valencian |
| Nativename: | Catalan; Valencian: català, Catalan; Valencian: valencià |
| Pronunciation: | in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /kətəˈla/, in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /valensiˈa/ |
| States: | Andorra, Spain, France, Italy |
| Region: | Southern Europe |
| Speakers: | L1 million |
| Date: | 2012 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Speakers2: | L2 million |
| Speakers Label: | Speakers |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Italic |
| Fam3: | Latino-Faliscan |
| Fam4: | Latin |
| Fam5: | Romance |
| Fam6: | Italo-Western |
| Fam7: | Western Romance |
| Fam8: | Gallo-Iberian?[1] |
| Fam9: | Gallo-Romance |
| Fam10: | Occitano-Romance |
| Dia1: | Valencian |
| Dia2: | Balaeric (including Menorcan) |
| Dia3: | Central |
| Dia4: | Roussillonese |
| Dia5: | Algherese |
| Dia6: | Northwestern |
| Dia7: | Ribagorçan |
| Dia9: | Patuet |
| Ancestor: | Old Latin |
| Ancestor2: | Vulgar Latin |
| Ancestor3: | Proto-Romance |
| Ancestor4: | Old Occitan |
| Ancestor5: | Old Catalan |
| Stand1: | Catalan (regulated by the IEC) |
| Stand2: | Valencian (regulated by the AVL) |
| Script: | Latin (Catalan alphabet) Catalan Braille |
| Nation: | Andorra Italy
Spain |
| Minority: | France
Spain
|
| Agency: | Institut d'Estudis Catalans Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua |
| Iso1: | ca |
| Iso2: | cat |
| Iso3: | cat |
| Lingua: | 51-AAA-e |
| Map: | Catalan language in Europe.png |
| Map2: | Lang Status 80-VU.svg |
| Mapalt: | Domínio geolinguístico do catalão |
| Mapcaption: | |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Sign: | Signed Catalan |
| Glotto: | stan1289 |
| Glottorefname: | Catalan |
| Ethnicity: | Catalans Aragonese from La Franja Balears Valencians |
Catalan (or ;[2] [3] autonym: Catalan; Valencian: català, pronounced as /ca/), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as Valencian (autonym: Catalan; Valencian: valencià), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian. It has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero,[4] and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia. The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan Countries|Països Catalans]] or "Catalan Countries".[5]
The language evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees. Nineteenth-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, culminating in the early 1900s.
The word Catalan is derived from the territorial name of Catalonia, itself of disputed etymology. The main theory suggests that Catalan; Valencian: Catalunya (Latin: Gathia Launia) derives from the name Latin: Gothia or Latin: Gauthia ('Land of the Goths'), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Catalonia theoretically derived.
In English, the term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as Catelaner, followed in the 15th century as French, Middle (ca.1400-1600);: Catellain (from Middle French). It is attested a language name since at least 1652. The word Catalan can be pronounced in English as, or .[6]
The endonym is pronounced in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /kətəˈla/ in the Eastern Catalan dialects, and in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /kataˈla/ in the Western dialects. In the Valencian Community and Carche, the term Catalan; Valencian: valencià in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /valensiˈa, ba-/ is frequently used instead. Thus, the name "Valencian", although often employed for referring to the varieties specific to the Valencian Community and Carche, is also used by Valencians as a name for the language as a whole,[7] synonymous with "Catalan". Both uses of the term have their respective entries in the dictionaries by the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua[8] and the Institut d'Estudis Catalans.[9] See also status of Valencian below.
By the 9th century, Catalan had evolved from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern end of the Pyrenees, as well as the territories of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis to the south. From the 8th century onwards the Catalan counts extended their territory southwards and westwards at the expense of the Muslims, bringing their language with them. This process was given definitive impetus with the separation of the County of Barcelona from the Carolingian Empire in 988.
In the 11th century, documents written in macaronic Latin begin to show Catalan elements, with texts written almost completely in Romance appearing by 1080. Old Catalan shared many features with Gallo-Romance, diverging from Old Occitan between the 11th and 14th centuries.
During the 11th and 12th centuries the Catalan rulers expanded southward to the Ebro river, and in the 13th century they conquered the Land of Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The city of Alghero in Sardinia was repopulated with Catalan speakers in the 14th century. The language also reached Murcia, which became Spanish-speaking in the 15th century.
In the Low Middle Ages, Catalan went through a golden age, reaching a peak of maturity and cultural richness. Examples include the work of Majorcan polymath Ramon Llull (1232–1315), the Four Great Chronicles (13th–14th centuries), and the Valencian school of poetry culminating in Ausiàs March (1397–1459). By the 15th century, the city of Valencia had become the sociocultural center of the Crown of Aragon, and Catalan was present all over the Mediterranean world. During this period, the Royal Chancery propagated a highly standardized language. Catalan was widely used as an official language in Sicily until the 15th century, and in Sardinia until the 17th. During this period, the language was what Costa Carreras terms "one of the 'great languages' of medieval Europe".
Martorell's novel of chivalry Tirant lo Blanc (1490) shows a transition from Medieval to Renaissance values, something that can also be seen in Metge's work. The first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in Catalan.[10]
See also: Nation state.
With the union of the crowns of Castille and Aragon in 1479, the Spanish kings ruled over different kingdoms, each with its own cultural, linguistic and political particularities, and they had to swear by the laws of each territory before the respective parliaments. But after the War of the Spanish Succession, Spain became an absolute monarchy under Philip V, which led to the assimilation of the Crown of Aragon by the Crown of Castile through the Nueva Planta decrees, as a first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state; as in other contemporary European states, this meant the imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant groups.[11] [12] Since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards national minorities have been a constant.[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] The process of assimilation began with secret instructions to the corregidores of the Catalan territory: they "will take the utmost care to introduce the Castilian language, for which purpose he will give the most temperate and disguised measures so that the effect is achieved, without the care being noticed."[18] From there, actions in the service of assimilation, discreet or aggressive, were continued, and reached to the last detail, such as, in 1799, the Royal Certificate forbidding anyone to "represent, sing and dance pieces that were not in Spanish." The use of Spanish gradually became more prestigious and marked the start of the decline of Catalan. Starting in the 16th century, Catalan literature came under the influence of Spanish, and the nobles, part of the urban and literary classes became bilingual.
With the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), Spain ceded the northern part of Catalonia to France, and soon thereafter the local Catalan varieties came under the influence of French, which in 1700 became the sole official language of the region.[19]
Shortly after the French Revolution (1789), the French First Republic prohibited official use of, and enacted discriminating policies against, the regional languages of France, such as Catalan, Alsatian, Breton, Occitan, Flemish, and Basque.
See also: Language policy in France, Vergonha and Patuet.
After the French colony of Algeria was established in 1830, many Catalan-speaking settlers moved there. People from the Spanish province of Alicante settled around Oran, while those from French Catalonia and Menorca migrated to Algiers.
By 1911, there were around 100,000 speakers of Patuet,[20] as their speech was called.[21] After the Algerian declaration of independence in 1962, almost all the Pied-Noir Catalan speakers fled to Northern Catalonia [22] or Alicante.
The French government only recognizes French as an official language. Nevertheless, on 10 December 2007, the then General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales officially recognized Catalan as one of the départment's languages [23] and seeks to further promote it in public life and education.
See also: Nueva Planta decrees, Language politics in Spain under Franco and Anti-Catalanism.
In 1807, the Statistics Office of the French Ministry of the Interior asked the prefects for an official survey on the limits of the French language. The survey found that in Roussillon, almost only Catalan was spoken, and since Napoleon wanted to incorporate Catalonia into France, as happened in 1812, the consul in Barcelona was also asked. He declared that Catalan "is taught in schools, it is printed and spoken, not only among the lower class, but also among people of first quality, also in social gatherings, as in visits and congresses", indicating that it was spoken everywhere "with the exception of the royal courts". He also indicated that Catalan was spoken "in the Kingdom of Valencia, in the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Sardinia, Corsica and much of Sicily, in the Vall d "Aran and Cerdaña".[24]
The defeat of the pro-Habsburg coalition in the War of Spanish Succession (1714) initiated a series of laws which, among other centralizing measures, imposed the use of Spanish in legal documentation all over Spain. Because of this, use of the Catalan language declined into the 18th century.
However, the 19th century saw a Catalan literary revival (Catalan; Valencian: [[Renaixença]]), which has continued up to the present day. This period starts with Aribau's Ode to the Homeland (1833); followed in the second half of the 19th century, and the early 20th by the work of Verdaguer (poetry), Oller (realist novel), and Guimerà (drama). In the 19th century, the region of Carche, in the province of Murcia was repopulated with Valencian speakers. Catalan spelling was standardized in 1913 and the language became official during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939). The Second Spanish Republic saw a brief period of tolerance, with most restrictions against Catalan lifted. The Generalitat (the autonomous government of Catalonia, established during the Republic in 1931) made a normal use of Catalan in its administration and put efforts to promote it at social level, including in schools and the University of Barcelona.
The Catalan language and culture were still vibrant during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), but were crushed at an unprecedented level throughout the subsequent decades due to Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), which abolished the official status of Catalan and imposed the use of Spanish in schools and in public administration in all of Spain, while banning the use of Catalan in them.[25] Between 1939 and 1943 newspapers and book printing in Catalan almost disappeared.[26] Francisco Franco's desire for a homogeneous Spanish population resonated with some Catalans in favor of his regime, primarily members of the upper class, who began to reject the use of Catalan. Despite all of these hardships, Catalan continued to be used privately within households, and it was able to survive Franco's dictatorship. At the end of World War II, however, some of the harsh measures began to be lifted and, while Spanish language remained the sole promoted one, limited number of Catalan literature began to be tolerated. Several prominent Catalan authors resisted the suppression through literature.[27] Private initiative contests were created to reward works in Catalan, among them Joan Martorell prize (1947), Víctor Català prize (1953) Carles Riba award (1950), or the Honor Award of Catalan Letters (1969).[28] The first Catalan-language TV show was broadcast in 1964.[29] At the same time, oppression of the Catalan language and identity was carried out in schools, through governmental bodies, and in religious centers.[30]
In addition to the loss of prestige for Catalan and its prohibition in schools, migration during the 1950s into Catalonia from other parts of Spain also contributed to the diminished use of the language. These migrants were often unaware of the existence of Catalan, and thus felt no need to learn or use it. Catalonia was the economic powerhouse of Spain, so these migrations continued to occur from all corners of the country. Employment opportunities were reduced for those who were not bilingual.[31] Daily newspapers remained exclusively in Spanish until after Franco's death, when the first one in Catalan since the end of the Civil War, Avui, began to be published in 1976.[32]
Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been institutionalized as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media; all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. In Catalonia, there is an unparalleled large bilingual European non-state linguistic community. The teaching of Catalan is mandatory in all schools, but it is possible to use Spanish for studying in the public education system of Catalonia in two situations – if the teacher assigned to a class chooses to use Spanish, or during the learning process of one or more recently arrived immigrant students.[33] There is also some intergenerational shift towards Catalan.
More recently, several Spanish political forces have tried to increase the use of Spanish in the Catalan educational system.[34] As a result, in May 2022 the Spanish Supreme Court urged the Catalan regional government to enforce a measure by which 25% of all lessons must be taught in Spanish.[35]
According to the Statistical Institute of Catalonia, in 2013 the Catalan language is the second most commonly used in Catalonia, after Spanish, as a native or self-defining language: 7% of the population self-identifies with both Catalan and Spanish equally, 36.4% with Catalan and 47.5% only Spanish.[36] In 2003 the same studies concluded no language preference for self-identification within the population above 15 years old: 5% self-identified with both languages, 44.3% with Catalan and 47.5% with Spanish.[37] To promote use of Catalan, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalonia's official Autonomous government) spends part of its annual budget on the promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories, with entities such as (Consortium for Linguistic Normalization)[38] [39]
In Andorra, Catalan has always been the sole official language. Since the promulgation of the 1993 constitution, several policies favoring Catalan have been enforced, like Catalan medium education.
On the other hand, there are several language shift processes currently taking place. In the Northern Catalonia area of France, Catalan has followed the same trend as the other minority languages of France, with most of its native speakers being 60 or older (as of 2004). Catalan is studied as a foreign language by 30% of the primary education students, and by 15% of the secondary. The cultural association Catalan; Valencian: [[La Bressola]] promotes a network of community-run schools engaged in Catalan language immersion programs.
In Alicante province, Catalan is being replaced by Spanish and in Alghero by Italian. There is also well ingrained diglossia in the Valencian Community, Ibiza, and to a lesser extent, in the rest of the Balearic islands.
During the 20th century many Catalans emigrated or went into exile to Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, and other South American countries. They formed a large number of Catalan colonies that today continue to maintain the Catalan language.[40] [41] They also founded many Catalan casals (associations).[42]
One classification of Catalan is given by Pèire Bèc:
However, the ascription of Catalan to the Occitano-Romance branch of Gallo-Romance languages is not shared by all linguists and philologists, particularly among Spanish ones, such as Ramón Menéndez Pidal.
Catalan bears varying degrees of similarity to the linguistic varieties subsumed under the cover term Occitan language (see also differences between Occitan and Catalan and Gallo-Romance languages). Thus, as it should be expected from closely related languages, Catalan today shares many traits with other Romance languages.
