Editing Catalan language (section)

==== Overview ====
[[File:Catalan dialects-en.png|thumb|Main dialects of Catalan{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=6}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2005|p=2}}{{sfn|Costa Carreras|Yates|2009|p=4}}]]
The dialects of the Catalan language feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages;{{sfn|Moll|2006|p=47}} both in terms of [[vocabulary]], [[semantics]], [[syntax]], [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], and [[phonology]].{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|pp=634–635}} Mutual intelligibility between dialects is very high,{{sfn|Wheeler|2005|p=1}}{{sfn|Costa Carreras|Yates|2009|p=5}}{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=5}} estimates ranging from 90% to 95%.<ref name="e25" /> The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic [[Algherese dialect]].{{sfn|Moll|2006|p=47}}

Catalan is split in two major dialectal blocks: Eastern and Western.{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=5}}{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|pp=634–635}} The main difference lies in the treatment of unstressed {{lang|ca|a}} and {{lang|ca|e}}; which have merged to {{IPA|/ə/}} in Eastern dialects, but which remain distinct as {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/e/}} in Western dialects.{{sfn|Moll|2006|p=47}}{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=5}} There are a few other differences in pronunciation, verbal morphology, and vocabulary.{{sfn|Wheeler|2005|p=1}}

Western Catalan comprises the two dialects of [[Northwestern Catalan|North-Western Catalan]] and [[Valencian language|Valencian]]; the Eastern block comprises four dialects: [[Central Catalan]], [[Balearic dialect|Balearic]], [[Northern Catalan|Roussillonese]], and [[Algherese dialect|Algherese]].{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=5}} Each dialect can be further subdivided in several subdialects. The terms "Catalan" and "[[Valencian language|Valencian]]" (respectively used in [[Catalonia]] and the [[Valencian Community]]) refer to two varieties of the same language.<ref name="Dictamen de l'Acadèmia">{{Citation |title=Dictamen de l'Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua sobre els principis i criteris per a la defensa de la denominació i l'entitat del valencià |date=2005 |url=http://www.avl.gva.es/va/acords-AVL/main/03/document/NOMENTITAT.pdf |trans-title=Resolution of the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua concerning the principles and criteria for protecting the name and identity of Valencian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923181117/http://www.avl.gva.es/va/acords-AVL/main/03/document/NOMENTITAT.pdf |publisher=[[Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua]] |language=ca-valencia |archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> There are two institutions regulating the two standard varieties, the [[Institut d'Estudis Catalans|Institute of Catalan Studies]] in Catalonia and the [[Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua|Valencian Academy of the Language]] in the Valencian Community.

Central Catalan is considered the standard pronunciation of the language and has the largest number of speakers.{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=5}} It is spoken in the densely populated regions of the [[Barcelona Province (Spain)|Barcelona province]], the eastern half of the province of Tarragona, and most of the province of Girona.{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=5}}

Catalan has an inflectional grammar. Nouns have two [[grammatical gender|genders]] (masculine, feminine), and two [[grammatical number|numbers]] (singular, plural). Pronouns additionally can have a neuter gender, and some are also inflected for [[grammatical case|case]] and [[T–V distinction|politeness]], and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for [[grammatical person|person]], [[grammatical number|number]], [[grammatical tense|tense]], [[grammatical aspect|aspect]], [[grammatical mood|mood]], and [[grammatical gender|gender]]. In terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters, in contrast with many other Romance languages.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=630}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; "
|+ Main dialectal divisions of Catalan{{sfn|Feldhausen|2010|p=5}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2005|pages=2–3}}
|-
! Block
| colspan="2" | '''Western Catalan''' || colspan="4" | '''Eastern Catalan'''
|-
! Variety
| '''[[Northwestern Catalan|North-Western]]''' || '''[[Valencian language|Valencian]]''' || '''[[Central Catalan|Central]]''' || '''[[Balearic dialect|Balearic]]''' || '''[[Northern Catalan|Northern]]''' (Roussillonese) || '''[[Algherese dialect|Alguerese]]''' (Algherese)
|-
! rowspan="2" | Area
| [[Spain]], [[Andorra]] || colspan="3" | [[Spain]] || [[France]] || [[Italy]]
|-
| [[Andorra]], provinces of [[province of Lleida|Lleida]], western half of [[province of Tarragona|Tarragona]], [[La Franja]] ([[Aragon]]) || [[Valencian Community]], [[Carche]] ([[Region of Murcia|Murcia]]) || Provinces of [[province of Barcelona|Barcelona]], eastern half of [[province of Tarragona|Tarragona]], most of [[province of Girona|Girona]] || [[Balearic Islands]] || [[Roussillon]] ([[Northern Catalonia]]) || City of [[Alghero]] in [[Sardinia]]
|}