{{Cleanup|date=May 2009}}
{{redir|Galego|creation myth from Bugis, Indonesia|Sureq Galigo}}
'''Galician''' ({{lang|gl|''galego''}}, {{IPA-gl|ɡaˈleɤo}}) is a language of the [[Iberian Romance languages|Western Ibero-Romance]] branch, spoken in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], an [[Autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous community]] located in northwestern [[Spain]], where it is co-official with [[Castilian Spanish]], as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of [[Asturias]] and [[Castile and León]].
Modern Galician and modern [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] have their roots in what is usually regarded as a single [[Romance languages|Latin-derived language]], with little internal differentiation, which linguists today call [[Galician-Portuguese]], or Mediaeval or Old Galician, or [[History of the Portuguese language|Old Portuguese]]. This common ancestral stage developed in the territories of the old [[Kingdom of Galicia]], modern day Galicia and northern Portugal, becoming from the 13th century on a written and cultivated language. In the past Portuguese and Galician formed a [[dialect continuum]], and for many scholars this continuum still exists today at the level of rural dialects, although others point out that modern Portuguese and modern Galician have diverged notably in the past centuries.
==Classification and relation with Portuguese==
[[Image:Linguistic map Southwestern Europe.gif|thumbnail|right|Map showing the historical retreat and expansion of Galician (Galician and Portuguese) within the context of its linguistic neighbours between the year 1000 and 2000]]
Historically, the [[Galician-Portuguese]] language originated from [[Vulgar Latin]] as a Western [[Romance]] language in the lands now in Galicia, Asturias and northern [[Portugal]], which belonged to the mediaeval [[Kingdom of Galicia]], itself comprising approximately the former Roman territory of ''[[Gallaecia]]'' as modified during the two centuries of the [[Suevic Kingdom of Galicia]]. The standards of the language began to diverge in the 14th century, as Portuguese became the official language of the independent [[kingdom of Portugal]] and its chancellery, whilst Galician was the language of the scriptoria of the lawyers, noblemen and churchmen of the Kingdom of Galicia, then integrated in the [[crown of Castile]] and open to influence from Castilian language, culture, and politics. During the 16th century the Galician language stopped being used in legal documentation, becoming de facto an oral language, with just some use in lyric, theatre and private letters.
The linguistic status of Galician with respect to Portuguese is controversial, and the issue sometimes carries political overtones. There are [[linguistics|linguists]] who deal with modern Galician and modern Portuguese as [[Standard language|norms]] or varieties of the same language. Some authors, such as [[Luís Lindley Cintra|Lindley Cintra]], consider that they are still co-dialects of a common language, in spite of superficial differences in phonology and vocabulary. Others, such as Pilar Vázquez Cuesta, argue that they have become separate languages due to major differences in phonetics and vocabulary usage, and, to a lesser extent, morphology and syntax. Fernández Rei in 1990 stated that the Galician language is, with respect to Portuguese, a ''lingua ausbau'', a language through elaboration, and not a ''lingua abstand'', a language through detachment.
With respect to the external and internal perception of this relation, for instance in past editions of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', Galician was defined as a [[Portuguese dialects|Portuguese dialect]] spoken in northwestern Spain. However, most Galician speakers do not regard Galician as a variety of Portuguese, but as a different language, as modern Galician evolved without interruption and in situ from Mediaeval Galician.
Mutual intelligibility (estimated at 85% by [[Robert A. Hall, Jr.]], 1989) is good between Galicians and Portuguese speakers from Portugal's northern provinces of [[Minho (province)|Alto-Minho]] and [[Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro|Trás-os-Montes]] but noticeably poorer between Galicians and speakers from central and southern Portugal.
===Opposing views===
The official position of the Galician Language Institute is that Galician and Portuguese should be considered independent languages.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} The standard [[orthography]] is noticeably different from the Portuguese, partly because of the divergent phonological features, and partly due to the use of Spanish (Castilian) orthographic conventions, which ignore many proper Galician features, like open and close vowels, which do not exist in Spanish.
The official institution regulating the Galician language, backed by the Galician government and universities, the [[Royal Galician Academy]], claims that modern Galician must be considered an independent [[Romance languages|Romance language]] belonging to the group of [[Ibero-Romance]] languages and having strong ties with Portuguese and its northern dialects.
However, the [[Galician Association of Language|''Associaçom Galega da Língua'']] (Galician Association of the Language) and [[Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language|''Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa'']] (Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language), belonging to the [[Reintegrationist]] movement, support the idea that differences between Galician and Portuguese speech are not enough to justify considering them as separate languages: Galician is simply one variety of Galician-Portuguese, along with [[Brazilian Portuguese]]; [[Portuguese in Africa|African Portuguese]]; the Galician-Portuguese still spoken in Spanish Extremadura, [[Fala language|Fala]]; and other dialects.
===Political Implications===
The relationship involving Galician and Portuguese can be compared with that between [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] and [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]] with [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]] and [[Catalan language|Catalan]], or English and [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]]: language proximity conflicts with political interpretation.