Some include Catalan in Occitan, as the linguistic distance between this language and some Occitan dialects (such as the Gascon dialect) is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century[43] and still today remains its closest relative.[44]
Catalan shares many traits with the other neighboring Romance languages (Occitan, French, Italian, Sardinian as well as Spanish and Portuguese among others). However, despite being spoken mostly on the Iberian Peninsula, Catalan has marked differences with the Iberian Romance group (Spanish and Portuguese) in terms of pronunciation, grammar, and especially vocabulary; it shows instead its closest affinity with languages native to France and northern Italy, particularly Occitan and to a lesser extent Gallo-Romance (Franco-Provençal, French, Gallo-Italian).[45]
According to Ethnologue, the lexical similarity between Catalan and other Romance languages is: 87% with Italian; 85% with Portuguese and Spanish; 76% with Ladin and Romansh; 75% with Sardinian; and 73% with Romanian.
| Gloss | Catalan | Romanian | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cousin | Catalan; Valencian: '''cosí''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''cosin''' | fradili | Italian: '''cugino''' | French: '''cousin''' | Spanish; Castilian: primo | Portuguese: primo, coirmão | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: văr | |
| brother | Catalan; Valencian: '''germà''' | Occitan (post 1500);: fraire | fradi | Italian: fratello | French: frère | Spanish; Castilian: '''hermano''' | Portuguese: '''irmão''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: frate | |
| nephew | Catalan; Valencian: '''nebot''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''nebot''' | '''nebodi''' | Italian: '''nipote''' | French: '''neveu''' | Spanish; Castilian: sobrino | Portuguese: sobrinho | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''nepot''' | |
| summer | Catalan; Valencian: '''estiu''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''estiu''' | istadi | Italian: '''estate''' | French: '''été''' | Spanish; Castilian: verano, Spanish; Castilian: '''estío'''[46] | Portuguese: verão, Portuguese: '''estio''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: vară | |
| evening | Catalan; Valencian: '''vespre''' | Occitan (post 1500);: ser, Occitan (post 1500);: '''vèspre''' | seru | Italian: sera | French: soir | Spanish; Castilian: tarde, noche[47] | Portuguese: tarde, Portuguese: serão | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: seară | |
| morning | Catalan; Valencian: '''matí''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''matin''' | mangianu | Italian: '''mattina''' | French: '''matin''' | Spanish; Castilian: mañana | Portuguese: manhã, Portuguese: '''matina''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''dimineață''' | |
| frying pan | Catalan; Valencian: '''paella''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''padena''' | '''paella''' | Italian: '''padella''' | French: '''poêle''' | Spanish; Castilian: sartén | Portuguese: frigideira, fritadeira | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: tigaie | |
| bed | Catalan; Valencian: '''llit''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''lièch''', Occitan (post 1500);: '''lèit''' | '''letu''' | Italian: '''letto''' | French: '''lit''' | Spanish; Castilian: cama, Spanish; Castilian: '''lecho''' | Portuguese: cama, Portuguese: '''leito''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: pat | |
| bird | Catalan; Valencian: '''ocell''', Catalan; Valencian: '''au''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''aucèl''' | pilloni | Italian: '''uccello''' | French: '''oiseau''' | Spanish; Castilian: '''ave''', pájaro | Portuguese: '''ave''', pássaro | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: pasăre | |
| dog | Catalan; Valencian: '''gos''', Catalan; Valencian: '''ca''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''gos''', Occitan (post 1500);: '''canh''' | '''cani''' | Italian: '''cane''' | French: '''chien''' | Spanish; Castilian: perro, Spanish; Castilian: '''can''' | Portuguese: '''cão''', cachorro | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''câine''' | |
| plum | Catalan; Valencian: '''pruna''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''pruna''' | '''pruna''' | Italian: '''prugna''' | French: '''prune''' | Spanish; Castilian: ciruela | Portuguese: ameixa | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''prună''' | |
| butter | Catalan; Valencian: '''mantega''' | Occitan (post 1500);: bodre | burru, butiru | Italian: burro | French: beurre | Spanish; Castilian: '''mantequilla, manteca''' | Portuguese: '''manteiga''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: unt | |
| piece | Catalan; Valencian: '''tros''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''tròç''', Occitan (post 1500);: petaç | arrogu | Italian: pezzo | French: morceau, French: pièce | Spanish; Castilian: pedazo, Spanish; Castilian: '''trozo'''[48] | Portuguese: pedaço, Portuguese: bocado | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: bucată | |
| gray | Catalan; Valencian: '''gris''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''gris''' | canu | Italian: '''grigio''' | French: '''gris''' | Spanish; Castilian: '''gris''', Spanish; Castilian: pardo[49] | Portuguese: cinzento, Portuguese: '''gris''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''gri''',[50] Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: sur, Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: cenușiu | |
| hot | Catalan; Valencian: '''calent''' | Occitan (post 1500);: caud | '''callenti''' | Italian: caldo | French: chaud | Spanish; Castilian: '''caliente''' | Portuguese: '''quente''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''cald''' | |
| too much | Catalan; Valencian: '''massa''' | Occitan (post 1500);: tròp | tropu | Italian: troppo | French: trop | Spanish; Castilian: de'''mas'''iado | Portuguese: de'''mais''', de'''mas'''iado | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: prea | |
| to want | Catalan; Valencian: '''voler''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''vòler''' | '''bolli(ri)''' | Italian: '''volere''' | French: '''vouloir''' | Spanish; Castilian: querer | Portuguese: querer | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''a vrea''' | |
| to take | Catalan; Valencian: '''prendre''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''prene''', Occitan (post 1500);: '''prendre''' | pigai | Italian: '''prendere''' | French: '''prendre''' | Spanish; Castilian: tomar, Spanish; Castilian: '''prender''' | Portuguese: apanhar, levar | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: a lua | |
| to pray | Catalan; Valencian: '''pregar''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''pregar''' | '''pregai''' | Italian: '''pregare''' | French: '''prier''' | Spanish; Castilian: orar | Portuguese: orar, rezar, '''pregar''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: a se ruga | |
| to ask | Catalan; Valencian: '''demanar'''/Catalan; Valencian: '''preguntar''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''demandar''' | '''dimandai, preguntai''' | Italian: '''domandare''' | French: '''demander''' | Spanish; Castilian: pedir, Spanish; Castilian: '''preguntar''' | Portuguese: pedir, '''perguntar''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: a cere, a întreba | |
| to search | Catalan; Valencian: '''cercar'''/Catalan; Valencian: '''buscar''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''cercar''' | '''circai''' | Italian: '''cercare''' | French: '''chercher''' | Spanish; Castilian: '''buscar''' | Portuguese: procurar, Portuguese: '''buscar''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: a căuta | |
| to arrive | Catalan; Valencian: '''arribar''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''arribar''' | '''arribai''' | Italian: '''arrivare''' | French: '''arriver''' | Spanish; Castilian: llegar, Spanish; Castilian: '''arribar''' | Portuguese: chegar | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: a ajunge | |
| to speak | Catalan; Valencian: '''parlar''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''parlar''' | chistionnai, fueddai | Italian: '''parlare''' | French: '''parler''' | Spanish; Castilian: hablar, Spanish; Castilian: '''parlar''' | Portuguese: falar, Portuguese: '''palrar''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: a vorbi | |
| to eat | Catalan; Valencian: '''menjar''' | Occitan (post 1500);: '''manjar''' | pappai | Italian: '''mangiare''' | French: '''manger''' | Spanish; Castilian: comer (Spanish; Castilian: '''manyar''' in lunfardo; Spanish; Castilian: papear in slang) | Portuguese: comer (Portuguese: papar in slang), Portuguese: '''manjar''' | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: '''a mânca''' |
| "to bring closer" | "to put to bed" | ||
| "to remove; wake up" | "to take" | ||
| "to remove" | "to bring" | ||
| "to search" | "to fence" | ||
| "to bury" | "to hang" | ||
| "wife" | "woman or wife" |
During much of its history, and especially during the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), the Catalan language was ridiculed as a mere dialect of Spanish. This view, based on political and ideological considerations, has no linguistic validity. Spanish and Catalan have important differences in their sound systems, lexicon, and grammatical features, placing the language in features closer to Occitan (and French).
There is evidence that, at least from the 2nd century, the vocabulary and phonology of Roman Tarraconensis was different from the rest of Roman Hispania. Differentiation arose generally because Spanish, Asturian, and Galician-Portuguese share certain peripheral archaisms (Spanish Spanish; Castilian: hervir, Asturian and Portuguese Portuguese: ferver vs. Catalan Catalan; Valencian: bullir, Occitan Occitan (post 1500);: bolir "to boil") and innovatory regionalisms (Sp Spanish; Castilian: novillo, Ast Asturian; Bable; Leonese; Asturleonese: nuviellu vs. Cat Catalan; Valencian: torell, Oc Occitan (post 1500);: taurèl "bullock"), while Catalan has a shared history with the Western Romance innovative core, especially Occitan.
Like all Romance languages, Catalan has a handful of native words which are unique to it, or rare elsewhere. These include:
The Gothic superstrate produced different outcomes in Spanish and Catalan. For example, Catalan "mud" and "to roast", of Germanic origin, contrast with Spanish and, of Latin origin; whereas Catalan "spinning wheel" and "temple", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish and, of Germanic origin.
The same happens with Arabic loanwords. Thus, Catalan Catalan; Valencian: alfàbia "large earthenware jar" and "tile", of Arabic origin, contrast with Spanish and, of Latin origin; whereas Catalan "oil" and "olive", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish and . However, the Arabic element is generally much more prevalent in Spanish.
Situated between two large linguistic blocks (Iberian Romance and Gallo-Romance), Catalan has many unique lexical choices, such as "to miss somebody", "to calm somebody down", and "reject".
See main article: Catalan Countries.
Traditionally Catalan-speaking territories are sometimes called the Catalan; Valencian: [[Països Catalans]] (Catalan Countries), a denomination based on cultural affinity and common heritage, that has also had a subsequent political interpretation but no official status. Various interpretations of the term may include some or all of these regions.
| Andorra | Catalan; Valencian: Andorra | A sovereign state where Catalan is the national and the sole official language. The Andorrans speak a Western Catalan variety. | ||
| Catalan; Valencian: Catalunya Nord | Roughly corresponding to the French: département of Pyrénées-Orientales, with the exception of the traditionally Occitan-speaking comarca of Fenouillèdes. | |||
| Catalan; Valencian: Catalunya | In the Aran Valley (northwest corner of Catalonia), in addition to Occitan, which is the local language, Catalan, Spanish and French are also spoken. | |||
| Catalan; Valencian: Comunitat Valenciana | Excepting some regions in the west and south which have been Aragonese/Spanish-speaking since at least the 18th century. The Western Catalan variety spoken there is known as "Valencian". | |||
| Catalan; Valencian: La Franja | A part of the Autonomous Community of Aragon, specifically a strip bordering Western Catalonia. It comprises the Catalan; Valencian: [[Comarcas of Aragon|comarques]] of Ribagorça, Llitera, Baix Cinca, and Matarranya. | |||
| Catalan; Valencian: Illes Balears | Comprising the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. | |||
| Catalan; Valencian: El Carxe | A small area of the Autonomous Community of Murcia, settled in the 19th century. | |||
| Catalan; Valencian: L'Alguer | A city in the Province of Sassari, on the island of Sardinia, where the Algherese dialect is spoken. |
The number of people known to be fluent in Catalan varies depending on the sources used. A 2004 study did not count the total number of speakers, but estimated a total of 9–9.5 million by matching the percentage of speakers to the population of each area where Catalan is spoken.[51] The web site of the Generalitat de Catalunya estimated that as of 2004 there were 9,118,882 speakers of Catalan. These figures only reflect potential speakers; today it is the native language of only 35.6% of the Catalan population.[52] According to Ethnologue, Catalan had 4.1 million native speakers and 5.1 million second-language speakers in 2021.
According to a 2011 study the total number of Catalan speakers was over 9.8 million, with 5.9 million residing in Catalonia. More than half of them spoke Catalan as a second language, with native speakers being about 4.4 million of those (more than 2.8 in Catalonia). Very few Catalan monoglots exist; virtually all of the Catalan speakers in Spain are bilingual speakers of Catalan and Spanish, with 99.7% of Catalan speakers in Catalonia able to speak Spanish and 99.9% able to understand it.[53]
In Roussillon, only a minority of French Catalans speak Catalan nowadays, with French being the majority language for the inhabitants after a continued process of language shift. According to a 2019 survey by the Catalan government, 31.5% of the inhabitants of Catalonia predominantly spoke Catalan at home whereas 52.7% spoke Spanish, 2.8% both Catalan and Spanish and 10.8% other languages.[54]
Spanish was the most spoken language in Barcelona (according to the linguistic census held by the Government of Catalonia in 2013) and it is understood almost universally. According to 2013 census, Catalan was also very commonly spoken in the city of 1,501,262: it was understood by 95% of the population, while 72.3% over the age of two could speak it (1,137,816), 79% could read it (1,246.555), and 53% could write it (835,080).[55] The share of Barcelona residents who could speak it (72.3%)[56] was lower than that of the overall Catalan population, of whom 81.2% over the age of 15 spoke the language. Knowledge of Catalan has increased significantly in recent decades thanks to a language immersion educational system. An important social characteristic of the Catalan language is that all the areas where it is spoken are bilingual in practice: together with French in Roussillon, with Italian in Alghero, with Spanish and French in Andorra, and with Spanish in the rest of the territories.
| Territory | State | Understand [57] | Can speak | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalonia | Spain | 6,502,880 | 5,698,400 | |
