| Catalan / Valencian cultural domain |
|---|
 [1] [2] [3] |
The Catalan dialects (and restrictively also, Valencian dialects) feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages; [4] both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology. [5] Mutual intelligibility between its dialects is very high, [6] [7] [8] estimates ranging from 90% to 95%. [9] [10] The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect. [4]
| Block | Western Catalan | Eastern Catalan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variety | North-Western | Valencian | Northern (Roussillonese) | Central | Balearic | Alguerese (Algherese) |
| Area | Spain and Andorra | Spain | France | Spain | Italy | |
| Andorra, Lleida and western half of Tarragona in Catalonia, and La Franja in Aragon | Valencian Community and Carche in Murcia | Roussillon (Northern Catalonia) | Barcelona, eastern half of Tarragona and most of Girona (Catalonia) | Balearic Islands | Alghero in Sardinia | |
| Other nomenclature | Continental | Insular | ||||
In 1861, linguist Manuel Milà i Fontanals split Catalan into two main dialectal blocks: Western and Eastern. [8] [5] The most obvious phonetic difference lies in the treatment of unstressed a and e, which have merged to /ə/ in Eastern dialects, but remain distinct as /a/ and /e/ in Western dialects. [4] [8] There are a few other differences in pronunciation, verbal morphology, and vocabulary. [6] Western Catalan comprises the two varieties of North-Western Catalan and Valencian; the Eastern block comprises three to four varieties (depending on their classification): Central Catalan, Roussillonese (Northern Catalan), and Insular (Balearic and Alguerese). [8] Each variety 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. [12] Therefore, in the context of linguistic conflict, recognition and respect towards the dual standard, as well as the dual Catalan–Valencian denomination, [13] pacifies the tense central–periphery relations between Catalonia and the Valencian Community.
The Continental varieties [14] [15] [16] of Catalan and Valencian may refer to:
Insular Catalan may refer to:
Classifications of the different varieties of Valencian:
| Model A | Model B | Model C | Other nomenclature | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Valencian | Tortosí (Tortosan) | Northern Valencian | Northern | Southern Catalonia and Northern Valencian Community (including a small part of Aragon) |
| Castellonenc (Castellon's Valencian) | ||||
| Central Valencian (Apitxat) | Central | Central Valencian Community (especially Valencia Metro Area) | ||
| Southern Valencian | Upper Southern Valencian | Southern | Southern Valencian Community (including a small part of Murcia) | |
| Alacantí (Alicante's Valencian) | Lower Southern Valencian | |||
Comarcal extension of the dialects of Model C (within the Valencian Community only):
Northern: els Ports, l'Alt and el Baix Maestrat.
Castellonenc: l'Alcalatén, el Pla de l'Arc, la Plana Alta and Baixa.
Central: South of la Plana Baixa (Almenara and la Llosa), el Camp de Morvedre, l'Horta de València, el Camp de Túria, most of la Ribera Alta and the Western zone of la Ribera Baixa.
Upper Southern: non-apitxat zones of la Ribera Alta and Baixa, la Safor, Costera, la Vall d'Albaida, l'Alcoià, la Marina Alta and Baixa, Northern zone of l'Alacantí.
Lower Southern: the towns on the South of the line that connects the localities of Biar and Busot.
Catalan has inherited the typical vowel system of Vulgar Latin, with seven stressed phonemes: /a,ɛ,e,i,ɔ,o,u/, a common feature in Western Romance, except Spanish, Asturian, and Aragonese. [19] Balearic has also instances of stressed /ə/. [20] Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction, [21] and the incidence of the pair /ɛ,e/. [22]
In Eastern Catalan (except most of Majorcan), unstressed vowels reduce to three: /a,e,ɛ/ → [ ə ]; /o,ɔ,u/ → [ u ]; /i/ remains distinct. [23] There are a few instances of unreduced [ e ], [ o ] in some words. [23] Alguerese has lowered [ə] to [ a ], similar to Eastern dialects spoken in the Barcelona metropolitan area (however, in the latter dialects the vowels are distinct as [ ɐ ] vs. [ a ]).
