Languages of Spain
| Languages of Spain[1] | |
|---|---|
| Official language(s) | Spanish |
| Regional language(s) |
Co-official Catalan/Valencian, Basque, Galician, Aranese Recognised Leonese language in Castile and León. Asturian language in Asturias. Unofficial Aragonese, Astur-Leonese: (Cantabrian, Extremaduran), Eonavian, Fala language, Tarifit, as well as some distinct varieties of Spanish and the Gomeran whistled language |
| Main immigrant language(s) | Spanish (due to Hispano-American immigration) Maghrebi Arabic African French (mostly as a second language) Romanian British English (see further: immigration to Spain) |
| Main foreign language(s) | English (27%) French (12%) German (2%) |
| Sign language(s) | Spanish Sign Language Catalan Sign Language Valencian Sign Language |
| Common keyboard layout(s) |
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The languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain.
Contents |
Modern
| Spanish official; spoken all over the country Catalan/Valencian, co-official Basque, co-official Galician, co-official | Aranese, co-official (dialect of Occitan) Asturian and Leonese, recognised Aragonese, recognised Extremaduran, unofficial Fala, unofficial |
In terms of number of speakers and dominance, the most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish, which nearly everyone in Spain can speak as either first or second language. But there are robust regional languages figuring prominently in a series of regions:
- Basque in parts of the Basque Country and Navarre. Basque is the only non Romance language in mainland Spain.
- Catalan in Catalonia, Aragon (La Franja), and the Balearic Islands and, as a distinct variant, Valencian in the Valencian Community.
- Galician in Galicia and adjacent western parts of Asturias and Castilla y León.
- Aranese in the Pyrenean comarca of the Aran Valley, in north-western Catalonia. It is a variety of Gascon, which in turn is a variety of the Occitan language.
Spanish is official throughout the country; the rest of these have co-official status in their respective regions, and (except Aranese) are widespread enough to have daily newspapers and significant book publishing and media presence in those regions. In the cases of Catalan and Galician, they are the main languages used by the Catalan and Galician regional governments and local administrations. A number of citizens in these regions consider their regional language as their primary language and Spanish as secondary.
In addition to these, there are a series of seriously endangered and recognized minority languages:
- Aragonese in Aragon, recognised –lengua propia– in Aragon.
- Asturian in Asturias, recognised –but not official– in Asturias.
- Leonese in parts of the former Kingdom of León, recognised –but not official– in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León.
Spanish itself also has distinct dialects around the country; for example, the Andalusian or Canarian dialects, each of these with their own subvarieties, some of them being partially closer to the Spanish of the Americas, which they heavily influenced at different degrees, depending on the regions or periods, and according to different and non-homogeneous migrating or colonization processes.
Three very localised dialects are of difficult filiation: Fala, a nearly extinct variety of its own mostly adscribed to the Galician-Portuguese group; Eonavian, a dialect between Asturian and Galician, closer to the latter according to several linguists; and Benasquese, a dialect between Aragonese, Catalan and even Aranese, considered either as an extreme Eastern Aragonese dialect or as a transitional dialect of its own. Asturian and Leonese are closely related to the local Mirandese which is spoken on an adjacent territory but over the border into Portugal. Mirandese is recognised and has some local official status.
With the exception of Basque, which appears to be a language isolate, all of the languages present in mainland Spain are Romance languages.
Arabic (including Ceuta Darija) or Berber (mainly Riffean) are spoken by the Muslim population of Ceuta and Melilla and by recent immigrants (mainly from Morocco and Algeria) elsewhere.
Portuguese language in Spain
In Galicia, the mutual relationship between Galician and Portuguese has caused some controversy, since some linguists, such as Lindley Cintra,[2] consider that they are still dialects of a common language, in spite of the differences in phonology and vocabulary (see Reintegrationism).
Others, such as Pilar Vázquez Cuesta,[3] argue that they have become separate languages due to major differences in phonetics and vocabulary usage, and, to a lesser extent, morphology and syntax.
In any case, the respective written standards are noticeably different one from another, partly because of the divergent phonological features and partly due to the usage of Spanish orthographic conventions over the Portuguese ones at the time of Galician standardization by the early 20th century.
The official (of the Galician Language Institute) and widespread position is that Galician and Portuguese should be considered independent languages.
The Galician-Portuguese based dialect known as A Fala is locally spoken in San Martín de Trevejo (Sa Martin de Trevellu), Eljas (As Elhas) and Valverde del Fresno (Valverdi du Fresnu), in the Valley of Jálama (Val de Xálima), (Cáceres Province).
Portuguese as such is spoken by some in:
- Olivenza, in Badajoz Province, which used to be Portuguese until the 19th century.
- Cedillo or Cedilho horn (including Herrera de Alcántara). However, it has virtually faded in both locations.
Historically
Other languages have been extensively spoken in the territory of modern Spain:
- Tartessian language
- Iberian language
- Celtic languages
- Celtiberian language
- Lusitanian language
- Punic language
- Latin language
- Guanche
- Galician-Portuguese
- Gothic language
- Andalusi Arabic
- Classical Arabic
- Judeo-Catalan
- Ladino
- Mozarabic languages
- Romany language
Variants
There are also variants of these languages proper to Spain, either dialect, cants or pidgins:
- Barallete
- Bron
- Caló
- Cheli
- Erromintxela
- Fala dos arxinas
- Gacería
- Germanía
- Inglés de escalerilla
Further information
- Aragonese language
- Asturian language
- Leonese language
- Astur-Leonese group
- Extremaduran language
- Cantabrian language
- Basque language (Euskara)
- Catalan language (Català)
- Valencian
- Fala language
- Galician (Galego)
- Gascon language
- Aranese language
- Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish, Sefardi, etc.)
- Occitan language
- Spanish language (castellano)
- Names given to the Spanish language
- Signed languages
- Spanish Sign Language (Lengua de Signos Española, LSE).
- Catalan Sign Language (Llengua de Signes Catalana, LSC).
- Valencian Sign Language (Llengua de Signes de la Comunitat Valenciana, LSCV).
- Language politics in Francoist Spain
See also
- Iberian languages
- Languages of Portugal
- Iberian Romance languages
- Language politics in Spain under Franco
References
- ↑ http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf
- ↑ Lindley Cintra, Luís F. Nova Proposta de Classificação dos Dialectos Galego-PortuguesesPDF (469 KiB) Boletim de Filologia, Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Filológicos, 1971 (in Portuguese).
- ↑ Vázquez Cuesta, Pilar «Non son reintegracionista», interview given to La Voz de Galicia on 22/02/2002 (in Galician).
External links
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