Galician (Galician: galego) is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia. Galicia is an autonomous community (roughly comparable to a federated state) with the constitutional status of "historic nationality", located in northwestern Spain. Galician can be considered to be a different written norm for Galaico-Portuguese, the other norm being Portuguese. The popular dialects from the regions immediately south of the border are virtually identical to those from the north, but while the former are referred to as Portuguese, the last are called Galician. The written norm however is substantially different. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Galicia (Spain) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Galicia (Spain) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred languages and dialects (443 according to the SIL estimate), including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and Southern Asia. ... The Italic subfamily is a member of the Centum branch of the Indo-European language family. ... The Romance languages, also called Romanic languages, are a subfamily of the Italic languages, specifically the descendants of the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken by the common people evolving in different areas after the break-up of the Roman Empire. ... Italo-Western is the largest sub-group of Romance languages. ... Gallo-Romance languages Gallo-Italian languages Lombard Piedmontese Emilian-Romagnol Venetian Ligurian Gallo-Rhaetian languages Oïl languages(including French) Burgundian Champenois Franc-Comtois French Gallo Lorrain Norman Anglo-Norman Channel Island Norman Auregnais Dgèrnésiais Jèrriais Sercquiais Picard Poitevin-Saintongeais Walloon Rhaetian languages Friulian Ladin Romansh *Franco... The formation of Iberian Romance languages followed more or less this process: A common Latin/Romance language with dialectal differences was spoken throughout the ancient Roman Empire. ... West Iberian language is the subcategory of Romance languages, including Spanish and Portugese. ... Portuguese-Galician (in Portuguese and Galician is known as Galaico-Português) was a Iberian Romance language, spoken in the Middle Ages, in the western area of the Iberian Peninsula. ... Galicia (Spain) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, tone, style, and voice). ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The formation of Iberian Romance languages followed more or less this process: A common Romance language with dialectal differences was spoken throughout the ancient Roman Empire. ... Galicia (Spain) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Autonomous communities of Spain. ...

Classification

Historically, the Galician-Portuguese language originated in Galicia and Northern Portugal (comprising the Roman Gallaecia), and branched out since 14th century after the Portuguese expansion brought it southwards. There are linguists that consider Modern Galician and Modern Portuguese as dialects or varieties of the same language, but this is a matter of debate. For instance, in past editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica, Galician was termed a Portuguese dialect spoken in northwestern Spain, once often incorrectly considered a dialect of Spanish. However, the Galician government does not regard Galician as a variety of Portuguese, but rather as a separate language. After centuries of separation between the two languages, mutual comprehension can sometimes be difficult, although usually it is quite fluent. Portuguese-Galician (in Portuguese and Galician is known as Galaico-Português) was a Iberian Romance language, spoken in the Middle Ages, in the western area of the Iberian Peninsula. ... Gallaecia or Callaecia (from Gaulish *gal-laikos smoke?-hero/warrior) was the name of a Roman province that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania (approximately the current Galicia of Spain and the north of Portugal). ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelled with æ, the ae-ligature) was first published in 1768–1771 as The Britannica was an important early English-language general encyclopedia and is still...

Briefly, the relationship within the Galician-Portuguese sub-group can be compared with that between Moldovan and Romanian, Flemish and Dutch or Catalan and Occitan. The term Flemish language can designate: the official language of Flanders, which is Dutch with only very small variations; any of the regional dialects of Dutch spoken in Belgium; these are more different from Dutch than the official language of Flanders; one of these dialects, the West Flemish. ... Catalan (Català IPA: ) also called Valencian (Valencià IPA: ) is a Romance language, the only official language of Andorra and co-official in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia. ... Occitan, or lenga dòc, or languedoc, is a Romance language (or group of languages), spoken mainly in the Languedoc or Occitania region in southern France. ...

The Instituto da Lingua Galega (ILG) claims that modern Galician can be considered an independent Romance language that belongs to the group of Ibero-Romance Languages. On the other hand, according to the unofficial Associaçom Galega da Língua (AGAL), differences between Galician and Portuguese languages are not enough to consider them separate languages, just like other Galician-Portuguese forms such as Brazilian Portuguese, African Portuguese, Extremaduran 'Fala' (Spain), and other dialects. Thus it uses a more Portuguese spelling system in place of one closer to Spanish; Galicia is therefore spelt by them as Galiza. However, in some aspects, the Portuguese dialects are more conservative than the Galician ones, which for the most part have lost the voiced fricative /z/. Romance languages in the world: Blue – French; Green – Spanish; Orange – Portuguese; Yellow – Italian; Red – Romanian The Romance languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, comprise all languages that descended from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. ... Brazilian Portuguese is a collective name for the varieties of Portuguese written and spoken by virtually all the 180 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a couple million Brazilian immigrants and temporary workers in other countries, mainly in Canada, United States, Portugal, Paraguay and Japan. ... African Portuguese is the group of Portuguese language dialects spoken in Africa. ... A fricative articulated with the vocal cords vibrating. ...

The Portuguese dialects most similar to Galician are Alto-Minho Portuguese, Trás-os-Montes Portuguese, and Northern Portuguese.

In any case, discussions on the Galician language tend to mirror the never-ending debate in Galician society between reasserting its own identity ("isolationism"), or assimilating to a bigger cultural block ("reintegrationism"). See Writing system section, below. The term reintegracionismo or reintegrationism describes a linguistic movement in Galicia, Spain, which aims to reincorporate the Galician dialect or language into the Portuguese language. ...

Geographic distribution

Galician is spoken by more than 3 million people, including most of the people in Galicia, as well as among the many Galician immigrants in the rest of Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Biscay), elsewhere in Europe (Andorra, Geneva, London), and Iberoamerica (Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Havana). Galicia (Spain) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... This article is about the Spanish capital. ... Barcelona,is the capital city of Catalonia, an autonomous community in the Iberian Peninsula. ... Vizcaya province Vizcaya (Basque Bizkaia) is a province of northern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German: //, Italian: Ginevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland, situated where Lake Geneva (French Lac Léman) flows into the Rhône River. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Iberoamerica is a term used to refer the group of countries in the Americas that were colonies of Spain and Portugal. ... Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds; originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, and one of... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Aerial view of Havana Havana (Spanish in full: San Cristóbal de La Habana, usually shortened to just La Habana; UN/LOCODE: CU HAV) is the capital of Cuba and, with a population of 2. ...

Because of its historical status as a non-official language, for some authors, the situation of language domination in Galicia could be called "diglossia", with Galician in the lower part of the continuum, and Spanish at the top; while for others, the conditions for diglossia established by Ferguson are not met. In linguistics, diglossia is a situation where, in a given society, there are two (often) closely-related languages, one of high prestige, which is generally used by the government and in formal texts, and one of low prestige, which is usually the spoken vernacular tongue. ... Look up continuum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Official status

Spain has recognized Galician as one of Spain's four "official languages" (lenguas españolas), the others being Castilian (also called Spanish), Catalan (or Valencian), and Basque. Galician is taught at primary and secondary school and used at the universities in Galicia. Further, it has been accepted orally as Portuguese in the European Union Parliament and used as such by, among others, the Galician representatives José Posada, Camilo Nogueira and Xosé Manuel Beiras. This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ... Catalan (Català IPA: ) also called Valencian (Valencià IPA: ) is a Romance language, the only official language of Andorra and co-official in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia. ... This page deals with language. ... Basque (in Basque: Euskara) is the language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain and the adjoining region of South-Western France. ... José Domingo Posada González (born May 9, 1940), of Spain, was a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999 and is the president of Coalición Galega. ... Camila Nogueria Román was born on 22 November 1936 in Vigo (Galiza), Spain and Member of the European Parliament in the parliamentary term from 1999 to 2004. ...

Dialects

Galician has multiple dialects, yet mutual comprehension is total.

Sounds

Image File history File links Description: IPA vowel chart for Galician. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... The voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced palatal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The alveolar tap/flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... The voiceless alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

Grammar

Galician allows pronominal clitics to be attached to indicative and subjunctive forms as Portuguese does, unlike standard Spanish or Castilian.

Vocabulary

Writing system

Current official Galician orthography was introduced in 1982, and made law in 1983, by the Real Academia Galega (RAG), based on a report by the ILG. It remains a source of contention, however, as a minority of citizens would rather have the institutions recognize Galician as a Portuguese variety, and therefore opt for the use of the Portuguese writing system, perhaps with some adaptations. A revised edition was published in 2003, with some minor changes towards Portuguese orthography; the official orthography resembles Castilian orthography. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, tone, style, and voice). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ...

Currently, there are two distinct writing systems, but only one is official. The official orthography is approved by RAG and is used by official institutions, in education, and by most writers. The other version, oriented towards Portuguese, is called reintegrationism (reintegracionismo), uses a written system known as maximal orthographic system (normativa de máximos ortográficos), and is promoted by AGAL (Associaçom Galega da Língua). A more radical point of view on reintegrationism is lusism (lusismo), which proposes to insert the Galician language fully into Portuguese using the same writing system as part of the common Portuguese language community (lusofonía). Until 2003, there was a third writing system of commitment between the official system and reintegrationism, but their supporters now accept the official norm. The term reintegracionismo or reintegrationism describes a linguistic movement in Galicia, Spain, which aims to reincorporate the Galician dialect or language into the Portuguese language. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Lusitanic. ...

In 1986 and 1990, there were meetings between all of the Portuguese-speaking countries, in order to establish a spelling reform (there are some minor spelling differences between Portugal and Brazil, just as between British and American English). Galicia was invited to take part in the meetings, but the Galician government (that claims that Galician and Portuguese must be considered different languages) did not send representation. However, an unofficial commission formed by Galician linguists was sent, and took part in both meetings. [1] 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

Spelling system has very important political connotations in Galicia. At the present time there are significant political parties that defend points of view that range from greater self-government for Galicia into the Spanish political organization to total political independence from Spain in order to preserve Galician culture and language from the risk of being absorbed into a greater one. Since modern Galician spelling system was taken from Spanish it is seen by them as some form of Spanish influence that is necessary to remove; since medieval Galician and medieval Portuguese were a language unity Portuguese spelling, which is nearer to medieval Galician one than modern Galician one. Language unification has also the benefit of linking Galician language to another major language with extensive cultural production on its own, which would debilitate the links that bond Galicia and Spain and ultimately favour the people's wish toward an independent state.

Despite they are concepts frequently associated there is no correlation between reintegrationism, independentism and defending Galician and Portuguese languages unity. Some examples are given of this statement:

- the two main independentist parties in Galicia use different spelling forms, one of them the ILG one (FPG) and the another one the AGAL one (NÓS-UP)

- there are many Galician people and philologists that defend a closer to Portuguese spelling form attending to the language story, syntax and phonetics without defending language unity nor independence

History

From the 8th century, Galicia was a political unit within the kingdoms of Asturias and Leon, but was able to reach a degree of autonomy, becoming an independent kingdom at certain times in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. Galician was the only language in spoken use, and Latin was used, to a decreasing extent, as a written language. This monopoly on spoken language was able to exert such pressure in the 13th century, that it led to a situation of dual official status for Galician and Latin in notarial documents, edicts, lawsuits, etc.; Latin, however, continued to be the universal vehicle for higher culture. (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ...

