Occitan dialect near the French-Spanish border
Aranese
(
Occitan
:
aranes
) is a standardized form of the Pyrenean
Gascon
variety of the
Occitan language
spoken in the
Val d'Aran
, in northwestern
Catalonia
close to the
Spanish border with France
, where it is one of the three
official
languages
beside
Catalan
and
Spanish
.
[2]
In 2010, it was declared the third official language in Catalonia by the
Parliament of Catalonia
.
[3]
The official names of towns in Val d'Aran are in Occitan; for example, the municipality of
Vielha
is known by its Occitan name on maps and road signs, rather than its Catalan/Spanish name,
Viella
.
Official status
[
edit
]
The Aran Valley is the only territory in the language domain of
Occitania
where Occitan has official recognition and institutional protection. According to Law 35/2010 passed by the Parliament of Catalonia, Occitan is considered an official language not only in Val d'Aran, but in all of Catalonia, and is given precedence in the territory where it is spoken (Val d'Aran).
Article 3.4 of Catalonia's 1979
Statute of Autonomy
establishes that the "Aranese language will be the object of education and of special respect and protection." Subsequently, Law 7/1983, on linguistic normalization, declares Aranese the language of Aran, proclaims certain linguistic rights of the Aranese and directs public service to guarantee its usage and teaching. Aranese is taught on all levels of compulsory education and has been the medium of instruction in the Aran Valley since 1984.
A certain degree of autonomy was granted to the Aran Valley in 1990. Law 16/1990, concerning the special regime of the Val d'Aran, grants to the Valley an administrative autonomy. This law affirms the official status of Aranese, further guarantees its use and teaching, and affirms the general mandate to promote its normalization in Aran.
Law 1/1998, on linguistic policy, includes specific provisions related to place names,
anthroponymy
, and the media. Although the localities of Catalonia have their official names in Catalan, the localities of the Aran Valley have their official names in Occitan. Thus, the indicators of the towns and the names of their streets are written in this language. Since May 2001, there is an official regulation of the General Council of Aran that promulgates the certification system of the different levels of knowledge of Occitan.
In 2006, a new Statute of Autonomy was promulgated in Catalonia. Concerning Aranese, article 6.5 of the organic law establishes that "the Occitan language, called Aranese in Aran, is the language of this territory and is official in Catalonia, in accordance with the provisions of this Statute and the laws of linguistic normalization." In 2010, Law 35/2010 was subsequently passed, with specific provisions concerning Occitan in Catalonia reflecting the new constitutional framework.
In 2011, the Spanish Government, specifically that of the Popular Party and Citizens, opposed the preference given to Aranese by the 2010 law, questioning the constitutionality of articles 2.3, 5.4, 5.7 and 6.5. In 2018, the constitutional court ruled that while article 2.3 was found to be constitutional, the "preferential" status given found in the other concerned articles are unconstitutional.
[4]
[5]
[6]
Usage
[
edit
]
According to a 2001 linguistic census by the Aranese government, about 90% of the inhabitants of Val d'Aran can understand the language, with those between 25 and 34 years old having the lowest rate, at around 80% (excluding those under the age of 4). Between 60 and 65% of the population can speak it; however, only 26% reported being able to write in Aranese.
[1]
Knowledge of Aranese
in the Val d'Aran among
People 2+ Years Old
|
1996
|
2001
|
2008
|
2013
|
2018
|
|
Total
|
Percentage
|
Total
|
Percentage
|
Total
|
Percentage
|
Total
|
Percentage
|
Total
|
Percentage
|
Can understand
|
6,295
|
90.05%
|
6,712
|
88.88%
|
6,600
|
78.2%
|
6,840
|
80.7%
|
7,060
|
83.3%
|
Can speak
|
4,534
|
64.85%
|
4,700
|
62.24%
|
4,800
|
56.8%
|
4,710
|
55.6%
|
5,087
|
60%
|
Can read
|
4,145
|
59.29%
|
4,413
|
58.44%
|
5.000
|
59.3%
|
5,020
|
59.3%
|
6,234
|
73.5%
|
Can write
|
1,746
|
24.97%
|
2,016
|
26.69%
|
2,900
|
34.9%
|
2,950
|
34.9%
|
3,880
|
45.8%
|
Source : IDESCAT, Cens linguistic de l'aranes de 2001
[1]
and Enquesta d’usos linguistics de la poblacio - Aran 2008/2018.
