Catalan Language Standardization: Fabra and Alcover’s Impact
Catalan Language Standardization
The standardization of the Catalan language was a complex process. The diversity of proposals and the intransigence of its supporters paralyzed the resolution of the problem for many years. It was expected that new generations, gathered around *L’Avenç* magazine, would revive the issue. A campaign aimed at ending spelling anarchy had begun. Pompeu Fabra, the greatest promoter of the language reform initiated by the *L’Avenç* group, presented his views in the *Essay on Modern Catalan Grammar*, a work that can be considered a first draft of the rules that were finally approved in 1910. The contribution made from Mallorca by Antoni M. Alcover should also be highlighted.
Antoni M. Alcover’s Contribution
The contributions of Antoni M. Alcover were decisive in the standardization of the Catalan language. Noteworthy is his collection of tales, published in 24 volumes as *Rondaies*, and the impetus he gave to the First International Congress of the Catalan Language. Above all, Father Alcover is tied to the projected *Diccionari Català-Valencià-Balear*. Alcover intended to bring together ancient, modern, dialectal, colloquial, and literary language from all Catalan-speaking territories. To establish a communication vehicle and publicize their studies and opinions, he published the *Bolletí del Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana*. The first volume of this dictionary was published in fascicles between 1926 and 1930 under the title *Diccionari Català-Valencià-Balear*. The work was continued by his disciple, Francesc de Borja Moll.
Pompeu Fabra’s Role in Linguistic Regulation
Pompeu Fabra played a crucial role in the linguistic regulation of the Catalan language. From an early age, he dedicated himself to studying the language. Integrated into the *L’Avenç* group, he started an initial campaign of spelling reform with works such as the *Essay on Modern Catalan Grammar*. The reform covered orthographic, grammatical, and vocabulary fields. Initial efforts were directed towards orthographic questions. Simultaneously, he began work on the codification of Catalan grammar. Fabra’s reform aimed at making the Catalan language suitable for all uses of contemporary language. To do so, he based it on four criteria:
- Clarity and precision: The language should allow both colloquial conversation and the expression of more subtle and elaborate thoughts.
- Relationship between written and spoken language: The language should be the common vehicle of the whole community.
- Harmony with other languages of culture: The language of ancient texts deviated considerably from Latin etymology and other European languages.
- Supradialectal: Any dialect can be recognized in Fabra’s rules.
The desire to integrate the different dialects of Catalan into unified regulations explains, for example, the adoption of the plural.
Language Loss and Cultural Assimilation
The spread of new diseases, along with the shock of the conquest, led to the collapse of a once prosperous empire. It resulted in the disappearance of many languages, while those that survived entered a state of decline from which they have not yet recovered.
Social Factors
The disappearance of a language is part of a more general process known as cultural assimilation. It is a phenomenon characterized by the influence that a dominant culture exerts over another, ultimately blurring its most representative traits. Strategies include:
- Consolidation of states: The growth of states has often involved linguistic imposition. Frequently, national unity has been sought through linguistic unity, achieved through the imposition of a coercive monolingual ideology.
- Loss of control: Loss of control is the preamble to any process of cultural assimilation or linguistic replacement.
- Demographic flooding: A dominant community, reinforced by political control and military superiority, also uses demographic superiority to overwhelm the social structures of the minority culture.
- Army: The army and the constitution of states make compulsory military service a way for minorities to quickly assimilate into the dominant language to survive in a hostile environment.
- Media: State control over the media is another factor that promotes the association of languages.
- Education: Starting with its generalization, the state had a new and effective instrument of ideological control. In linguistic terms, it guaranteed the learning of the country’s language.