The Catalan dialects (and restrictively also, Valencian dialects) feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages; both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology. Mutual intelligibility between its dialects is very high, estimates ranging from 90% to 95%.[1] The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.
| Block | Western Catalan | Eastern Catalan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variety | North-Western | Valencian | Northern (Roussillonese) | Central | Balearic | Alguerese (Algherese) | |
| Area | Italy | ||||||
| Roussillon (Northern Catalonia) | Barcelona, eastern half of Tarragona and most of Girona (Catalonia) | Alghero in Sardinia | |||||
| Other nomenclature | Continental | Insular | |||||
In 1861, linguist Manuel Milà i Fontanals split Catalan into two main dialects: Western and Eastern. The most obvious phonetic difference lies in the treatment of unstressed a and e, which have merged to pronounced as //ə// in Eastern dialects, but 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 three to four dialects (depending on their classification): Central, Roussillonese (Northern Catalan), and Insular (Balearic and Alguerese). Each dialect can be further subdivided into several subdialects.
There are two spoken standards for the language based on the Eastern and Western dialects respectively:
Valencians are only surpassed in number of Catalan-speakers by Catalans themselves, representing approximately a third of the whole Catalan-speaking population. Therefore, in the context of linguistic conflict, recognition and respect towards the dual standard, as well as the dual Catalan–Valencian denomination, pacifies the tense central–periphery relations between Catalonia and the Valencian Community.
The Continental varieties[3] [4] [5] of Catalan and Valencian may refer to:
Insular Catalan may refer to:
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, Asturian, and Aragonese. 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 most of 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. Alguerese has lowered pronounced as /[ə]/ to pronounced as /[a]/, similar to Eastern dialects spoken in the Barcelona metropolitan area (however, in the latter dialects the vowels are distinct as pronounced as /[ɐ]/ vs. pronounced as /[a]/).
In Majorcan (except in some parts of in the northern of the island), 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, Western Catalan has a much higher incidence of pronounced as //e//.
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| 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/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]/ | ||
In Western Catalan, the 1st person present indicative ending for verbs is Catalan; Valencian: -e (Catalan; Valencian: ∅ in verbs of the 2nd and 3rd conjugation), or Catalan; Valencian: -o. For example, Catalan; Valencian: parle, Catalan; Valencian: tem, Catalan; Valencian: sent (Valencian); Catalan; Valencian: parlo, Catalan; Valencian: temo, Catalan; Valencian: sento (North-Western). In Eastern Catalan, the 1st person present indicative ending for verbs is Catalan; Valencian: -o, Catalan; Valencian: -i or Catalan; Valencian: ∅ in all conjugations. For example, Catalan; Valencian: parlo (Central), Catalan; Valencian: parl (Balearic), Catalan; Valencian: parli (Northern); all meaning "I speak".
| Conjugation class | Eastern Catalan | Western Catalan | Gloss | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | Northern | Balearic | Valencian | North-Western | |||
| First | Catalan; Valencian: parlo | Catalan; Valencian: parli | Catalan; Valencian: parl | Catalan; Valencian: parle | Catalan; Valencian: parlo | "I speak" | |
| Second | Catalan; Valencian: temo | Catalan; Valencian: temi | Catalan; Valencian: tem | Catalan; Valencian: tem | Catalan; Valencian: temo | "I fear" | |
| Third | Catalan; Valencian: sento | Catalan; Valencian: senti | Catalan; Valencian: sent | Catalan; Valencian: sent | Catalan; Valencian: sento | "I feel"/"I hear" | |
In Western Catalan, the inchoative desinences for verbs are Catalan; Valencian: -isc/Catalan; Valencian: -ixo, Catalan; Valencian: -ix, Catalan; Valencian: -ixen, Catalan; Valencian: -isca. In Eastern Catalan, the inchoative desinences for verbs are Catalan; Valencian: -eixo, Catalan; Valencian: -eix, Catalan; Valencian: -eixen, Catalan; Valencian: -eixi.
In Western Catalan, the pronounced as //n// of medieval plurals in proparoxytone nouns and adjectives is maintained. For example, Catalan; Valencian: hòmens 'men', Catalan; Valencian: jóvens 'youth'. In Eastern Catalan, the pronounced as //n// of medieval plurals in proparoxytone nouns and adjectives is lost. For example, Catalan; Valencian: homes 'men', Catalan; Valencian: joves 'youth'.
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 |