Catalan Language: History, Origin, and Current Challenges
1. Language Families
Languages are grouped into families based on shared ancestry. The Indo-European family, a large and diverse group, includes:
- Romance Languages: Spanish, Catalan, French, Occitan, Galician-Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, Romansh, and Sardinian
- Germanic Languages: English, German, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, and Icelandic
- Slavic Languages: Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak, and Polish
- Celtic Languages: Breton, Welsh, and Scottish
- Indo-Iranian Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, and Persian
- Other Languages: Albanian, Armenian, and Greek
Language families can be divided into subfamilies. Some languages, like Basque, have unknown origins.
2. Catalan’s Place in the World
Catalan belongs to the Romance family, derived from Latin, alongside Spanish, French, Portuguese, Galician, Italian, Occitan, Romanian, Romansh, and Sardinian.
3. Languages of Spain
Several languages are spoken in Spain: Catalan, Spanish, Galician, Basque (the only surviving language from before the Roman conquest), and Aranese (spoken in the Vall d’Aran, descended from old Asturian and Aragonese).
4. Catalan: A Romance Language
The Roman conquest, starting with the landing in Ampurias, significantly impacted the region’s culture and language. The inhabitants adopted Latin, influencing Catalan language and culture. Coastal areas were Romanized faster than inland regions. A pre-Roman language survived in the Pyrenees, coexisting with the emerging Romance language.
4.1. The Substrate
Substrate languages are those spoken before the Romans. Studying these languages is challenging due to limited historical information.
4.2. Classical Latin vs. Vulgar Latin
Romance languages derive from Vulgar Latin, the spoken form of Classical Latin. Key differences include vowel changes, declension simplification, the emergence of articles, and the use of compound tenses.
5. The Birth of Catalan
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, political ties with Rome dissolved. Christianity played a role in Romanization. The name “Catalan” for the language emerged around the 13th century.
5.1. The Emergence of Written Catalan
Catalan likely existed as a distinct language from Latin by the 8th century. Early written forms appeared in the mid-9th century within Latin texts. The Forum Iudicum is the first legal text translated from Latin. The Homilies d’Organyà are an Occitan translation of a sermon.
5.2. Influences from Other Languages
Superstrate languages, those introduced after the Romans, influenced Catalan. These include Germanic and Arabic languages.
6. Expansion: 12th-15th Centuries
Catalan expanded territorially, starting in Catalonia, then to the Balearic Islands, Valencia, and the Mediterranean coast. Commercial, political, military, and cultural interactions within the Crown of Aragon and other Mediterranean countries led to language exchange. Catalan borrowed words from Medieval Greek, Italian, Sardinian, and Occitan, and also influenced other languages. Catalan’s prominence grew due to the economic, political, and cultural influence of the Crown of Aragon.
7. The 16th Century
The end of the Catalan royal dynasty and the rise of the Spanish Trastámara dynasty initiated a process of Castilianization. The Reapers’ War and the Treaty of the Pyrenees resulted in some Catalan-speaking areas becoming part of France, where French gradually replaced Catalan. The War of Succession led to the Nueva Planta decrees, abolishing Catalan institutions and making Spanish the official language.
8. The Renaissance: 19th Century
The 19th century saw a growing Catalan linguistic and cultural revival.
9. The 20th Century
9.1. Language Standardization
Catalan publications and its use in education increased. The Institut d’Estudis Catalans was founded. Pompeu Fabra’s work on spelling, dictionaries, and grammar modernized Catalan.
9.2. Republic and Dictatorship
The Generalitat promoted Catalan normalization, but the process was halted by the Civil War and subsequent ban on Catalan. Despite this, Catalan identity persisted in some areas.
9.3. Restoration of Institutions
The restoration of the Generalitat, the Statute of Autonomy, and language standardization efforts revitalized Catalan normalization. However, usage levels haven’t yet reached those of other languages in similar situations.
10. Catalan Today: Remaining Challenges
Challenges to full normalization include integrating immigrant populations, low birth rates, and the dominance of other languages in new technologies. Increasing language use remains the biggest challenge, requiring societal participation.
11. Legal Framework of Catalan
Catalan’s legal status varies:
- Catalonia: Co-official with Spanish
- Valencia: Co-official with Spanish (as Valencian)
- Balearic Islands: Co-official with Spanish
- Aragon: Not officially recognized
- Murcia: Not officially recognized
- Andorra: The sole official language
- Northern Catalonia (France): Not officially recognized
- Alghero (Italy): Officially recognized