| Valencian Community | Spain | 3,448,780 | 2,407,951 | |
| Balearic Islands | Spain | 852,780 | 706,065 | |
| France | 203,121 | 125,621 | ||
| Andorra | Andorra | 75,407 | 61,975 | |
| La Franja (Aragon) | Spain | 47,250 | 45,000 | |
| Alghero (Sardinia) | Italy | 20,000 | 17,625 | |
| Carche (Murcia) | Spain | ~600 | 600[58] | |
| 11,150,218 | 9,062,637 | |||
| Rest of World | No data | 350,000 | ||
| Total | 11,150,218 | 9,412,637 | ||
1. The number of people who understand Catalan includes those who can speak it.
2. Figures relate to all self-declared capable speakers, not just native speakers.
| Area | Speak | Understand | Read | Write | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalonia[59] | 81.2 | 94.4 | 85.5 | 65.3 | |
| Valencian Community | 57.5 | 78.1 | 54.9 | 32.5 | |
| Balearic Islands | 74.6 | 93.1 | 79.6 | 46.9 | |
| Roussillon | 37.1 | 65.3 | 31.4 | 10.6 | |
| Andorra | 78.9 | 96.0 | 89.7 | 61.1 | |
| Franja Oriental of Aragón | 88.8 | 98.5 | 72.9 | 30.3 | |
| Alghero | 67.6 | 89.9 | 50.9 | 28.4 |
| Area | At home | Outside home | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalonia | 45 | 51 | |
| Valencian Community | 37 | 32 | |
| Balearic Islands | 44 | 41 | |
| Roussillon | 1 | 1 | |
| Andorra | 38 | 51 | |
| Franja Oriental of Aragón | 70 | 61 | |
| Alghero | 8 | 4 |
| Area | People | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalonia | 2,813,000 | 38.5% | |
| Valencian Community | 1,047,000 | 21.1% | |
| Balearic Islands | 392,000 | 36.1% | |
| Andorra | 26,000 | 33.8% | |
| Franja Oriental of Aragon | 33,000 | 70.2% | |
| Roussillon | 35,000 | 8.5% | |
| Alghero | 8,000 | 20% | |
| TOTAL | 4,353,000 | 31.2% |
See main article: Catalan phonology. Catalan phonology varies by dialect. Notable features include:
In contrast to other Romance languages, Catalan has many monosyllabic words, and these may end in a wide variety of consonants, including some consonant clusters. Additionally, Catalan has final obstruent devoicing, which gives rise to an abundance of such couplets as Catalan; Valencian: amic ("male friend") vs. Catalan; Valencian: amiga ("female friend").
Central Catalan pronunciation is considered to be standard for the language. The descriptions below are mostly representative of this variety.[63] For the differences in pronunciation between the different dialects, see the section on pronunciation of dialects in this article.
Catalan has inherited the typical vowel system of Vulgar Latin, with seven stressed phonemes: pronounced as //a ɛ e i ɔ o u//, a common feature in Western Romance, with the exception of Spanish. Balearic also has instances of stressed pronounced as //ə//. Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction, and the incidence of the pair pronounced as //ɛ e//.
In Central Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to three: pronounced as //a e ɛ/ > [ə]/; pronounced as //o ɔ u/ > [u]/; pronounced as //i// remains distinct. The other dialects have different vowel reduction processes (see the section pronunciation of dialects in this article).
| Front vowels | Back vowels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word pair | Catalan; Valencian: gel ("ice") Catalan; Valencian: gelat ("ice cream") | Catalan; Valencian: pedra ("stone") Catalan; Valencian: pedrera ("quarry") | Catalan; Valencian: banya ("he bathes") Catalan; Valencian: banyem ("we bathe") | Catalan; Valencian: cosa ("thing") Catalan; Valencian: coseta ("little thing") | Catalan; Valencian: tot ("everything") Catalan; Valencian: total ("total") | |
| IPA transcription | pronounced as /[ˈʒɛl]/ pronounced as /[ʒəˈlat]/ | pronounced as /[ˈpeðɾə]/ pronounced as /[pəˈðɾeɾə]/ | pronounced as /[ˈbaɲə]/ pronounced as /[bəˈɲɛm]/ | pronounced as /[ˈkɔzə]/ pronounced as /[kuˈzɛtə]/ | pronounced as /[ˈtot]/ pronounced as /[tuˈtal]/ | |
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | ||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| voiced | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Approximant | central | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| lateral | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Tap | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Trill | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
The consonant system of Catalan is rather conservative.
See main article: Phonological history of Catalan.
Catalan sociolinguistics studies the situation of Catalan in the world and the different varieties that this language presents. It is a subdiscipline of Catalan philology and other affine studies and has as an objective to analyze the relation between the Catalan language, the speakers and the close reality (including the one of other languages in contact).
See main article: Catalan dialects.
The dialects of the Catalan language feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages; both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology. Mutual intelligibility between dialects is very high, estimates ranging from 90% to 95%. The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Algherese dialect.
Catalan is split in two major dialectal blocks: Eastern and Western. The main difference lies in the treatment of unstressed Catalan; Valencian: a and Catalan; Valencian: e; which have merged to pronounced as //ə// in Eastern dialects, but which remain distinct as pronounced as //a// and pronounced as //e// in Western dialects. There are a few other differences in pronunciation, verbal morphology, and vocabulary.
Western Catalan comprises the two dialects of Northwestern Catalan and Valencian; the Eastern block comprises four dialects: Central Catalan, Balearic, Rossellonese, and Algherese. Each dialect can be further subdivided in several subdialects. The terms "Catalan" and "Valencian" (respectively used in Catalonia and the Valencian Community) refer to two varieties of the same language. There are two institutions regulating the two standard varieties, the Institute of Catalan Studies in Catalonia and the Valencian Academy of the Language in the Valencian Community.
Central Catalan is considered the standard pronunciation of the language and has the largest number of speakers. It is spoken in the densely populated regions of the Barcelona province, the eastern half of the province of Tarragona, and most of the province of Girona.
Catalan has an inflectional grammar. Nouns have two genders (masculine, feminine), and two numbers (singular, plural). Pronouns additionally can have a neuter gender, and some are also inflected for case and politeness, and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and gender. In terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters, in contrast with many other Romance languages.
| Block | Western Catalan | Eastern Catalan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dialect | Northwestern | Valencian | Central | Balearic | Northern/Rossellonese | Algherese |
| Area | Italy | |||||
| City of Alghero in Sardinia | ||||||
Catalan has inherited the typical vowel system of Vulgar Latin, with seven stressed phonemes: pronounced as //a ɛ e i ɔ o u//, a common feature in Western Romance, except Spanish. Balearic has also instances of stressed pronounced as //ə//. Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction, and the incidence of the pair pronounced as //ɛ e//.
In Eastern Catalan (except Majorcan), unstressed vowels reduce to three: pronounced as //a e ɛ/ > [ə]/; pronounced as //o ɔ u/ > [u]/; pronounced as //i// remains distinct. There are a few instances of unreduced pronounced as /[e]/, pronounced as /[o]/ in some words. Algherese has lowered pronounced as /[ə]/ to pronounced as /[a]/.
In Majorcan, unstressed vowels reduce to four: pronounced as //a e ɛ// follow the Eastern Catalan reduction pattern; however pronounced as //o ɔ// reduce to pronounced as /[o]/, with pronounced as //u// remaining distinct, as in Western Catalan.
In Western Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to five: pronounced as //e ɛ/ > [e]/; pronounced as //o ɔ/ > [o]/; pronounced as //a u i// remain distinct. This reduction pattern, inherited from Proto-Romance, is also found in Italian and Portuguese. Some Western dialects present further reduction or vowel harmony in some cases.
