Valencian language

ValencianTemplate:Efn (Template:Lang)Template:Efn or the Valencian language<ref name="Statute">Template:Cite web</ref> (Template:Lang)Template:Efn is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community to refer to the Romance language also known as Catalan,Template:Efn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="judgements4">«Otra sentencia equipara valenciano y catalán en las oposiciones, y ya van 13.» 20 minutos, 7 January 2008.</ref><ref name="judgements2">Decreto 84/2008, de 6 de junio, del Consell, por el que se ejecuta la sentencia de 20 de junio de 2005, de la Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunitat Valenciana.</ref><ref name="judgements1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> either as a wholeTemplate:Efn or in its Valencia-specific linguistic forms.Template:Efn<ref name="Conflict">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Valencian Community's 1982 Statute of Autonomy officially recognises Valencian as the name of the native language.<ref name="Statute" /><ref name="judgements3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Valencian displays transitional features between Ibero-Romance languages and Gallo-Romance languages. According to philological studies, the varieties of this language spoken in the Valencian Community and Carche cannot be considered a single dialect restricted to these borders: the several dialects of Valencian (Alicante Valencian, Southern Valencian, Central Valencian or Template:Lang, Northern Valencian or Castellon Valencian and Transitional Valencian) belong to the Western group of Catalan dialects.<ref name="Alcover">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Moll 1968">Template:Cite book</ref>

There is political controversy within the Valencian Community regarding whether it is a glottonym or an independent language. Official reports from 2014 showed that the majority of the people in the Valencian Community considered it as a separate language, different from Catalan, although the same studies show that this percentage decreases among younger generations and people with more education.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite report</ref><ref name="La Vanguardia 2004-12-09">Template:Cite news</ref> According to the 2006 Statute of Autonomy, Valencian is regulated by the Template:Lang (AVL),<ref name=Statute /> following the legacy established by the Castelló Norms,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which adapt Catalan orthography to Valencian idiosyncrasies.

Some of the most important works of Valencian literature experienced a Golden Age during the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Important works include Joanot Martorell's chivalric romance Template:Lang, and Ausiàs March's poetry. The first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in the Valencian variety.<ref>Template:Lang ("Poems of praise of the Virgin Mary") 1474.</ref>Template:Sfn The earliest recorded chess game with modern rules for moves of the queen and bishop was in the Valencian poem Template:Lang (1475).

History

The Valencian language is usually assumed to have spread in the Kingdom of Valencia when Catalan and Aragonese colonists settled the territory after the conquests carried out by James the Conqueror.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A new resettlement in the 17th century, after the expulsion of the Moriscos, largely led by Castilians, defined the Spanish language varieties of inland Valencia. However, Valencian has historically been the predominant and administrative language in the kingdom.

The first documental reference to the usage of the term Template:Lang to refer to the spoken language of the Valencians is found in a judicial process of Minorca against Gil de Lozano, dated between 1343 and 1346, in which it is said that the mother of the indicted, Sibila, speaks Template:Lang because she was from Orihuela (formerly Oriola).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The concept of Valencian language appeared in the second half of the 14th century and it was progressively consolidated at the same time that its meaning changed due to events of a diverse nature (political, social, economic).Template:Sfn In the previous centuries the Catalan spoken in the territory of the Kingdom of Valencia was called in different ways: Template:Lang (13th century) and Template:Lang (during the 14th century, for the medieval concept of nation as a linguistic community). The concept of the Valencian language appeared with a particularistic character due to the reinforced nature of the legal entity of the Kingdom of Valencia for being the Mediterranean commercial power during the 14th and 15th centuries, becoming in the cultural and literary centre of the Crown of Aragon. Thus, the Valencians, together with the Majorcans, presented themselves to other peoples as Catalans while they referred to themselves as Valencians and Majorcans to themselves to emphasise the different legal citizenship of each kingdom.Template:Sfn

In the 15th century, the so-called Valencian Golden Age, the name "Valencian" was already the usual name of the predominant language of the Kingdom of Valencia, and the names of Template:Lang, Template:Lang or Template:Lang had fallen into disuse. Joanot Martorell, author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch, said: "Template:Literal." ("I dare to express myself: not only in English in Portuguese. But even so from Portuguese to vulgar Valencian: for that the nation I am from born can rejoice").

Since the Spanish democratic transition, the autonomy or heteronomy of Valencian with respect to the rest of the Valencian-Catalan linguistic system has been the subject of debate and controversy among Valencians, usually with a political background. Although in the academic field (universities and institutions of recognised prestige) of linguists the unity of the language has never been questioned since studies of the Romance languages, part of Valencian public opinion believes and affirms that Valencian and Catalan are different languages, an idea that began to spread during the turbulent Valencian transition by sectors of the regionalist right and by the so-called Template:Lang (Blaverism). There is an alternative secessionist linguistic regulation, the Normes del Puig (Norms of El Puig), drawn up by the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Template:Lang, RACV), an institution founded in 1915 by the Deputation of Valencia, but its use is very marginal.

Official status

The official status of Valencian is regulated by the Spanish Constitution and the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, together with the Law on the Use and Teaching of Valencian (ca).

Article 6 of the Valencian Statute of Autonomy sets the legal status of Valencian, establishing that:<ref name="estatuto">Template:Cite web</ref>

• The native languageTemplate:Efn of the Valencian Community is Valencian.
• Valencian is the official language in the Valencian Community, along with Spanish, which is the official language of Spain. Everyone shall have the right to know and use them, and to receive education on Valencian and in Valencian.
• No one can be discriminated against by reason of their language.
• Special protection and respect shall be given to the recuperation of Valencian.
• The Template:Lang shall be the normative institution of the Valencian language.

Passed in 1983, the Law on the Use and Teaching of Valencian develops this framework, providing for the implementation of a bilingual educational system, regulating the use of Valencian in the public administration and judiciary system, where citizens can freely use it when acting before both, or establishing the right to be informed by media in Valencian among others.

Valencian is also protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, ratified by Spain. However, the Committee of Experts of the Charter has pointed out a considerable number of deficiencies in the application of the Charter by the Spanish and Valencian governments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Distribution and usage

Distribution

Unlike in other bilingual autonomous communities, Valencian has not historically been spoken to the same extent throughout the Valencian Community. Slightly more than a quarter of its territory, equivalent to 10-15% of the population (its inland and southernmost areas), is Spanish-speaking since the Middle Ages. Additionally, it is also spoken by a small number of people in the Carche comarca, a rural area in the Region of Murcia adjoining the Valencian Community.<ref name="Carche">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nevertheless, Valencian does not have any official recognition in this area. Nowadays about 600 people are able to speak Valencian in Carche.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Valencian language is traditionally spoken along the coast and in some inland areas in the provinces of Alicante and Castellón, from Vinaròs (northernmost point of the extension of Valencian on the coast of the Valencian Community) to Guardamar (southernmost point of Valencian).

Knowledge and usage

File:Coneixement del valencià (domini promig)-Cens del 2001.png

Knowledge of Valencian according to the 2001 census. The light green areas inland and in the southernmost part are not historically Valencian speaking (large).

In 2010 the Generalitat Valenciana, or Valencian government, published a study, Template:Lang (Knowledge and Social Use of Valencian),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which included a survey sampling more than 6,600 people in the provinces of Castellón, Valencia, and Alicante. The survey simply collected the answers of respondents and did not include any testing or verification. The results were:

• Valencian was the language "always, generally, or most commonly used":
  • at home: 31.6%
  • with friends: 28.0%
  • in internal business relations: 24.7%

• For ability:
  • 48.5% answered they can speak Valencian "perfectly" or "quite well" (54.3% in the Valencian-speaking areas and 10% in the Spanish-speaking areas)
  • 26.2% answered they can write Valencian "perfectly" or "quite well" (29.5% in the Valencian-speaking areas and 5.8% in the Spanish-speaking areas)

The survey shows that, although Valencian is still the common language in many areas in the Valencian Community, where slightly more than half of the Valencian population are able to speak it, most Valencians do not usually use Valencian in their social relations.

Moreover, according to the most recent survey in 2021,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> there is a downward trend in everyday Valencian users. The lowest numbers are in the major cities of Valencia and Alicante, where the percentage of everyday speakers is at single-digit numbers. However, the percentage of residents who claim to be able to understand and read Valencian seems to have increased since 2015.

Knowledge of Valencian in the Valencian Community (2021)<ref name="Knowledge of Valencian (2021)">Template:Cite web</ref>

	Valencian-speaking zone	Spanish-speaking zone	Total
Understands it	79.4%	54%	75.8%
Can speak it	54.9%	24.2%	50.6%
Can read it	60.9%	35%	57.2%
Can write it	44.4%	19.5%	40.8%

Due to a number of political and social factors, including repression, immigration and lack of formal instruction in Valencian, the number of speakers has severely decreased, and the influence of Spanish has led to the appearance of a number of barbarisms.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Features of Valencian

File:Catalan dialects-en.png

The main dialects of Catalan. The Western Catalan block comprises the two dialects of North-Western Catalan and Valencian.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

This is a list of features of the main forms of Valencian. There is a great deal of variety within the Valencian Community, and by no means do the features below apply to every local version. For more general information about other linguistic varieties, see Catalan language.

The Template:Lang (AVL) specifies Standard Valencian as having some specific syntax, vocabulary, verb conjugations and accent marks compared to Standard Catalan.

Phonology

Vowels

File:Valencian vowel chart.svg

Vowels of Valencian, from Template:Harvnb

Template:NowrapTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name="Lacreu i Cuesta 2002 40–4">Template:Citation.</ref><ref name="EOV (2002)">Template:Cite web</ref>

	Front	Back
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Open	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	Template:IPA link

• The stressed vowel system of Valencian (V) is the same as that of Eastern Catalan (EC):
  • Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA (with Template:IPA and Template:IPA being considerably lower than in EC).Template:Sfn

Close (and close-mid) vowels

• The vowels Template:IPA and Template:IPA are more open and centralised than in Spanish.
  • This effect is more pronounced in unstressed syllables, where the phones are best transcribed Template:IPATemplate:Sfn (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'boy'). As the process is completely predictable, the latter symbols are not used elsewhere in the article.
    • (Due to the proximity of unstressed close and/or close-mid/mid vowels, non-standard colloquial Valencian may feature further lowerings producing vowel alterations or metathesis, e.g. Template:Lang → *Template:Lang 'pool').Template:Sfn
• The vowel Template:IPA is somewhat retracted Template:IPAblink and Template:IPA is somewhat advanced Template:IPAblink both in stressed and unstressed syllables (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'metro').
  • Template:IPA and Template:IPA can be realised as mid vowels Template:IPA in some cases. This occurs more often with Template:IPA (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'love').Template:Sfn

Open vowels

• The so-called "open vowels", Template:IPA and Template:IPA, are generally as low as Template:IPA in most Valencian dialects. The phonetic realisations of Template:IPA approaches Template:IPAblink and Template:IPA is as open as Template:IPAblink (as in traditional RP dog). This feature is also found in Balearic.Template:Sfn For a list showing the frequency of these vowels, see cases where /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are found in Valencian.
  • Template:IPA is slightly more open and centralised before liquids Template:IPA (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'greens') and in monosyllabics (Template:Lang Template:IPA 'seven').Template:Sfn
  • Template:IPA is most often a back vowel (Template:Lang Template:IPA 'clog', Template:Lang Template:IPA 'bull').
    • In some dialects (including Balearic) Template:IPA can be unrounded (Template:IPA, Template:IPA).Template:Sfn
• The vowel Template:IPA is slightly more fronted and closed than in Central EC (but less fronted and closed than in Majorcan). The precise phonetic realisation of the vowel Template:IPA in Valencian is [[[:Template:IPA link]] ~ Template:IPA link], this vowel is subject to assimilation in many instances.Template:Sfn
  • Stressed Template:IPA can be retracted to Template:IPAblink in contact with velar consonants (including the velarised Template:IPAblink):Template:Sfn Template:Lang Template:IPA ('stick'); and fronted to Template:IPAblink in contact with palatals:Template:Sfn Template:Lang Template:IPA ('botched job'). This is not transcribed in the article.
    • The palatal pronunciation of Template:IPA may merge with Template:IPA by some speakers: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('ray').Template:Sfn

Vowel reduction

• There are five general unstressed vowels Template:IPA (rare instances of Template:IPA and Template:IPA are found through compounding and vowel harmony). Although unstressed vowels are more stable than in EC dialects, there are many cases where they merge:Template:Sfn
  • Template:IPA: final unstressed Template:IPA may have the following values: [[[:Template:IPA link]] ~ Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link] (phonetically Template:IPA, and traditionally transcribed without diacritics and/or atypical characters: Template:IPA for simplicity), depending on the preceding sounds and/or dialect (see vowel harmony below).
    • In some regions of the Valencian Community (especially Southern Valencian) unstressed Template:IPA followed by stressed Template:IPA becomes Template:IPAblink: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('grape'). Template:Harvcoltxt states,Template:Sfn that final Template:IPA is close to Template:IPA in some towns of Marina Alta: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('girl').
  • Template:IPA: unstressed Template:IPA and Template:IPA may be realised as Template:IPA (phonetically Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, etc.) in initial position in contact with sibilants, nasals and certain approximants and liquids (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'swarm').
    • Similarly (although not recommended by the AVL), unstressed Template:IPA and Template:IPA merges with Template:IPA (phonetically Template:IPA) in contact with palatal consonants (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'knee'), and especially (in this case it is accepted) in lexical derivation with the suffix Template:Lang (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'knowledge').
      • In the standard (Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:IPA) is only accepted in words with the suffix Template:Lang).Template:Sfn
  • Template:IPA: it is more open and centralised Template:IPA in unstressed position.
  • Template:IPA: unstressed Template:IPA and Template:IPA may be realised as Template:IPA (phonetically Template:IPA) before labial consonants (e.g. coberts Template:IPA 'cutlery'), before a stressed syllable with a high vowel (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'they sighs') and in some given names (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'Joseph').
    • (Note in some colloquial speeches initial unstressed Template:IPA can diphthongise to Template:IPA, Template:Lang Template:IPA) 'smell (n.)'). This is regarded as non-standard.
  • Template:IPA: it is more open and centralised Template:IPA in unstressed position.

Elision and diphthongisation

• In certain cases, unstressed Template:IPA and Template:IPA become silent when followed or preceded by a stressed vowel:
  • Unstressed Template:IPA: Template:Lang Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('what time is it?')
  • Unstressed Template:IPA: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('this man').
• In some accents, vowels occurring at the end of a prosodic unit may be realised as centring diphthongs for special emphasis, so that Template:Lang 'Hey you! Come here!' may be pronounced Template:IPA. The non-syllabic Template:IPA (phonetically Template:IPA) is unrelated to this phenomenon as it is an unstressed non-syllabic allophone of Template:IPA that occurs after vowels, much like in Spanish.

Vowel harmony Template:Anchor

• Many Valencian dialects feature some sort of vowel harmony (Template:Lang). This process is normally progressive (i.e. preceding vowels affect those pronounced afterwards) over the last unstressed vowel of a word; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA > Template:IPA 'fabric, cloth', Template:Lang Template:IPA > Template:IPA 'hour'. However (although regarded as non-standard), there are cases where regressive metaphony occurs over pretonic vowels; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA > Template:IPA 'affects', Template:Lang Template:IPA > Template:IPA 'towel'.
  • Vowel harmony differs greatly from dialect to dialect, while many varieties assimilate both to the height and the quality of the preceding stressed vowel (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'Earth, land' and Template:Lang Template:IPA 'woman'); in other varieties, it is just the height that assimilates, so that Template:Lang and Template:Lang can be realised with either Template:IPA (Template:IPA and/or Template:IPA) or with Template:IPA (Template:IPA and/or Template:IPA), depending on the region and speaker.Template:Sfn
    • In some subvarieties the unstressed vowels produced by vowel harmony may actually be higher than the stressed ones (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'door').
• In a wider sense, vowel assimilations can occur in further instances (that is all or most instances of final unstressed Template:IPA, regardless of the preceding sounds and involving palatalisation and/or velarisation): Template:Lang Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('girl'). This is considered non-standard.

Other sound changes

Vowel nasalisation and lengthening

• All vowels are phonetically nasalised between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA, colloquial Template:IPA 'Sunday').Template:Sfn
• Vowels can be lengthened in some contextsTemplate:Sfn (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'co-ordination').

Main vocalic allophonesTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Phoneme	Allophone	Usage	Example	English
Template:IPATemplate:Sfn
	Template:IPA	- Found in most instances	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Before/after palatals, may be higher Template:IPA (both in stressed and unstressed position)	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	Template:No wrap	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Before/after velars, usually higher in unstressed position Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Same than Template:IPA, but followed by a nasal; usually higher in unstressed position Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- In unstressed position	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Nasal Template:IPA; that is, Template:IPA followed by or in between nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Final unstressed syllables (vowel harmony), may be lower Template:IPA and Template:IPA	Template:No wrap	Template:Lang; Template:Lang
Template:IPATemplate:Sfn
	Template:IPA	- Before liquids and in monosyllabic terms	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Before nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Rest of cases, may be lower Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
Template:IPATemplate:Sfn
	Template:IPA	- Found in stressed and unstressed syllables, may be lower Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- In stressed and unstressed position followed by or in between nasals, may be lower Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- In some cases, in initial unstressed position before palatals; may be higher Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- In some cases, in unstressed position	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- In some cases, in initial unstressed position before nasals (except velar nasals)	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- In some cases, in unstressed position in contact with velars; may be higher Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- In some cases, in initial unstressed position before velar nasals; may be higher Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Found in the suffix -ixement	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
Template:IPATemplate:Sfn
	Template:IPA	- Especially found in stressed syllables	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Nasal Template:IPA; that is, Template:IPA followed by or in between nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Unstressed position	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Nasal Template:IPA; that is, Template:IPA followed by or in between nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Unstressed position before/after vowels	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
Template:IPATemplate:Sfn
	Template:IPA	- Found before stops and in monosyllabic terms	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Before nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Rest of cases, may be lower Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
Template:IPATemplate:Sfn
	Template:IPA	- Found in stressed and unstressed syllables	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Nasal Template:IPA; that is, Template:IPA followed by or in between nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Found in the suffix -dor and in coda stressed syllables	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Unstressed position before labials, a syllable with a high vowel and in some given names	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Same as Template:IPA, but followed by a nasal	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Found in most cases with the weak pronoun ho	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
Template:IPATemplate:Sfn
	Template:IPA	- Especially found in stressed syllables	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Nasal Template:IPA; that is, Template:IPA followed by or in between nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Unstressed position	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Nasal Template:IPA; that is, Template:IPA followed by or in between nasals	Template:Lang	Template:Lang
	Template:IPA	- Unstressed position before/after vowels	Template:Lang	Template:Lang (f.)

Consonants

Consonants of ValencianTemplate:Sfn<ref name="Lacreu i Cuesta 2002 40–4" /><ref name="EOV (2002)"/>

		Labial		Dental/ Alveolar		Palatal		Velar
Nasal			Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		(Template:IPA link)
Plosive		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Affricate				Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPAlink	(Template:IPAlink)
Approximant	Central						Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	Lateral				Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Rhotic	Tap				Template:IPA link
	Trill				Template:IPA link

Nasals

• Template:IPA is bilabial, except before Template:IPA and Template:IPA where it becomes labiodental Template:IPA.
• Template:IPA is apical front alveolar Template:IPA, and laminal denti-alveolar Template:IPA before Template:IPA and Template:IPA.
  • In addition, Template:IPA is postalveolar Template:IPA or alveolo-palatal Template:IPA before Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA; velar Template:IPA before Template:IPA and Template:IPA; and labiodental Template:IPA before Template:IPA and Template:IPA, where it merges with Template:IPA. It also merges with Template:IPA (to Template:IPA) before Template:IPA and Template:IPA.
• Template:IPA is laminal front alveolo-palatal Template:IPA.
• Template:IPA is velar and is only found in the coda.

Obstruents

• Obstruents assimilate to the voicing of the following consonant and vowel: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('the friends').
  • Voiced obstruents undergo final-obstruent devoicing so that Template:Lang ('cold', m. s.) is pronounced with Template:IPA (or Template:IPA) Template:IPA while Template:Lang ('cold', f. pl.) is pronounced with Template:IPA Template:IPA. (See also "plosives" and "affricates and fricatives").

Plosives Template:Anchor

• Template:IPA and Template:IPA are bilabial.
  • Template:IPA is lenited to the approximant (or fricative) Template:IPAblink (or Template:IPAblink) in betacist dialects, after a continuant, i.e. a vowel or any type of consonant other than a stop or nasal (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'big head, stubborn' vs. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'change', Standard without betacism: Template:IPA and Template:IPA).
  • Voiced contrast is lost word finally, so Template:Lang ('cube') and Template:Lang ('winepress') are both pronounced with final Template:IPA (also represented as Template:IPA).
    • Final Template:IPA may be lenited before a vowel: Template:Lang Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('narrow head').Template:Sfn
    • Final Template:IPA after nasals is preserved in most dialects: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('field').
• Template:IPA and Template:IPA are laminal denti-alveolar Template:IPA and Template:IPA. After Template:IPA and Template:IPA, they are laminal alveolar Template:IPA and Template:IPA.
  • Template:IPA is lenited to the approximant (or fricative) Template:IPAblink (or Template:IPAblink), after a continuant, i.e. a vowel or any type of consonant other than a stop or nasal (exceptions include Template:IPA after lateral consonants): Template:Lang Template:IPA 'fairies' vs. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('skirts').
    • Template:IPA Template:IPA is often elided between vowels following a stressed syllable (found notably in feminine participles, Template:IPA → Template:IPA, and in the suffix Template:Lang); e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ( < Template:Lang) 'fideuà', Template:Lang Template:IPA 'tissue' (note this feature, although widely spread in south Valencia, is not recommended in Standard Valencian,<ref name="EOV (2002)"/> except for reborrowed terms such as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, the previously mentioned Template:Lang, etc.).
  • Voiced contrast is lost word finally, so Template:Lang ('deaf') and Template:Lang ('luck') are both pronounced with final Template:IPA (also represented as Template:IPA).
    • Final Template:IPA may be lenited before a vowel: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('all this').Template:Sfn
    • Final Template:IPA after nasals and laterals is preserved in most dialects: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('hundred') and Template:Lang Template:IPA ('very').
• Template:IPA and Template:IPA are velar.
  • Template:IPA and Template:IPA are fronted to pre-velar position [[[:Template:IPA link]], Template:IPA link] before front vowels: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('who'). This is not transcribed in broader transcriptions of Valencian.
  • Template:IPA is lenited to the approximant (or fricative) Template:IPAblink (or Template:IPAblink) after a continuant, i.e. a vowel or any type of consonant other than a stop or nasal.
    • In some dialects, Template:IPA may lenite Template:IPA in all environments (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA), except after nasal (Template:Lang Template:IPA 'anguish').Template:Sfn
  • Voiced contrast is lost word finally, so Template:Lang ('irrigation') and Template:Lang ('irrigation ditch') are both pronounced with final Template:IPA (also represented as Template:IPA).
    • Final Template:IPA may be lenited before a vowel: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('not very tall').Template:Sfn
    • Final Template:IPA after nasals is preserved in most dialects: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('bank').

Affricates and fricatives Template:Anchor

•  Template:IPA and Template:IPA are apical alveolar Template:IPA and Template:IPA. They may be somewhat fronted, so that the stop component is laminal denti-alveolar, while the fricative component is apical post-dental. Template:IPA is rare and may not be phonemic.
  • In the Standard, intervocalic Template:IPA, e.g. Template:Lang ('sixteen'), and Template:IPA, e.g. Template:Lang ('maybe'), are recommended to be pronounced with a gemination of the stop element (Template:IPA and Template:IPA, respectively. However this is not transcribed in standard transcriptions.
    • Note Template:IPA is deaffricated to Template:IPAblink in verbs ending in Template:Lang and derivatives: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('to analyse'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('organisation'). Also in words like Template:Lang Template:IPA ('horn'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('horizon') and Template:Lang Template:IPA ('storehouse') (cf. Template:Lang Template:IPA, 'kick' (from an animal)).
• Template:IPA, Template:IPA, (Template:IPA), and Template:IPA are described as back alveolo-palatal, or postalveolar.
  • Valencian has preserved in most of its varieties the mediaeval voiced pre-palatal affricate Template:IPAslink (similar to the j in English "jeep") in contexts where other modern dialects have developed fricative consonants Template:IPA (like the si in English "vision"), e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('Thursday').
  • Note the fricative Template:IPAblink (and Template:IPA) appears only as a voiced allophone of Template:IPA (and Template:IPA) before vowels and voiced consonants; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('oven fish').
  • Unlike other Catalan dialects, Template:IPA and Template:IPA do not geminate (in most accents): Template:Lang Template:IPA ('medic'), and Template:Lang Template:IPA ('car'). Exceptions may include learned terms like Template:Lang Template:IPA ('pidgin').
  • Final etymological Template:IPA is devoiced to Template:IPA: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('ugly').
• Template:IPA and Template:IPA are apical back alveolar Template:IPA and Template:IPA, also described as postalveolar.
  • In some dialects, Template:IPA is pronounced Template:IPAblink or Template:IPAblink after Template:IPA. In the Standard only is accepted after Template:IPA (in the inchoative form with Template:IPA → Template:IPA), and after Template:IPA: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('they'). In some variants the result may be an affricate.Template:Sfn
  • Final Template:IPA is devoiced to Template:IPA (also represented as Template:IPA): Template:Lang Template:IPA ('they buzzes').
• Template:IPA and Template:IPA are labiodental.
  • Template:IPA occurs in Balearic,Template:Sfn Alguerese, Standard Valencian and some areas in southern Catalonia (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA, 'they lives').Template:Sfn It has merged with Template:IPA elsewhere.Template:Sfn
    • Template:IPA is realised as an approximant Template:IPAblink after continuants: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('advance'). This is not transcribed in this article.
    • Final Template:IPA is devoiced to Template:IPA (also represented as Template:IPA): Template:Lang Template:IPA ('save, except').

