Catalan

Where it’s spoken

Catalan is the national language of Andorra and co-official in Catalonia, Valencia (where it is called Valencian), and the Balearic Islands. It is also spoken in Roussillon (southern France), the city of Alghero (Sardinia, Italy), and the eastern strip of Aragon. About 4 million people speak it as a first language, with another 5 million using it regularly.

What it sounds like

Catalan has eight stressed vowels — more than Spanish — including the open ɛ and ɔ. Unstressed vowels in eastern dialects reduce to a neutral schwa-like sound. Distinctive consonants include the geminated ŀl (ela geminada), the palatal lateral ll, and the affricate tj/tg.

How it’s written

Catalan uses the Latin alphabet with grave accent (à, è, ò), acute (é, í, ó, ú), cedilla (ç), diaeresis (ï, ü), and the middle dot in ŀl. The Institut d’Estudis Catalans codifies standards. Spelling is largely phonemic with some etymological preservations.

History

Catalan emerged from Vulgar Latin in the medieval Crown of Aragon. The 19th-century Renaixença revived literary Catalan after centuries of suppression. The Franco regime banned Catalan in public life; the 1978 democratic constitution restored it.