The Catalan Tongue – Word Travels

Sept. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- Catalan is a western romance language spoken in the eastern region of Spain, mainly in Catalonia, Valencia and in some municipalities. The language developed from Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis.

Funnily enough Spanish isn't the first language of the nearby Balearic Islands: they have their own take on the language. In Menorca their variety of Catalan is called 'Menorqui', the difference between Menorqui and standard Catalan, as with the other Balearic dialects, is the most distinctive difference is the different word used for the article “the”, where Menorqui uses “es” for masculine and “sa” for feminine. This means that Menorqui shares the source of its article with many Sardinian varieties, rather than the standard Catalan “el” and “la” which is common to languages of Romance descent. This corresponds to a form which was historically used along the Costa Brava of Catalonia, from where it is supposed that the islands were repopulated after being conquered from the Moors. Menorqui has taken a few words from the English language that dates back to the British occupation and they also sound like words as well such as grevi (gravy), xumaquer (Shoemaker), boinder (bow maker) and xoc (chalk). So while venturing out of one of the various Menorca villas you can hear stuff you’re used to, but with a twist.

In Andorra, Catalan is the official language and is also the historic and traditional language of the country that is used by the government, television, radio and other national media, as well as the main language of all the people living in the territory of Andorran nationality, which is about 33% of the total population. It is mainly the language of about 25% of Spanish immigrants, almost half of Andorra's population, as many immigrated from nearby Spanish regions such as Catalonia or Valencia. The government has ordered/enforced that immigrants must learn and be able to use the language as a way to fully apply to the constitution - they are banking on this to reduce the issue of people living in the country without knowing how to speak the native tongue.

Andorra is the only country in the world that has Catalan an official status in all of its country. This led to the strange situation that the only native language of the country spoken by more than 10 million, with a thriving culture, and officially recognized by the United Nations. Catalan is also spoken in parts of France, in the southern region there is the Pyrenee-Orientales. This was part of the former Principality of the Catalonia, throughout the past it has been a Catalan speaking and is sometimes called North Catalonia. Although it is recognised as a regional language, it doesn't have any real official recognition in the country and French is still the only official language.

Also in Italy, the town Alghero the language is spoken although it is in the minority. It was introduced when Catalan invaders repopulated the town after capturing the city from the Genoese in 1353, this basically out most of the Sardinian population. But the language was replaced by Spanish in the 17th century and finally Italian.  Research has shown 22.4 of the population spoke a form of Catalan’s a first language and most people (around 90%) understood the language.

Catalan is roughly around 21st place out of 56 when it comes to the number of people who speak the language in Europe. In terms of its territory, it is bigger than Holland, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland.




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