Aranese

The aranese (autoglotonym: aranese) is the gluttony that receives the variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Spanish region of Valle de Arán (Lleida), with status co-official throughout Catalonia. It is a Gascon variety of the Occitan language.

Cities of Occitania and dialects (in West)

Historical, social and cultural aspects

Status

According to the law approved in the Parliament of Catalonia on September 22, 2010, Aranese becomes not only a co-official language in the Aran Valley but in all of Catalonia, being used preferentially in its natural territories (Aran Valley).

The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 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 language standardization. (article 6.5 [1]).

The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1979 already established that Aranese speech would be the object of education and protection (article 3).

Aranese is taught at all levels of compulsory education and has also been used as the vehicular language of education in the Aran Valley since 1984. Law 16/1990, of July 13, on the regime of the Aran Valley, which grants the Valley a regime of administrative autonomy, recognizes the affiliation of Aranese to the Occitan language and establishes that Aranese, a modality of the Occitan language and native to Aran, is official in the Aran Valley.

Since the 2006 statute of autonomy came into force, Aranese has been a co-official language in Catalonia, along with Catalan and Spanish, and the language of use of the General Council of Aran (Conselh Generau d'Aran) and the municipalities of Valle de Aran.

The Aran Valley is the only territory in the entire Occitan linguistic domain where Occitan has official recognition and institutional protection.

On January 14, 1983, the Generalitat of Catalonia adopted the Nòrmes Ortogràfiques der Aranés (published in 1982) as the official orthography for Aranese. In 1999, the General Council of Aran approved the new Nòrmes Ortogràfiques der Aranés, which follow the latest modifications adopted by the Occitan Language Council for the entire Occitan linguistic domain. Both standards include the spelling conventions for Gascon established by the Institute of Occitan Studies and, later, by the Occitan Language Council. In this way, the spelling of Aranese is the same as that of the rest of the Occitan dialects, in such a way that it allows its participation in the phenomenon of recovery of the Occitan language.

Although place names in Catalonia have the only official form in Catalan, place names in the Aran Valley have the Aranese form as their official form (according to Law 1/1998 on linguistic policy). Thus, the indicators of the towns and the names of their streets are written in Aranese. Since May 2001 there has been an official regulation of the General Council of Aran that regulates the certification system of the different levels of knowledge of Aranese.

There are few editions in this language. A weekly publication stands out within the Avui newspaper.

Linguistic use

Aranese is the mother tongue of 34.2% of the population of the Aran Valley. It is the second most used language in the valley, after Spanish, which is the mother tongue of 38.8% of the population, and ahead of Catalan, which is the mother tongue of 19.4%, according to census data. 2001. Aranese is the mother tongue of 2,785 people, according to this same source.

At home, Spanish is used exclusively by 35.3% of the valley's population, Aranese by 25.8% and Catalan by 13.0%. In addition, Aranese is used at home with another language by 14.5% of the population; therefore, Aranese is used at home (exclusively or in a bilingual situation) by 40.3% of the inhabitants of the valley, while Spanish is used by 50.7% and Catalan by 24.6 %.

At work, Spanish is used exclusively by 30.8% of the valley's population, Aranese by 9.2% and Catalan by 7.4%. In addition, Aranese is used at work with another language by 25.4% of the population; therefore, Aranese is used at work (exclusively or in a bi- or multilingual situation) by 34.6% of the inhabitants of the valley, while Spanish is used by 63.1% and Catalan for 43.9%.

Language knowledge

The Aran Valley is the territory where the Occitan language is most alive and well known among the population. If in the whole of French Occitania the percentage of the population that knows how to speak the Occitan language is 16%, in the Aran Valley it is 62.2%. According to the 2001 census, referring to the population of the valley:

• 26.9% declare to know how to write Arabic
• 58.4% declare reading Arabic
• 62.2% declares to speak Arabic
• 88.9% claim to understand Arabic even if they do not speak

Main evolutionary characteristics of the Aranese Gascon

• the F Latina passes to h, F FCUM ▪ Huec 'fire'.
• the R metastasis CAPRAM ▪ craba - Goat.
• the N intervocálica disappears: LONGNAM ▪ lua - Moon.
• the R initial incorporates A: RID marginRE ▪ up. - laugh.
• the L end makes vocalism u: MEL ▪ mèu - Honey.
• the LL intervocálica makes r simple: ILLA ▪ It was - her.
• the LL Go on. th: CASTELLUM ▪ castèth - castle.

Linguistic description

Classification

From a phylogenetic point of view, Aranese is a Gascon variety of Occitan. This is reflected in numerous phonological and grammatical characteristics that bring it closer to Gascon and away from standard Occitan.

Phonology

Among the defining characteristics of Aranese within Occitan are the following typically Gascon features:

• La F- initial Latina passes to /h-/: FENESTRA ▪ hièstra 'window'
• Loss of the -N- intervocálica:

Pera hièstra deth graèr que podem veir era lua de gèr (Arnes)

Per finestra of graner podem veure la lluna de gen♪ (catalan)

'By the barn window we can see the moon of January'

• Development a- to /r/initial:

Er arrat que minge er arradim que nade laguens der arriu (Arnes)

The rat that cries the raïm that neda dins the riu (catalan)

'The rat that eats grapes nothing in the river'

• Step LL- a -th in final position and -r- in average position: aqueth audèth (guns), 'that bird', That one ocell (catalan).
• Vocalization -L end to [u]: sau (aranés) 'sal'; ostau (aranés) 'house'; mèu (aranés) 'miel'.