From the 9th century, the language spoken in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula was so different from Latin, that Latin and Galician could be already considered two separate languages. Nevertheless, written texts in Galician have only been found dating from the end of the 12th century, because Latin continued to be the cultured language (not only in Galicia, but also throughout medieval Europe). As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

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. Events University of Paris receives charter from Philip II of France The Kanem-Bornu Empire was established in northern Africa around the year 1200 Mongol victory over Northern China — 30,000,000 killed Births Al-Abhari, Persian philosopher and mathematician (died 1265) Ulrich von Liechtenstein, German nobleman and poet (died... // Events The oldest extant double entry bookkeeping record dates from 1211 Canons regular of the Order of the Holy Cross founded September 14 1211 Troops led by Estonian resistance fighter Lembitu of Lehola destroy a garrison of missionaries in the historical Estonian region of Sakala and raid the Russian town... Afonso II of Portugal (English Alphonzo), or Affonso (Archaic Portuguese), Alfonso or Alphonso (Portuguese-Galician) or Alphonsus (Latin version), known as the Fat (Port. ... Events Simon Apulia becomes Bishop of Exeter. ...

In the Middle Ages, Galaico-português (or Galician-Portuguese) was a language of culture, poetry, and religion throughout not only Galicia and Portugal, but also Castile (where Castilian was used mainly for prose). The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Portuguese-Galician (in Portuguese and Galician is known as Galaico-Português) was a Iberian Romance language, spoken in the Middle Ages, in the western area of the Iberian Peninsula. ... A former kingdom in modern-day Spain, Castile (Spanish: Castilla; usually pronounced Cast-EEL in English) now compromises the regions of Old Castile in the north-west, and New Castile in the center of the country. ... Castilian is a noun and adjective that refers to the region and former kingdom of Spain; in particular, it refers to the language of this region, and is therefore considered by many to be a synonym of Spanish, though with different nuances. ...

After the separation of Portuguese and Galician, Galician was considered provincial, and it was not widely used for literary or academic purposes until its renaissance in the mid-19th century. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

With the advent of democracy, Galician has been brought into the institutions, and it is now co-official with Spanish. Galician is taught in schools, and there is a public Galician-language television channel, TVG. Image File history File links Television_de_Galicia. ... Televisión de Galicia (Television of Galicia), is a Galician TV channel, part of the Compañía de Radiotelevisión de Galicia (CRTVG). ...

The Real Academia Galega and other Galician institutions celebrate each May 17 as "Día das Letras Galegas" ("Galician Literature Day"), dedicated each year to a deceased Galician-language writer chosen by the academy. This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, tone, style, and voice). ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... The Día das Letras Galegas (Galician for Galician Literature Day) is a holiday in Galicia, a region of Spain. ...

Examples

• ¹ Quero-te means "I want you" in Portuguese. In fact, "quérote" in official Galician is a calque from Spanish. "Avó" (acute) in Portuguese means "Grandmother" from "(arch.) avoa > avó". In official Galician the "o" in "Avó" is pronounced the same than Portuguese "Avô".

See also

• Galician literature
• Fala dos arxinas, a jargon of Galician masons
• Galician-Portuguese
• Portuguese language
• Fala language

Galician literature has been developed both in Galician and Spanish. ... Fala dos arxinas or Verbo dos arginas (in Spanish, jerga de los canteros) (Galician, argot of stonecutters) is the name of an argot employed by stonecutters in the Spanish region of Galicia, particularly in the area of Pontevedra. ... Portuguese-Galician (in Portuguese and Galician is known as Galaico-Português) was a Iberian Romance language, spoken in the Middle Ages, in the western area of the Iberian Peninsula. ... Portuguese ( ) is an Indo-European language of the Romance branch. ... Fala language (SIL Code: FAX; ISO 639-2 code: roa) is a Romance language from the Portuguese-Galician subgroup spoken in Spain by about 10,500 people, of which 5,500 live in a valley of the northwestern part of Extremadura near the border with Portugal. ...

External links

Galician edition of Wikipedia

• Ethnologue report for Galician
• Instituto da Lingua Galega
• English-Galician CLUVI Online Dictionary
• Biblioteca Virtual Galega
• Movimento Defesa da Língua
• Associaçom Galega da Língua - Portal Galego da Língua
• Associação de Amizade Galiza Portugal - Lusografia
• Assembleia da Língua
• Galician - English Dictionary: from Webster's Online Dictionary - the Rosetta Edition.