Fiesta Nacional de España: The Languages of Spain, Part 1

Today we'll be looking at the languages spoken in Spain as tomorrow is the country's national day, known as the Fiesta Nacional de España in Spain's principal official language, Spanish. Since we covered the Spanish language as one of our first language profiles, we felt today would be best suited looking at the other languages spoken in Spain.

Regional Languages

Since Spain is made up of autonomous communities, certain languages, particularly those native to a certain region, can hold co-official status with the national language, Spanish, also known as Castillian Spanish.

Catalan/Valencian

The Catalan language is principally spoken in the autonomous community of Catalonia, known as Catalunya in Catalan. The Catalan language is a descendant of Vulgar Latin, which was spoken in the regions surrounding the Pyrenees during the time of the Roman Empire.

As a relative of Occitan, which is principally spoken in France, Catalan shares more similarities with other Gallo-Romance languages such as French and Italian than it does with its geographical neighbours on the Iberian peninsula, such as Spanish and Portuguese.

The Mediterranean coast seen from Vinaròs, a town in the
Valencian Community near its border with Catalonia.

In the Valencian Community, the language is known as Valencian, or to use its endonym, valencià. This has been subject to much debate amongst those in the Valencian Community and Catalonia and as it stands, both Catalan and Valencian are considered the same language and different languages. Some linguists even believe that they are immensely similar languages that just so happened to evolve identically side-by-side and become mutually intelligible, though we're a bit sceptical of that last one.

The Catalan/Valencian language has a total of 7.2 million native speakers and the regions where it is spoken are home to some of the highest levels of bilingualism in Europe, not to mention being the largest communities where the main spoken language is not a national official language.

Galician

Galician, which is another language that may or may not be a language, is spoken principally in Galicia. As a close descendant of Portuguese or arguably a dialect of the language, Galician shares many qualities with the Portuguese language.

In the 13th century, the language known as Galician Portuguese diverged to become what some linguists say is now the Portuguese language and the Galician language. Other linguists believe that the two are part of a dialect continuum that includes Galician, Portuguese and rural dialects of both languages which are mutually intelligible between one another.

In Galicia, around 58% of the population are said to speak Galician as their first language, while over 3 million people are said to speak the language natively worldwide.

On Monday we'll be back with more regional languages of Spain and some of the prominent immigrant languages that have shaped the culture, history, and modern lifestyle of the country.

Part 1 | Part 2

The Best Multilingual Cities In Europe: Part 1

For language lovers there's nothing better than travelling, and whilst it can be nice to visit a place to hear one foreign language, there's something we love even more about multilingual communities. There are certainly some fantastic places to visit around the world if one language just isn't enough for you.

Today we'll be sharing a list of some of the best multilingual cities on the European continent. It was tough just picking these few, so if you feel we have missed any or disagree with our choices, let us know in the comments below.

Spain

The larger of the two countries found on the Iberian peninsula is home to many languages. Thanks to its system of autonomous communities, several regions in Spain have two or more native languages all with official language status.

A view of Barcelona from atop the Sagrada Familia. 

A Coruña - This town in Galicia not only boasts the languages of both Spanish and Galician, but an interesting history and varied culture. The climate may not be exactly what you expect from Spain, but it's certainly not as cold as Siberia and by no means as rainy as Scotland.

Barcelona - Spain's second city is not only part of Catalonia, where the native language, Catalan, can be found, but also a huge hub of other languages such as Spanish, English, German and French. As a popular tourist destination, the city is rife with multilingual communication and cultural exchange. Thanks to low-cost airlines, it is also a very popular destination for Brits going on weekend city breaks, but don't let that put you off.

Bilbao -The biggest city in the Basque Country is not only beautiful but home a multilingual culture of Spanish and Basque speakers. Bilbao is also home to the Euskaltzaindia, the regulatory body for the Basque language, so if you are interested in Europe's largest language isolate, Bilbao is the place to go.

Pamplona - Another city famous for its Basque-speaking population, Pamplona (known in Basque as Iruña) is well-known for the "Running of the Bulls", an event in which bulls are released into the streets and both inhabitants and tourists alike must flee. Aside from Spanish and Basque, expect to hear excited screams as well.

This enormous falla in Valencia was later
set alight in a flurry of pyrotechnic glory.

Valencia - The capital of the Valencian Community, which is the name of the region, is the largest city and home to Valencian, the language known as Catalan in neighbouring Catalonia to the north. Famous for its Falles (or Fallas in Spanish) festival, the Valencian city can boast a slightly nicer climate than Barcelona and, thanks to the large number of fireworks thrown during the festival, a louder one as well.

Andorra

Andorra La Vella - Nicely nestled between the Catalan and Spanish-speaking region of Catalonia and France, the tiny principality of Andorra and its capital is privy to four official languages: Catalan, Spanish, French and Provençal.

If you're not visiting the ski resorts, then why not wander round the city drinking in this multilingual principality in the Pyrenees.

France

Despite France's love of the French language and a fairly poor track record when it comes to minority languages, there are still a few places that you can hear more than just the language of love. France sits almost centrally between Romance languages and Germanic languages, and the country borders no less than eight other nations, including Spain, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco.

Dunkirk - The French city of Dunkirk is famous for the Dunkirk evacuation, or Operation Dynamo as it was known in the military. The city was historically a part of Flanders, which can still be seen to some extent given the languages spoken here. Though the French language has mostly replaced the Flemish that was spoken here, there are still some who speak it. If you don't get to hear the language, you can certainly sample some of the food which is still heavily influenced by the Flemish people.

We'll leave it there for today and continue our search for the best multilingual cities tomorrow across more of Northern Europe and onwards!

Read part 2.