In Majorcan (except in some parts of in the northern of the island), unstressed vowels reduce to four: /a,e,ɛ/ follow the Eastern Catalan reduction pattern; however /o,ɔ/ reduce to [ o ], with /u/ remaining distinct, as in Western Catalan. [24]
In Western Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to five: /e,ɛ/ → [ e ]; /o,ɔ/ → [ o ]; /a,u,i/ remain distinct. [25] [26] This reduction pattern, inherited from Proto-Romance, is also found in Italian and Portuguese. [25] Some Western dialects present further reduction or vowel harmony in some cases. [25] [27]
Central, Western, and Balearic differ in the lexical incidence of stressed /e/ and /ɛ/. [22] Usually, words with /ɛ/ in central Catalan correspond to /ə/ in Balearic and /e/ in Western Catalan. [22] Words with /e/ in Balearic almost always have /e/ in central and western Catalan as well. [22] As a result, Western Catalan has a much higher incidence of /e/. [22]
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| Word pairs: the first with stressed root, the second with unstressed root | Western | Eastern | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Majorcan | Central | Northern | |||
| Front vowels | gel ("ice") gelat ("ice cream") | [ˈdʒɛl] [dʒeˈlat] | [ˈʒɛl] [ʒəˈlat] | [ˈʒel] [ʒəˈlat] | |
| pera ("pear") perera ("pear tree") | [ˈpeɾa] [peˈɾeɾa] | [ˈpəɾə] [pəˈɾeɾə] | [ˈpɛɾə] [pəˈɾeɾə] | [ˈpeɾə] [pəˈɾeɾə] | |
| pedra ("stone") pedrera ("quarry") | [ˈpeðɾa] [peˈðɾeɾa] | [ˈpeðɾə] [pəˈðɾeɾə] | |||
| banya ("he bathes") banyem/banyam ("we bathe") | [ˈbaɲa] [baˈɲem] | [ˈbaɲə] [bəˈɲam] | [ˈbaɲə] [bəˈɲɛm] | [ˈbaɲə] [bəˈɲem] | |
| Back vowels | cosa ("thing") coseta ("little thing") | [ˈkɔza] [koˈzeta] | [ˈkɔzə] [koˈzətə] | [ˈkɔzə] [kuˈzɛtə] | [ˈkozə] [kuˈzetə] |
| tot ("everything") total ("total") | [ˈtot] [toˈtal] | [ˈtot] [tuˈtal] | [ˈtut] [tuˈtal] | ||
Note, the quality of vowels also varies across dialects, and they may present a wide range of contextual allophones. For further information see Catalan phonology#Vowels.
Catalan and Valencian dialects are characterised by final-obstruent devoicing, lenition and voicing assimilation. Additionally, many dialects contrast two rhotics (/r,ɾ/) and two laterals (/l,ʎ/).
Most Catalan and Valencian dialects are also renowned by the usage of dark l (i.e. velarisation of /l/ → [ ɫ ]), which is especially noticeable in syllable final position, in comparison to neighbouring languages, such as Spanish, Italian and French (that lack this pronunciation).
There is dialectal variation in regard to:
Consonant mergers (between dialects) include:
In Western Catalan, the 1st person present indicative ending for verbs is -e (∅ in verbs of the 2nd and 3rd conjugation), or -o. For example, parle, tem, sent (Valencian); parlo, temo, sento (North-Western). In Eastern Catalan, the 1st person present indicative ending for verbs is -o, -i or ∅ in all conjugations. For example, parlo (Central), parl (Balearic), parli (Northern); all meaning "I speak".
| Conjugation class | Eastern Catalan | Western Catalan | Gloss | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | Northern | Balearic | Valencian | North-Western | ||
| First | parlo | parli | parl | parle | parlo | "I speak" |
| Second | temo | temi | tem | tem | temo | "I fear" |
| Third | sento | senti | sent | sent | sento | "I feel"/"I hear" |
In Western Catalan, the inchoative desinences for verbs are -isc/-ixo, -ix, -ixen, -isca. In Eastern Catalan, the inchoative desinences for verbs are -eixo, -eix, -eixen, -eixi.
In Western Catalan, the /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone nouns and adjectives is maintained. For example, hòmens 'men', jóvens 'youth'. In Eastern Catalan, the /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone nouns and adjectives is lost. For example, homes 'men', joves 'youth'.
Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices. [30] Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually Central Catalan acts as an innovative element. [30]
| Gloss | "mirror" | "boy" | "broom" | "navel" | "to exit" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Catalan | mirall | noi | escombra | llombrígol | sortir |
| Western Catalan | espill | xiquet | granera | melic | eixir |
Catalan 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, 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 Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".
Occitan, also known as lenga d'òc by its native speakers, sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, these regions are sometimes referred to as Occitania. It is also spoken in Calabria in a linguistic enclave of Cosenza area. Some include Catalan in Occitan, as the linguistic distance ("distance") between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance between different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century and still today remains its closest relative.
