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Aranese language

 

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Aranese language



 
 
Aranese is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon
Gascon language

Gascon is a dialect of the Occitan language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and B?arn . It has about 250,000 speakers worldwide.Only Aranese language, a southern Gascon variety, is spoken in Spain....
 variety of the Occitan language
Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
 spoken in the Aran Valley, in northwestern Catalonia
Catalonia

Catalonia , is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km? and has an official population of 7,210,508. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east ....
 on the border between Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and France, where it is one of the three official languages besides Catalan
Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance languages, the national language and official language of Andorra, and a official language in the Autonomous Communities of Spain of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community and in the city of Alghero in the Italy List of islands in the Mediterranean of Sardinia....
 and Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
.

Once considered to be an endangered language , spoken mainly by older people, it is now experiencing a renaissance; it enjoys co-official status with Catalan and Spanish within the Aran Valley, and since 1984 has been taught in schools.

About 90% of the inhabitants of the Aran Valley can understand it, and about 65% can speak it.

The official spellings of towns in the Aran Valley are Aranese; for example, the Aranese spelling Vielha is used on maps and road signs instead of the Catalan and Spanish Viella.

Most Aranese are also fluent in Catalan
Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance languages, the national language and official language of Andorra, and a official language in the Autonomous Communities of Spain of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community and in the city of Alghero in the Italy List of islands in the Mediterranean of Sardinia....
, Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
, and to a lesser extent also in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
.

ference on usage and conjugation of Aranese verbs was written by Veronica Bares and published in 2003.






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Encyclopedia


Aranese is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon
Gascon language

Gascon is a dialect of the Occitan language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and B?arn . It has about 250,000 speakers worldwide.Only Aranese language, a southern Gascon variety, is spoken in Spain....
 variety of the Occitan language
Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
 spoken in the Aran Valley, in northwestern Catalonia
Catalonia

Catalonia , is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km? and has an official population of 7,210,508. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east ....
 on the border between Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and France, where it is one of the three official languages besides Catalan
Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance languages, the national language and official language of Andorra, and a official language in the Autonomous Communities of Spain of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community and in the city of Alghero in the Italy List of islands in the Mediterranean of Sardinia....
 and Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
.

Once considered to be an endangered language , spoken mainly by older people, it is now experiencing a renaissance; it enjoys co-official status with Catalan and Spanish within the Aran Valley, and since 1984 has been taught in schools.

About 90% of the inhabitants of the Aran Valley can understand it, and about 65% can speak it.

The official spellings of towns in the Aran Valley are Aranese; for example, the Aranese spelling Vielha is used on maps and road signs instead of the Catalan and Spanish Viella.

Most Aranese are also fluent in Catalan
Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance languages, the national language and official language of Andorra, and a official language in the Autonomous Communities of Spain of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community and in the city of Alghero in the Italy List of islands in the Mediterranean of Sardinia....
, Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
, and to a lesser extent also in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
.

Written publications in Aranese


Grammar

A reference on usage and conjugation of Aranese verbs was written by Veronica Bares and published in 2003. A descriptive and normative reference grammar book, written in Aranese by Aitor Carrera, was published in March 2007. This grammar includes detailed breakdown of phonological and grammatical differences between varieties of Aranese in different villages in the valley.

Dictionaries

A dictionary of Aranese was written by the Catalan linguist Joan Coromines
Joan Coromines

Joan Coromines i Vigneaux, in Catalan Joan Corominas , was a linguist who made important contributions to the study of Catalan language, Spanish language and other Romance languages....
 as his doctoral thesis.

A simple four-language Spanish-Aranese-Catalan-French dictionary exists, written by Frederic Vergés Bartau.

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 the Aran Valley.

A detailed one-volume Catalan-Occitan and Occitan-Catalan dictionary was published under the auspices of the governments of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya
Generalitat de Catalunya

The Generalitat de Catalunya is the institution under which the Spain Autonomous communities of Spain of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat and the Executive Council or Government of Catalonia....
) and the Aran Valley (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

A local monthly magazine "Toti" and other local newspapers are published partly in the language.

See also

  • Occitan language
    Occitan language

    Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
  • Languages of Spain
    Languages of Spain

    The languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain....
  • Aranese alphabet


Bibliography

  • Le Gascon de poche, Jean-Marc Leclercq & Sèrgi Javaloyès, Assimil 2004, ISBN 2-7005-0345-7
  • Es verbs conjugadi, Veronica Bares
  • Petit diccionari: castelhan - aranés (occitan) - catalan - francés, Frederic Vergés Bartau
  • Diccionari Occitan-Catalan


External links

  • - Database for the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages