Role of Spanish Becomes Hot Topic in Spain
In a sense, Spain has four languages that might be called Spanish — Castilian, the language that most outsiders think of as Spanish; Euskara (often spelled Euskera), also known as the Basque language, the only non-Romance language of the four; Catalan, spoken in Barcelona and much of the surrounding region, which, while an independent language, has some characteristics of both Spanish and French; and Galician, which has similarities to both Spanish and Portuguese and is spoken in the northwestern Spain. Castilian is an official language everywhere in the country, while the other languages are co-official in the regions where they are spoken. The role of minority languages has been a sensitive issue in the country in part because they were suppressed during the Franco regime.
The document that has brought the language debate to the forefront, the Manifiesto por la lengua común (the "Manifesto for a Common Tongue"), suggests that Spain's attempt at having three officially bilingual regions of the country isn't working very well, and to the detriment of Castilian. (A copy can be found at the website of the Madrid newspaper El Mundo. No official English translation is available.) Spanish philosopher Fernando Savater's name is the one associated most often with the document in the popular media; perhaps the most famous of the 17 original signers is Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa.)
Since the manifesto was released late last month, it has been endorsed by 133,000 persons and institutions, according to El Mundo.
The manifesto argues primarily that all persons in Spain should have the right to receive an education and do business with the government in Castilian. It points out that Castilian is the only language that is spoken throughout the country, and the language that has become known throughout the world. Although it says that all four languages can rightfully be called Spanish languages, "having a political language in common is an enormous treasure for democracy."
The manifesto argues that languages don't have political rights — but people do, and one of those rights is that those who speak the country's common language should be able to use that language and learn in that language.
Of interest to outsiders is the endorsement of the manifesto by the Tourism Board (la Mesa del Turismo). Juan Andrés Melián was quoted in Nexotur, an online tourism publication, as saying that Spain's bilingualism policy as it is being practiced is creating problems that adversely affect tourism — such as when road and airport signs are in the local language but not also in Castilian.
Even worse, he said, is the "grotesque" (esperpéntica) idea and "attack on logic" of having what he called "language police" to enforce the use of Catalan in restaurants in the Balearic Islands, the Mediterranean achipelago that has become a popular tourist draw.
The manifesto appears to have generated mostly positive comments in the Spanish-language media of Spain. As would be expected, however, it also has come under fire. The manifesto is a "pura operación política" (pure political operation) according to one contributer to a forum at Diariovasco.com, a Basque news website.
Comments
Es el mismo problema con ingles y gales
living in North Wales I agree with Peter. although it is good that a country retains its native language, less than one-quarter (mainly in the north west) actually speech Welsh. In addition, Welsh has two distinct varieties which causes some north/south division! Last but not least, most people driving in Wales, and also tourists from the rest of the UK, speak and read English. However, the upper part of strategically important road signs are given in Welsh – to the detriment of many roadusers who have passed the sign before comprehending what may be the vital information it contains.
could this be solved by vertically divided signs rather than horizontal?
Sorry, I can’t write English very well but I want to send next comment:
Creo que el problema tiene una raíz histórica y política, algo similar a lo que vive México desde el levantamiento indígena de 1994. ¡Imaginen la situación con 68 lenguas indígenas reconocidas como nacionales!
I believe the existence of more languages than the official one in a nation is a treasure. Treasures contain a myriad of jewels of culture, history, beliefs, values and vision of that specific nation. All those languages are the essence of Spain and are the the quiet witness of how great was and is tha nation. Why not speaking the three languages and make them official what could be wrong?. If you read my comment I would appreciate any feedback in English or Spanish.
Por la cultura de los pueblos libres.
Mario Betanco Sanchez
I am an American who lives in a small town outside of Barcelona. Did you know that people’s medical privacy was violated to see if doctors were using Spanish or Catalan in pacients files? Don’t believe that its true?….check out:
http://espana.barrapunto.com/article.pl?sid=06/12/14/1854209
How very sad. The debate about Spanish or Catalan has gone far enough. We speak Spanish in our house, but my husband speaks to his customers in whichever language they prefer. My American-Spanish daughter will learn the same thing- respect for both.
A friend of mine has just had to pass an examination in the language of Valencia, which I understand is a derivative of Catalan,in order to be considered for a job in the local health sector. So it seems that Spain has at least one more “official”language than the four in the El Mundo article. And of course there are other variations of Catalan in the Balearics to add to the mix. Encouraging people to learn their historic local tongue is to be admired but not, definitely not, to the exclusion of the internationally known language of Castellano.
I am learning Castilian Spanish which I try to use on my holidays and visits to my daughter’s holiday home on the Costa del sol. As I am 78 I do hope I am not wasting my time – it is too precious.
No entiendo bien espanol pero me diviertolo.
This fighting over National Languages is always going to be a problem. Every country in the world has groups whose first language was different from the currently “accepted” one. Consider Canada, the US, and Mexico, and other points south who have many native groups who have other languages. How can it all be fixed?
People, government and nations should not fear multilingualism. It’s our collective human heritage to BE multilingual–humans and human civilizations ALWAYS been multilingual and in most of the world, still are! The God-given ability to create, learn and use multiple languages is a BLESSING, not a “problem.” Languages preserve not only heritage, culture, history and anthropology
of populations–all languages also preserve
vital scientific information which is coded specifically in those languages, such as the flora, fauna, geophysical features (mountains, rivers, marine estuaries, plains, deserts, etc.)weather patterns, animal migration routes and growth cycles of
plants in a particular area. A nation’s linguistic diversity is also its repository of scientific knowledge vital to the preservation of ecosystems in which humans live and work! All Spain need
do is what international business/commerce and the transportation industry has learned to do: use multilingual signage and labelling of goods. This is currently done worldwide, and usually with the top three or four languages most utilized by users, tourists or buyers of the product in a particular area. Road and street signs can also use vertical or side-by-side printing of multiple languages.
Luxembourg is a trilingual nation which uses
its three major languages–French, German, Letzeburgesch–on a daily basis. All three
languages are taught in the school system.
Spanish is in no more “danger of extinction” than English is! It is the second language of the United States and the Western Hemisphere, and ranks third or fourth in number of speakers worldwide. Paranoid language policies based upon paranoid politicians with imperialist or neo-colonial agendas are worse than useless and typically WASTE human resources–time, brainpower, paper–that could be put to better use combatting disease and poverty, preserving the planet and making
expensive/useless wars “extinct.”
It is language laws, not languages, that are devisive. The United States has NO official language; people use what serves them best, and have always, eventually gravitated to a common language (English), without, necessarily, giving up their own. We have avoided the acrimony that has plagued Canada, and now Spain. And so far, those who have wanted to introduce language laws to the U.S. have not found much of a following.
I am trying to find some information for an article I am writing on how many words we actually use in our everyday lives. I do know that it is less than 1000 and much less now than in say Dickens’s time. My problem is that I can’t find any research on the fact to quote. I would be SO grateful for any information anyone could provide. You can email me on jorjaclare (at)gmail.com. Thanks.
Me parece que como siempre se trata sobre dinero…
I think this issue is way more complex than it seems at first sight. There are historical events involved as well and feelings because we are talking about humans. Some people within Spain have never felt Spanish and this fact alone complicates things. Perhaps the best examples are people in Spain who feel their people are a country within a country (Spain). Such is the case of lots of Catalans and Basques. This is reflected in many daily activities in Catalonia such as finding a job. People hired need to demonstrate that they know Catalan with a test similar to a TOEFL or Cambridge tests, and Catalan and Spanish are both used in the college setting, with a really strong preference for Catalan.