Liquids Template:No bold

• Template:IPA is apical front alveolar Template:IPA, and laminal denti-alveolar Template:IPA before Template:IPA and Template:IPA. (In addition, Template:IPA is postalveolar Template:IPA or alveolo-palatal Template:IPA before Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA).
  • Template:IPA is normally velarised (Template:IPAblink), especially in the coda.
    • Template:IPA is generally dropped in the word Template:Lang Template:IPA ('other'), as well as in derived terms.<ref name="EOV (2002)"/>
• Template:IPA is laminal front alveolo-palatal Template:IPA.
• Template:IPA is apical front alveolar Template:IPA and Template:IPA is apical back alveolar Template:IPA, also described as postalveolar.
  • Between vowels, the two rhotics contrast (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'they looks' vs. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'myrrh'), but they are otherwise in complementary distribution. Template:IPAblink appears in the onset, except in word-initial position (Template:Lang 'donkey'), after Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA (Template:Lang 'lining', Template:Lang 'honour', and Template:Lang 'Israel'), and in compounds (Template:Lang 'infrared'), where Template:IPAblink is used.
  • Template:IPA is mostly retained in the coda (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA, 'to go'), except for some cases where it can be dropped: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('to take'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('tree'), and Template:Lang Template:IPA ('money').<ref name="EOV (2002)"/>
    • In some dialects Template:IPA can be further dropped in combinatory forms with infinitives and pronouns (Template:Lang Template:IPA 'to go away, to leave' [myself]).
    • In other dialects, further instances of final Template:IPA (like nouns and/or infinitives, regardless of combinatory forms with pronouns) are lost: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('to go').

Semivowels

• The vowels Template:IPA and Template:IPA have as non-vocalic correlates the semivowels Template:IPA and Template:IPA, respectively, which form a diphthong with the preceding or following vowel (e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA 'hyena', Template:Lang Template:IPA 'I / they was doing', Template:Lang Template:IPA 'mine', Template:Lang Template:IPA 'Easter').
  • According Template:Harvcoltxt,Template:Sfn the sequences Template:IPA or Template:IPA are regarded as labiovelar phonemes Template:IPA and Template:IPA.

Metathesis

• In some places, some terms can undergo sound changes (such as metathesis), like Template:Lang → *Template:Lang or Template:Lang ('to call'). This is heard frequently in the term Template:Lang (standard) → Template:Lang (colloquial) ('water').

Morphology

• The present first-person singular of verbs differs from Central Catalan. All those forms without final -o are more akin to mediaeval Catalan and contemporary Balearic Catalan.

Comparison of present first-person singular with Central Catalan

Stem	Infinitive		Present first person singular
	Catalan	English	Valencian		Central		English
				IPA		IPA
-ar	Template:Lang	to speak	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	I speak
-re	Template:Lang	to beat	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	I beat
-er	Template:Lang	to fear	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	I fear
-ir	Template:Lang	to feel	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	I feel
			Template:Lang (col.)	Template:IPA
inchoative -ir	Template:Lang	to suffer	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	I suffer
			Template:Lang	Template:IPA

• Present subjunctive is more akin to medieval Catalan and Spanish; -ar infinitives end Template:Angle bracket, -re, -er and -ir verbs end in Template:Angle bracket (in contemporary Central Catalan present subjunctive ends in Template:Angle bracket).
• An exclusive feature of Valencian is the subjunctive imperfect morpheme -ra: Template:Lang ('that he might come').
• Valencian has -i- as theme vowel for inchoative verbs of the third conjugation; e.g. Template:Lang ('they serves'), like North-Western Catalan. Although, again, this cannot be generalised since there are Valencian dialects that utilise -ei-, e.g. Template:Lang.
• In Valencian the simple past tense (e.g. Template:Lang 'he sang') is more frequently used in speech than in Central Catalan, where the periphrastic past (e.g. Template:Lang 'he sang') is prevailing and the simple past mostly appears in written language. The same, however, may be said of the Balearic dialects.<ref name="badia" />
• The second-person singular of the present tense of the verb Template:Lang ('to be'), Template:Lang ('you are'), has been replaced by Template:Lang in colloquial speech.
• The infinitive Template:Lang ('to see') has the variant Template:Lang, which belongs to more informal and spontaneous registers.
• The usage of the periphrasis of obligation Template:Lang + Template:Lang + infinitive is widely spread in colloquial Valencian, instead of the Standard Template:Lang + Template:Lang (equivalent to English "have to").

Clitics

• In general, use of modern forms of the determinate article (Template:Lang, Template:Lang 'the') and the third-person unstressed object pronouns (Template:Lang, Template:Lang 'him, them'), though some dialects (for instance the one spoken in Vinaròs area) preserve etymological forms Template:Lang, Template:Lang as in Lleida. For the other unstressed object pronouns, etymological old forms (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang...) can be found, depending on places, in conjunction with the more modern reinforced ones (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang...).
  • Several local variations for Template:Lang, Template:Lang ('we, you'): Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, etc.; Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, etc.; also for the weak form Template:Lang/Template:Lang instead of standard Template:Lang/Template:Lang/Template:Lang ('us') and Template:Lang/Template:Lang instead of Template:Lang/Template:Lang ('you pl.'), the latter (Template:Lang, instead of Template:Lang) is considered standard.
• The adverbial pronoun Template:Lang ('there') is almost never used in speech and is replaced by other pronouns. The adverbial pronoun Template:Lang ('him/her/them/it') is used less than in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.<ref name="badia">Template:Cite book</ref>
• Combined weak clitics with Template:Lang ('him/her/it') preserve the Template:Lang, whereas in Central Catalan it is replaced by Template:Lang. For example, the combination Template:Lang + Template:Lang gives Template:Lang in Valencian (Template:Lang in Central Catalan).
• The weak pronoun Template:Lang ('it') is pronounced as:
  • Template:IPA, when it forms syllable with a pronoun: Template:Lang Template:IPA, Template:Lang Template:IPA ('they give it to me')
  • Template:IPA or Template:IPA, when it comes before a verb starting with consonant: Template:Lang Template:IPA (or Template:IPA) ('they give it')
  • Template:IPA, when precedes a vowel or when coming after a vowel: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('they give it to her/him'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('you give it')
  • Template:IPA, when it comes after a consonant or a semivowel: Template:Lang Template:IPA ('to give it').
• The personal pronoun Template:Lang ('I') and the adverb Template:Lang ('already') are not pronounced according to the spelling, but to the etymology (Template:IPA and Template:IPA, instead of Template:IPA and Template:IPA). Similar pronunciations can be heard in North-Western Catalan and Ibizan.
• The preposition Template:Lang ('with') merges with Template:Lang ('in') in most Valencian dialects.
• The compound preposition Template:Lang ('for') is usually reduced to Template:Lang in colloquial Valencian.
• Valencian preserves the mediaeval system of demonstratives with three different levels of demonstrative precision (Template:Lang or Template:Lang/Template:Lang/Template:Lang, Template:Lang or Template:Lang/Template:Lang/Template:Lang, Template:Lang/Template:Lang/Template:Lang or Template:Lang, where Template:Lang and Template:Lang are almost never used) (feature shared with modern Ribagorçan and Tortosan).
  • The colloquial variant of Template:Lang ('this'), Template:Lang, is heard frequently in Alicante's Valencian.

Vocabulary

Valencian vocabulary contains words both restricted to the Valencian-speaking domain, as well as words shared with other Catalan varieties, especially with North-Western ones. Words are rarely spread evenly over the Valencian Community, but are usually contained to parts of it, or spread out into other dialectal areas. Examples include Template:Lang 'today' (found in all of Valencia except transitional dialects, in Northern dialects Template:Lang) and Template:Lang 'mirror' (shared with North-Western dialects, Central Catalan Template:Lang). There is also variation within Valencia, such as 'corn', which is Template:Lang in Central and Southern Valencian, but Template:Lang in Alicante and Northern Valencian (as well as in North-Western Catalan). Since Standard Valencian is based on the Southern dialect, words from this dialect are often used as primary forms in the standard language, despite other words traditionally being used in other Valencian dialects. Examples of this are Template:Lang 'tomato' (which is Template:Lang outside of Southern Valencian) and Template:Lang 'mattress' (which is Template:Lang in parts of Valencia, including the Southern Valencian area).

Written varieties (phonetics)

Valencian (AVL)	Catalan (IEC)	English
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	English
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	to know
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	take out
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	to be born
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	pitcher
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	round
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	my, mine
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	eight
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	almond
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	star
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	hit
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	lobster
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	men
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	service

Below are a selection of words which differ or have different forms in Standard Valencian and Catalan. In many cases, both standards include this variation in their respective dictionaries, but differ as to what form is considered primary. In other cases, Valencian includes colloquial forms not present in the IEC standard. Primary forms in each standard are shown in bold (and may be more than one form). Words in brackets are present in the standard in question, but differ in meaning from how the cognate is used in the other standard.

Standard Valencian (AVL)<ref>Diccionari Normatiu Valencià. http://www.avl.gva.es/lexicval/</ref>	Standard Catalan (IEC)<ref>Diccionari de la llengua catalana, Segona edició. http://dlc.iec.cat/index.html</ref>	English
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	here
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	grandpa
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang	like this
Template:Lang; Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang	artist
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	bull
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	curd cheese
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	peach
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang	fest
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	lamb
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	potato
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	corn
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	nineteen
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	two (f.)
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	that
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	to exit, leave
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang	swing
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	mirror
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	this
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	strawberry
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang	brother
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	broom
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	today
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	farmer
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang	far
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	mattress
Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	belly button
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	watermelon
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	half
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	butterfly
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	to seem
Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	please
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	bucket
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	fifth
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	fox
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	bad, evil
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	red
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	carrot
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	sixth
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	to have
Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	tomato
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	holidays
Template:Lang	Template:Lang	afternoon
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang	to see
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	to come
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	small
Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang	boy
Template:Lang	Template:Lang, Template:Lang

Writing system

Main forms	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang		Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang		Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang		Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang		Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang		Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang
Template:Abbr forms	Template:Lang Template:Lang		Template:Lang Template:Lang		Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang				Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang			Template:Lang Template:Lang			Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang						Template:Lang Template:Lang	Template:Lang Template:Lang
IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr	∅Template:Efn-lr	Template:IPA Template:IPA		Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPA	Template:IPA Template:IPA		Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPA Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPA Template:IPA	Template:IPATemplate:Efn-lr

Valencian and Catalan use the Latin script, with some added symbols and digraphs.Template:Sfn The Catalan-Valencian orthographies are systematic and largely phonologically based.Template:Sfn Standardisation of Catalan was among the topics discussed during the First International Congress of the Catalan Language, held in Barcelona October 1906. Subsequently, the Philological Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC), founded in 1911, published the Normes ortogràfiques in 1913 under the direction of Antoni Maria Alcover and Pompeu Fabra. In 1932, Valencian writers and intellectuals gathered in Castelló de la Plana to make a formal adoption of the so-called Normes de Castelló (Castelló Norms), a set of guidelines following Pompeu Fabra's Catalan language norms.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The letters k, y and w only appear in loanwords. In the case of y it also appears in the digraph ny. Most of the letters are pronounced the same in both standards (Valencian and Catalan). The letters c and g have a soft and hard pronunciation similar to English and other Romance languages, ç (found also in Portuguese and French) always has a soft pronunciation and may appear in word final position. The only differences between the main standards are the contrast of b Template:IPA and v Template:IPA (also found in Insular Catalan), the treatment of long consonants with a tendency to simplification in Valencian (see table with main digraphs and letter combinations), the affrication (Template:IPA) of both soft g (after front vowels) and j (in most cases), the affrication (Template:IPA) of initial and postconsonantal x (except in some cases)Template:Efn-lr and the lenition (deaffrication) of tz Template:IPA in most instances (especially the -itzar suffix).

Main digraphs and letter combinations Spelling IPA Example Meaning Catalan Valencian chTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Folch Folch guTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA àguila eagle igTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA raig ray ixTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Template:IPA eixida exit khTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Txékhov Chekhov llTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA brollar to sprout ŀlTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA or Template:IPA Template:IPA coŀlegi school, college nyTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA senyal signal quTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA què what rrTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA garra shank, claw scTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA ascens rise ssTemplate:Efn-lr bossa bag, purse tgTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA fetge liver tjTemplate:Efn-lr viatjar to travel thTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA theta theta tlTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Template:IPA or Template:IPA Betlem Bethlehem tllTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Template:IPA bitllet bank note, ticket tmTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Template:IPA setmana week tnTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Template:IPA or Template:IPA cotna pork rind tsTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA potser maybe txTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA cotxe car tzTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA Template:IPA setze sixteen Template:IPA analitzar to analyse

DiacriticsTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr Spelling IPA Example Meaning à Template:IPA butà butane   Spelling IPA Example Meaning é Template:IPA més more è Template:IPA rètol sign, label   Spelling IPA Example Meaning ó Template:IPA emoció emotion ò Template:IPA òbila barn owl   Spelling IPA Example Meaning í Template:IPA físic physical ï ruïna ruin   Spelling IPA Example Meaning ú Template:IPA dejú fasting ü peüc bootee Template:IPA aigües waters

C trencada Spelling IPA Example Meaning çTemplate:Efn-lr Template:IPA braç arm

Varieties of Valencian

Standard Valencian

The Academy of Valencian Studies (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, AVL), established by law in 1998 by the Valencian autonomous government and constituted in 2001, is in charge of dictating the official rules governing the use of Valencian.<ref>Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community, article 6, section 4.</ref> Currently, the majority of people who write in Valencian use this standard.Template:Sfn

Standard Valencian is based on the standard of the Institute of Catalan Studies (Template:Lang, IEC), used in Catalonia, with a few adaptations.Template:Sfn This standard roughly follows the Castelló Norms (Template:Lang) from 1932,Template:Sfn a set of othographic guidelines regarded as a compromise between the essence and style of Pompeu Fabra's guidelines, but also allowing the use of Valencian idiosyncrasies.

Valencian dialects

File:Subdialectes del valencià.svg

Dialects of Valencian

• Northern area:
  • Transitional Valencian (Template:Lang) or Tortosan (Template:Lang), also ambiguously termed Northern Valencian: spoken only in the northernmost areas of the province of Castellon in towns like Benicarló or Vinaròs, the area of Matarranya in Aragon (province of Teruel), and a southern border area of Catalonia surrounding Tortosa, in the province of Tarragona.
    • Word-initial and postconsonantal Template:IPA (Catalan Template:IPA and Template:IPA) alternates with Template:IPA intervocalically; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('game'), but Template:Lang Template:IPA ('worse'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('crazy') (Standard Valencian Template:IPA, Template:IPA; Template:IPA; Standard Catalan Template:IPA, Template:IPA and Template:IPA).
    • Final Template:Angle bracket Template:IPAblink is not pronounced in infinitives; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA (Standard Template:IPA) ('to sing').
    • Archaic articles Template:Lang, Template:Lang ('the') are used instead of Template:Lang, Template:Lang; e.g. Template:Lang ('the boy'), Template:Lang ('the men').
  • Northern Valencian (Template:Lang) or Castellon's Valencian (Template:Lang): spoken in an area surrounding the city of Castellón de la Plana.
    • Use of Template:IPA sound instead of standard Template:Angle bracket Template:IPA in the third person singular of most verbs; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA (Standard Template:IPA) 'he sang'. Thus, Northern Valencian dialects contrast forms like Template:Lang Template:IPA ('I sang') with Template:Lang Template:IPA ('he sang'), but merges Template:Lang Template:IPA ('I sing') with Template:Lang Template:IPA ('he sings').
    • Palatalisation of Template:Angle bracket Template:IPA > Template:IPA and Template:Angle bracket Template:IPA > Template:IPA or Template:IPA; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA > Template:IPA ('cans, jars, you can'), Template:Lang Template:IPA > Template:IPA ('twelve'). Thus, this dialect may merge Template:Lang ('walk') and Template:Lang ('little steps').
    • Depalatalization of Template:IPA to Template:IPA by some speakers; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('box').
• Central area:
  • Central Valencian (Template:Lang), or Template:Lang, spoken in Valencia city and its area, but not used as standard by the Valencian media.
    • Sibilant merger: all voiced sibilants are devoiced (Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA); that is, Template:Lang pronounces Template:Lang Template:IPA ('house') and Template:Lang Template:IPA ('game'), where other Valencians would pronounce Template:IPA and Template:IPA (feature shared with Ribagorçan).
    • Betacism, that is the merge of Template:IPA into Template:IPA; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA (instead of Template:IPA) ('he lives').
    • Fortition (gemination) and vocalisation of final consonants; Template:Lang Template:IPA (instead of Template:IPA) ('night').
    • It preserves the strong simple past, which has been substituted by an analytic past (periphrastic past) with Template:Smallcaps + infinitive in the rest of modern Catalan and Valencian variants. For example, aní instead of Template:Lang ('I went').
• Southern area:
  • Southern Valencian (Template:Lang) or Upper Southern Valencian: spoken in the contiguous Template:Lang located in the southernmost part of the Valencia province and the northernmost part in the province of Alicante. This dialect is considered as Standard Valencian.
    • Vowel harmony: the final syllable of a disyllabic word adopts a preceding open Template:Angle bracket (Template:IPA) and/or Template:Angle bracket (Template:IPA) if the final vowel is an unstressed -Template:Angle bracket; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('Earth, land'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('woman'). Further merges (such as Template:IPA and Template:IPA) depends on the town and speaker.
    • This dialect retain geminate consonants (Template:Angle bracket Template:IPA and Template:Angle bracket Template:IPA); e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('quail'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('rind').
    • Weak pronouns are "reinforced" in front of the verb (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, etc.) contrary to other dialects which maintains "full form" (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, etc.).
  • Alicante's Valencian (Template:Lang) or Lower Southern Valencian: spoken in the southern half of the province of Alicante, and the area of Carche in Murcia.
    • Vowel harmony like in the central Southern areas.
    • Intervocalic Template:IPA elision in most instances; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('wheel'), Template:Lang Template:IPA ('Christmas').
    • Yod is not pronounced in Template:Angle bracket Template:IPA; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('box').
    • Final Template:Angle bracket is not pronounced in infinitives in some areas and/or contexts; e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA ('to sing').
    • There are some archaisms like: Template:Lang instead of Template:Lang ('before'), Template:Lang instead of Template:Lang ('less'), Template:Lang instead of Template:Lang ('into') or Template:Lang instead of Template:Lang ('towards').
    • There are more interferences with Spanish than other dialects: Template:Lang (from Template:Lang) instead of Template:Lang (or Template:Lang) ('azure'), Template:Lang (from Template:Lang) instead of Template:Lang ('to clean') or Template:Lang (from Template:Lang) instead of Template:Lang ('take out').

