Catalan Dialects: Features and Geographic Distribution
Romance Language Classification
Western and Eastern Romance Groups
Based on certain phonological and morphological features, Romance languages are sometimes broadly divided:
- Western Romance Group: Includes Catalan, Occitan (Provençal), Galician-Portuguese, Sardinian, Rhaeto-Romanic.
- Eastern Romance Group: Includes Italian, Romanian, Dalmatian.
Western Romance Characteristics
- Sonorization of intervocalic voiceless stops (p, t, k > b, d, g).
- Plural formation typically using -s.
- Tendency to alter or lose proparoxytone words (words stressed on the third-to-last syllable).
Eastern Romance Characteristics
- Preservation of intervocalic voiceless stops (p, t, k).
- Plural formation often using -i.
- Tendency to keep proparoxytone words (e.g., Italian lettera).
Geographic Distribution of Catalan
Catalan is spoken in several territories across different states:
Catalan Speaking Regions in Spain
- Catalonia: Including the Val d’Aran, where Aranese (a subdialect of Gascon Occitan) is spoken alongside Catalan and Spanish.
- Aragon: In an eastern strip known as La Franja (approx. 14km wide), with Fraga as a major town.
- Balearic Islands: Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and the Pityusic Islands (Formentera and Cabrera).
- Valencian Community: Most of the region.
- Murcia: A small area known as El Carche, with dispersed villages and houses.
- (Also spoken historically in Guardamar del Segura, Alicante).
Catalan Speaking Regions in France
- Roussillon (Northern Catalonia): Within the Pyrénées-Orientales department, comprising the Roussillon plain, Conflent, Capcir, Vallespir, and Alta Cerdanya (French Cerdagne).
Catalan in Andorra and Italy
- Principality of Andorra: Catalan is the sole official language (French and Spanish are also widely used).
- Italy: The city of Alghero (L’Alguer) in Sardinia (province of Sassari).
Catalan Dialectal Division
Catalan is primarily divided into two major dialect blocks:
Eastern Catalan Dialects
- Central Catalan: Spoken in the provinces of Barcelona and Girona, and the eastern half of Tarragona. Includes subdialects like Salat and Xipella. Considered the basis for standard Catalan.
- Balearic Catalan: Spoken in the Balearic Islands. Includes Majorcan (Mallorquí), Minorcan (Menorquí), and Ibizan (Eivissenc).
- Northern Catalan (Roussillonnais): Spoken in French Roussillon.
- Algherese Catalan: Spoken in Alghero, Sardinia.
Western Catalan Dialects
- Northwestern Catalan: Spoken in the province of Lleida and the western half of Tarragona (including the Ebro territories). Includes subdialects like Lleidatà, Ribagorçan, and Tortosí.
- Valencian: Spoken in the Valencian Community. Often subdivided into Northern Valencian, Central Valencian (Apitxat), and Southern Valencian.
Linguistic Features of Catalan Dialects
Central Catalan (Barcelona Area)
Phonetics and Morphology
- Vowel Neutralization: Unstressed /a/ and /e/ merge into schwa [ə]; unstressed /o/ and /u/ merge into [u].
- Devoicing: Tendency to devoice final obstruents.
- Affrication: Possible affrication of certain fricatives (e.g., /ʒ/ > /dʒ/).
- Yeísmo: Merger of /ʎ/ (spelled ) and /j/ (spelled ), often pronounced [j] or [ʒ]. Example: palla (‘straw’) pronounced similarly to paia.
- Articles: Standard articles are el, la, els, les, with apostrophized form l’ before vowels.
Lexicon and Usage
- Lexicon: Contains Castilianisms (e.g., bacó ‘bacon’, tabac ‘tobacco’).
- Lexical Variation: Pairs like llevar/treure (‘to remove’).
- Lexical Renewal: Standard terms like abans d’ahir (‘day before yesterday’), ahir (‘yesterday’).