Central, Western, and Balearic differ in the lexical incidence of stressed pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //ɛ//. Usually, words with pronounced as //ɛ// in Central Catalan correspond to pronounced as //ə// in Balearic and pronounced as //e// in Western Catalan. Words with pronounced as //e// in Balearic almost always have pronounced as //e// in Central and Western Catalan as well. As a result, Central Catalan has a much higher incidence of pronounced as //ɛ//.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Word pairs: the first with stressed root, the second with unstressed root | Western | Eastern | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Majorcan | Central | Northern | |||
| Front vowels | Catalan; Valencian: gel ("ice") Catalan; Valencian: gelat ("ice cream") | pronounced as /[ˈdʒɛl]/ pronounced as /[dʒeˈlat]/ | pronounced as /[ˈʒɛl]/ pronounced as /[ʒəˈlat]/ | pronounced as /[ˈʒel]/ pronounced as /[ʒəˈlat]/ | |
| Catalan; Valencian: pera ("pear") Catalan; Valencian: perera ("pear tree") | pronounced as /[ˈpeɾa]/ pronounced as /[peˈɾeɾa]/ | pronounced as /[ˈpəɾə]/ pronounced as /[pəˈɾeɾə]/ | pronounced as /[ˈpɛɾə]/ pronounced as /[pəˈɾeɾə]/ | pronounced as /[ˈpeɾə]/ pronounced as /[pəˈɾeɾə]/ | |
| Catalan; Valencian: pedra ("stone") Catalan; Valencian: pedrera ("quarry") | pronounced as /[ˈpeðɾa]/ pronounced as /[peˈðɾeɾa]/ | pronounced as /[ˈpeðɾə]/ pronounced as /[pəˈðɾeɾə]/ | |||
| Catalan; Valencian: banya ("he bathes") Catalan; Valencian: banyem ("we bathe") Majorcan: Catalan; Valencian: banyam ("we bathe") | pronounced as /[ˈbaɲa]/ pronounced as /[baˈɲem]/ | pronounced as /[ˈbaɲə]/ pronounced as /[bəˈɲam]/ | pronounced as /[ˈbaɲə]/ pronounced as /[bəˈɲɛm]/ | pronounced as /[ˈbaɲə]/ pronounced as /[bəˈɲem]/ | |
| Back vowels | Catalan; Valencian: cosa ("thing") Catalan; Valencian: coseta ("little thing") | pronounced as /[ˈkɔza]/ pronounced as /[koˈzeta]/ | pronounced as /[ˈkɔzə]/ pronounced as /[koˈzətə]/ | pronounced as /[ˈkɔzə]/ pronounced as /[kuˈzɛtə]/ | pronounced as /[ˈkozə]/ pronounced as /[kuˈzetə]/ |
| Catalan; Valencian: tot ("everything") Catalan; Valencian: total ("total") | pronounced as /[ˈtot]/ pronounced as /[toˈtal]/ | pronounced as /[ˈtot]/ pronounced as /[tuˈtal]/ | pronounced as /[ˈtut]/ pronounced as /[tuˈtal]/ | ||
Western Catalan: In verbs, the ending for 1st-person present indicative is Catalan; Valencian: -e in verbs of the 1st conjugation and -∅ in verbs of the 2nd and 3rd conjugations in most of the Valencian Community, or Catalan; Valencian: -o in all verb conjugations in the Northern Valencian Community and Western Catalonia.
E.g. Catalan; Valencian: parle, Catalan; Valencian: tem, Catalan; Valencian: sent (Valencian); Catalan; Valencian: parlo, Catalan; Valencian: temo, Catalan; Valencian: sento (Northwestern Catalan).
Eastern Catalan: In verbs, the ending for 1st-person present indicative is Catalan; Valencian: -o, Catalan; Valencian: -i, or -∅ in all conjugations.
E.g. Catalan; Valencian: parlo (Central), Catalan; Valencian: parl (Balearic), and Catalan; Valencian: parli (Northern), all meaning ('I speak').
| Conjugation | Eastern Catalan | Western Catalan | Gloss | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | Northern | Balearic | Valencian | Northwestern | ||||
| 1st | Catalan; Valencian: parlo | Catalan; Valencian: parli | Catalan; Valencian: parl | Catalan; Valencian: parle | Catalan; Valencian: parlo | 'I speak' | ||
| 2nd | Catalan; Valencian: temo | Catalan; Valencian: temi | Catalan; Valencian: tem | Catalan; Valencian: tem | Catalan; Valencian: temo | 'I fear' | ||
| 3rd | Catalan; Valencian: sento | Catalan; Valencian: senti | Catalan; Valencian: sent | Catalan; Valencian: sent | Catalan; Valencian: sento | 'I feel', 'I hear' | ||
| Catalan; Valencian: poleixo | Catalan; Valencian: poleixi | Catalan; Valencian: poleix or Catalan; Valencian: polesc | Catalan; Valencian: polisc or Catalan; Valencian: polesc | Catalan; Valencian: pol(e)ixo | 'I polish' | |||
Western Catalan: In verbs, the inchoative endings are Catalan; Valencian: -isc/Catalan; Valencian: -esc, Catalan; Valencian: -ix, Catalan; Valencian: -ixen, Catalan; Valencian: -isca/Catalan; Valencian: -esca.
Eastern Catalan: In verbs, the inchoative endings are Catalan; Valencian: -eixo, Catalan; Valencian: -eix, Catalan; Valencian: -eixen, Catalan; Valencian: -eixi.
Western Catalan: In nouns and adjectives, maintenance of pronounced as //n// of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g. Catalan; Valencian: hòmens 'men', Catalan; Valencian: jóvens 'youth'.
Eastern Catalan: In nouns and adjectives, loss of pronounced as //n// of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g. Catalan; Valencian: homes 'men', Catalan; Valencian: joves 'youth' (Ibicencan, however, follows the model of Western Catalan in this case[68]).
Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices. Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually Central Catalan acts as an innovative element.
| Gloss | "mirror" | "boy" | "broom" | "navel" | "to exit" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Catalan | Catalan; Valencian: mirall | Catalan; Valencian: noi | Catalan; Valencian: escombra | Catalan; Valencian: llombrígol | Catalan; Valencian: sortir | |
| Western Catalan | Catalan; Valencian: espill | Catalan; Valencian: xiquet | Catalan; Valencian: granera | Catalan; Valencian: melic | Catalan; Valencian: eixir |
See main article: Institut d'Estudis Catalans and Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
| Catalan; Valencian: anglès | Catalan; Valencian: anglés | English | |
| Catalan; Valencian: conèixer | Catalan; Valencian: conéixer | to know | |
| Catalan; Valencian: treure | Catalan; Valencian: traure | take out | |
| Catalan; Valencian: néixer | Catalan; Valencian: nàixer | to be born | |
| Catalan; Valencian: càntir | Catalan; Valencian: cànter | pitcher | |
| Catalan; Valencian: rodó | Catalan; Valencian: redó | round | |
| Catalan; Valencian: meva | Catalan; Valencian: meua | my, mine | |
| Catalan; Valencian: ametlla | Catalan; Valencian: ametla | almond | |
| Catalan; Valencian: estrella | Catalan; Valencian: estrela | star | |
| Catalan; Valencian: cop | Catalan; Valencian: colp | hit | |
| Catalan; Valencian: llagosta | Catalan; Valencian: llangosta | lobster | |
| Catalan; Valencian: homes | Catalan; Valencian: hòmens | men | |
| Catalan; Valencian: servei | Catalan; Valencian: servici | service |
Standard Catalan, virtually accepted by all speakers, is mostly based on Eastern Catalan, which is the most widely used dialect. Nevertheless, the standards of the Valencian Community and the Balearics admit alternative forms, mostly traditional ones, which are not current in eastern Catalonia.