[7]
|
In 2008, the
Generalitat of Catalonia
surveyed the population (15 years old or older) in the Val d'Aran. The survey reported that 78.2% of the population could understand Aranese, 56.8% could speak it, 59.4% could read it, and 34.8% could write the language.
[8]
The number of people that can speak Aranese grew to the 61% of the population in 2020, according to a survey of the Public Office for the Occitan Language.
[9]
Once considered to be an endangered language
[10]
spoken mainly by older people, it is now experiencing a renaissance; it enjoys co-official status with Catalan and Spanish within Val d'Aran, and since 1984 has been taught bilingually alongside Spanish in schools.
[11]
Students in the Val d'Aran are required to have two hours each of Spanish, Catalan, and Aranese per week. At some levels of education, a foreign language is added to the three official languages ?usually French due to proximity? and sometimes even two additional hours of English.
Phonology
[
edit
]
General
Gascon
characteristics:
- Latin
F
>
H
:
- focus
/?fokus/
(hearth) >
huec
/hwek/
(fire)
- ferrum
/?ferːum/
>
her
/h??/
(iron)
- Latin
LL
>
TH
(internal or final) or
R
(in intervocalic position):
- vitellu > vedeth
/be?d?t(?)/
(calf)
- ille
>
eth
/et(?)/
(sing. masc. definite article)
- ille
>
er
/e?/
(sing. masc. definite article; used before words that start with a vowel sound)
- illa
>
era
/e?a/
(sing. fem. definite article)
- Vocalisation of
L
to
U
in final position:
malum
>
mau
/maw/
(bad)
- Loss of
N
in intervocalic position:
- Latin
luna
>
lua
(moon)
- Latin
far?na
>
haria
(flour)
- Metathesis
of
-R
:
- Latin
venter
>
vrente
(stomach)
- Latin
vesper
>
vrespe
(evening)
- Prosthetic
A-
before initial
R-
, doubling the
R
:
- Latin
recogn?sc?
>
arreconeisher
(to recognize)
- Latin
r?d?re
>
arrider
(to laugh)
Specific Aranese characteristics:
- Deaspiration of Gascon
/h/
> Aranese ? (except in
Bausen
and
Canejan
, where it remains [h])
- Gascon
huec
/hwek/
(fire) > Aranese
huec
/wek/
- Gascon -
AS
pronounced and written
-ES
:
- Gascon
hemnas
>
hemnes
/?ennes/
(women)
- Gascon
parlas
>
parles
/?pa?les/
(you speak)
- Plurals of nouns ending in -A become -ES:
era peira
→
es peires
(the stones)
- Intervocalic
/b/
written
U
and pronounced
[w]
:
- Gascon:
cantava
/kan?taba/
> Aranese
cantaua
/kan?tawa/
(he/she was singing)
- Reduction of plural definite articles:
- Gascon:
eths
,
eras
> Aranese
es
/es/
Consonants
[
edit
]
Notes:
- The voiced stops
/b/
,
/d/
,
/?/
are devoiced to
/p/
,
/t/
,
/k/
, respectively, in word-final position.
- /h/
is pronounced only in the towns of Bausen and Canejan. Foreign words that have not been adopted into Aranese also retain
/h/
:
hardware
,
maharajah
.
- /?/
is pronounced
[?]
, except at the end of a word, where it is generally silent, regardless of what follows.
- [ŋ]
is heard as an allophone of
/n/
in word-final position.
