The Catalan 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] The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.[4]
In 1861, linguist Manuel Milà i Fontanals split Catalan into two main dialects: 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 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).[8] 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.[10] Therefore, in the context of linguistic conflict, recognition and respect towards the dual standard, as well as the dual Catalan–Valencian denomination,[11] pacifies the tense central–periphery relations between Catalonia and the Valencian community.
Block | WESTERN CATALAN | EASTERN CATALAN | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dialect | Northwestern | Valencian | Central | Balearic | Roussillonese (Northern) | Alguerese |
Area | Spain, Andorra | Spain | France | Italy | ||
Andorra, Provinces of Lleida, western half of Tarragona, La Franja | Autonomous community of Valencia, Carche | Provinces of Barcelona, eastern half of Tarragona, most of Girona | Balearic islands | Roussillon/Northern Catalonia | City of Alghero in Sardinia |
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.[13] Balearic has also instances of stressed /ə/.[14] Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction,[15] and the incidence of the pair /ɛ e/.[16]
In Eastern Catalan (except Majorcan), unstressed vowels reduce to three: /a e ɛ/ → [ə]; /o ɔ u/ → [u]; /i/ remains distinct.[17] There are a few instances of unreduced [e], [o] in some words.[17] 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, 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.[18]
In Western Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to five: /e ɛ/ → [e]; /o ɔ/ → [o]; /a u i/ remain distinct.[19][20] This reduction pattern, inherited from Proto-Romance, is also found in Italian and Portuguese.[19] Some Western dialects present further reduction or vowel harmony in some cases.[19][21]
Central, Western, and Balearic differ in the lexical incidence of stressed /e/ and /ɛ/.[16] Usually, words with /ɛ/ in central Catalan correspond to /ə/ in Balearic and /e/ in Western Catalan.[16] Words with /e/ in Balearic almost always have /e/ in central and western Catalan as well.[16] As a result, Western Catalan has a much higher incidence of /e/.[16]
|
|
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 ("we bathe") Majorcan: 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] |
In verbs, the 1st person present indicative ending is -e (∅ in verbs of the 2nd and 3rd conjugation), or -o.
For parle, tem, sent (Valencian); parlo, temo, sento (North-Western). In verbs, the 1st person present indicative ending is -o, -i or ∅ in all conjugations.
For example, parlo (Central), parl (Balearic), parli (Northern), ('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 verbs, the inchoative desinences are -isc/-ixo, -ix, -ixen, -isca. In verbs, the inchoative desinences are -eixo, -eix, -eixen, -eixi.
In nouns and adjectives, maintenance of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g., hòmens 'men', jóvens 'youth'.
In nouns and adjectives, loss of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g., homes 'men', joves 'youth'.
Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices.[24] Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually Central Catalan acts as an innovative element.[24]
Gloss | "mirror" | "boy" | "broom" | "navel" | "to exit" |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern Catalan | mirall | noi | escombra | llombrígol | sortir |
Western Catalan | espill | xiquet | granera | melic | eixir |
Insular Catalan may refer to:
Continental Catalan[25][26][27] may refer to: