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Lleida (province)
Lleida is a province of eastern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Zaragoza (Saragossa), and Huesca, and France and Andorra.
Of the population of 385,092 (2004), about 30% live in the capital, Lleida. Some other towns in Lleida province are La Seu d'Urgell (site of the archbishop who is the coprince to Andorra), Mollerussa, Cervera, Tàrrega. There are 231 municipalities in Lleida. See List of municipalities in Lleida.
In this province there is the Val d'Aran, a special comarca with more autonomy.
The Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici national park is located in Lleida.
The province enjoys a thriving fruit-growing industry, including pears and peaches.
Lleida is the local Catalan name, and also the official Spanish name according to the Spanish Government. However the form Lérida is also acceptable in Spanish.
It is a bilingual, predominantly Catalan-speaking province, with a characteristic dialect with lo, los as the masculine definite article. The local dialects are part of Western Catalan, and as such shares some features with Valencian (whose dialects are also part of Western Catalan).
Image:Lleida-15-1 seu vella.jpg
Image:Lleida-12-2 claustre.jpg
Image:Lleida-13-2 seu vella capitel.jpg
Category:Geography of Catalonia
Category:Provinces of Spain
Provinces of Spainright
In addition to its seventeen autonomous communities, Spain is divided into fifty provinces.
Formerly of greater importance, since the arrival of the autonomous community system the provinces have had fewer powers. They are still used as electoral districts, in postal addresses, and as geographical referents. (A small town would be identified as being in Valladolid province sooner than as being in Castile-Leon, for example.)
Most of the provinces are named after their principal town with the exception of Pontevedra. There are only two cities that are capitals of autonomous communities without being capitals of provinces: Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
Seven autonomous communities are composed of only one province: Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre.
The table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the capital city is given, along with the autonomous community it is a part of, and a link to a list of municipalities in the province. Where local place-names differ from the Spanish, both are given, with the Spanish form first.
See also
- Autonomous communities of Spain
ko:에스파냐의 주
Autonomous communities of Spain
Spain's fifty provinces (provincias) are grouped into seventeen autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas), in addition to two African autonomous cities (ciudades autónomas) (Ceuta and Melilla).
Formation and powers
Centralism, nationalism and separatism played an important role in the Spanish transition. For fear that separatism would lead to instability and a dictatorial backlash, a compromise was struck among the moderate political parties taking part in the drafting of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The aim was to appease separatist forces and so disarm the extreme right. A highly decentralized state was established, compared both with the previous Francoist regime and with most modern territorial arrangements in Western European nations.
The autonomous communities have wide legislative and executive autonomy, with their own parliaments and regional governments.
The distribution of competences is different for every community, collected in the "autonomy statute" (estatuto de autonomía). There is a de facto distinction between "historic" communities (Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, and Andalusia) and the rest. The historic ones initially received more functions, including the ability of the regional presidents to choose the timing of the regional elections (as long as they happen at most 4 years apart). As another example, the Basque Country and Catalonia have full-range police forces of their own: Ertzaintza in the Basque Country and Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalonia. Other communities have a limited-bailiwick one or none at all.
The Constitution recognizes the historical rights of regions in general terms. This is a reference to the special status of certain regions with respect to the whole as a result of past agreements between the central government and the region, some times centuries ago. It is understood that those rights need to be actualized through the estatuto de autonomía. This explains why the Basque Country and Navarre collect taxes and negotiate with the Spanish government on how much they must contribute to the state's treasury while the rest receive allocations according to the "transferred" government functions.
The initial intent was not that every part of Spain should become part of an autonomous community, but that only the "historic" communities would be created. However, shortly after the Constitution was approved, a wave of creation of autonomous communities ensued. This was dubbed café para todos ("coffee for everybody") by critics of the decentralization.
There has been a tendency for "slow-track" communities to aspire to the function range of their elders. Even in communities without a separatist tradition, the local branches of parties fight for more power and budgets. Current points of disagreement are tax collection and representation at institutions of the European Union.
The Spanish Constitution of 1931 gave autonomy to Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country, but the Spanish civil war crushed this experiment.
List
Here is a list of the communities and provinces.
See also:
- List of Spanish autonomous communities by area
- List of Spanish autonomous communities by population
- List of ISO 3166 codes for Spanish autonomous communities and provinces
The map is stable, though some minorities claim separate communities for León, Orihuela and Álava. Also, there is an enclave of Burgos (Castilla y León) inside Álava (País Vasco), called Condado de Treviño where some inhabitants would like to leave Burgos and join Álava.
Plazas de soberanía
There are five "places of sovereignty" (plazas de soberanía) near Morocco, under direct Spanish administration:
- Ceuta and Melilla have a status between plain cities (they can produce regulations to execute Acts, with higher regulation competencies than normal city councils) and autonomous communities (these cities cannot produce autonomous Acts).
- Islas Chafarinas,
- Peñón de Alhucemas,
- and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera
See also
- Flags of the autonomous communities of Spain
External link
- [http://www.rulers.org/spanautc.html Spanish autonomous communities] (Rulers.org)
- [http://www.spanish-airport-guide.com Airports In Spain]
Spain, Autonomous communities of
Category:Geography of Spain
-
Category:Subdivisions of Spain
ko:에스파냐의 자치 지방
ja:スペインの地方行政区画
simple:Autonomous communities of Spain
Girona (province)
Girona (Spanish: Gerona) is a province of eastern Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Barcelona and Lleida, and by France and the Mediterranean Sea.
598,112 people (2002) live in the province. Its capital is Girona, where just over an eighth of the population of the province lives. Some towns in Girona province include Figueres, Puigcerdà, Olot, Banyoles, Blanes, Ripoll, Camprodon.
See also List of municipalities in Girona.
Part of the territory of Girona, the municipality of Llívia, is an exclave separate from the rest of Spain and surrounded by France.
The comarques of the province of Girona are:
- l'Alt Empordà
- la Baixa Cerdanya
- el Baix Empordà
- la Garrotxa
- el Gironès
- el Pla de l'Estany
- el Ripollès
- la Selva
Category:Geography of Catalonia
Category:Provinces of Spain
Barcelona (province)
Barcelona is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea.
Its capital is Barcelona. 4,906,117 people live in the province (2002), of whom fewer than a third live in the municipality of Barcelona.
Some other cities and towns in Barcelona province include L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Cerdanyola, Martorell, Mataró, Granollers, Sabadell, Terrassa, Sitges, Igualada, Vic, Manresa, Berga.
See also List of municipalities in Barcelona.
The province contains the following comarques:
- Alt Penedès
- Anoia
- Bages
- Baix Llobregat
- Barcelonès
- Garraf
- Maresme
- Osona
- Vallès Oriental
- Vallès Occidental
The province is famous for its architecture.
Category:Geography of Catalonia
Category:Provinces of Spain
Zaragoza (province)
Zaragoza (also called Saragossa in English) is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. It is bordered by the provinces of Lleida, Tarragona, Teruel, Guadalajara, Soria, La Rioja, Navarre, and Huesca.
Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also the capital of the autonomous community. Other towns in Zaragoza include Calatayud.
Its area is 17,274 km². Its population is 880,118 (2003), of whom nearly three-quarters live in the capital, and its population density is 50.95/km². It contains 292 municipalities, of which more than half are villages with under 300 people. See List of municipalities in Zaragoza.
See also List of Aragonese comarcas.
Category:Aragon
Category:Provinces of Spain
Lleida old Cathedral of Lleida]]
Lleida (Catalan, Spanish: Lérida (although officially referred as Lleida) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name, and has 119,935 inhabitants as of 2004. Its main industries are agriculture and tourism.
It is a bilingual Catalan-speaking town and province, with a characteristic dialect (known as Western or, more specifically, North-Western Catalan) with features such as lo and los for the definite article, or final a pronounced as /ɛ/. Some of these features, however, are nowadays more common among older people and in the province rather than in the town of Lleida, where only the phonetic aspects of the dialect are preserved. Castilian Spanish is spoken by everyone as well.
In ancient times it was named Iltrida and Ilerda (after the Ilergets, an Iberian tribe). The Battle of Ilerda, one of the most important battles of the Roman Civil War fought between Julius Caesar and Pompeius took place in 49 BC. It was conquered from the Moors by the Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1148. It was the seat of a major university until 1717. Lleida served as a key defense point for Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, and fell to the Insurgents in 1938.
Lleida is currently the eastern terminus of the Spanish state railway's AVE high-speed rail line, serving Zaragoza, Calatayud, Guadalajara, and Madrid. The line is expected to be extended to Barcelona in the next few years.
A Latin-American cinema festival is hold yearly in the town, and an animation film festival called Animac also takes place there every May.
Some interesting sights of the town are
- The Seu Vella, a Cathedral built in a blend of Romanesque and Gothic styles over the time, and made a military fortress in the 18th century and the older Palau de la Suda, both over the so-called Turó de la Seu, a medium-sized hill.
- The Seu Nova, the New Cathedral used since Bourbon rule. It was burnt during the Spanish Civil War by the anarchists commanded by Durruti.
- Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs, used to be a hospital (Antic Hospital de Santa Maria) built in a Gothic style, but nowadays it is an historical museum and research centre open to visitors.
- La Paeria, the city council and also, a historical site with remains and pieces of art from Roman times, to the Moorish rule, to Mediaeval and Modern times.
- The castle of Gardeny, a fortress used by the Knights Templar in the Middle Ages.
- The gardens known as Camps Elisis, already used by the Romans
- The Bishop's Palace also serves as an art museum showing pieces included in the styles spanning from Romanesque to Baroque.
External links
- [http://www.paeria.es/ Official web site of the city council of Lleida]
- [http://www.udl.es/ Website of the University of Lleida]
- [http://www.lleidatur.com/ Tourism information of Lleida]
- [http://cat.lleida.com/ Internet Portal of the town]
- [http://www.unioesportivalleida.com/ Unió Esportiva Lleida]
Category:Cities and towns in Catalonia
Category:Municipalities in Spain
ja:レリダ
CerveraCervera is the capital of the comarca of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain.
It was the site of the Universitat de Barcelona for some 150 years after the War of the Spanish Succession. The urban legend says that the new king Philip V wanted to reward the town for its fidelity to his party, so asked the town principals what sort of recompense they wished for. They replied they wanted a sea port (the province is land locked and some 100 km from the nearest sea). Instead, the king awarded them the university of the rebel Barcelona.
Category:Cities and towns in Catalonia
List of municipalities in LleidaThis is a list of the municipalities in the province of Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain.
See also Comarques of Catalonia.
| Name | Pop.
(2002) |
| Abella de la Conca, Lleida | 188 |
| Àger, Lleida | 507 |
| Agramunt, Lleida | 5,071 |
| Aitona, Lleida | 2,193 |
| Els Alamús, Lleida | 693 |
| Alàs i Cerc, Lleida | 405 |
| L'Albagés, Lleida | 502 |
| Albatàrrec, Lleida | 1,236 |
| Albesa, Lleida | 1,515 |
| L'Albi, Lleida | 806 |
| Alcanó, Lleida | 256 |
| Alcarràs, Lleida | 4,838 |
| Alcoletge, Lleida | 1,862 |
| Alfarràs, Lleida | 2,974 |
| Alfés, Lleida | 331 |
| Algerri, Lleida | 510 |
| Alguaire, Lleida | 2,844 |
| Alins, Lleida | 272 |
| Almacelles, Lleida | 5,753 |
| Almatret, Lleida | 468 |
| Almenar, Lleida | 3,488 |
| Alòs de Balaguer, Lleida | 174 |
| Alpicat, Lleida | 4,481 |
| Alt Àneu, Lleida | 442 |
| Anglesola, Lleida | 1,284 |
| Arbeca, Lleida | 2,436 |
| Arres, Lleida | 59 |
| Arsèguel, Lleida | 103 |
| Artesa de Lleida, Lleida | 1,323 |
| Artesa de Segre, Lleida | 3,283 |
| Aspa, Lleida | 272 |
| Les Avellanes i Santa Linya, Lleida | 482 |
| Baix Pallars, Lleida | 350 |
| Balaguer, Lleida | 13,718 |
| Barbens, Lleida | 801 |
| La Baronia de Rialb, Lleida | 276 |
| Bassella, Lleida | 306 |
| Bausen, Lleida | 55 |
| Belianes, Lleida | 590 |
| Bellaguarda, Lleida | 358 |
| Bellcaire d'Urgell, Lleida | 1,257 |
| Bell-lloc d'Urgell, Lleida | 2,122 |
| Bellmunt d'Urgell, Lleida | 235 |
| Bellpuig, Lleida | 4,200 |
| Bellver de Cerdanya, Lleida | 1,673 |
| Bellvís, Lleida | 2,174 |
| Benavent de Segrià, Lleida | 1,003 |
| Biosca, Lleida | 245 |
| Es Bòrdes, Lleida | 222 |
| Les Borges Blanques, Lleida | 5,313 |
| Bossòst, Lleida | 966 |
| Bovera, Lleida | 385 |
| Cabanabona, Lleida | 98 |
| Cabó, Lleida | 118 |
| Camarasa, Lleida | 882 |
| Canejan, Lleida | 109 |
| Castell de Mur, Lleida | 151 |