The most notable difference between both standards is some tonic (e) accentuation, for instance: Catalan; Valencian: francès, anglès (IEC) – Catalan; Valencian: francés, anglés (AVL). Nevertheless, AVL's standard keeps the grave accent (è), while pronouncing it as pronounced as //e// rather than pronounced as //ɛ//, in some words like: Catalan; Valencian: què ('what'), or Catalan; Valencian: València. Other divergences include the use of (tl) (AVL) in some words instead of (tll) like in Catalan; Valencian: ametla/Catalan; Valencian: ametlla ('almond'), Catalan; Valencian: espatla/Catalan; Valencian: espatlla ('back'), the use of elided demonstratives (Catalan; Valencian: este 'this', Catalan; Valencian: eixe 'that') in the same level as reinforced ones (Catalan; Valencian: 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 Catalan; Valencian: -ix- at the same level as Catalan; Valencian: -eix- or the priority use of Catalan; Valencian: -e morpheme in 1st person singular in present indicative (Catalan; Valencian: -ar verbs): Catalan; Valencian: jo compre instead of Catalan; Valencian: jo compro ('I buy').
In the Balearic Islands, IEC's standard is used but adapted for the Balearic dialect by the University of the Balearic Islands's philological section. In this way, for instance, IEC says it is correct writing Catalan; Valencian: cantam as much as Catalan; Valencian: cantem ('we sing'), but the university says that the priority form in the Balearic Islands must be Catalan; Valencian: cantam in all fields. Another feature of the Balearic standard is the non-ending in the 1st person singular present indicative: Catalan; Valencian: jo compr ('I buy'), Catalan; Valencian: jo tem ('I fear'), Catalan; Valencian: jo dorm ('I sleep').
In Alghero, the IEC has adapted its standard to the Algherese dialect. In this standard one can find, among other features: the definite article Catalan; Valencian: lo instead of Catalan; Valencian: el, special possessive pronouns and determinants Catalan; Valencian: la mia ('mine'), Catalan; Valencian: lo sou/la sua ('his/her'), Catalan; Valencian: lo tou/la tua ('yours'), and so on, the use of Catalan; Valencian: -v- pronounced as //v// in the imperfect tense in all conjugations: Catalan; Valencian: cantava, Catalan; Valencian: creixiva, Catalan; Valencian: llegiva; the use of many archaic words, usual words in Algherese: Catalan; Valencian: manco instead of Catalan; Valencian: menys ('less'), Catalan; Valencian: calqui u instead of Catalan; Valencian: algú ('someone'), Catalan; Valencian: qual/quala instead of Catalan; Valencian: quin/quina ('which'), and so on; and the adaptation of weak pronouns. In 1999, Catalan (Algherese dialect) was among the twelve minority languages officially recognized as Italy's "historical linguistic minorities" by the Italian State under Law No. 482/1999.[69]
In 2011,[70] the Aragonese government passed a decree approving the statutes of a new language regulator of Catalan in La Franja (the so-called Catalan-speaking areas of Aragon) as originally provided for by Law 10/2009.[71] The new entity, designated as Catalan; Valencian: [[Institut Aragonès del Català]], shall allow a facultative education in Catalan and a standardization of the Catalan language in La Franja.
See main article: Valencian, Valencian language controversy, Blaverism and Anti-Catalanism.
Valencian is classified as a Western dialect, along with the northwestern varieties spoken in Western Catalonia (provinces of Lleida and the western half of Tarragona). Central Catalan has 90% to 95% inherent intelligibility for speakers of Valencian.
Linguists, including Valencian scholars, deal with Catalan and Valencian as the same language. The official regulating body of the language of the Valencian Community, the Valencian Academy of Language (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, AVL) declares the linguistic unity between Valencian and Catalan varieties.
The AVL, created by the Valencian parliament, is in charge of dictating the official rules governing the use of Valencian, and its standard is based on the Norms of Castelló (Normes de Castelló). Currently, everyone who writes in Valencian uses this standard, except the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which uses an independent standard for Valencian.
Despite the position of the official organizations, an opinion poll carried out between 2001 and 2004[72] showed that the majority of the Valencian people consider Valencian different from Catalan. This position is promoted by people who do not use Valencian regularly. Furthermore, the data indicates that younger generations educated in Valencian are much less likely to hold these views. A minority of Valencian scholars active in fields other than linguistics defends the position of the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which uses for Valencian a standard independent from Catalan.[73]
This clash of opinions has sparked much controversy. For example, during the drafting of the European Constitution in 2004, the Spanish government supplied the EU with translations of the text into Basque, Galician, Catalan, and Valencian, but the latter two were identical.[74]
Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices. Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually Central Catalan acts as an innovative element.
Literary Catalan allows the use of words from different dialects, except those of very restricted use. However, from the 19th century onwards, there has been a tendency towards favoring words of Northern dialects to the detriment of others,
Like other languages, Catalan has a large list of loanwords from Greek and Latin. This process started very early, and one can find such examples in Ramon Llull's work. In the 14th and 15th centuries Catalan had a far greater number of Greco-Latin loanwords than other Romance languages, as is attested for example in Roís de Corella's writings. The incorporation of learned, or "bookish" words from its own ancestor language, Latin, into Catalan is arguably another form of lexical borrowing through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, most literate Catalan speakers were also literate in Latin; and thus they easily adopted Latin words into their writing—and eventually speech—in Catalan.
The process of morphological derivation in Catalan follows the same principles as the other Romance languages, where agglutination is common. Many times, several affixes are appended to a preexisting lexeme, and some sound alternations can occur, for example Catalan; Valencian: elèctri'''c''' pronounced as /[əˈlɛktri'''k''']/ ("electrical") vs. Catalan; Valencian: electri'''c'''itat pronounced as /[ələktri'''s'''iˈtat]/. Prefixes are usually appended to verbs, as in Catalan; Valencian: '''pre'''veure ("foresee").