Vowels
[
edit
]
Diphthongs
[
edit
]
Falling diphthongs
[12]
Diphthong
|
Usual spelling
|
Example
|
/aj/
|
ai
|
ai
gua
|
/aw/
|
au
|
s
au
|
/ej/
|
ei
1
|
v
ei
re
|
/?j/
|
ei
2
|
l
ei
t
|
/ew/
|
eu
|
p
eu
|
/?w/
|
eu
|
m
eu
|
/iw/
|
iu
3
|
h
iu
|
/uj/
|
oi
|
p
oi
rir
|
/?j/
|
oi
|
ber
oi
|
/?w/
|
ou
2
|
p
ou
r
|
|
Rising diphthongs
[12]
Diphthong
|
Usual spelling
|
Example
|
/ja/
|
ia
|
istor
ia
|
/je/
|
ie
|
v
ie
lh
|
/j?/
|
ie
|
mol
ie
r
|
/ju/
|
io
|
v
io
lencia
|
/j?/
|
io
|
p
io
isha
|
/wa/
|
oa
ua
|
empod
oa
r
q
ua
n
|
/we/
|
oe
ue
|
oe
lha
h
ue
c
|
|
Notes:
- In practice, stressed
ei
tends to be pronounced [e]:
trueita
pronounced as
trueta
.
- Word-final
ei
is often pronounced
[?]
instead of
[?j]
:
cantei
pronounced as
cante
. Similarly, speakers tend to say
ou
as
o
[?]
:
auriou
is pronounced like
aurio
- iu
can be pronounced as
[iw]
or
[jew]
:
Diu
[diw
~
djew]
- Orthographic
ui
historically was a diphthong, but is currently produced as
[y]
.
Aranese orthography denotes where two consecutive vowels do not diphthongize, but rather form a hiatus.
[
vague
]
- A
diaereses
mark over unstressed
i
or
u
:
i
,
u
- flauta
/fla?y.ta/
- cocaina
/ku.ka?i.na/
- coincidir
/ku.in.si?di(?)/
- An
acute accent
, which marks lexical stress, on
i
or
u
:
i
,
u
Comparison to other Romance languages
[
edit
]
Comparison to other Romance languages
Latin
|
Aranese
|
Spanish
|
Catalan
|
Portuguese
|
French
|
Italian
|
English
|
f?sta
/?feːsta/
|
hesta
/?(h)?sta/
|
fiesta
/?fjesta/
|
festa
/?f?sta/
|
festa
/?f??t?/
|
fete
/f?t/
|
festa
/?f?sta/
|
party
|
l?na
/?luːna/
|
lua
/?ly.a/
|
luna
/?luna/
|
lluna
/??una/
|
lua
/?lu.?/
|
lune
/lyn/
|
luna
/?luna/
|
moon
|
mel
/mel/
|
meu
/m?w/
|
miel
/mjel/
|
mel
/m??/
|
mel
/m??/
,
/m?w/
|
miel
/mj?l/
|
miele
/?mj?le/
|
honey
|
castellum
/kas?telːum/
|
casteth
/kas?t?t(?)/
|
castillo
/kas?ti?o/
|
castell
/kas?te?/
|
castelo
/k???t?lu/
|
chateau
/
??to/
|
castello
/kas?t?lːo/
|
castle
|
illa
/?ilːa/
|
era
/?e?a/
|
ella
/?e?a/
|
ella
/?e?a/
|
ela
/??l?/
|
elle
/?l/
|
ella ~ lei
/?elːa/
~
/l?ːi/
|
she
|
r?d?re
/riː?deːre/
|
arrir
/a?ri(?)/
|
reir
/re?i?/
|
riure
/?riw?e/
|
rir
/?i?/
|
rire
/?i?/
|
ridere
/?ridere/
|
to laugh
|
capra
/?kapra/
|
craba
/?kraba/
|
cabra
/?kab?a/
|
cabra
/?kab?a/
|
cabra
/?kab??/
|
chevre
/??v?/
|
capra
/?kapra/
|
goat
|
Orthography
[
edit
]
Digraphs
[
edit
]
Grapheme
|
Pronunciation
|
Example
|
Notes
|
ch
|
[t?]
|
ch
ut
|
|
lh
|
[?]
|
hi
lh
|
pronounced
[l]
before
s
:
hilhs
[ils]
|
ll
|
[l]
|
co
ll
aborar
|
|
nh
|
[?]
|
nh
eu
|
n·h
, with
interpunct
, is pronounced
[n(h)]
: e
n·h
ornar
|
rr
|
[r]
|
te
rr
assa
|
|
sh
ish
|
[?]