| Castellar de la Ribera, Lleida | 144 |
| Castelldans, Lleida | 967 |
| Castellnou de Seana, Lleida | 723 |
| Castelló de Farfanya, Lleida | 582 |
| Castellserà, Lleida | 1,110 |
| Cava, Lleida | 58 |
| Cervera, Lleida | 8,123 |
| Cervià de les Garrigues, Lleida | 874 |
| Ciutadilla, Lleida | 202 |
| Clariana de Cardener, Lleida | 148 |
| El Cogul, Lleida | 236 |
| Coll de Nargó, Lleida | 599 |
| La Coma i la Pedra, Lleida | 245 |
| Conca de Dalt, Lleida | 425 |
| Corbins, Lleida | 1,110 |
| Cubells, Lleida | 378 |
| L'Espluga Calba, Lleida | 429 |
| Espot, Lleida | 320 |
| Estamariu, Lleida | 127 |
| Estaràs, Lleida | 193 |
| Esterri d'Àneu, Lleida | 677 |
| Esterri de Cardós, Lleida | 77 |
| Farrera, Lleida | 95 |
| Fígols i Alinyà, Lleida | 274 |
| La Floresta, Lleida | 192 |
| Fondarella, Lleida | 694 |
| Foradada, Lleida | 201 |
| La Fuliola, Lleida | 1,253 |
| Fulleda, Lleida | 113 |
| Gavet de la Conca, Lleida | 316 |
| Gimenells i el Pla de la Font, Lleida | 1,089 |
| Golmés, Lleida | 1,431 |
| Gósol, Lleida | 235 |
| La Granadella, Lleida | 799 |
| La Granja d'Escarp, Lleida | 1,093 |
| Granyanella, Lleida | 137 |
| Granyena de les Garrigues, Lleida | 156 |
| Granyena de Segarra, Lleida | 147 |
| Guimerà, Lleida | 383 |
| La Guingueta d'Àneu, Lleida | 328 |
| Guissona, Lleida | 3,745 |
| Guixers, Lleida | 153 |
| Isona i Conca Dellà, Lleida | 1,214 |
| Ivars de Noguera, Lleida | 329 |
| Ivars d'Urgell, Lleida | 1,799 |
| Ivorra, Lleida | 159 |
| Josa i Tuixén, Lleida | 151 |
| Juncosa, Lleida | 616 |
| Juneda, Lleida | 2,944 |
| Les, Lleida | 680 |
| Linyola, Lleida | 2,438 |
| Lladorre, Lleida | 224 |
| Lladurs, Lleida | 227 |
| Llardecans, Lleida | 614 |
| Llavorsí, Lleida | 286 |
| Lleida, Lleida | 115,000 |
| Lles de Cerdanya, Lleida | 270 |
| Llimiana, Lleida | 141 |
| Llobera, Lleida | 223 |
| Maials, Lleida | 957 |
| Maldà, Lleida | 273 |
| Massalcoreig, Lleida | 619 |
| Massoteres, Lleida | 195 |
| Menàrguens, Lleida | 830 |
| Miralcamp, Lleida | 1,228 |
| La Molsosa, Lleida | 125 |
| Mollerussa, Lleida | 10,184 |
| Montellà i Martinet, Lleida | 538 |
| Montferrer i Castellbò, Lleida | 753 |
| Montgai, Lleida | 795 |
| Montoliu de Lleida, Lleida | 451 |
| Montoliu de Segarra, Lleida | 184 |
| Montornès de Segarra, Lleida | 102 |
| Nalec, Lleida | 100 |
| Naut Aran, Lleida | 1,493 |
| Navès, Lleida | 278 |
| Odèn, Lleida | 278 |
| Oliana, Lleida | 1,870 |
| Oliola, Lleida | 220 |
| Olius, Lleida | 582 |
| Les Oluges, Lleida | 180 |
| Els Omellons, Lleida | 251 |
| Els Omells de na Gaia, Lleida | 151 |
| Organyà, Lleida | 966 |
| Os de Balaguer, Lleida | 778 |
| Ossó de Sió, Lleida | 239 |
| El Palau d'Anglesola, Lleida | 1,725 |
| Penelles, Lleida | 523 |
| Peramola, Lleida | 385 |
| Pinell de Solsonès, Lleida | 212 |
| Pinós, Lleida | 311 |
| Els Plans de Sió, Lleida | 559 |
| El Poal, Lleida | 639 |
| La Pobla de Cérvoles, Lleida | 224 |
| La Pobla de Segur, Lleida | 2,866 |
| El Pont de Bar, Lleida | 154 |
| El Pont de Suert, Lleida | 2,166 |
| Ponts, Lleida | 2,405 |
| La Portella, Lleida | 636 |
| Prats i Sansor, Lleida | 225 |
| Preixana, Lleida | 437 |
| Preixens, Lleida | 526 |
| Prullans, Lleida | 223 |
| Puiggròs, Lleida | 268 |
| Puigverd d'Agramunt, Lleida | 253 |
| Puigverd de Lleida, Lleida | 1,089 |
| Rialp, Lleida | 554 |
| Ribera d'Ondara, Lleida | 475 |
| Ribera d'Urgellet, Lleida | 844 |
| Riner, Lleida | 276 |
| Riu de Cerdanya, Lleida | 84 |
| Rosselló, Lleida | 1,972 |
| Salàs de Pallars, Lleida | 329 |
| Sanaüja, Lleida | 463 |
| Sant Esteve de la Sarga, Lleida | 104 |
| Sant Guim de Freixenet, Lleida | 1,071 |
| Sant Guim de la Plana, Lleida | 183 |
| Sant Llorenç de Morunys, Lleida | 901 |
| Sant Martí de Riucorb, Lleida | 698 |
| Sant Ramon, Lleida | 564 |
| Sarroca de Bellera, Lleida | 156 |
| Sarroca de Lleida, Lleida | 456 |
| Senterada, Lleida | 102 |
| La Sentiu de Sió, Lleida | 472 |
| Seròs, Lleida | 1,731 |
| La Seu d'Urgell, Lleida | 11,434 |
| Sidamon, Lleida | 577 |
| El Soleràs, Lleida | 438 |
| Solsona, Lleida | 7,689 |
| Soriguera, Lleida | 325 |
| Sort, Lleida | 1,895 |
| Soses, Lleida | 1,535 |
| Sudanell, Lleida | 701 |
| Sunyer, Lleida | 290 |
| Talarn, Lleida | 351 |
| Talavera, Lleida | 288 |
| Tàrrega, Lleida | 13,210 |
| Tarrés, Lleida | 119 |
| Tarroja de Segarra, Lleida | 173 |
| Térmens, Lleida | 1,386 |
| Tírvia, Lleida | 120 |
| Tiurana, Lleida | 32 |
| Torà, Lleida | 1,220 |
| Els Torms, Lleida | 194 |
| Tornabous, Lleida | 825 |
| La Torre de Cabdella, Lleida | 670 |
| Torrebesses, Lleida | 317 |
| Torrefarrera, Lleida | 2,012 |
| Torrefeta i Florejacs, Lleida | 653 |
| Torregrossa, Lleida | 2,195 |
| Torrelameu, Lleida | 601 |
| Torres de Segre, Lleida | 1,854 |
| Torre-serona, Lleida | 347 |
| Tremp, Lleida | 5,367 |
| La Vall de Boí, Lleida | 910 |
| Vall de Cardós, Lleida | 336 |
| Vallbona de les Monges, Lleida | 272 |
| Vallfogona de Balaguer, Lleida | 1,528 |
| Les Valls d'Aguilar, Lleida | 316 |
| Les Valls de Valira, Lleida | 803 |
| La Vansa i Fórnols, Lleida | 182 |
| Verdú, Lleida | 1,067 |
| Vielha e Mijaran, Lleida | 4,352 |
| Vilagrassa, Lleida | 424 |
| Vilaller, Lleida | 579 |
| Vilamòs, Lleida | 151 |
| Vilanova de Bellpuig, Lleida | 1,112 |
| Vilanova de la Barca, Lleida | 905 |
| Vilanova de l'Aguda, Lleida | 264 |
| Vilanova de Meià, Lleida | 438 |
| Vilanova de Segrià, Lleida | 800 |
| Vila-sana, Lleida | 551 |
| El Vilosell, Lleida | 194 |
| Vinaixa, Lleida | 618 |
See also
- Geography of Spain
- List of cities in Spain
Category:Geography of Catalonia
Category:Lists of municipalities in Spain
Val d'Aran
Val d'Aran, a small valley (620.47 km2) is a comarca (county) in the northwestern part of Catalonia, which is an autonomous region of Spain. It is the source of the Garonne, and one of the highest valleys of the Pyrenees. Most of the valley constitutes the only Catalan territory on the north face of the Pyrenees, hence the only part of Catalonia whose waters drain into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, due to its peculiar orientation, which is different from other valleys in the area.