These contrasting attitudes have distinct political implications. Considering Galician as an independent language reduces contact with Portuguese culture, leaving Galician as a minor language with less capacity to counterbalance the influence of Spanish, the official language. On the other hand, viewing Galician as a part of the Lusophony, whilst not denying its own characteristics (cf. Swiss German), shifts cultural influence from the Spanish domain to the Portuguese. Although it is difficult to clarify the political positions of those who favour one view or the other, the vindication of Galician as an independent language is generally associated with more conservative political thought linked to certain Spanish political and administrative structures. Some scholar authors describe the situation as properly a continuum, from the Galician variants of Portuguese in one extreme to the Spanish language in the other (which would represent the complete linguistic shift from Galician to Spanish), reintegrationist points of view are closer to the Portuguese extreme, and so-called isolationist ones would be closer to the Spanish one.
==Geographic distribution and legal status==
Galician is spoken by some three million people, including most of the population of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and the numerous Galician communities established elsewhere, in Spain ([[Madrid]], [[Barcelona]], [[Biscay]]), in other European countries ([[Andorra]], [[Geneva]], [[London]], [[Paris]]), and in the [[Americas]] ([[New York]], [[New Jersey]], [[Buenos Aires]], [[Montevideo]], [[Havana]], [[Caracas]], [[Mexico City]], [[São Paulo]], [[Managua]], [[Guadalajara, Jalisco|Guadalajara]], [[Veracruz City]], [[Panama City]]).
Galician is today official, together with Spanish language, in the [[autonomous community]] of Galicia, where it is recognized as the autochthonous language (''lengua propia''), being the first language of the local administrations and governments. It is taught bilingually, alongside Castilian, in both primary and secondary education. It is also used at the three universities established in Galicia, having also the consideration of official language of the three institutions. Galician has also legal recognition in the [[Bierzo]] region in [[Province of León|León]], and in four municipalities in [[Province of Zamora|Zamora]]. The other languages with official status elsewhere in Spain are [[Spanish language|Castilian]] ([[Names given to the Spanish language|also called ''Spanish'']]), [[Catalan language|Catalan]] (or [[Valencian language|Valencian]]), [[Basque language|Basque]] and [[Aranese language|Aranese]]. Galician has also been accepted orally as [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] in the [[European Parliament]], having been used by some Galician representatives, among others: [[José Posada]], [[Camilo Nogueira]] and [[Xosé Manuel Beiras]].
Controversy exists regarding the inclusion of [[Eonavian]] (spoken in the western end of [[Asturias]], bordering [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]) into the Galician language, as it has some traits in common with [[Asturian language|Western Asturian or bable occidental]] (spoken in the middle west of Asturias). There are those defending these linguistic varieties as [[dialect continuum|dialects of transition]] to the [[Astur-Leonese group]] on the one hand, and those defending it as clearly Galician varieties on the other. The recent edition of the cartularies of Oscos in [[W: Es: Antiguo concejo de Castropol|Eonavia]] and cartularies of [[Obona]], [[Cornellana]], [[Corias]] and [[Belmonte de Miranda|Belmonte]] in middle west of Asturias have shown a huge difference in the medieval speech between both banks of the Navia river: An examination of the old documents of the Eonavian monastery of Oscos, written from the late twelfth to early 14th century to 16th century, shows a clear identification of this language with the Galician-Portuguese linguistic group; whilst contemporary parchments elsewhere in Asturias are written in Castilian (i.e. Spanish). The two most important traits of those commonly used to tell apart Galician-Portuguese and Asturian-Leonese varieties are the preservation of the mid-open vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/, which became diphthongs in Asturian-Leonese, and the loss of intervocalic /n/, preserved in the latter language.
==History==
[[File:ForoBoBurgo.jpg|thumb|left|One of the oldest legal charters written in Galician, the constitutional charter of the Bo Burgo (Good Burg) of [[Castro Caldelas]], [[1228]]]]
{{Quote box |width=250px |align=right|quoted=true |title=''Excerpt of medieval Galician poetry (with English translation)''|bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
|quote =
Porque no mundo mengou a verdade,
punhei un día de a ir buscar;
e, u por ela fui a preguntar,
disseron todos: «Alhur la buscade,
ca de tal guisa se foi a perder,
que non podemos én novas haver
nen ja non anda na irmaidade.»
Because in the world the truth has faded,
I decided to go a-searching for it
and wherever I went asking for it
everybody said: 'Search elsewhere
because truth is lost in such a way
such as we can have no news of it
nor it's no longer around here.'
|source = Joam Airas (13th century)}}
{{Further|[[Galician-Portuguese]]}}
[[File:Texto - Noia - Galiza.jpg|thumb|left|Mediaeval Galician inscription in a 14th century house, in [[Noia]]: "ESTAS CASAS MANDIU FAZER VASCO DA COSTA, ERA DE MCCCLXXVII" ''These houses were ordered by Vasco da Costa, [[Spanish era|era]] 1377 (1339 AD)'']]
Latinate Galician charters from the 8th century onward show that the local written Latin was heavily influenced by local spoken romance, yet is not until the 12th century that we find evidences for the identification of the local language as a language different from Latin itself. During this same 12th century we can find full Galician sentences being inadvertently used inside Latin texts, whilst its first reckoned use as a literary language dates to the last years of this same century.
The linguistic stage from the 13th to the 15th centuries is usually known as [[Galician-Portuguese]] (or ''Old Portuguese'', or ''Old Galician'') as an acknowledgement of the cultural an linguistic unity of Galicia and Portugal during the Middle Ages, as both linguistic varieties differed only in dialectal minor phenomenons, and were considered by the contemporary as just one language.
This language flourished during the 13th and 14th centuries as a language of culture, developing [[Galician-Portuguese lyric|a rich lyric tradition]] of which some 2000 compositions (''[[cantigas]]'', meaning 'songs') have been preserved—a few hundreds even with their musical score—in a series of collections, and belonging to four main genres: ''Love songs'' where a man sings for his love, ''[[Cantiga de amigo]]'' where a woman sings for her boyfriend, crude, taunting and sexual ''Songs of Scorn'', and [[Cantigas de Santa Maria|religious songs]].
The oldest known document is the poem ''Ora faz ost'o Senhor de Navarra'' by Joam Soares de Paiva, written around 1200. The first non-literary documents in Galician-Portuguese date from the early 13th century, the Noticia de Torto (1211) and the Testamento of [[Afonso II of Portugal]] (1214), both samples of medieval notarial prose.
Its most notable patrons—themselves reputed authors—were king [[Dom Dinis]] in Portugal, and king [[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X the Learned]] in Galicia, Castile and León, who was a great promoter of both Galician and [[Castilian Spanish]] languages. Not just the kings encouraged literary creation in Galician-Portuguese, but also the noble houses of Galicia and Portugal, as being an author or bringing reputed troubadours into one's home became a way of promoting social prestige; as a result many nobleman, businessmen and clergymen of the 13th and 14th centuries became notable authors, such as Paio Gomes Charinho, lord of [[Rianxo]], and the aforementioned kings.
Aside from the lyric genres, Galicia developed also a minor tradition on literary prose, most notably in translation of European popular series, as those dealing with [[king Arthur]] written by [[Chretien de Troyes]], or those based on the [[Roman de Troie|war of Troy]], usually paid and commissioned by noblemen who desired to read those romances in their own language. Other genres include history books (either translation of Spanish ones, or original creations like the ''Chronicle of St. Mary of Iria'', by Rui Vasques), religious books, legal studies, and a treaty on horse breeding. Prose literary creation in Galician had stopped by the 16th century, when [[printing press]] became popular; the first complete translation of the [[Bible]] was not printed until the 20th century.
As for other written uses of Galician, legal charters (last wills, hirings, sales, constitutional charters, city council book of acts, guild constitutions, books of possessions, and any type of public or private contracts and inventories) written in Galicia are to be found from 1230 to 1530—the earliest one probably a document from the monastery of [[Melón]], dated in 1231—being Galician by far the most used language during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, in substitution of Latin.
===Diglossia and influence of the Castilian language===
[[File:Galician Johan Tuorum.jpg|thumb|right|14th century Inscription, in Galician language: 'ESTA : IMAGEE : HE : AQVI : POSTA : POR: ALMA : D(E) : I(O)HA(N) : TVORUM' 'This image is here in exposition for the soul of Joham Tuorum'.]]
[[Galician-Portuguese]] lost its unity when the [[County of Portugal]] obtained its independence from the [[Kingdom of Leon]], establishing the [[Kingdom of Portugal]]. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Galicia was united with the Kingdom of León, and later with the Kingdom of Castile, under the kings of the [[House of Burgundy]]. The [[Galician]] and Portuguese standards of the language diverged over time, following independent evolutionary paths, Portuguese being the official language of the Portuguese chancellery, whilst Galician was the usual language not only of troubadours and peasants, but also of the local noblemen and churchmen, and of their bureaus, so forging and maintaining two slightly different standards.
During the reign of [[Alfonso X]], [[Spanish language|Castilian Spanish]] became the official language of the chancellery of the Kingdom of Castile. However, in Galicia and neighbouring regions of Asturias and León, the local language kept being during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries the usual written language in any type of document, either legal or narrative, public or private. The progressive introduction of Castilian, through Royal decrees and through the edicts of foreigner churchmen and officials, together with the legal compulsion from 1480 on the notaries of the [[Crown of Castile]] to obtain their licences in [[Toledo]] where they had to probe their mastery of Spanish, led, from the final years of the 15th century on, to the abandonment of the use of Galician language in legal documentation, being the last ones issued around 1530.
In spite of Galician being the most spoken language, during the 17th century the elites of the Kingdom began speaking Castilian, most notably in towns and cities. The linguistic situation in Galicia became one of [[diglossia]], with Galician as the low variety and Spanish as the high one. A reaction to the relegation of the authoctonous language led to the apparition of a series of literary and historical works, always written in Spanish, which goal was the vindication of Galician history, language, people and culture, most notably during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Anyway, the three centuries, from the 16th to the first years of the 19th, when Galician had little literary —and no legal— use are considered as the dark age of Galician language, whilst the Galician spoken and written at that time is usually refereed as ''Middle Galician''.