- Slang: Examples include pirar (‘to leave’), pela (‘money’, originally ‘peseta’), clissar (‘to spot/see’), clapar (‘to sleep’).
Salat Dialect Features
- Articles: Characterized by the use of definite articles es, sa, ses (masc. sg., fem. sg., fem. pl.) and s’ (before vowel), derived from Latin ipse, ipsa, instead of the standard articles derived from ille, illa. The masculine plural is typically els.
- Location: Spoken in a coastal area of the Costa Brava (Girona province), roughly from Cadaqués down towards Blanes (though now geographically reduced).
Xipella Dialect Features
- Vowel Change: Characterized by the change of final unstressed /ə/ (from /a/ or /e/) to /i/.
- Assimilation: Vowel assimilation can lead to forms like pitit for petit (‘small’) or llintilla for llentilla (‘lentil’).
- Location: Transitional areas between Central Catalan and Northwestern Catalan.
Tarragona Dialect Features (Tarragonès)
(Often considered part of Central Catalan, but shows some Western traits or specific features)
Phonetics and Morphology
- Phonetics: Pronunciation of /tʃ/ (xocolata ‘chocolate’) and /ʃ/ (ganxo ‘hook’).
- Yeísmo: Merger of /ʎ/ and /j/ is common.
- Palatalization: Influence of yod [j] on preceding consonants (e.g., in words like cuina ‘kitchen’, feina ‘work’).
- Morphology (Plurals): Retention of plurals in -os for some former proparoxytones ending in a consonant, like hòmens (‘men’), jóvens (‘youths’). (Western feature).
- Phonology (/w/): Maintenance of unstressed /w/ after velar consonants (e.g., aigua [‘ajgwə] ‘water’, llengua [‘ʎeŋgwə] ‘tongue’).
- Morphology (Articles): Possible coexistence of Western articles lo, los (especially among older speakers) alongside standard el, els.
- Phonology (/v/ vs /b/): Some areas may preserve the distinction between labiodental /v/ and bilabial /b/, a feature more common in Valencian and Balearic (e.g., distinguishing veure ‘to see’ from beure ‘to drink’).
Lexicon and Affinities
- Lexicon: Contains archaisms (e.g., adduir ‘to bring forth’), Mozarabisms (e.g., place names like Almoster, Capafonts; words like romesco sauce, llombo ‘loin’), and peculiar local words (e.g., enxaneta ‘human tower top climber’, patxet ‘chimney pot’?, somicar ‘to whimper’, dejuni ‘fasting’).
- Western Affinities: Shares vocabulary with Western Catalan dialects, such as puç (‘flea’), vegada (‘time’), manllevar (‘to borrow’), soroll (‘noise’), xiquet (‘boy’), cuita (‘mosquito larva’).
Balearic Dialect Features
Phonetics
- Vowel Neutralization: Unstressed /a/ and /e/ merge into schwa [ə] (similar to Central Catalan).
- Unstressed /o/, /u/: Merger of unstressed /o/ and /u/ into [u] is general in Minorca, Ibiza, and the town of Sóller (Majorca). Other parts of Majorca often maintain the distinction or realize unstressed /o/ as [o]. Example: colom (‘dove’) pronounced with [u].
- Vowel Harmony: Unstressed /o/ often becomes [u] when the stressed vowel is high (/i/ or /u/). Examples: cosí [ku’zi] (‘cousin’), comú [ku’mu] (‘common’).
- Latin AE: Closed /e/ derived from Latin AE becomes schwa [ə] in unstressed syllables (e.g., rebre [‘rəbɾə] ‘receive’, ceba [‘səbə] ‘onion’, cabell [kə’βəj] ‘hair’).
- Iodization/Yeísmo: Pronunciation of /ʎ/ often as [j] or similar palatal sounds, merging with /j/. Example: palla (‘straw’) pronounced with a palatal fricative/approximant.
- Phonology (/v/ vs /b/): Maintains the distinction between labiodental /v/ and bilabial /b/.