The Val d'Aran borders on the North with France, with Aragón on the west and with the Catalan comarques of Alta Ribagorça to the south and Pallars Sobirà to the east. The capital of the comarca is Vielha, with 3,692 inhabitants (1996). The entire population of the valley is about 7,130 (1996). The chief river is the Garona, which descends through Gascony to the Atlantic. The Noguera Pallaresa, with its head only a hundred meters from that of the Garona, flows the other way, toward the Mediterranean.
The valley used to be without direct communication with the south side of the mountains during winter, until the construction of a tunnel, opened in 1948. Spanish Republican guerrillas (supporters of the Second Spanish Republic, the losing side in the Spanish Civil War) controlled the area from the end of World War II until the opening of the tunnel.
The local language and the name "Val d'Aran"
The name Val d'Aran is Occitan, more precisely Gascon or, yet more precisely, Aranese. "Val d'Aran" itself is a pleonasm, as it means Valley of the Valley (val in Gascon and aran from Basque haran), a combination that reflects its unique geography.
In Aranese, "Val d'Aran" often appears written "era Val d'Aran", using the Aranese singular feminine article like a part of the name. In Catalan, it's "la Vall d'Aran", and in Spanish "el Valle de Arán".
Inhabitants speak a dialect of Gascon called "Aranès" (known in English as "Aranese"), strongly influenced by Aragonese and Catalan. Aranese has its own orthography. Most local Aranese speakers are also fluent in Spanish, Catalan and French. Aranese has been regularly taught at school since 1984. Like several other minority languages in Europe that, until recently, were on the decline and spoken only by the older members of a given society, Aranese is experiencing a renaissance.
Government and economy
The area is divided in six administrative divisions, called terçons (meaning "thirds", as the divisions were formerly three in number). The current arrangement of the divisions dates from the 15th century.
The main income is from ski resorts in the winter, and from tourism in the summer. Other primary sectors of the economy include forest products, cattle raising and apiculture, all of which have become less and less important since the opening of ski resorts.
Municipalities
These population figures are from an unspecified year, but should be from approximately 2001-2002.
- Arres pop. - 63
- Bausen pop. - 51
- Bossòst pop. - 1,011
- Bòrdes pop. - 218
- Canejan pop. - 105
- Les pop. - 676
- Naut Aran pop. - 1,543
- Vielha pop. - 4,547
- Vilamòs pop. - 159
Fauna
Many native animals of the Vall d'Aran are in peril of extinction. There are programs of reintroduction and/or protection for:
- Brown Bear (Ursus arctos)
- Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus)
- Aran rock lizard (Lacerta aranica)
- Bearded vulture (Gypaëtus barbatus)
External links
- [http://aran.ddl.net/ Page of the Aranese government (Conselh Generau d'Aran)] - In catalan
- [http://www.municat.net:8000/omunicat/owa/mun_p12.lli_ens Information from the Generalitat de Catalunya] - In Catalan
Category:Comarques of Catalonia
Category:Valleys
Catalan language
Catalan (Català) or Valencian (Valencià) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra and co-official in several regions of Spain. Spain has the majority of active Catalan speakers, and Catalan is the country's second most widely spoken language. It is spoken or understood by as many as 12 million people who live not only in Andorra and Spain, but also in parts of France and Italy.
Classification
Catalan is a Romance language. According to the Ethnologue, its specific classification is a member of the East Iberian branch of the Ibero-Romance branch of the Gallo-Iberian branch of the Western sub complex of the Italo-Western complex of the Romance group of the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family. It shares many features with both Spanish and French, and is the language nearest to Occitan, and is often thought of as a sort of "transitory" language between the Iberian and Gallic languages when comparing the modern descendants of Latin.
Geographic distribution
Estimates of the number of Catalan speakers vary from four million to twelve million. [http://www.caib.es/conselleries/educacio/dgpoling/user/catalaeuropa/reduides/tripticangles.pdf] (pdf), [http://www.brazilbrazil.com/roman.html], [http://193.2.100.60/SALTMIL/history/review.htm], [http://www.scbwi.org/pubs/bulletin/bull_archives/jan_feb_2003/intl_news.htm], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=CLN].
Catalan is spoken in:
- Catalonia in Spain.
- An adjacent strip of Aragon, Spain, in particular the comarques of Baixa Ribagorça, Llitera, Baix Cinca, and Matarranya.
- Balearic Islands in Spain.
- Andorra.
- Part of the Land of Valencia in Spain, where the language is officially named Valencian.
- Northern Catalonia in France.
- The city of Alghero (l'Alguer) on Sardinia, an island in Italy.
- A small region in Murcia, Spain, known as el Carche in Castilian and el Carxe in Catalan.
All these areas are informally called Catalan countries (Catalan Països Catalans), a denomination based originally on cultural affinity and common heritage, that some have subsequently interpreted politically.
Official status
Catalan is the official language of Andorra. It is co-official in the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia. It has no official status in the parts of Aragon where it is spoken, but has gained some recognition by Aragonese laws since 1990. It has no official status in the other places where it is spoken.
Number of Catalan speakers
Territories where Catalan is official
Other territories
World
Notes: The number of people who understand Catalan includes those who can speak it.
