Catalan language
Western Romance language / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Catalan (/ˈkætələn, -æn/ KAT-ə-lən, -lan or /ˌkætəˈlæn/ KAT-ə-LAN;[4][5] autonym: català, Eastern Catalan: [kətəˈla]), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as Valencian (autonym: valencià), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra,[6] and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian. It has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero,[7] and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia. The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".[8]
Catalan | |
---|---|
Valencian | |
català, valencià | |
Pronunciation | [kətəˈla], [valensiˈa] |
Native to | Andorra, Spain, France, Italy |
Region | Southern Europe |
Ethnicity | Catalans Aragonese from La Franja Balears Valencians |
Speakers | L1: 4.1 million (2012)[1] L2: 5.1 million Total: 9.2 million |
Early forms | |
Standard forms | |
Dialects |
|
Latin (Catalan alphabet) Catalan Braille | |
Signed Catalan | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Andorra Italy |
Recognised minority language in | |
Regulated by | Institut d'Estudis Catalans Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | ca |
ISO 639-2 | cat |
ISO 639-3 | cat |
Glottolog | stan1289 |
Linguasphere | 51-AAA-e |
Territories where Catalan/Valencian is spoken and is official Territories where Catalan/Valencian is spoken but is not official Territories where Catalan/Valencian is not historically spoken but is official | |
Standard Catalan is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger [3] | |
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. |
The language evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees. Nineteenth-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival,[9][10] culminating in the early 1900s.