Xava: A word used - often derogatorily - to describe a distinct type of Catalan found in Greater Barcelona.Eastern Catalan provides the basis for standard Catalan.Īpart from this official division, Catalan speakers also refer to other varieties: The first meridian east roughly marks the border between both. The Catalan language is split into two groups of dialects: Eastern and Western Catalan. On the island of Menorca, ruled by the British for almost a century until 1802, people still use (catalanized) English words like “xoc” (chalk) or “escrú” (screw). As most of the Iberian Peninsula was for centuries under Arab control, modern-day Catalan is rich in Arabic loan words. Just like any other language, Catalan reflects the stories of its speakers. Lastly, around five percent of France’s Pyrénées-Orientales – which before 1659 belonged to the Crown of Aragon - are also Catalan-speaking. Catalan can also regularly be heard in New York’s UN General Assembly, or the Eurovision, as it is the only official language of the Principality of Andorra, a microstate sandwiched between Spain and France. Owing to the Mediterranean expansion of the Kingdom of Aragon in the Middle Ages, to this day Catalan is spoken in places as far from the language’s cradle as the city of Alghero (L’Alguer, in Catalan) on the Italian island of Sardinia. Pockets of the Catalonia-adjacent region of Aragon are also Catalan-speaking.Īll in all, more than one in ten Spaniards speaks a variety of Catalan at home, an impressive figure given Spanish dictator Francisco Franco’s almost four-decade-long war on linguistic diversity in the country. Across these regions, Catalan has a prominent - yet uneven - presence in school, everyday life, and the media alongside Castilian Spanish. Catalan words and sentences you’ll need if you hikeĬontrary to what its name suggests, Catalan is by no means confined to Catalonia, whose constitution grants it the status of “native language.” So does the Valencian Region - under the label of valencià (Valencian) - and the Balearic Islands, where the distinct local varieties of the Catalan language are named after each island: mallorquí (Mallorca), menorquí ( Menorca), and so forth.He has conducted research on the Moroccan project to revitalize the Tamazight language at Georgetown University, where he graduated with a Master’s in Arab Studies, and has been a Spanish teacher at a public high school on the French East African island of Mayotte. As a native Asturian, he is an ardent champion of linguistic minorities and speaks seven languages himself. He taught himself the language before moving to Catalonia through music lyrics and the Catalan public broadcaster’s satirical TV shows. “Is menorquí your mother tongue?”, asked his examiner after he completed the oral exam declaring him officially proficient. Marcos Bartolomé has lived in Barcelona for less than two years but he is often mistaken as a native Catalan speaker. This traveler’s guide to the Catalan language is all you need to venture off the beaten tracks of La Rambla and Sagrada Família and into the locals’ hearts. And while it is true that Spanish is universally spoken and English will take you a long way, even a clumsy “bon dia” - good morning in Catalan - will have everyone nodding appreciatively. Worse, it is not uncommon for tourists to mistake Catalan as a dialect of Spanish (in fact, it derives directly from Vulgar Latin). ![]() Yet, despite Catalan-speaking Spain’s whooping popularity, many visitors remain blissfully unaware of its millenary linguistic heritage.
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