Editing Catalan language (section)

== Vocabulary ==

=== Word choices ===
Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=632}} Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually [[Central Catalan]] acts as an innovative element.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=632}}

Literary Catalan allows the use of words from different dialects, except those of very restricted use.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=632}} However, from the 19th century onwards, there has been a tendency towards favoring words of Northern dialects to the detriment of others.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=632}}

=== Latin and Greek loanwords ===
Like other languages, Catalan has a large list of loanwords from Greek and Latin. This process started very early, and one can find such examples in [[Ramon Llull]]'s work.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=632}} In the 14th and 15th centuries Catalan had a far greater number of Greco-Latin loanwords than other Romance languages, as is attested for example in [[Roís de Corella]]'s writings.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=632}} The incorporation of learned, or "bookish" words from its own ancestor language, [[Latin language|Latin]], into Catalan is arguably another form of lexical borrowing through the influence of [[Classical Latin|written language]] and the liturgical language of the Church. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, most literate Catalan speakers were also literate in Latin; and thus they easily adopted Latin words into their writing—and eventually speech—in Catalan.

=== Word formation ===
The process of [[morphological derivation]] in Catalan follows the same principles as the other [[Romance languages]],{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=631}} where [[inflection]] is common. Many times, several affixes are appended to a preexisting lexeme, and some sound alternations can occur, for example {{lang|ca|elèctri'''c'''}} {{IPA|[əˈlɛktri<u>k</u>]}} ("electrical") vs. {{lang|ca|electri'''c'''itat}} {{IPA|[ələktri<u>s</u>iˈtat]}}. [[Prefixes]] are usually appended to verbs, as in {{lang|ca|'''pre'''veure}} ("foresee").{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=631}}

There is greater regularity in the process of [[word-compounding]], where one can find compounded words formed much like those in English.{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=631}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Common types of word compounds in Catalan{{sfn|Enciclopèdia Catalana|p=631}}
|-
! Type !! Example !! Gloss
|-
| two nouns, the second assimilated to the first || {{lang|ca|paper moneda}} || "banknote paper"
|-
| noun delimited by an adjective || {{lang|ca|estat major}} || "military staff"
|-
| noun delimited by another noun and a preposition || {{lang|ca|màquina d'escriure}} || "typewriter"
|-
| verb radical with a nominal object || {{lang|ca|<u>para</u>caigudes}} || "parachute"
|-
| noun delimited by an adjective, with adjectival value || {{lang|ca|pit-roig}} || "robin" (bird)
|}