Sources: Catalonia:
Statistic data of 2001 census, from Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya, Generalitat catalana [http://www.idescat.net/territ/BasicTerr?TC=5&V0=3&V1=3&V3=876&V4=17&ALLINFO=TRUE&PARENT=1&CTX=B]. Land of Valencia: Statistical data from 2001 census, from Institut Valencià d'Estadística, Generalitat Valenciana [http://ive.infocentre.gva.es/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/IVE_PEGV/CONTENTS/cvcifras/2004/val/cvx2004_02.pdf]. Balearic Islands: Statistical data from 2001 census, from Institut Balear d'Estadística, Govern de les Illes Balears [http://www.caib.es/ibae/demo/catala/t2.htm]. Northern Catalonia: Media Pluriel Survey commissioned by Prefecture of Languedoc-Roussillon Region done in October 1997 and published in January 1998 [http://www.linmiter.net/information_catalan.html]. Andorra:
Sociolinguistic data from Andorran Government, 1999 [http://www.catala.ad/CatalaAnd/DadSocLin.htm]. Aragon: Sociolinguistic data from Euromosaic [http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/catala/an/e19/e19.html]. Alguer: Sociolinguistic data from Euromosaic [http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/homect/index2.html]. Rest of World: Estimate for 1999 by the Federació d'Entitats Catalanes outside the Catalan Countries.
Dialects
Languedoc-Roussillon RegionLanguedoc-Roussillon RegionIn 1861, Manuel Milà i Fontanals proposed a dialectal division of Catalan in two major blocks: Eastern Catalan and Western Catalan.
There is no precise linguistic border between one dialect and another because there is nearly always a dialect transition zone of some size between pairs of geographically identified dialects, (except for dialects specific to an island). The main difference between both blocks is:
- Western Catalan (Bloc o Branca del Català Occidental):
- Unstressed vowels: . Distinctions between e and a and o and u.
- Initial or post-consonatic x is affricate . Between vowels or final preceded of i, .
- 1st person of Indicative's present desinence is -e or -o.
- Inchoative in -ix, -ixen, -isca
- Maintenance of medieval nasal plural in proparoxiton words: hòmens, jóvens
- Specific Vocabulary: espill, xiquet, granera, melic...
- Eastern Catalan (Bloc o Branca del Català Oriental):
- Unstressed vowels . The unstressed vowels e and a becomes /ə/ and o and u becomes /u/.
- Initial or post-consonatic x is fricative . Between vowels or final preceded of i, .
- 1st person of Indicative's present desinence is -o, -i or ø.
- Inchoative in -eix, -eixen, -eixi.
- The -n- of medieval nasal plural falls in proparoxiton words: homes, joves.
- Specific Vocabulary: mirall, noi, escombra, llombrígol...
In addition, neither dialect is completely homogenous: any dialect can be subdivided into several sub dialects. Catalan can be subdivided in two major dialectal blocks and those blocks into individual dialects:
See Catalan dialect examples for examples of each dialect.
The status of Valencian
Catalan dialect examples]]
The issue, as with Serbian and Croatian, of whether Catalan and Valencian constitute different languages or merely dialects has been the subject of political agitation several times after the Franco era. The latest political controversy regarding Valencian occurred on the occasion of the approval of the European Constitution in 2004. The Spanish government supplied the EU with translations of the text into Basque, Catalan, Galician, and Valencian, but the Catalan and Valencian versions were identical. While professing the unity of the Catalan language, the Spanish government claimed to be constitutionally bound to produce distinct Catalan and Valencian versions because the Statute of the Autonomous Land of Valencia refers to the language as "Valencian". In practice, the "Catalan", "Valencian", and "Balearic" versions of the EU constitution are identical, although some compromises over spelling may have been involved in making them so.
Most current (21st century) Valencian speakers and writers use spelling conventions (Normes de Castelló, 1932) that allow for several diverse idiosyncrasies of Valencian, Balearic, North-Western Catalan, and Eastern Catalan.
All universities teaching Romance languages, and virtually all linguists, consider these all to be linguistic variants of the same language (similar to Canadian French versus Metropolitan French). The criterion used by most linguists to decide whether two language varieties are a separate language is the criterion of mutual intelligibility; by this criterion Valencian and other varieties of Catalan are dialects of the same language. Consider also the web sites of the Valencian universities: Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Universitat de València or Universitat d'Alacant.
Nevertheless, differences do exist: the accent of a Valencian is recognisable, there are differences in subjunctive terminations, and there are a large number of words unique to Valencian; but those differences are not any wider than among North-Western Catalan and Eastern Catalan. In fact, Northern Valencian (spoken in the Castelló province and Matarranya valley, a strip of Aragon) is more similar to the Catalan of the lower Ebro basin (spoken in southern half of Tarragona province and another strip of Aragon) than to apitxat Valencian (spoken in the area of L'Horta, in the province of Valencia).
Sounds and writing system
Grammar
History
Catalan developed by the 9th century from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern part of Pyrenees mountains (counties of Roussillon, Empuries, Besalú, Cerdagne, Urgell, Pallars and Ribagorça). It shares features with Gallo-romance and Ibero-romance, and it could be said to be in its beginnings no more than an eccentric dialect of Occitan (or of Western Romance).
The language was spread to the south by the Reconquista
in several phases: Barcelona and Tarragona, Lleida and Tortosa, the ancient Kingdom of Valencia, and transplanted to the Balearic Islands and l'Alguer (Alghero).
Catalan was exported in the 13th century to the Balearic Islands and the newly created Valencian Kingdom by the Catalan and Aragonese invaders (note that the area of Catalan language still extends to part of what is now the region of Aragon). During this period, almost all of the Muslim population of the Balearic Islands were expelled, but many Muslim peasants remained in many rural areas of the Valencian Kingdom, as had happened before in the lower Ebro basin (or Catalunya Nova).
During the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries the Catalan language was important in the Mediterranean region. Barcelona was the pre-eminent city and port of the so-called Aragonese Empire, a confederation nominally ruled by the King of Aragon (Aragon, Catalonia, Roussillon, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Sicily, and — later — Sardinia and Naples). All prose writers of this era used the name 'Catalan' for their common language (e.g. the Catalan Ramon Muntaner, the Majorcan Ramon Llull, etc.) The matter is more complicated among the poets, as they wrote in a sort of artificial Langue d'Oc in the tradition of the troubadors. Italian resentment of this Catalan dominance appears to have been one of the wellsprings of the so-called "Black Legend".
Black Legend]]
During the 15th and 16th centuries the city of Valencia gains pre-eminence in the confederation, due to several factors, including demographic changes and the fact that the royal court moved there. Presumably as a result of this shift in the balance of power within the confederation, in the 15th century the name 'Valencian' starts to be used by writers from Valencia to refer to their language.
In the 16th century the name 'Llemosí' (that is to say, "the Occitan dialect of Limoges") is first documented as being used to refer to this language. This attribution has no philological base, but it is explicable by the complex sociolinguistic frame of Catalan poetry of this era (Catalan versus troubadoresque Occitan). Ausias March himself was not sure what to call the language he was writing in (it is clearly closer to his contemporary Catalan or Valencian than to the archaic Occitan).