===Middle Galician===
[[File:Martín Sarmiento.jpeg|left|thumb|''Martín Sarmiento'']]
Middle Galician is known mostly thought popular literature (songs, carols, proverbs, theatrical scripts, personal letters), but also through the frequent apparition of Galician interferences and personal and place names in local works and documents otherwise written in Spanish. Other important sources are a number of [[sonnet]]s and other lyric poetry, as well as other literate productions, including the forgery of allegedly mediaeval scriptures or chronicles under diverse pretensions —usually to show the ancient nobility of the forger's family— being these writings elaborated in an archaic looking Galician which nevertheless couldn't conceal the state of the language during this period.
Middle Galician is characterized by a series of phonetic processes which led to a further separation from Portuguese, and to the apparition of some of the more notorious dialectal features, among other phenomenons: emergence of the ''gheada'' or pronunciation of /g/ as a pharyngeal fricative; denasalization of nasal vowels in most of Galicia, becoming oral vowels in the east, or a group formed by an oral vowels plus a nasal in the west; reduction of the sibilant system, with the confluence (except in the ''Baixa Limia'' region) of voiced and voiceless fricatives, followed by a process of de-affrication which led to different results in the west and in the east.
The most important author during this period of the language was the [[Enlightenment|enlightened]] scholar [[Martín Sarmiento]], unconditional defender and the first researcher of Galician language (history, evolution, lexicon, etymology, onomastics). His ''Elementos etimológicos segun el método de Euclides'' (1766), written in Spanish but dealing with Galician, was in fact one of the first comprehensive studies on sound change and evolution of any European language.
===Rexurdimento (Renaissance)===
[[File:Eduardopondal.jpg|thumb|right|The 19th century author, [[Eduardo Pondal]]]]
During the 19th century a thriving literature developed, in what was called ''Rexurdimento'', 'Resurgence', of the Galician language. It was headed by three main authors: [[Rosalia de Castro]], an intimist poetess; [[Eduardo Pondal]], of nationalist ideology, who championed a Celtic revival; and [[Manuel Curros Enríquez]], a liberal and anticlerical author whose ideas and proclamations were scandalous for part of the 19th century society.
===Galician language today===
[[File:Percentage of Galician speakers (corrected).PNG|thumb|left|Speakers of Galician as first language in 2001, Galician Institute of Statistics]]
With the advent of democracy, Galician has been brought into the country's institutions, and it is now co-official with Spanish in Galicia. Galician is taught in schools, and there is a public Galician-language television channel, [[TVG]].
Today, the most common language for everyday use in the largest cities of Galicia is Spanish rather than Galician, as a result of this long process of [[language shift]]. Galician is still the main language in the rural areas, though.
The [[Royal Galician Academy]] and other Galician institutions celebrate each May 17 as [[Galician Literature Day]] (''Día das Letras Galegas''), dedicated each year to a deceased Galician-language writer chosen by the academy.
==Dialects==
[[File:Galician linguistic areas.PNG|Galician linguistic areas|thumb|right]]
It is usually accepted that Galician possesses no real dialects. Anyhow, Galician local varieties are collected in three main [[dialect]]al blocks, each block comprising a series of areas, being local linguistic varieties all [[mutually intelligible]]. Some of the main features which tells apart the three blocks are the resolution of medieval [[nasalized vowels]], the pronunciation of [[sibilant consonants]], the plural form of words ended in /l/, and the rendering of /g/ as a fricative /ħ/ or /x/ ("gheada"), or as an aproximant /ɰ/. Each area is them defined by a series of traits or isoglosses.
*'''Eastern Galician'''
:Divided in four areas: Asturian area ([[Eonavian]]), Ancares area, Zamora area and Central-Eastern area.
*'''Central Galician''':
:Divided in four areas; Mindoniense area, Lucu-auriense area, Central Transitional area, and Eastern Transitional area.
*'''Western Galician''':
:Divided in four areas; Bergantiños area, Fisterra area, Pontevedra area and Lower Limia area.
Standard Galician is usually based in Central Galician characteristics, but it also incorporates western and eastern traits and features.
