Contents of article "Catalan heritage"
Origins of the Catalan language
Origins of the Catalan language
I was surprised to discover that there are approximately ten million catalan speakers in Catalonia, Valencia, Andora, USA, Alghero (Sardinia) and the Balearics. The Catalan language is a Latin language, very much a language in its own right, although based around a mixture of French and Spanish and many words and phrases are clearly recognisable if you speak either or both.
The language actually originated from Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman province of Hispania Taraconensis. It spread around the Mediterranean due to various territory conquests but was forbidden in public in the 1930s after the Civil War and only spoken in the home. Since the 1940s, there has been an ongoing effort to re-establish Catalan and it is now a recognised university course and taught in many schools as a second language.
There are two main dialect groups in modern Catalan: Occidental, (North-West Catalonia and Valencia) and Oriental, (Balearics, Roussillon and Alguero) but within these main groups, there are many more regional dialects.
To find out more about the Catalan language and culture, visit www.catalunya-nord.com