Authors and literature

• Misteri d'Elx (Template:Circa). Liturgical drama. Listed as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
• Curial e Güelfa (15th century), humanistic chivalric romance
• Ausiàs March (Gandia, 1400 – Valencia, 3 March 1459). Poet, widely read in renaissance Europe.
• Joanot Martorell (Gandia, 1413–1468). Knight and the author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch.
• Isabel de Villena (Valencia, 1430–1490). Religious poet.
• Joan Roís de Corella (Gandia or Valencia, 1435 – Valencia, 1497). Knight and poet.
• Obres e trobes en lahors de la Verge Maria (1474) The first book printed in Spain. It is the compendium of a religious poetry contest held that year in the town of Valencia.Template:Sfn

Media in Valencian

File:RTVVexecutada.jpg

Employees demonstrate in front of the RTVV headquarters in Burjassot the day of its closure

Until its dissolution in November 2013, the public-service Ràdio Televisió Valenciana (RTVV) was the main broadcaster of radio and television in Valencian language. The Generalitat Valenciana constituted it in 1984 in order to guarantee the freedom of information of the Valencian people in their own language.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was reopened again in 2018 in the same location but under a different name, À Punt, and it is owned by À Punt Media, a group owned by the Generalitat Valenciana. The new television channel claims to be plural, informative and neutral for all of the Valencian population. It is bilingual, with a focus on the Valencian language. It is recognised as a regional TV channel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Prior to its dissolution, the administration of RTVV under the People's Party (PP) had been controversial due to accusations of ideological manipulation and lack of plurality. The news broadcast was accused of giving marginal coverage of the Valencia Metro derailment in 2006 and the indictment of President de la Generalitat Francisco Camps in the Gürtel scandal in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Supervisors appointed by the PP were accused of sexual harassment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In face of an increasing debt due to excessive expenditure by the PP, RTVV announced in 2012 a plan to shed 70% of its labour. The plan was nullified on 5 November 2013 by the National Court after trade unions appealed against it. On that same day, the President de la Generalitat Alberto Fabra (also from PP) announced RTVV would be closed, claiming that reinstating the employees was untenable.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 27 November, the legislative assembly passed the dissolution of RTVV and employees organised to take control of the broadcast, starting a campaign against the PP. Nou TV's last broadcast ended abruptly when Spanish police pulled the plug at 12:19 on 29 November 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Having lost all revenues from advertisements and facing high costs from the termination of hundreds of contracts, critics question whether the closure of RTVV has improved the financial situation of the Generalitat, and point out to plans to benefit private-owned media.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Currently, the availability of media in the Valencian language is extremely limited. All the other autonomous communities in Spain, including the monolingual ones, have public-service broadcasters, with the Valencian Community being the only exception despite being the fourth most populated.

In July 2016 a new public corporation, Valencian Media Corporation, was launched in substitution of RTVV. It manages and controls several public media in the Valencian Community, including the television channel À Punt, which started broadcasting in June 2018.

Politico-linguistic controversy

Template:Further Linguists, including Valencian scholars, deal with Catalan and Valencian as the same language. The official regulating body of the language of the Valencian community, the Valencian Language Academy (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, AVL) considers Valencian and Catalan to be two names for the same language.<ref name="dictalmen AVL">"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". Report from Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua about denomination and identity of Valencian.</ref> Template:Wikisourcelang Template:Blockquote

File:Linguistic map Southwestern Europe-en.gif

Chronological map showing linguistic evolution of Valencian/Catalan in southwest Europe

The AVL was established in 1998 by the PP-UV government of Eduardo Zaplana. According to El País, Jordi Pujol, then president of Catalonia and of the CiU, negotiated with Zaplana in 1996 to ensure the linguistic unity of Catalan in exchange for CiU support of the appointment of José María Aznar as Prime Minister of Spain.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Zaplana has denied this, claiming that "[n]ever, never, was I able to negotiate that which is not negotiable, neither that which is not in the negotiating scope of a politician. That is, the unity of the language".Template:Efn The AVL orthography is based on the Normes de Castelló, a set of rules for writing Valencian established in 1932.

A rival set of rules, called Normes del Puig, were established in 1979 by the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Real Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which considers itself a rival language academy to the AVL, and promotes an alternative orthography, treating Valencian as an independent language, as opposed to a variety of Catalan. Compared to Standard Valencian, this orthography excludes many words not traditionally used in the Valencian Community, and also prefers spellings such as Template:Angbr for Template:IPA and Template:Angbr for Template:IPA (as in Spanish). Besides, these alternative Norms are also promoted and taught by the cultural association Lo Rat Penat.

Valencian is classified as a Western dialect, along with the North-Western varieties spoken in Western Catalonia (Province of Lleida and most of the Province of Tarragona).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The various forms of Catalan and Valencian are mutually intelligible (ranging from 90% to 95%)<ref name="ethnologue">Central Catalan has 90% to 95% inherent intelligibility for speakers of Valencian (1989 R. Hall, Jr.), cited on Ethnologue.</ref>

Despite the position of the official organisations, an opinion poll carried out between 2001 and 2004<ref name="La Vanguardia 2004-12-09" /> showed that the majority (65%) of the Valencian people (both Valencian and Spanish speakers) consider Valencian different from Catalan: this position is promoted by people who do not use Valencian regularly.Template:Sfn Furthermore, the data indicate that younger people educated in Valencian speaking areas are considerably less likely to hold these views. According to an official poll in 2014,<ref name="auto" /> 54% of Valencians considered Valencian to be a language different from Catalan, while 41% considered the languages to be the same. By applying a binary logistic regression to the same data, it was also found that different opinions about the unity of the language are different between people with certain levels of studies and the opinion also differs between each of the Valencian provinces. The opinion agreeing on the unity of Valencian and Catalan has significant differences regarding age, level of education and province of residence, with a majority of those aged 18–24 (51%) and those with a higher education (58%) considering Valencian to be the same language as Catalan. This can be compared to those aged 65 and above (29%) and those with only primary education (32%), where the same view has its lowest support. People living in the province of Castellón are more prone to be in favor of the unity of the language, while people living in the province of Alicante are more prone to be against the unity of the language, especially in the areas where Valencian is not a mandatory language at schools.Template:Verify source<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Later studies also showed that the results differ significantly depending on the way the question is posed.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The ambiguity regarding the term Valencian and its relation to Catalan has sometimes led to confusion and controversy. In 2004, during the drafting of the European Constitution, the regional governments of Spain where a language other than Spanish is co-official were asked to submit translations into the relevant language in question. Since different names are used in Catalonia ("Catalan") and in the Valencian Community ("Valencian"), the two regions each provided one version, which were identical to each other.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Pluricentric language
• Valencian Sign Language
• Che (interjection) § Other uses (spelled xe in Modern Valencian)
• Valencian linguistic conflict
• Similar linguistic controversies:
  • Andalusian language movement
  • Names given to the Spanish language
  • Moldovan language
  • Occitan language
  • Serbo-Croatian

Bibliography

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External links

• Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL)
• Diccionari normatiu valencià (DNV)
• Institut Joan Lluís Vives

Documents

• Disputing theories about Valencian origin Template:In lang
• The origins and evolution of language secessionism in Valencia. An analysis from the transition period until today
• Article from El País (25 October 2005) regarding report on use of Valencian published by Servei d'Investicació i Estudis Sociolingüístics Template:In lang