===Examples===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="3" | Galician !! rowspan="2" | Old Galician (13th-15th c.) !! rowspan="2" | Portuguese !! rowspan="2" | Spanish !! rowspan="2" | Latin !! rowspan="2" | English
|-
! Western !! Central !! Eastern
|-
| '''cans {{IPA|['kɑ̃ŋs]}}''' || cas {{IPA|['kɑs]}} || cais {{IPA|['kæjs]}} || cães / cããs || cães || canes/perros || canes || canines/dogs
|-
| '''ladróns {{IPA|[la'ðɾoŋs]}}''' || ladrós {{IPA|[la'ðɾos]}} || ladrois {{IPA|[la'ðɾojs]}} || ladrões || ladrões || ladrones || latrones || robbers
|-
| '''irmán {{IPA|[iɾ'mɑ̃ŋ]}}''' || irmao {{IPA|[iɾ'mɑo]}} || irmao {{IPA|[iɾ'mɑo]}} || irmão || irmão || hermano || germanum || brother
|-
| luz {{IPA|['lus]}} || '''luz {{IPA|['luθ]}}'''/{{IPA|['lus]}} || '''luz {{IPA|['luθ]}}''' || luz / lus || luz || luz || lux || light
|-
| cinco {{IPA|['siŋko]}} || '''cinco {{IPA|['θiŋko]}}''' || '''cinco {{IPA|['θiŋko]}}''' || cinco || cinco || cinco || quinque || five
|-
| ollo {{IPA|['oʎo]}}, hora {{IPA|['ɔɾa]}} || ollo {{IPA|['ɔʎo]}}, hora {{IPA|['ɔɾa]}} / {{IPA|['oɾa]}} || ollo {{IPA|['ɔʎo]}}, hora {{IPA|['oɾa]}} || ollo, hora || olho, hora || ojo, hora || oculum, horam || eye, hour
|-
| ti cantaste(s) || tu/'''ti cantaches''' || tu cantaste / cantache || cantaste || cantaste || cantaste || cantavisti || you sang
|-
| animás || animás || '''animais''' || animaes || animais || animales || animales || animals
|}
==Phonology==
[[Image:Galician vowel chart.svg|right|300px|thumb|The [[Vowel diagram|vowel phonemes]] of Galician]]
===Vowels===
Galician has seven vowels.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ '''Vowels'''
|-
!Phoneme ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
!Grapheme
!Examples
|-
|{{IPA|/a/}}||a||''nada''
|-
|{{IPA|/e/}}||e||''tres''
|-
|{{IPA|/ɛ/}}||e||''ferro''
|-
|{{IPA|/i/}}||i||''min''
|-
|{{IPA|/o/}}||o||''bonito''
|-
|{{IPA|/ɔ/}}||o||''home''
|-
|{{IPA|/u/}}||u||''rúa''
|}
Some characteristics of the vocalic system:
* The vocalic system is reduced to five vowel in post-tonic syllables, and to just three in final position: {{IPA|[ɐ]}}, {{IPA|[ʊ]}}, {{IPA|[ɪ]}}.
* Of the seven vocalic phonemes of the tonic and pre-tonic syllables, just /a/ has a set of different renderings ([[allophone]]s), forced by its context:
** {{IPA|[a]}}: normal realization of the phoneme: ''casa'' ['kɑsa] 'house'.
** {{IPA|[ɑ]}}: when next to an /l/, /ŋ/, /w/, /k/ or /g/.
** {{IPA|[æ]}}: before a palatal consonant, or before a yod.
** [aː]: due to contraction, as in ''ra'' ['raː] 'frog' < ''raa'' < Latin RANAM.
* All dialectal forms of Galician have lost the mediaeval [[nasal vowels]], but Ancarese Galician, spoken in the [[Ancares]] valley in [[Province of León|León]]. Nevertheless, any vowel is nasalized in contact with a nasal consonant.
* The vocalic system of Galician language is heavily influences by [[metaphony]]. Regressive metaphony is produced either by a final /a/, which tend to open medium vowels, or by a final /o/, which can have the reverse effect. As a result, [[metaphony]] affects most notably words with genre opposition: ''sogro'' 'father-in-law' {{IPA|['soɰɾo]}} - ''sogra'' 'mother-in-law' {{IPA|['sɔɰɾa]}}. On the other hand, [[vowel harmony]], triggered by /i/ or /u/, has had a large part in the evolution and dialectal diversification of the language.
'''
Diphthongs'''
Galician language possesses a large set of falling [[diphthongs]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Galician diphthongs
|-
! colspan="6" | falling
|-
|{{IPA|[æj]}}||c'''ai'''xa||'box'|| || ||
|-
| || || ||{{IPA|[ɑw]}}||'''au'''tor||'author'
|-
|{{IPA|[ɛj]}}||pap'''ei'''s||'papers'||{{IPA|[ɛw]}}||d'''eu'''||'He/She gave'
|-
|{{IPA|[ej]}}||qu'''ei'''xo||'cheese'||{{IPA|[ew]}}||bat'''eu'''||'He/She hit'
|-
|{{IPA|[ɔj]}}||boc'''oi'''||'barrel'||||||
|-
|{{IPA|[oj]}}||l'''oi'''ta||'fight'||{{IPA|[ow]}}||p'''ou'''co||'little'
|-
|}
There are also a certain number of rising diphthongs, but they are not characteristic of the language and tend to be pronounced as [[hiatus]].
===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ '''Consonants'''
|-
![[Phoneme]] ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
!Main [[allophone]]s
![[Grapheme]]s
!Example
|-
|{{IPA|/b/}}||{{IPA|[b]}}, {{IPA|[β̞]}}||b/v||''bebo'' {{IPA|['beβ̞o]}} '(I) drink', alba {{IPA|['ɑlβ̞a]}} 'sunrise0, ''vaca'' {{IPA|['baka]}} 'cow', ''cova'' {{IPA|['kɔβ̞a]}} 'cave'
|-
|{{IPA|/θ/}}||{{IPA|[θ]}}; dialectal {{IPA|[s]}} or {{IPA|[s̺]}}||z/c||''macio'' {{IPA|['maθjo]}} 'soft', cruz {{IPA|['kɾuθ]}} 'cross'
|-
|{{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}||{{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}||ch||''chamar'' {{IPA|[t͡ʃa'maɾ]}} 'to call', ''achar'' {{IPA|[æ't͡ʃaɾ]}} 'to find'
|-
|{{IPA|/d/}}||{{IPA|[d]}}, {{IPA|[ð]}}||d||''caldo'' {{IPA|['kɑl̪̩ðo]}} 'broth', ''vida'' {{IPA|['biða]}} 'life'
|-
|{{IPA|/f/}}||{{IPA|[f]}||f||''feltro'' {{IPA|['fɛl̪tɾo]}} 'filter', freixo {{IPA|['fɾejʃo]}} 'ash-tree'
|-
|{{IPA|/ɡ/}}||{{IPA|[g]}}, {{IPA|[ɰ]}}; dialectal {{IPA|[ħ]}}||g/gu||''fungo'' {{IPA|['fũŋgo]}} 'fungus', ''guerra'' {{IPA|['gɛra]}} 'war', ''o gato'' {{IPA|[o'ɰɑto]}} 'the cat'
|-
|{{IPA|/k/}}||{{IPA|[k]}}||c/qu||''casa'' {{IPA|['kɑsa]}} 'house', ''querer'' {{IPA|[ke'ɾeɾ]}} 'to want'
|-
|{{IPA|/l/}}||{{IPA|[l], [l̪], [lʲ], [ɫ]}}||l||''lua'' {{IPA|['lua]}} 'moon', ''algo'' {{IPA|['ɑɫɰo]}} 'something'
|-
|{{IPA|/ʎ/}}||{{IPA|[ʎ]}}, or {{IPA|[ɟ]}}||ll||''mollado'' {{IPA|[mo'ʎaðo]}} 'wet'
|-
|{{IPA|/m/}}||{{IPA|[m]}}||m||''memoria'' {{IPA|[mẽ'mɔɾja]}} 'memory', ''campo'' {{IPA|['kãmpo]}} 'field'
|-
|{{IPA|/n/}}||{{IPA|[n], [n̪], [ɱ]}}||n||''niño'' {{IPA|['nɪ̃ɲo]}} 'nest', ''onte'' {{IPA|[ɔ̃n̪te]}} 'yesterday', ''inferno'' {{IPA|[ɪ̃ɱ'fɛɾno]}} 'hell'
|-
|{{IPA|/ɲ/}}||{{IPA|[ɲ]}}||ñ||''mañá'' {{IPA|[mæ̃'ɲa]}} 'morning'
|-
|{{IPA|/ŋ/}}||{{IPA|[ŋ]}}||nh, n||''algunha'' {{IPA|[ɑɫ'ɰũŋɑ̃]}} 'some', ''irmán'' {{IPA|[iɾ'mɑ̃ŋ]}} 'brother'
|-
|{{IPA|/p/}}||{{IPA|[p]}}||p||''carpa'' {{IPA|['kɑɾpa]}} 'carp'
|-
|{{IPA|/ɾ/}}||{{IPA|[ɾ]}}||r||''hora'' {{IPA|['ɔɾa]}} 'hour', ''coller'' {{IPA|[ko'ʎeɾ]}} 'to grab'
|-
|{{IPA|/r/}}||[r]||r/rr||''rato'' {{IPA|['rato]}} 'mouse', ''carro'' {{IPA|['kɑro]}} 'cart'
|-
|{{IPA|/s/}}||{{IPA|[s], [s̺], [sʲ]}}; dialectal {{IPA|[ħ], [ɾ]}}||s||''selo'' {{IPA|['selo]}} 'seal, stamp', cousa {{IPA|['kowsa]}} 'thing', ''souto'' {{IPA|['s̺owto]}} 'copse (of chestnut trees)'
|-
|{{IPA|/t/}}||{{IPA|[t]}}||t||''trato'' {{IPA|['tɾato]}} 'deal'
|-
|{{IPA|/ʃ/}}||{{IPA|[ʃ]}}||x||xente {{IPA|['ʃẽn̪te]}} 'people', muxica {{IPA|[mu'ʃikɑ]}} 'ash-fly'
|-
|}
{{See also|:gl:Normativa oficial do galego - O alfabeto|l1=Galician Wikipedia: Official orthography of Galician}}
In general the occlusives /g/, /d/ and /b/ are pronounced as their [[approximant consonant|approximant]] allophones when in weak, usually intervocalic, position, being this pronunciation affected by [[sandhi]]. So, ''un gato'' 'a cat' is pronounced, {{IPA|[ũŋ'gɑto]}}, whilst ''o gato'' 'the cat' is pronounced {{IPA|[o'ɰɑto]}}.
During the modern period, Galician consonants have undergone significant sound changes that closely parallel the [[Linguistic history of Spanish#Modern sound changes|evolution of Spanish consonants]], including the following changes that neutralized the opposition of [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] fricatives / voiceless fricatives: → {{IPA|/s/}}; → {{IPA|/ts/}} → {{IPA|[s]}} or {{IPA|[s̺]}} in western dialects, or {{IPA|[θ]}} in eastern and central dialects; → {{IPA|/ʃ/}};
For a comparison, see [[Differences between Spanish and Portuguese#Sibilants|Differences between Spanish and Portuguese: Sibilants]]. Additionally, during the 17th and 18th centuries the western and central dialects of Galician developed a voiceless fricative pronunciation of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} (a phenomenon called ''[[gheada]]''). This may be glottal {{IPA|[h]}}, pharyngeal {{IPA|[ħ]}}, uvular {{IPA|[χ]}}, or velar {{IPA|[x]}}.