There is greater regularity in the process of word-compounding, where one can find compounded words formed much like those in English.
| Type | Example | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| two nouns, the second assimilated to the first | Catalan; Valencian: paper moneda | "banknote paper" | |
| noun delimited by an adjective | Catalan; Valencian: estat major | "military staff" | |
| noun delimited by another noun and a preposition | Catalan; Valencian: màquina d'escriure | "typewriter" | |
| verb radical with a nominal object | Catalan; Valencian: '''para'''caigudes | "parachute" | |
| noun delimited by an adjective, with adjectival value | Catalan; Valencian: pit-roig | "robin" (bird) |
See main article: Catalan orthography.
| Main forms | Catalan; Valencian: [[A]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[B]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[C]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[D]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[E]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[F]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[G]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[H]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[I]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[J]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[K]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[L]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[M]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[N]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[O]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[P]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Q]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[R]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[S]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[T]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[U]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[V]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[W]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[X]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Y]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Z]]|italic=unset | |
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| Modified forms | Catalan; Valencian: [[À]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Ç]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[É]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[È]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Í]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[Ï]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan orthography#Punt volat (middot)|L·L]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Ó]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[Ò]]|italic=unset | Catalan; Valencian: [[Ú]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[Ü]]|italic=unset | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pronunciation | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalan; Valencian: ç | pronounced as //s// | Catalan; Valencian: feliç pronounced as /[fəˈlis]/ ("happy") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: gu | pronounced as //ɡ// (pronounced as /[ɡ~ɣ]/) before Catalan; Valencian: i and Catalan; Valencian: e | Catalan; Valencian: guerra pronounced as /[ˈɡɛrə]/ ("war") | |
| pronounced as //ɡw// elsewhere | Catalan; Valencian: guant pronounced as /[ˈɡwan]/ ("glove") | ||
| Catalan; Valencian: ig | pronounced as /[tʃ]/ in final position | Catalan; Valencian: raig pronounced as /[ˈratʃ]/ ("trickle") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: ix | pronounced as //ʃ// (pronounced as /[jʃ]/ in some dialects) | Catalan; Valencian: caixa pronounced as /[ˈkaʃə]/ ("box") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: ll | pronounced as //ʎ// | Catalan; Valencian: lloc pronounced as /[ʎɔk]/ ("place") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: l·l | Normatively pronounced as //l://, but usually pronounced as //l// | Catalan; Valencian: novel·la pronounced as /[nuˈβɛlə]/ ("novel") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: ny | pronounced as //ɲ// | Catalan; Valencian: Catalunya pronounced as /[kətəˈɫuɲə]/ ("Catalonia") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: qu | pronounced as //k// before Catalan; Valencian: i and Catalan; Valencian: e | Catalan; Valencian: qui pronounced as /[ˈki]/ ("who") | |
| pronounced as //kw// before other vowels | Catalan; Valencian: quatre pronounced as /[ˈkwatrə]/ ("four") | ||
| Catalan; Valencian: ss | pronounced as //s// Intervocalic Catalan; Valencian: s is pronounced pronounced as //z// | Catalan; Valencian: grossa pronounced as /[ˈɡɾɔsə]/ ("big-)" Catalan; Valencian: casa pronounced as /[ˈkazə]/ ("house") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: tg, Catalan; Valencian: tj | pronounced as /[ddʒ]/ | Catalan; Valencian: fetge pronounced as /[ˈfeddʒə]/ ("liver"), Catalan; Valencian: mitjó pronounced as /[midˈdʒo]/ ("sock") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: tx | pronounced as /[tʃ]/ | Catalan; Valencian: despatx pronounced as /[dəsˈpatʃ]/ ("office") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: tz | pronounced as /[ddz]/ | Catalan; Valencian: dotze pronounced as /[ˈdoddzə]/ ("twelve") |
| Notes | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalan; Valencian: c | pronounced as //s// before Catalan; Valencian: i and Catalan; Valencian: e corresponds to Catalan; Valencian: ç in other contexts | Catalan; Valencian: feliç ("happy-") - Catalan; Valencian: felices ("happy-") Catalan; Valencian: caço ("I hunt") - Catalan; Valencian: caces ("you hunt") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: g | pronounced as //ʒ// before Catalan; Valencian: e and Catalan; Valencian: i corresponds to Catalan; Valencian: j in other positions | Catalan; Valencian: envejar ("to envy") - Catalan; Valencian: envegen ("they envy") | |
| final Catalan; Valencian: g + stressed Catalan; Valencian: i, and final Catalan; Valencian: ig before other vowels, are pronounced pronounced as /[tʃ]/ corresponds to Catalan; Valencian: j~Catalan; Valencian: g or Catalan; Valencian: tj~Catalan; Valencian: tg in other positions | Catalan; Valencian: boig pronounced as /['bɔtʃ]/ ("mad-") - Catalan; Valencian: boja pronounced as /['bɔʒə]/ ("mad-") -Catalan; Valencian: boges pronounced as /['bɔʒəs]/ ("mad-") Catalan; Valencian: desig pronounced as /[də'zitʃ]/ ("wish") - Catalan; Valencian: desitjar ("to wish") - Catalan; Valencian: desitgem ("we wish") | ||
| Catalan; Valencian: gu | pronounced as //ɡ// before Catalan; Valencian: e and Catalan; Valencian: i corresponds to Catalan; Valencian: g in other positions | Catalan; Valencian: botiga ("shop") - Catalan; Valencian: botigues ("shops") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: gü | pronounced as //ɡw// before Catalan; Valencian: e and Catalan; Valencian: i corresponds to Catalan; Valencian: gu in other positions | Catalan; Valencian: llengua ("language") - Catalan; Valencian: llengües ("languages") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: qu | pronounced as //k// before Catalan; Valencian: e and Catalan; Valencian: i corresponds to Catalan; Valencian: c in other positions | Catalan; Valencian: vaca ("cow") - Catalan; Valencian: vaques ("cows") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: qü | pronounced as //kw// before Catalan; Valencian: e and Catalan; Valencian: i corresponds to Catalan; Valencian: qu in other positions | Catalan; Valencian: obliqua ("oblique-") - Catalan; Valencian: obliqües ("oblique-") | |
| Catalan; Valencian: x | pronounced as /[ʃ~tʃ]/ initially and in onsets after a consonant pronounced as /[ʃ]/ after Catalan; Valencian: i otherwise, pronounced as /[ɡz]/ before stress, pronounced as /[ks]/ after | Catalan; Valencian: xarxa pronounced as /[ˈʃarʃə]/ ("net") Catalan; Valencian: guix pronounced as /[ˈɡiʃ]/ ("chalk") Catalan; Valencian: exacte pronounced as /[əɡˈzaktə]/ ("exact"), Catalan; Valencian: fax pronounced as /[ˈfaks]/ ("fax") |
See main article: Catalan grammar.
The grammar of Catalan is similar to other Romance languages. Features include:
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Catalan has few suppletive couplets, like Italian and Spanish, and unlike French. Thus, Catalan has Catalan; Valencian: noi/Catalan; Valencian: noia ("boy"/"girl") and Catalan; Valencian: gall/Catalan; Valencian: gallina ("cock"/"hen"), whereas French has Catalan; Valencian: garçon/Catalan; Valencian: fille and Catalan; Valencian: coq/Catalan; Valencian: poule.
There is a tendency to abandon traditionally gender-invariable adjectives in favor of marked ones, something prevalent in Occitan and French. Thus, one can find Catalan; Valencian: bullent/Catalan; Valencian: bullenta ("boiling") in contrast with traditional Catalan; Valencian: bullent/Catalan; Valencian: bullent.
As in the other Western Romance languages, the main plural expression is the suffix Catalan; Valencian: -s, which may create morphological alternations similar to the ones found in gender inflection, albeit more rarely. The most important one is the addition of Catalan; Valencian: -o- before certain consonant groups, a phonetic phenomenon that does not affect feminine forms: Catalan; Valencian: el pols/Catalan; Valencian: els polsos ("the pulse"/"the pulses") vs. Catalan; Valencian: la pols/Catalan; Valencian: les pols ("the dust"/"the dusts").