|
sh
ada
ca
ish
a
|
* following a vowel,
sh
must be written
ish
*
s·h
, with interpunct, is pronounced
[s(h)]
: de
s·h
eir
|
tj
tg
|
[d?]
|
ho
tj
ar
horma
tg
e
|
* before
a
,
o
,
u
* before
e
,
i
|
th
|
[t]
[t?]
|
vede
th
, e
th
co
th
, po
th
|
the
[t?]
pronunciation only occurs in Bausen and Canejan
|
tl
|
[lː]
|
ca
tl
a
|
|
ts
|
[ts]
|
di
ts
|
word-final
ts
is only used for plurals of words
ending in
-t
, otherwise it becomes written
tz
|
tz
|
[dz]
[ts]
|
do
tz
e
pre
tz
|
* between vowels
* word-final
|
Vowels
[
edit
]
Vowel
|
Pronunciation
|
Notes
|
a, a
|
stressed
|
[a]
|
|
unstressed
|
[?
~
?]
|
phrase-final
|
e, e
|
[e]
|
|
e
|
[?]
|
|
i, i
|
[i]
|
|
o, o
|
[u]
|
|
o
|
[?]
|
sometimes pronounced
[o]
|
u, u
|
[y]
|
|
Loanwords
[
edit
]
Since the Val d'Aran is located within Spanish and Catalan territory, Aranese is subject to certain influences from Spanish and Catalan. As such, Aranese has adopted several neologisms from them:
- actuar
(vs.
agir
)
- empresa
(vs.
entrepresa
)
- increment
(vs.
aumentacion
)
- laborau
(vs.
professionau
)
- matricula
(vs.
inscripcion
)
- oficina
(vs.
bureu
, which is a
Gallicism
)
Spanish and Catalan have also created deformations of words such as
abans
>
abantes
or
dempus
>
despues
. Some Hispanicisms are directly adopted into Aranese:
hasta
.
Regulation
[
edit
]
Aranese is regulated under classic unifying standards of Occitan, defined initially by
Lois Alibert
. These standards of the
Conselh de la Lenga Occitana
(Occitan Language Council) have officially been recognized by the
Conselh Generau d'Aran
(General Council of Aran) since 1999.
In practice, several details standards diverge due to the popular or preferred usage of Aranese, in relation to other
Gascon
varieties. For instance:
- the form of the feminine plural -AS in general Gascon is replaced with -ES in Aranese, as the pronunciation is "/es/". Ex:
hemnes araneses
(Aranese women) in place of general Gascon
hemnas aranesas
- the accepted use of U in place of V in a good deal of the Valley (but some retain the "v" as it is pronounced /b/) Ex:
auer
instead of
aver
(general Gascon always write it "v" even when pronounced /w/).
The Institut d'Estudis Aranesi is the recognized language academy by the Conselh Generau d'Aran.
[13]
Written publications
[
edit
]
Grammar
[
edit
]
A reference on usage and conjugation of Aranese verbs entitled
Es Verbs conjugadi : morfologia verbau aranesa
was written by Veronica Bares Moga and published in 2003. A descriptive and normative reference grammar book, written in Aranese by
Aitor Carrera
, was published in March 2007. It includes a detailed breakdown of phonological and grammatical differences between varieties of Aranese in different villages in the valley.
Dictionaries
[
edit
]
A dictionary of Aranese was written by the Catalan linguist
Joan Coromines
as his doctoral thesis.
A simple four-language Spanish?Aranese?Catalan?French dictionary exists, written by Frederic Verges Bartau (see Bibliography).
An Aranese-English and English?Aranese dictionary was published in 2006. It was written by Ryan Furness, a young man from
Minnesota
, after he became curious about the language when he traveled to Val d'Aran.
[14]
[15]
A detailed one-volume Catalan?Occitan and Occitan?Catalan dictionary was published under the auspices of the governments of Catalonia (
Generalitat de Catalunya
) and Val d'Aran (
Conselh Generau d'Aran
). Although it calls the language "Occitan", it uses Aranese spelling and its preface says that special attention is given to the Aranese variety.