Then, during the 16th century, most of the Valencian elites switched languages to Castilian Spanish, as can be seen in the balance of languages of printed books in Valencia city: at the beginning of century Latin and Catalan (or Valencian) were the main languages of the press, but by the end of the century Spanish was the main language of the press. Still, rural areas and urban working classes continued to speak their vernacular language.
During the first half of the 19th century Catalan and Valencian experienced a major revival among urban elites due to the Renaixença, a romantic cultural movement. The effects of this revival persist to this day.
During the Franco regime (1939-1975), the use of Catalan was banned, along with other regional languages in Spain such as Basque and Galician. Following the death of Franco in 1975 and the restoration of democracy, the ban was lifted and the Catalan language is now used in politics, education and the media, including the newspapers Avui ('Today'), El Punt ('The Point') and El Periódico de Catalunya (sharing content with its Spanish release and with El Periòdic d'Andorra, printed in Andorra; El Periódico de Catalunya has Spanish-language and Catalan-language editions, with identical content) and the television channels of Televisió de Catalunya (TVC): TV3 and Canal 33/K3 (culture and cartoons channel) as well as a 24 hour news channel 3/24; there are also many local channels available in region in Catalan, such as BTV and CityTV (Barcelona), Canal L'Hospitalet (L'Hospitalet de Llobregat) and Canal Terrassa (Terrassa).
Examples
Some common Catalan phrases (pronounced as in the Central dialect -Barcelona and outskirts-):
- Catalan: Català
- hello: hola
- good-bye: adéu (sing.); adéu siau (pl.)
- please: si us plau
- thank you: gràcies ; mercès
- sorry: perdó
- that one: aquest (masc.); aquesta (fem.)
- how much?: quant val? ; quant és?
- yes: sí
- no: no
- I don't understand: No ho entenc
- where's the bathroom?: on és el bany? ; on és el lavabo?
- generic toast: salut! ;
- Do you speak English?: Que parla l'anglès?
- Do you speak Catalan?: Que parla el català?
Learning Catalan
- Digui, digui... Curs de català per a estrangers. A Catalan Handbook. — Alan Yates and Toni Ibarz. — Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura, 1993. -- ISBN 84-393-2579-7.
- Teach Yourself Catalan. — McGraw-Hill, 1993. — ISBN 0844237558.
- Colloquial Catalan. — Toni Ibarz and Alexander Ibarz. — Routledge, 2005. — ISBN 0415234123.
Catalan courses are given at many universities in the EU and USA.
English words of Catalan origin
- Allioli, from all i oli, a typical sauce.
- Barracks, from barraca, used for several kinds of buildings.
- Mayonnaise, one of the proposed etymologies is the name of the city of Maó/Mahón.
See also
- Common phrases in different languages
- Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Catalan Studies Institute)
- Pompeu Fabra
- Catalan literature
- Languages of France
- Languages of Italy
- Languages of Spain
- Catalan names
- New Catalan top-level domain .cat
External links
Institutions
- [http://www.iec.es/ Institut d'Estudis Catalans]
- [http://www.avl.gva.es/ Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua]
About the Catalan language
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cat Ethnologue report for Catalan]
- [http://catalunya-lliure.com/recursos.html Catalan resources in the Web]
- [http://www.spinnoff.com/zbb/viewtopic.php?t=7983&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 GRAMÀTICA CATALANA] A Catalan grammar
Dictionaries and phrasebooks
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Catalan-english/ Catalan English Dictionary] from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] - the Rosetta Edition
- [http://pdl.iec.es/entrada/diec.asp Diccionari Català de l'IEC]
- [http://www.grec.net/home/cel/dicc.htm/ Online Catalan dictionary] from Enciclopèdia Catalana
- [http://dcvb.iecat.net/ Diccionari Català-Valencià-Balear]. In Catalan, published by the Institut d'Estudis Catalans and Editorial Moll.
- [http://www.dilc.org/ Diccionari Invers de la Llengua Catalana]
- [http://www.catalandictionary.org/ DACCO]. Open source English-Catalan / Catalan-English dictionary project.
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Catalan_phrasebook Wikitravel Catalan phrasebook]
- [http://www.geocities.com/learn_catalan/ Learn Catalan!]. An introduction for the Catalonia-bound traveler.
Catalan-language media
- [http://www.tvcatalunya.com/ Televisió de Catalunya]
- [http://www.avui.com/ Diari Avui] — Catalan-language daily newspaper
- [http://www.elpunt.com/ Diari El Punt] — Catalan-language daily newspaper
- [http://www.vilaweb.com/ VilaWeb] The main Catalan online newspaper
- [http://wikibooks.org/wiki/P%C3%A0gina_principal Catalan Wikibooks]
Catalan-language web searching
- [http://ct.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Català] Searching in Catalan
- [http://www.nosaltres.com/ Nosaltres.com]
- [http://www.google.com/intl/ca/ Google (Catalan language)]
Catalan-language online encyclopedia
- [http://www.enciclopedia-catalana.com/ Enciclopèdia Catalana] (in Catalan)
- [http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portada/ Viquipèdia] (Wikipedia in Catalan)
Category:Catalan language
Category:Languages of France
Category:Languages of Italy
Category:Languages of Spain
Category:Languages of Andorra
Category:Romance languages
ko:카탈루냐어
ja:カタルーニャ語
simple:Catalan language
Spanish language:This article is about the international language known as Spanish or Castilian. For other languages spoken in Spain see Languages of Spain.
Spanish or Castilian (Spanish: español or castellano) is an Iberian Romance language, and the fourth most widely spoken language in the world according to some sources, while other sources list it as the second or third most spoken language. It is spoken as a first language by about 352 million people, or by 417 million including non-native speakers (according to 1999 estimates). Some assert that, after English, Spanish can now be considered the second most important language in the world (probably replacing even French), due to its increased usage in the United States, the high birth rate in most of the countries where it is official, the growing economies of the Spanish-speaking world, its enormous influence on the global music market, and simply due to the broad number of areas on the Earth's surface that the language is spoken in.
"Spanish" or "Castilian"
Spaniards tend to call this language español when contrasting it with languages of other states (for example: in a list with French and English), but call it castellano (Castilian, from the Castile region) when contrasting it with other languages of Spain (such as Galician, Basque, and Catalan). In some parts of Spain, mainly where the people speak Galician, Basque, and Catalan, it is considered offensive to call the language español, as that is what Francisco Franco called it during his reign. For the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, speakers of the language in some areas refer to it as español, and in others castellano is more common. Castellano is the name given to Spanish language in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Some philologists use Castilian only when speaking of the language spoken in Castile during the Middle Ages, stating that it is preferable to use Spanish for its modern form. Castilian can be also a subdialect of Spanish spoken in most parts of modern day Castile. It would have a series of characteristics and a specific pronunciation different to the one of Andalusia or Aragon for example, where they would speak different subdialects.
Classification and related languages
Spanish is a member of the Romance branch of Indo-European, descended largely from Latin and having much in common with its European geographical neighbors.
Spanish is related to several languages in terms of phonology, grammar and orthography. Of these, Portuguese is perhaps one of the most similar in terms of major languages. However, Spanish is also closely related to Catalan, Asturian, Galician and several other Romance languages. Spanish has fewer similarities with French and Italian but shares strong ties due to Latin roots.
Portuguese is orthographically similar in many ways to Spanish but it has a very distinctive phonology. A speaker of one of these languages may require some practice to effectively understand a speaker of the other (although generally it is easier for a Portuguese native speaker to understand Spanish than the other way around). Compare, for example:
:Ela fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar. (Portuguese)
:Ella cierra siempre la ventana antes de cenar. (Spanish)
Some less common phrasings and word choices have closer cognates in Spanish because Portuguese has managed to retain a much larger vocabulary, with stronger Latin heritage:
:Ela cerra sempre a janela antes de cear. (less common Portuguese)
(Which translates as "She always closes the window before having dinner.")
In some places, Spanish and Portuguese are spoken almost interchangeably. Portuguese speakers are generally able to read Spanish, and Spanish speakers are generally able to read Portuguese, even if they cannot understand the spoken language. In fact, the number of bilingual speakers in Brazil (where Portuguese is the official language) has greatly risen because nearly every nation bordering Brazil is Spanish speaking.
History
The Spanish language developed from vulgar Latin, with influence from Celtiberian, Basque and Arabic, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (see Iberian Romance languages). Typical features of Spanish diachronical phonology include lenition (Latin vita, Spanish vida), palatalization (Latin annum, Spanish año) and diphthongation (stem-changing) of short e and o from Vulgar Latin (Latin terra, Spanish tierra; Latin novus, Spanish nuevo). Similar phenomena can be found in most other Romance languages as well.
During the Reconquista, this northern dialect was carried south, and indeed is still a minority language in northern Morocco.
The first Latin to Spanish dictionary (Gramática de la Lengua Castellana) was written in Salamanca, Spain, in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija. When Isabella of Castile was presented with the book, she asked, What do I want a work like this for, if I already know the language?, to which he replied, Ma'am, the language is the instrument of the Empire.
From the 16th century on, the language was brought to the Americas, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marianas, Palau and the Philippines by Spanish colonization.
In the 20th century, Spanish was introduced in Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara.
For details on borrowed words and other external influences in Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language.
Geographic distribution
Spanish is one of the official languages of the United Nations and the European Union. The majority of its speakers are confined to the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the Spanish territories in Africa (Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla).
With approximately 106 million first-language and second-language speakers, Mexico boasts the largest population of Spanish-speakers in the world. The four next largest populations reside in Colombia (44 million), Spain (c. 44 million), Argentina (39 million) and the United States of America (U.S. residents age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home number 31 million) [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_lang=en&_ts=134303235020].
Spanish is the official and most important language in 20 countries: Argentina, Bolivia (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea (co-official French), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay (co-official Guaraní), Peru (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Puerto Rico (co-official English), Spain (co-official Catalan/Valencian, Galician and Basque), Uruguay, Venezuela, and Western Sahara (co-official Arabic).
In Belize, Spanish holds no official recognition, however, it is the native tongue of about 50% of the population, and is spoken as a second language by another 20%. It is arguably the most important and widely-spoken on a popular level, but English remains the sole official language.
In the United States, Spanish is spoken by three-quarters of its 41.3 million Hispanic population. It is also being learned and spoken by a small, though slowly growing, proportion of its non-Hispanic population for its increasing use in business, commerce, and both domestic and international politics. Spanish does hold co-official status in the state of New Mexico, and in the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. See Spanish in the United States for further information.
In Brazil, Spanish has obtained an important status as a second language among young students and many skilled professionals. In recent years, with Brazil decreasing its reliance on trade with the USA and Europe and increasing trade and ties with its Spanish-speaking neighbours (especially as a member of the Mercosur trading bloc), much stress has been placed on bilingualism and Spanish proficiency in the country. On July 07 2005, the National Congress of Brazil gave final approval to a bill that makes Spanish a second language in the country’s public and private primary schools [http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=5996]. The close genetic relationship between the two languages, along with the fact that Spanish is the dominant and official language of almost every country that borders Brazil, adds to the popularity. Standard Spanish and Ladino (Judæo-Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews) may also be spoken natively by some Spanish-descended Brazilians, immigrant workers from neighbouring Spanish-speaking countries and Brazilian Sephardim respectively, who have maintained it as their home language. Additionally, in Brazil's border states that have authority over their educational systems, Spanish has been taught for years. In many other border towns and villages (especially along the Uruguayo-Brazilian border) a mixed language commonly known as Portuñol is also spoken.
In European countries other than Spain and Andorra (where it holds no official status), it may be spoken by some of their Spanish-speaking immigrant communities, primarily in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom where there is a strong community in London. There has been a sharp increase in the popularity of Spanish in the UK over the last few years. It is spoken by much of the population of Gibraltar, though English remains the only official language. Yanito, an English-Spanish mixed language is also spoken.
Among the countries and territories in Oceania, Spanish is the seventh most spoken language in Australia. It is also spoken by the approximately 3,000 inhabitants of Easter Island, a territorial possession of Chile. The island nations of Guam, Palau, Northern Marianas, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia all once had Spanish speakers, but Spanish has long since been forgotten, and now only exists as an influence on the local native languages.
In Asia the Spanish language has long been in decline. Spanish ceased to be an official language of the Philippines in 1987, and it is now spoken by less than 0.01% of the population; 2,658 speakers (1990 Census). However, the sole existing Spanish-Asiatic creole language, Chabacano, is also spoken by an additional 0.4% of the Filipino population; 292,630 (1990 census). Most other Philippine languages contain generous quantities of Spanish loan words. Among other Asian countries, Spanish may also be spoken by pockets of ex-immigrant communities, such as Mexican-born ethnic Chinese deported to China or third and fourth generation ethnic Japanese Peruvians returning to their ancestral homeland of Japan.
Spanish is also spoken by segments of the populations in Aruba, Canada, Curaçao, Israel (both standard Spanish and Ladino), northern Morocco (both standard Spanish and Ladino), Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey (Ladino), and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In Antarctica, the territorial claims and permanent bases made by Argentina, Chile, Peru and Spain also place Spanish as the official and working language of these enclaves.
Variations
There are important variations among the various regions of Spain and Spanish-speaking America. In Spain the North Castilian dialect pronunciation is commonly taken as the national standard (although the characteristic weak pronouns usage or laísmo of this dialect is deprecated).
Spanish has three second-person singular pronouns: tú, usted, and in some parts of Latin America, vos (the use of this form is called voseo). Generally speaking, tú and vos are informal and used with friends (though in Spain vos is considered a highly exalted archaism that is now confined to liturgy). Usted is universally regarded as the formal form, and is used as a mark of respect, as when addressing one's elders or strangers. The pronoun vosotros is the plural form of tú in most of Spain, although in the Americas (and some particular southern-Spain cities such as Cádiz) it is replaced with ustedes. It is remarkable that the informal use of ustedes in southern Spain does not keep the proper pronoun-verb agreement: while the formal form of "you go" would be ustedes van, in Cádiz the informal form would be constructed as ustedes vais, making use of the second person of the plural instead of the third (which constitutes the formal construction).