Spanish has been experiencing a centuries-long consonant shift in which the [[palatal lateral approximant|lateral consonant]] {{IPA|/ʎ/}} comes to be pronounced as a [[voiced palatal fricative|fricative]] {{IPA|/ʝ/}} (see ''[[yeísmo]]''). This merger, which is almost complete for Spanish in Spain, has somewhat influenced other linguistic varieties spoken in Spain, including some Galician ones, but it is rejected by Galician language institutions.
In this respect, it can be said that Portuguese is phonologically more conservative than Galician.
==Grammar==
Galician allows pronominal [[clitic]]s to be attached to indicative and subjunctive forms, as does Portuguese, unlike modern Spanish. After many centuries of close contact between the two languages, Galician has also adopted many loan words from Spanish, and some [[calques]] of Spanish syntax.
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}
==Writing system==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2010}}
The current official Galician orthography was introduced in 1982, and made law in 1983, by the Royal Galician Academy (RAG), based on a report by the ILG. It remains a source of contention, however; a minority of citizens would rather have the institutions recognize Galician as a Portuguese variety as cited before, and therefore still opt for the use of writing systems that range from adapted medieval Galician-Portuguese writing system or European Portuguese one (see [[reintegrationism]]).
In July 2003 the Royal Galician Academy modified the language normative to admit some archaic [[Galician-Portuguese]] forms conserved in modern Portuguese. These changes have been considered an attempt to build a consensus among major Galician philology trends and represent, in the words of the Galician Language Academy, "the orthography desired by 95% of Galician people." The 2003 reform is thought to put an end to the so-called "normative wars" raised by the different points of view of the relationship between the modern Galician and Portuguese languages. This modification has been accepted only by a part of the reintegrationist movement at this point.
The question of the spelling system has very significant political connotations in Galicia. At present there are minor but significant political parties representing points of view that range from greater self-government for Galicia within the Spanish political setup to total political independence from Spain designed to preserve the Galician culture and language from the risk of being inundated by the Castilian culture and language. Since the modern Galician orthography is somewhat influenced by Castilian spelling conventions, some parties wish to remove it. Since medieval Galician and medieval Portuguese were the same language, modern Portuguese spelling is nearer to medieval Galician than to modern Galician Spanish-style spelling. Language unification would also have the benefit of linking the Galician language to another major language with its own extensive cultural production, which would weaken the links that bind Galicia and Spain and ultimately favor the people's aspiration toward an independent state. However, although all three concepts are frequently associated, there is no direct interrelation between reintegrationism, independentism and defending Galician and Portuguese linguistic unity, and, in fact, reintegrationism is only a small force within the Galician nationalist movement.
===Examples===
{|class="wikitable" align="center"
|-
! English
! Galician ([[Royal Galician Academy|Official]])
! Galician ([[Reintegrationism|Reintegrationist]])
! [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
! [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
|-
| Good morning
| ''Bo día / Bos días''
| ''Bom Dia''
| ''Bom Dia / Bons dias''
| ''Buenos días''
|-
| What is your name?
| colspan=3 style="text-align: center;" | ''Como te chamas?''
| ''¿Cómo te llamas?''
|-
| I love you
| ''Quérote / Ámote''
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | ''Amo-te''
| ''Te quiero / Te amo''
|-
| Excuse me
| colspan=3 style="text-align: center;" | ''Desculpe''
| ''Perdón / Disculpe''
|-
| Thanks / Thank you
| ''Grazas''
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | ''Obrigado''
| ''Gracias''
|-
| Welcome
| ''Benvido''
| ''Bem-vido''
| ''Bem-vindo''
| ''Bienvenido''
|-
| Goodbye
| colspan=3 style="text-align: center;" | ''Adeus''*
| ''Adiós''
|-
| Yes
| ''Si''
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"| ''Sim''
| ''Sí''
|-
|No
| ''Non''
| ''Nom''
| ''Não''
| ''No''
|-
|Dog
| ''Can''
| ''Cam''
| ''Cão''
| ''Perro'' (rarely, ''Can'')
|-
|Grandfather
| ''Avó'' {{IPA|/aˈbo/}}
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"| ''Avô'' {{IPA|/ɐˈvo/}}
| ''Abuelo''
|-
|Newspaper
| ''Periódico'' / ''Xornal''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"| ''Jornal''
| ''Periódico''
|-
|Mirror
| ''Espello''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"| ''Espelho''
| ''Espejo''
|}
*In Galician ''adeus'' is rarely used (signifies that one will not see that person for many years or anymore, comparable to the use of English "farewell"). ''Ata logo'' is more common and literally means "until later" (Portuguese ''até logo'', Spanish ''hasta luego'').
