Reintegrationism Explained

Reintegrationism (Galician: reintegracionismo, pronounced as /gl/, pronounced as /pt-PT/), or Lusism, is a linguistic movement in Galicia that advocates for the recognition of Galician and varieties of the Portuguese language as a single language. Reintegrationists argue that the different dialects of Galician and Portuguese should be classified as part of the Galician-Portuguese language, rather than two languages within a common branch. The largest reintegrationist association is the Galician Language Association (AGAL).

Background

The reintegrationists also believe that the official orthography of the Galician language, regulated by the Royal Galician Academy, is way too Castilianized and artificially separates it from the northern varieties of Portuguese. However, the Spanish influence on Galician dates back to centuries prior to standardization, namely the Dark Centuries, when Galician lost its official recognition and stopped being a written language, thus becoming the spoken language of the lower classes in the region. During the Rexurdimento, many Galician authors initially found that they didn't know how to write Galician, since it didn't have a standard form yet. The current Galician grammar is thought to have been influenced by the Spanish one since it could've been seen as a crucial step for recognition within the Spanish state.

The Galician Language Association (Reintegrationist Galician: Associaçom Galega da Língua) was founded in 1981 under the name "Estudo crítica das normativas ortográficos e morfolóxicas do idioma galego" and officially published its own standard grammar in 1983, which closely resembles the grammar of Old Galician-Portuguese and thus the modern varieties of Portuguese. The main goal of the association is to reinsert Galician, especially in its written form, in a Galician-Portuguese-Brazilian diasystem.

Practicalities

In writing, the most obvious differences from the official norm (NOMIGa) are (according to AGAL):^[1]

• Use of (nh) instead of the letter (ñ) to represent the palatal nasal sound. For example: caminho instead of camiño (way).
• Use of (mh) instead of (nh) to represent the velar nasal sound. For example: algumha instead of algunha.
• Use of the digraph (lh) instead of (ll) to represent the palatal lateral sound. For example: coelho instead of coello (rabbit)
• Use of (çom)/(ção) and (çons)/(ções) instead of the suffix (ción) and (cións). For example: associaçom/associação instead of asociación and associaçons/associações instead of asociacións (association, associations)
• Preference for the use of suffixes (aria) and (vel) over (ería) and (ble) or even (bel). For example: livraria instead of librería (bookshop); incrível instead of incrible or incríbel (incredible)
• Use of (ss) between vowels, when appropriate, instead of the simplified (s) for all cases. For example: associação instead of asociación
• Use of either (x), (j) or (g) preceding (e) or (i), according to the etymology of the word, instead of (x) for all cases. For example: hoje instead of hoxe (today), geral instead of xeral (general), but exército as in exército (army)
• Use of (m) instead of (n) at the end of a word. For example: som instead of son (sound)
• Use of a wider range of accentuation signs instead of the simplified single stroke. For example: português instead of portugués (Portuguese), comentário instead of comentario (commentary). Note that the official orthography, being a calque of the Spanish one in that respect, does not cater for any difference between open and closed vowels, since Spanish does not have them.
• Avoidance of specific lexical choices introduced by Spanish

Galician members of the European Parliament (such as José Posada, Camilo Nogueira and Xosé Manuel Beiras) have used spoken Galician when addressing the chamber and have used standard Portuguese orthography to encode their Galician speech. In all cases, these interventions and encodings have been accepted by the Parliament as a valid form of Portuguese, that is, an official language of the European Union.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Furthermore, members of Galician reintegrationist associations have been regularly present at meetings of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. In 2008, Galician delegates were invited as speakers to the Portuguese Parliament when discussing the new spelling norms for the Portuguese language.^[5]

Controversy

The majority of the Galician population was educated in Spanish only (as official use of Galician was rare or even absent for centuries,^{[6] [7]} especially in Francoist Spain^[8]).

