Editing Algherese dialect (section)

== History ==
Algherese is a regional dialect spoken by anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 individuals, most of whom reside in the town of [[Alghero]], located in the northwest of [[Sardinia]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Salminen |first=Tapani |title=Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7007-1197-0 |editor-last=Moseley |editor-first=Christopher |location=London |pages=235 |language=en |chapter=Europe and North Asia}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://endangeredlanguages.com/lang/944|title=Did you know Algherese Catalan is vulnerable?|website=Endangered Languages|language=en|access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref> The language, though distinct, is initially derived from, and thus considered a variant of, the [[Catalan language]].<ref name=":0"/> The origins of the language can be traced back to 1372, when Catalan invaders repopulated the city of [[Alghero]] after exiling the indigenous populations in [[Sardinia]].<ref name=":0" /> Despite the city's increasing [[Italianisation]], the use of this Catalan dialect remained widespread until at least the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Minder |first1=Raphael |title=Italy's Last Bastion of Catalan Language Struggles to Keep It Alive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/world/europe/catalan-italy-alghero.html |work=The New York Times |date=21 November 2016 |language=en}}</ref>

===Present status===
As a result of the city's extensive Italianisation, [[Italian language|Italian]] is now the predominant language in Alghero,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://prosodia.upf.edu/coalgueres/en/algueres.html|title=Corpus Oral de l'Alguerès|website=prosodia.upf.edu|access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref> being estimated by a 2004 survey to be first language of close to 60% of those surveyed.<ref>{{harvp|Generalitat de Catalunya, Secretaria de Política Lingüística|2004|p=24}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The use of the dialect in schools and media, to name a few, remains sparse. Teaching of the dialect in school is also rare. However, in an attempt to reverse the trend, the Regional Council of Sardinia officially recognised "Algherese Catalan" as a separate language in 1997, in order to promote its use and circulation.<ref name=":1" /> According to the 2004 survey, Algherese was used by approximately 14% of the population for daily interactions.<ref>{{harvp|Generalitat de Catalunya, Secretaria de Política Lingüística|2004|p=25}}</ref> The dialect is mostly a local language, often used to supplement [[Italian language|Italian]] and/or [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] in relatively small circles.<ref>{{harvp|Argenter|2008}}</ref>

The following figures were obtained from the ''Enquesta d'usos lingüístics a l'Alguer'' ("Survey of linguistic usage in Alghero", EULAL) of 2004<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://llengua.gencat.cat/web/.content/documents/dadesestudis/altres/arxius/eula2004.pdf |title=Enquesta d'usos lingüístics a l'Alguer |last=Generalitat de Catalunya, Secretaria de Política Lingüística |date=2004 |publisher=Generalitat de Catalunya, Secretaria de Política Lingüística |language=ca |trans-title=Survey of linguistic usage in Alghero}}</ref> and the ''Els usos lingüístics a l'Alguer'' of 2015 (EULA 2015),<ref>{{cite report |date=2017 |title=Els usos lingüístics a l'Alguer, 2015 |trans-title=Linguistic usage in Alghero, 2015 |language=ca |url=http://llengua.gencat.cat/web/.content/documents/publicacions/btpl/arxius/20_Usos_linguistics_Alguer_2015.pdf |publisher=Generalitat de Catalunya }}</ref> both of which were studies conducted in the town of Alghero about the general use of Algherese in several media.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Language status
!
!2004
!2015
|-
|Oral Comprehension
|90.1% (Sardinian oral comprehension: 69.7%)
|88.2%
|-
|Oral Expression
|61.3% (Sardinian oral expression: 33.9%)
|50.5%
|-
|Written Comprehension
|46.6% (Sardinian written comprehension: 35.4%)
|35.6%
|-
|Written Expression
|13.6% (Sardinian written expression: 15.4%)
|8.1%
|-
|First Language
|22.4% (59.2% Italian)
|17.5%
|-
|Habitual Language
|13.9%
|9.1%
|}

===Official recognition===
In 1999, Catalan and Sardinian were among the twelve minority languages officially recognised as Italy's "[[Languages of Italy#Historical linguistic minorities|historical linguistic minorities]]" by the Italian State under Law No. 482/1999.<ref>Law No. 482 of 15 December 1999. "Rules on the protection of historical linguistic minorities". Article 2. Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 297. 20 December 1999</ref> Prior to this, the Regional Council of Sardinia had passed the Regional Law No. 26 of 15 October 1997 which, aside from promoting the equality in dignity of the Sardinian language with the Italian language throughout the island, provided that the other languages of smaller scope be afforded the same treatment as the aforementioned languages, among which Catalan is cited, in the city of Alghero.<ref>[http://www.regione.sardegna.it/j/v/86?v=9&c=72&file=1997026 Regional Law No. 26 of 15 October 1997. "Promozione e valorizzazione della culture e della lingua della Sardegna"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226213750/http://www.regione.sardegna.it/j/v/86?v=9&c=72&file=1997026 |date=26 February 2021 }}. Articles 2.1 and 2.4 . Consiglio Regionale della Sardegna</ref> The city council, for its part, promulgated its protection and standardisation in its city statute.<ref>[http://www.ciutatdelalguer.it/statuto.pdf Communal Statute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722030108/http://www.ciutatdelalguer.it/statuto.pdf |date=22 July 2011 }}. Article 9. City of Alghero.</ref>