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Galician official
!Galician reintegrationist
!Portuguese
!Spanish
!Latin
|-
|Our Father who art in heaven,
|Noso Pai que estás no ceo:
|Nosso Pai que estás no Céu:
|Pai Nosso que estais no Céu:
|Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos:
|Pater noster qui es in caelis:
|-
|hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
|santificado sexa o teu nome, veña a nós o teu reino e fágase a túa vontade aquí na terra coma no ceo.
|santificado seja o Teu nome, venha a nós o Teu reino e seja feita a Tua vontade aqui na terra como nos Céus.
|santificado seja o Vosso nome, venha a nós o Vosso reino, seja feita a Vossa vontade assim na Terra como no Céu.
|santificado sea tu Nombre, venga a nosotros tu reino y hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.
|sanctificetur nomen tuum, adveniat regnum tuum, fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra.
|-
|Give us this day our daily bread,
|O noso pan de cada día dánolo hoxe;
|O nosso pam de cada dia dá-no-lo hoje;
|O pão nosso de cada dia nos dai hoje;
|Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día;
|panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie;
|-
|and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,
|e perdóanos as nosas ofensas como tamén perdoamos nós a quen nos ten ofendido;
|e perdoa-nos as nossas ofensas como também perdoamos nós a quem nos tem ofendido;
|Perdoai-nos as nossas ofensas assim como nós perdoamos a quem nos tem ofendido;
|y perdona nuestras ofensas como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden;
|et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
|-
|and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
|e non nos deixes caer na tentación, mais líbranos do mal.
|e nom nos deixes cair na tentaçom, mas livra-nos do mal.
|e não nos deixeis cair em tentação, mas livrai-nos do mal.
|no nos dejes caer en tentación, y líbranos del mal.
|et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo.
|-
|Amen.
|Amen.
|Amen.
|Amém.
|Amen.
|Amen.
|}
==See also==
* [[Barallete]]
* [[Castrapo]]
* [[Eonavian]]
* ''[[Fala dos arxinas]]'', a jargon of Galician masons
* [[Fala language]]
* [[Galician literature]]
* [[Galician-Portuguese]]
* [[Leonese language]]
* [[Portuguese language]]
* [[List of Galician words of Celtic origin]]
===External links===
{{InterWiki|code=gl}}
Galician guides:
* [http://www.consellodacultura.org/arquivos/cdsg/loia/index.php?idioma=2 LOIA: Open guide to Galician Language] {{en icon}}.
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=glg Ethnologue report for Galician] {{en icon}}
* [http://www.galego.org/english/index.html Basic information on Galician language] {{gl icon}}, {{es icon}}, {{en icon}}
Records, phonetic and dialectology:
* [http://ilg.usc.es/ago/ Arquivo do Galego Oral] - An archive of records of Galician speakers.
* [http://consellodacultura.org/arquivos/asg/anosafala.php A Nosa Fala] - Sound recordings of the different dialects of the Galician language.
* [http://www.agal-gz.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=15 Amostra comparativa] - Comparison between Galician, Portuguese and Brazilian-Portuguese pronunciation (with sound files) (reintegrationist Galician)
Dictionaries:
* [[wikt:Appendix:Galician pronouns|Appendix:Galician pronouns]] - on Wiktionary
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/CLIG/index_en.html English-Galician CLUVI Online Dictionary] (official Galician), {{en icon}})
* [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Galician-english/ Galician - English Dictionary]: from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] - [[The Rosetta Edition]]. (Official Galician), {{en icon}}
* [http://valesne.homestead.com/untitled11.html A short English-Galician-Japanese Phraselist (Renewal)] incl. sound soft (Official Galician), {{en icon}}, {{ja icon}}
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/DDGM/ Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval] - A dictionary of Old Galician dictionaries. {{gl icon}}
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/ddd/index.html Dicionario de dicionarios] - A dictionary of Galician dictionaries. {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.estraviz.org/ e-Estraviz] - Isaac Alonso Estraviz's dictionary (on-line). (reintegrationist norm and official norm)
Texts:
* [http://gmh.consellodacultura.org/ Gallaeciae Monumenta Historica] - An on-line repository of medieval texts {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.bvg.udc.es Biblioteca Virtual Galega] {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/ Cantigas de Santa Maria] {{en icon}}
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/xelmirez/ Corpus Xelmirez] - A corpus on medieval Galician documentation, in Galician, Latin, and Spanish.
Newspapers in Galician:
* [http://www.l-v.es Luns a Venres] - free daily newspaper {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.galiciae.com/ Galiciaé.es] - online news portal {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.galiciahoxe.com Galicia Hoxe] - daily newspaper {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.anosaterra.com A Nosa Terra] - weekly newspaper {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.vieiros.com Vieiros] - online news portal {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.gznacion.com Gznacion] - online news portal {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.arroutadanoticias.com Arroutada Noticias] - online news portal {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.novasgz.com/ Novas da Galiza] - monthly newspaper (in reintegrationist Galician)
* [http://www.galizalivre.org Galiza Livre] - pro-independence online news portal (in reintegrationist Galician)
Other links related to Galician:
* [http://www.realacademiagalega.org Royal Galician Academy] {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.usc.es/ilgas/ Instituto da Lingua Galega] {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.amesanl.org/index.asp/ A Mesa pola Normalización Lingüística] {{gl icon}}
* [http://www.agal-gz.org Associaçom Galega da Língua - Portal Galego da Língua] (reintegrationist Galician)
* [http://www.mdl-galiza.org/ Movimento Defesa da Lingua] (reintegrationist Galician)
{{Romance languages}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galician Language}}