Periodicals and commercial publications
[
edit
]
A local monthly magazine
Toti
and local newspapers are published partly in the language. The online newspaper
Jornalet
also publishes a fair deal of articles and opinions in Aranese.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Conselh Generau d'Aran.
"Cens linguistic del aranes de 2001"
. 2001. Retrieved on 22 August 2014.
(in Catalan)
- ^
Collett, Richard.
"Aranese: Spain's little-known language"
.
www.bbc.com
. Retrieved
2022-01-18
.
- ^
"El aranes se convierte en la tercera lengua oficial de Cataluna"
,
El Pais
, Barcelona, 22 September 2010. Retrieved on 22 August 2014.
(in Spanish)
- ^
"El Tribunal Constitucional tomba la condicio de "preferent" de l'aranes"
.
EL PAIS
(in Catalan). 12 February 2018.
- ^
"El TC declara inconstitucional el caracter de "preferente" del aranes en su territorio"
.
ELMUNDO
(in Spanish).
- ^
"BOE.es - Documento BOE-A-2018-3301"
.
www.boe.es
(in Spanish).
- ^
Enquesta d’usos linguistics de la poblacio
.
IDESCAT/
Generalitat de Catalunya
.
- ^
Enquesta d'usos linguistics de la poblacio 2008 (EULP 2008)
, Generalitat de Catalunya, 29 June 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
(in Catalan)
- ^
Enquista sociolinguistica de l’OPLO: mai del 90% dels sondats volon de politicas linguisticas per l’occitan
. Jornalet.
- ^
"Aranese language becomes the 3rd co-official language in Catalonia"
,
Catalan News Agency
, 2010. Retrieved on 22 August 2014.
- ^
"Curriculum der Aranes"
, "Conselh Generau d'Aran", 12 February 1998. Retrieved on 24 August 2014.
(Aranese)
- ^
a
b
c
Conselh Generau d'Aran.
"Normes Ortografiques der Aranes"
, 1999. Retrieved on 23 August 2014
(Aranese)
- ^
"Reconeishenca der Institut d'Estudis Aranesi coma academia e autoritat linguistica der occitan, aranes en Aran - Conselh Generau d'Aran"
.
www.conselharan.org
.
- ^
"Presenten el primer diccionari aranes-angles"
,
Agencia Catalana de Noticies
, 05 April 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
(in Catalan)
- ^
"Un jove de Minnesota prepara el primer diccionari aranes-angles"
,
324
, Vielha, 09 November 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
(in Catalan)
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Bares Moga, Veronica (2003).
Es verbs conjugadi: morfologia verbau aranesa
. Barcelona: Llibres de l'Index.
ISBN
84-95317-47-8
.
- Carrera, Aitor (2007).
Gramatica Aranesa
(in Occitan). Lleida: Pages Editors.
ISBN
978-84-9779-484-8
.
- Furness, Ryan C. (2006).
Diccionari Occitan (aranes) - Angles/English-Occitan (Aranese) Dictionary
. Pages Editors.
ISBN
978-84-9779-362-9
.
- Institut d'Estudis Aranesi (2019).
Gramatica der occitan aranes
. Institut d'Estudis Aranesi-Academia aranesa dera llengua occitana.
- Leclerc, Jean-Marc (2004).
Le Gascon de poche
(in French). France: Assimil.
ISBN
2-7005-0345-7
.
- Verges Bartau, Frederic (1991).
Petit diccionari: castelhan-aranes (occitan)-catalan-frances, aranes (occitan)-castelhan-catalan-frances
. Vielha, Vall d?Aran, Lheida : Conselh Comarcau dera Val d’Aran.
ISBN
84-606-0175-7
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Official / national
| |
---|
Regional / minority
languages
| Co-official
| |
---|
Recognised
| |
---|
Unrecognised
languages
| |
---|
|
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Standard forms
| |
---|
Sign languages
| |
---|
See also
| |
---|
|
---|
Arverno-Mediterranean
| |
---|
Central Occitan
| |
---|
Aquitano-Pyrenean
| |
---|
Other varieties
| |
---|