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Despite Castilian (Or Español) being the main language
of Spain there are also a number of other languages spoken throughout
Spain – many are now recognised officially by the government
and regulated by governing bodies to ensure that they remain a
part of Spain’s history and diversity.
Euskara Batua (unified Basque)
Definitely the most interesting language in Spain, Euskara is
widely spoken throughout the Basque region of Northern Spain. The
majority of Basque speakers live in Spain with a smaller percentage
living over the border in Pyrenean France. The Basques are a fiercely
proud people and have an extremely developed sense of regional
identity.
Despite having a large amount of political and cultural
autonomy, there is still a strong movement for complete independence
from Spain and the terrorist group ETA have been terrorising the
nation for 30 years in the hunt for complete self rule for the
Basque country. The language itself has 600,000 speakers on both
sides of the Franco-Spanish border with about 75% of those hailing
from the Spanish side. The language has always proved to be something
of a mystery to linguists as it has not been proven to be related
to any other language.
Euskara bears no relationship to the indo-European
family of languages which includes all of the other languages of
Europe. Some linguists have started to propagate the theory that
the language bears a similarity to the Georgian language from the
Caucasus region but conclusive proof has yet to be uncovered. The
language itself has been standardised over the past couple of decades – being
mainly a rural language, Euskara is subject to several regional
variations, however a standardised version, Euskara Batua, has
been established for use in the media and in schools.
Catalan
A romance language, Catalan is spoken not only in Spain but also
in parts of Andorra (where it is the national language), and also
in isolated areas of France and Sardinia. There are roughly 4 million
speakers worldwide who use it as their first language and probably
about the same amount who use it as a second language.
As a language
it is often said to resemble a cross between French and Spanish,
although linguists point out that the language bears more in common
with Italian in terms of grammar and syntax. Obviously spoken throughout
Catalonia there are also several other dialects of Catalan, most
notably Valencian. Many in the “Pai Valencia” still
claim it is a separate language and this has been the source of
much political and linguistic debate over recent years. [Please
note that Babylon Idiomas teaches Castilian ("Spanish") in Barcelona
and that all inhabitants of the city speak Spanish]
Galician
Lying in the extreme north western tip of Spain,
Galicia is one of Spain’s more isolated regions. Yet to be
penetrated by mass tourism, the region is subject to some of Spain’s
worst weather and is also home to its third largest language. Galician
is spoken by 3 million Spaniards in Galicia itself and also in
the neighbouring regions of Asturias and Castille-Léon.
The language bears strong similarities to Portuguese, a factor
that is explained by the close proximity of the region to Portugal.
The Portuguese language did in fact develop originally in Galicia
and Northern Portugal, before a political split in the 14 th
century separated the two areas allowing the languages to develop
and grow independently of each other.
The native Galician will
be able to understand most Portuguese - similar vocabulary and
word order can be seen across both languages and there is fierce
debate once more as to whether they are languages in their own
right, or dialects of the same language. Again much of it has
to do with the perceived independence of the region that is, in
many ways, symbolised by its language. Like Catalan and Euskara,
Galician now has an official status and is taught in schools adding
weight to the strong social movement to protect and preserve the
language. |