Vos is used extensively as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular pronoun in various countries around Latin America, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay. In Argentina, Uruguay, and increasingly in Paraguay, is it also the standard form used in the media, whereas media in other voseante countries continue to use usted or tú. Vos may also be present in other countries as a limited regionalism. Its use, depending on country and region, can be considered the accepted standard or reproached as sub-standard and considered as speech of the ignorant and uneducated. The interpersonal situations in which the employment of vos is acceptable may also differ considerably between regions.
Spanish forms also differ regarding second-person plural pronouns. The Spanish dialects of Latin America have only one form of the second-person plural; ustedes (formal/familiar). Meanwhile, in Spain there are two; ustedes (formal) and vosotros (familiar/informal).
The RAE (Real Academia Española), in association with twenty-one other national language academies, exercises a controlling influence through its publication of dictionaries and widely respected grammar guides and style guides. In part due to this influence, and also because of other socio-historical reasons, a neutral standardized form of the language (Standard Spanish) is widely acknowledged for use in literature, academic contexts and the media.
Grammar
Spanish is a relatively inflected language, with a two-gender system and about fifty conjugated forms per verb, but small noun declension and limited pronominal declension. (For a detailed overview of verbs, see Spanish verbs and Spanish irregular verbs.)
As for syntax, the unmarked sentence word order is Subject Verb Object, though variations are common. Spanish is right-branching, using prepositions, and with adjectives generally coming after nouns.
Spanish is also pro-drop (allows the deletion of pronouns when pragmatically unnecessary) and verb-framed.
Sounds
The consonantal system of Castilian Spanish, by the 16th century, underwent the following important changes that differentiated it from some nearby Romance languages, such as Portuguese and Catalan:
- The initial , that had evolved into a vacillating , was lost in most words (although this etymological h- has been preserved in spelling).
- The voiced labiodental fricative (that was written u or v) merged with the bilabial oclusive (written b). Orthographically, b and v do not correspond to different phonemes in contemporary Spanish, excepting some areas in Spain, particularly the ones influenced by Catalan/Valencian and some Andalusia.
- The voiced alveolar fricative (that was written s between vowels) merged with the voiceless (that was written s, or ss between vowels).
- The voiced alveolar affricate (that was written z) merged with the voiceless (that was written ç, ce, ci), and then evolved into the interdental , now written z, ce, ci. But in Andalucia, the Canary Islands and the Americas these sounds merged with as well. Notice that the ç or c with cedilla was in its origin a Spanish letter, although is no longer used.
- The voiced postalveolar fricative (that was written j, ge, gi) merged with the voiceless (that was written x, as in Quixote), and then evolved by the 17th century into the modern velar sound , now written j, ge, gi.
The consonantal system of Medieval Spanish has been better preserved in Ladino, the language spoken by the descendants of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in the 15th century.
Lexical stress
Spanish has a phonemic stress system — the place where stress will fall cannot be predicted by other features of the word, and two words can differ by just a change in stress. For example, the word camino (with penultimate stress) means "road" or "I walk" whereas caminó (with final stress) means "he/she/it walked". Also, since Spanish pronounces all syllables at a more or less constant tempo, it is said to be a syllable-timed language.
Writing system
The pronunciation of any Spanish word can be perfectly predicted from its written form.
Spanish is written using the Latin alphabet, with the addition of ñ (eñe). Ch and ll also have their own places in the alphabet (a, b, c, ch, d, ..., l, ll, m, n, ñ, ...). Since 1990, however, words containing the letters ch and ll have been alphabetized as though spelled with the separate letters c - h and l - l.
The letter u sometimes carries diaeresis (ü) after the letter g, and the stressed vowel carries an acute accent (á) in many words.
Exclamatory and interrogative clauses begin with inverted question and exclamation marks.
Examples of Spanish
Note, the third column uses the International Phonetic Alphabet, the standard for linguists, to transcribe the sounds. There are several examples of travellers' vocabulary and one literary reference.
You can listen to these words being read out. Both the transcription and the recording represent standard Castilian pronunciation.
El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (opening sentence).
See also
- Real Academia Española
- Common phrases in Spanish
- List of English words of Spanish origin
- Names given to the Spanish language
- Spanish proverbs
- Spanish language poets
- Spanish Creole
- Portuñol
- Papiamento, Chavacano language, Spanglish, Yanito, Palenquero
- Rock en español
- Latin Union
- Islenos
Local varieties
- Argentine Spanish
- Colombian Spanish
- Cuban Spanish
- Mexican Spanish
- Panamanian Spanish
- Puerto Rican Spanish
- Rioplatense Spanish
- Spanish in the United States
- Spanish in the Philippines
- Venezuelan Spanish
- Central American Spanish
External links
About the Spanish language
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- [http://www.rae.es Official page of the RAE] (in Spanish)
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=spa Ethnologue report for Spanish]
- [http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/i.e.mackenzie/index.html Spanish Language & Linguistics Website]
- [http://assets.cambridge.org/0521805872/sample/0521805872WS.pdf PDF: A history of the Spanish language]
- [http://www.sispain.org/english/language/worldwid.html Numbers of speakers by countries]
- [http://www.vistawide.com/spanish/why_spanish.htm Why learn Spanish?] 10 reasons for learning Spanish
- [http://spanish.about.com Spanish Language] Collection of lessons and other resources
- [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/2444/splatin.html Spanish evolution from Latin]
- [http://www.trustedtranslations.com/spanish_language.asp Spanish Language Characteristics] Some characteristics of Spanish Language
Dictionaries
- [http://buscon.rae.es/diccionario/drae.htm DRAE, Dictionary of the RAE] (Spanish-spanish)
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Spanish-english/ Spanish — English Dictionary]: from Webster's Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.diccionarios.com Diccionarios.com]
- [http://www.my-spanish-dictionary.com/ An English-Spanish Dictionary]
- [http://www.tododiccionarios.com/ Tododiccionarios.com] a directory of reference works in English or Spanish, classified by subject, with several thousand links.
- [http://spanishdict.com/ Spanishdict.com] Another Spanish-English dictionary.
- [http://wordreference.com/ Wordreference.com] Comprehensive Spanish-English-Spanish dictionary.
- [http://www.tomisimo.org/ Tomísimo.org] A Spanish-English dictionary.
Grammatical help
- [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spanish Spanish grammar Wikibook]
- [http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm Spanish Grammar Tutorial - with quizzes, tests, and oral activities]
- [http://tchaidze.com/spangram/tenses.html#correspondence Usage of Tenses]
- [http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/accents.htm Use of written accent mar | | |