Catalan is spoken by about 9,500,000 people. Compare this to Estonian, Letonian, Finnish or Slovenian, spoken by about 300,000 people each. These languages have the status of official languages at the European Parliament but Catalan doesn’t. Catalans are very proud of their language and their resistance to Spanish rule throughout the centuries (they, in general terms, are still fighting for their independence). That isn’t to say say that some Catalans also really feel Spanish and are against any independence plans. Catalans, again in general, feel that they should have a national team and it ain’t Real Madrid. They even have a three letter internet i.d. to use (optionally) in all pages in Catalan; it’s http://www.abcd.cat (instead of .es-España).They have their own customs, foods, traditions I must say I’m a little biased when it comes to their language lol It’s a very beautiful language.
Besides, most people who complain about feeling discriminated against are usually the ones who speak only one language-generally Spanish. In my opinion, they shouldn’t be afraid of learning one more, or two more, or three more languages. You know what they say: the more the merrier.
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A més, la majoria de la gent que es queixa perquè se senten discriminats són sovint aquells que parlen tan sols una llengua-generalment castellà. Al meu parer, no deurien tenir por d’aprendre una més, o dues més o tres més llengües. Ja sabeu o que hom diu: entre més serem més riurem.
I am a bilingual speaker of Catalan and Spanish. First off, I would like to advice people seeking to know the reality of Catalunya and, I dare to say, also Galicia and Euskadi, to read articles other than those published in El Mundo, the most right-wing, self-centered, and, yes, nationalistic (Castillian nationalistic) paper in Spain. I even doubt of its democratic sense of life. This part of the Spanish society would like us to wear the same uniform, think the same, vote for the same party (PP), and speak the same lanuage. No matter what those pretended “Intellectuals” say, Spanish is NOT about to disappear neither in Catalunya, Galicia, or Euskadi.
The whole teaching system in Spain is bad. Catalan people’s skills in Spanish are bad in these places… same as they are in the rest of Spain, included Castille itself. I work in the publishing sector and I know first hand what I’m talking about. Catalan people’s skills in Catalan are bad too… same as they as in math, history, or geography.
Spanish people have no respect for our right to have a language of our own. Some think we speak Catalan only to keep them from understanding. They go into a store and they feel threatened if they are addressed to in Catalan, even though the majority of Catalan people will switch into Spanish if they think they are not being understood. Since Spanish is a widely spoken language (”universal”, like they say), they just don’t understand why we should speak other languages. Nobody questions the right of other minoritarian languages to exist and to be spoken, either Swedish, Danish, Nowregian, Icelandic, Finnish, and others. Nobody tells those people they should use English and forget their own languages only because English is spoken world-widely. I demand our right to use Catalan, Galician, or Euskera as we please… and also claim for an improvement of the Spanish teaching system.
Bueno, creo que la mayoría no debe tener que satisface a la minoría, es el deber del minoría satisfacer al mayoría, con tal de que no los violen sus derechos. Los castellanos no deben tener que aprender las idiomas minorías, pero las idiomas minorías no deben se matan.
PD: ¿Pensaba que «El Mundo» era un periódico liberal?
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The solution is just ONE official language over the whole world… Yes… GERMAN lol ajajajajaj
Esto es para César (14):
El teu català és força correcte però he fet algunes correcions:
A més a més, la majoria de la gent que és queixa perquè se senten discriminats són, sovint, aquella gent que parla tan sols una llengua, generalment el castellà. Al meu parer, no haurien de tenir por d’aprendre una llengua més, o dues més o tres llengües més. Ja sabeu allò que hom diu: com més serem més riurem.
We are a Catalan- USA family living near Reus. Our children function in Catalan, Spanish, and English. All of us see an enormous advantage in being able to learn and communicate in the three languages and feel the current liberal attitude towards language education in Catalonia should continue. Furthermore, all of us feel that just as a USA citizen moving to Puerto Rico should learn Spanish a person moving into Catalonia or the Basque Country should learn Catalan or Basque. Their life is simply so much richer if they learn the local language.
Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.
I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.
God will appreciate it.
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