In this fashion, it is argued that Galician would be faithful to its history and etymology and subsequently its written norm would be more scientific and precise. Thus, it would allow Galician speakers to have direct access to a world culture and it would also clarify some spelling problems of the isolationist norm (for example in terms of stress).^{[9] [10]}

A number of Portuguese linguists and authors such as Luís Lindley Cintra, Manuel Rodrigues Lapa, Fernando Venâncio, Carlos Reis or Malaca Casteleiro have expressed their agreement with the reintegrationist views.^[11]

Genesis of the debate

Authors such as Castelao, among others, stated that Galician should gradually merge with Portuguese, namely in its written form.^{[12] [13]}

However, political issues forced the resignation of Carvalho Calero and, consequently, the 1979 pro-reintegrationist norms were revoked. The new official norms and reforms passed from 1982 onwards would be strongly pro-isolationist.^[14]

See also

• Castrapo
• Community of Portuguese Language Countries
• Galician language
• Galician Language Association
• Galician-Portuguese
• Partido da Terra
• Portuguese language
• Ricardo Carvalho Calero
• Spelling reform

Further reading

• Nova Proposta de Classificação dos Dialectos Galego-Portugueses, Luís F. Lindley Cintra, in Boletim de Filologia, 1971, Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Filológicos.
• A Galiza, o galego e Portugal, Manoel Rodrigues Lapa, 1979, Sá da Costa, Lisboa.
• Estudo crítico das normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do idioma galego, AGAL 1983 and 1989, Corunha.
• Prontuário ortográfico galego, AGAL, 1985, Corunha.
• Sobre o problema da Galiza, da sua cultura e seu idioma, Manoel Rodrigues Lapa, in Agália no. 29, 1992.
• A língua portuguesa da Galiza, compiled for students of Portuguese language at University College Cork, Xoán M. Paredes, 2006.
• "I see my language everywhere": On linguistic relationship between Galicia and Portugal, Fernando Venâncio (conference), 2006.
• O conflicto ortográfico do galego no CMI Galiza, 2006.
• Reintegracionismo lingüístico: identidade e futuro para o galego from the magazine Voz Própria, 2007.
• O Brasil fala a língua galega, Júlio César Barreto Rocha, Universidade Federal da Rondônia, (date unknown; 2000?).

External links

• Associaçom Galega da Língua
• Movimento Defesa da Língua
• Associação de Amizade Galiza-Portugal
• Irmandades da Fala da Galiza e Portugal
• ADIGAL – reintegracionist association in Argentina
• Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa, Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language
• Novas da Galiza – newspaper in AGAL norm
• FAQ do Reintegracionismo – "FAQ on Reintegracionism", by Gentalha do Pichel
• Conference by Professor Martinho Monteiro Santalha, where he argues for the linguistic unity of Galician and Portuguese – from minute 04:09
• Amostra comparativa – comparison between Galician, Portuguese and Brazilian-Portuguese pronunciation (with sound files)
• Reportagem sobre a língua galega – short documentary about Galician language on Portuguese national television (RTP); 8:21 total running time

Notes and References

1. Web site: Associaçom Galega da Língua.
2. http://recantodasletras.uol.com.br/artigos/1133552 O galego já é oficial na Uniom Europeia
3. http://www.udc.es/dep/lx/cac/vo/20040526DR/index.htm O galego na União Europea
4. http://www.agal-gz.org/modules.php?name=News&file=articlecomments&sid=2452&mode=&order=0&thold=0 Interview to Manuel Garcia: "I spoke Galician in the European Parliament"
5. http://www.agal-gz.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4242 Presença galega no parlamento português na comunicaçom social
6. Freitas, M.P. (2008). A represión linguística en Galiza no S.XX. Ed. Xerais.
7. Callón, Carlos (2022). O libro negro da língua galega. Ed. Xerais.
8. Book: Minahan, James . Following Franco's 1939 victory, the Galicians suffered severe punishment – their culture was suppressed, and edicts were issued forbidding the speaking, teaching, or publishing of books or newspapers in the Galician language. . One Europe, many nations: a historical dictionary of European national groups . Westport, CT . Greenwood Press . 2000 . 0-313-04866-5 . 279 .
9. http://membres.multimania.fr/questione/documentos/estudo83/acento.html Accentuation section on the 'Critical Study' to the ILG-RAG norm, by AGAL
10. http://www.udc.es/dep/lx/cac/artigos/escrit96.html Article about the 'Continuum' of the norms in Galicia
11. http://www.pglingua.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=260:aglp-ja-caminha-com-parabens-e-criticas&catid=8:cronicas&Itemid=69 On the opening of the Galician Academy for Portuguese Language
12. http://www.agal-gz.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=11 Selected quotes of Castelao and other Galician classics
13. http://www.carvalhocalero2010.net/citas Selected quotes Galician classics on Reintegrationism and the Galician-Portuguese issue
14. http://www.agal-gz.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=5 Biography of Carvalho Calero