Ribagorçan is a number of Romance dialects spoken in the modern territories of the medieval County of Ribagorza, in northern Spain.
Valencian or the Valencian language is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the Romance language also known as Catalan, either as a whole or in its Valencia-specific linguistic forms. The Valencian Community's 1982 Statute of Autonomy officially recognises Valencian as the name of the regional language.
Algherese or Alguerese is the variety of Catalan spoken in the city of Alghero, in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy.
The Iberian Romance, Ibero-Romance or sometimes Iberian languages are a group of Romance languages that developed on the Iberian Peninsula, an area consisting primarily of Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Andorra and southern France. They are today more commonly separated into West Iberian and Occitano-Romance language groups.
Balearic is the collective name for the dialects of Catalan spoken in the Balearic Islands: mallorquí in Mallorca, eivissenc in Ibiza and menorquí in Menorca.
The Catalan phonology has a certain degree of dialectal variation. Although there are two standard varieties, one based on Central Eastern dialect and another one based on South-Western or Valencian, this article deals with features of all or most dialects, as well as regional pronunciation differences.
The Catalan and Valencian orthographies encompass the spelling and punctuation of standard Catalan and Valencian. There are also several adapted variants to the peculiarities of local dialects of Insular Catalan.
Central Catalan is an Eastern Catalan dialect spoken in the whole province of Barcelona, the eastern half of the province of Tarragona and most of the province of Girona, except for its northern part, where a transition to Northern Catalan begins.
Northern Catalan, also known as Roussillonese (rossellonès), is a Catalan dialect mostly spoken in Northern Catalonia, but also extending in the northeast part of Southern Catalonia in a transition zone with Central Catalan. All speakers of Catalan from North Catalonia are at least natively bilingual with French.
Occitano-Romance is a branch of the Romance language group that encompasses the Catalan/Valencian, Occitan languages and sometimes Aragonese, spoken in parts of southern France and northeastern Spain.
Joan Veny i Clar is a linguist and Catalan dialectologist from Majorca, considered one of the most prestigious and renowned of the Catalan Countries. He is the author of Els parlars catalans, an essential book for Catalan dialectology, synthesis of the dialectal variation of the entire space of the Catalan Countries; and furthermore a dense and rich work, made in conjunction with Lydia Pons: Linguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain.
Old Catalan, also known as Medieval Catalan, is the modern denomination for Romance varieties that during the Middle Ages were spoken in territories that spanned roughly the territories of the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and the island of Sardinia; all of them then part of the Crown of Aragon. These varieties were part of a dialect continuum with what today is called Old Occitan that reached the Loire Valley in the north and Northern Italy in the east. Consequently, Old Catalan can be considered a dialect group of Old Occitan, or be classified as an Occitano-Romance variety side by side with Old Occitan.
As a member of the dialect continuum of Romance languages, Catalan displays linguistic features similar to those of its closest neighbors. The following features represent in some cases unique changes in the evolution of Catalan from Vulgar Latin; other features are common in other Romance-speaking areas.
The Spanish language is widely spoken in most of the Catalan-speaking territories, where it is partly characterized by language contact with the Catalan language. These territories are: Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Andorra, and the easternmost areas of Aragon. This linguistic contact is encouraged by the fact that almost all of the Catalan speakers in these regions are Catalan–Spanish bilingual to a greater or lesser extent.
Southern Valencian is a dialect of Valencian spoken in the south of the Valencian Community. It comprises two sub-varieties, Northern or Upper Southern Valencian and Southern or Lower Southern Valencian.
There is a variety of Vernacular languages spoken in Spain. Spanish, the official language in the entire country, is the predominant native language in almost all of the autonomous communities in Spain. Six of the seventeen autonomous communities in Spain have other co-official languages in addition to Spanish. Bilingualism in different degrees and in distinct communicative situations between Spanish and another language is a habitual practice for many of the Spanish people who reside in one of these autonomous communities.
Central Valencian, popularly known as apitxat, is a dialect of Valencian spoken around the metropolitan area of Valencia in the Valencian Community, and characterised by the devoicing of voiced sibilants.
Northern Valencian is a dialect chain spoken in the north of the Valencian Community and south of Catalonia. It comprises two main varieties: Transitional Valencian spoken around the town of Tortosa, and classified as either a dialect of Catalonia, or a Valencian dialect; and Castellon's Valencian or Northern Valencian.
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