Language or Dialect? Part 2

Yesterday, we started making the call on what qualifies as a language and what qualifies as a dialect... read the first part here. Here's our next group of contenders in: Language or Dialect?

Catalan v. Valencian

This is definitely a no-brainer for us. The main issue of language or dialect for these two comes from an inability to decide what to call the language. If you're Catalan you call your language Catalan, if you're Valencian you call your language Valencian.

They have long been considered the same language, but certain locals have difficulty admitting to it. The governing body of Valencian, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, considers the two to be names for the same thing. The differences are minuscule, we're talking about pronunciation and lexicon.

The ideal solution would be to change the name altogether. Catalencian or Valalan don't really roll of the tongue though...

Ruling: Dialects of Catalan/Valencian, just call it whatever you like!

American English v. British English

Now we're just being silly. Historically a bit of a Ross and Rachel story.

"Hey, it's quite nice here... actually, let's not pay taxes. Screw you monarchy! We'll make our own country!" Britain and the U.S. were "on a break" when Webster got his hands on the English language and wrote his "English for dummies", better known as his spelling reform for American English.

This is Noah Webster. It's his fault that
Brits and Americans are constantly
 fighting over whose spellings are correct.

Color or colour? Favor or favour... perhaps marketing would have taken off much quicker in the UK if they had been able to maximise their savings on ink like the U.S. did. Doughnuts? It'd be half price if you spelt them donuts.

Despite the niggling pains that those who speak as though they have a mouth full of chewing gum (Americans) are speaking the same language as those who speak as though they have a mouth full of fruit (the British), both parties will have to kiss and make up and admit that those wearing baseball caps, shorts and a bum bag (fanny pack) are speaking the same language as those in football (soccer) shirts with a pint of beer in hand (uhm... do Americans have a word for beer?).

Ruling: Dialects of English, unfortunately...

English v. Scots

Calm down! We're talking about the English language and the Scots language! Not football or a referendum!

Scots does not refer to Scots Gaelic, which is a Celtic language, but the Germanic language, which is related to English. It has no official status in any country but does have status as a traditional language under the Scottish Parliament and a regional or minority language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The debate comes down to whether it's just another type of English, just like Old English, Middle English, etc. or a separate language. They're barely mutually intelligible, though the same is sometimes said of the Scottish Dialect. One problem though... we've considered American English to be the same language as British English. If Scots is a dialect of English, then Americans would have to be able to understand speakers of Scots. But can they? We think not.

Ruling: Different Languages

Americans don't really understand bagpipes
either... though does anyone, really?

In the end though, language and dialects are really identified by the speakers. Linguists and governments can say what they want, but they can't change the minds of the people who speak their language... or is it dialect?

Part 1 | Part 2

Language or Dialect? Part 1

Someone once said "A language is a dialect with an army and navy". In terms of "grey areas", the various language v. dialect debates aren't up there with other dilemmas such as euthanasia, abortion or gay marriage... but they can be quite problematic.

Since we have a sick fondness for arguments, here are today's contenders in: Language or Dialect?

Afrikaans v. Dutch

They're used on opposite ends of the world. You can't get much further south than South Africa and if you do you'll probably lose your testicles to frostbite. The Netherlands on the other hand is in northern Europe. Geographically the places couldn't be much farther apart. Linguistically... not so much.

The Netherlands is also known for its tulips...
South Africa, not so much.

Afrikaans came from Dutch and took around 90-95% of its lexicon from it. A good argument for being a dialect is mutual intelligibility, which asks if two parties speaking their own languages can still understand one another.

Between Afrikaans and Dutch the answer is yes. It's apparently easier when it's written down. Afrikaans has been influenced by other sources (as if it could remain unscathed in the linguistic minefield of South Africa!) and also has a simplified spelling (American English, anyone?).

To avoid upsetting anyone, we could say they are languages in their own right. Even with their many similarities they lack a shared history, shared culture and other things we like to consider integral to a language.

Plus, if you have to keep asking "wat?" then it defeats the idea of them being the same language.

Ruling: Separate languages

Arabic and its many, many variations

If you read our post on Arabic, available here, you'll see that Arabic isn't technically a language. It's a group of similar languages considered dialects. Confused? Us too!

There are so many differences and so little mutual intelligibility between them we'd have to agree. Of course they're all held together by the Qur'an and Classical Arabic, so maybe they are just dialects. It's too much of a minefield to even attempt to get to the bottom of in just one post. What does the Ethnologue (our Bible, Torah, or even Qur'an) say?

Ruling according to Ethnologue: Macrolanguage, a language of languages.

Dutch v. Flemish

Dutch again? The Dutch can't decide whether it should be one language with many dialects or many languages. Given that even Belgium considers Dutch to be one of its official languages, with no mention of Flemish, we'll go with that. Thank God! This is getting ridiculous!

Ruling: Dialects of Dutch

We also consider Belgium to be awesome because
it provides us with delicious chocolates.

Galician v. Portuguese

Oh dear, oh dear! Where to begin with this one?

One may remember that there was once Galician-Portuguese, but then politics changed things. Spain got Galicia, and later Franco got Spain and minority languages throughout Spain were suppressed. Despite Franco being from Galicia...

Spain's influence over Galicia managed to change the way Galician is written. The phonology and vocabulary are different between the two. Mutual intelligibility between the two is good, at least in northern Portugal, though it's not so good once you get to central or southern Portugal. Galicians may not get to speak their language further afield just yet.

Linguistically, the two can often be considered variants of the same language, but given the huge political background it may be safer to call them languages. But when have we played it safe?

Ruling: Dialects of Portuguese, sorry Galicia!

Tomorrow we're discussing three more pairings in Part 2 of Language or Dialect?, so be sure to check it out!

Part 1 | Part 2