Reintegrationism (, , ), or Lusism, is a
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
movement in
Galicia that advocates for the recognition of
Galician and varieties of the
Portuguese language
Portuguese ( or ) is a Western Romance language of the Indo-European language family originating from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the official language of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tom� ...
as a single language. Reintegrationists argue that the different dialects of Galician and Portuguese should be classified as part of the
Galician-Portuguese language, rather than two languages within a common branch. The largest reintegrationist association is the
Galician Language Association (AGAL).
Background
The reintegrationists also claim that the official orthography of the
Galician language
Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...
, regulated by the
Royal Galician Academy
The Royal Galician Academy (, RAG) is an institution dedicated to the study of Galician culture and especially the Galician language; it promulgates norms of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary and works to promote the language. The Academy is bas ...
, is too
Castilianized and artificially separates it from the
northern varieties of Portuguese. However, the Spanish influence on Galician dates back to centuries prior to standardization, namely the
Dark Centuries, when Galician lost its official recognition and stopped being a written language, thus becoming the spoken language of the lower classes in the region. During the ''
Rexurdimento'', many Galician authors initially found that they didn't know how to write Galician, since it didn't have a standard form yet. The current Galician grammar is thought to have been influenced by the
Spanish one since it could've been seen as a crucial step for recognition within the Spanish state.
The
Galician Language Association (Reintegrationist Galician: ''Associaçom Galega da Língua'') was founded in 1981 under the name "''Estudo crítico das normativas ortográficos e morfolóxicas do idioma galego''" and officially published its own standard grammar in 1983, which closely resembles the grammar of Old
Galician-Portuguese and thus the modern varieties of
Portuguese. The main goal of the association is to reinsert Galician, especially in its written form, in a Galician-
Portuguese-
Brazilian diasystem.
Practicalities
In writing, the most obvious differences from the
official norm (NOMIGa) are (according to AGAL):
* Use of instead of the letter to represent the
palatal nasal
The voiced palatal nasal is a type of consonant used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a lowercase letter ''n'' with a leftward-pointing tail protruding from the bottom ...
sound. For example: ''caminho'' instead of ''camiño'' (way).
* Use of instead of to represent the
velar nasal
The voiced velar nasal, also known as eng, engma, or agma (from Greek 'fragment'), is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is the sound of ''ng'' in English ''sing'' as well as ''n'' before velar consonants as in ''E ...
sound. For example: ''algumha'' instead of ''algunha''.
* Use of the digraph instead of to represent the
palatal lateral sound. For example: ''coelho'' instead of ''coello'' (rabbit)
* Use of / and / instead of the suffix and . For example: ''associaçom''/''associação'' instead of ''asociación'' and ''associaçons''/''associações'' instead of ''asociacións'' (association, associations)
* Preference for the use of suffixes and over and or even . For example: ''livraria'' instead of ''librería'' (bookshop); ''incrível'' instead of ''incrible'' or ''incríbel'' (incredible)
* Use of between vowels, when appropriate, instead of the simplified for all cases. For example: ''associação'' instead of ''asociación''
* Use of either , or preceding or , according to the etymology of the word, instead of for all cases. For example: ''hoje'' instead of ''hoxe'' (today), ''geral'' instead of ''xeral'' (general), but ''exército'' as in ''exército'' (army)
* Use of instead of at the end of a word. For example: ''som'' instead of ''son'' (sound)
* Use of a wider range of accentuation signs instead of the simplified single stroke. For example: ''português'' instead of ''portugués'' (Portuguese), ''comentário'' instead of ''comentario'' (commentary). Note that the official orthography, being a calque of the Spanish one in that respect, does not cater for any difference between open and closed vowels, since Spanish does not have them.
* Avoidance of specific lexical choices introduced by
Spanish
Galician members of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
(such as
José Posada,
Camilo Nogueira and
Xosé Manuel Beiras) have used spoken Galician when addressing the chamber and have used standard Portuguese orthography to encode their Galician speech. In all cases, these interventions and encodings have been accepted by the Parliament as a valid form of Portuguese, that is, an official language of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
.
Furthermore, members of Galician reintegrationist associations have been regularly present at meetings of the
Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. In 2008, Galician delegates were invited as speakers to the
Portuguese Parliament
The Assembly of the Republic (, ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament "is the representative assembly of all Portuguese citizens". Th ...
when discussing the new
spelling norms for the Portuguese language.
Controversy
The majority of the Galician population was educated in Spanish only (as official use of Galician was rare or even absent for centuries,especially in
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
).
In this fashion, it is argued that Galician would be faithful to its history and
etymology
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
and subsequently its written norm would be more scientific and precise. Thus, it would allow Galician speakers to have direct access to a world culture and it would also clarify some spelling problems of the isolationist norm (for example in terms of
stress).
A number of Portuguese linguists and authors such as
Luís Lindley Cintra,
Manuel Rodrigues Lapa,
Fernando Venâncio,
Carlos Reis or
Malaca Casteleiro have expressed their agreement with the reintegrationist views.
Genesis of the debate
Authors such as
Castelao, among others, stated that Galician should gradually merge with Portuguese, namely in its written form.
However, political issues forced the resignation of Carvalho Calero and, consequently, the 1979 pro-reintegrationist norms were revoked. The new official norms and reforms passed from 1982 onwards would be strongly pro-isolationist.
Biography of Carvalho Calero
, explaining the development of the language norm and his implication in it
See also
* Castrapo
*Community of Portuguese Language Countries
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (; : CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth or Lusophone Community (), is an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portug ...
*Galician language
Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...
* Galician Language Association
* Galician-Portuguese
* Partido da Terra
*Portuguese language
Portuguese ( or ) is a Western Romance language of the Indo-European language family originating from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the official language of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tom� ...
* Ricardo Carvalho Calero
* Spelling reform
Notes
{{Reflist
Further reading
''Nova Proposta de Classificação dos Dialectos Galego-Portugueses''
Luís F. Lindley Cintra, in ''Boletim de Filologia'', 1971, Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Filológicos.
* ''A Galiza, o galego e Portugal'', Manoel Rodrigues Lapa, 1979, Sá da Costa, Lisboa.
* ''Estudo crítico das normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do idioma galego'', AGAL 1983 and 1989, Corunha.
* ''Prontuário ortográfico galego'', AGAL, 1985, Corunha.
* ''Sobre o problema da Galiza, da sua cultura e seu idioma'', Manoel Rodrigues Lapa, in ''Agália'' no. 29, 1992.
''A língua portuguesa da Galiza''
compiled for students of Portuguese language at University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...
, Xoán M. Paredes, 2006.
''"I see my language everywhere": On linguistic relationship between Galicia and Portugal''
Fernando Venâncio (conference), 2006.
''O conflicto ortográfico do galego no CMI Galiza''
2006.
''Reintegracionismo lingüístico: identidade e futuro para o galego''
from the magazine ''Voz Própria'', 2007.
Júlio César Barreto Rocha, Universidade Federal da Rondônia, (date unknown; 2000?).
External links
''Associaçom Galega da Língua''
''Movimento Defesa da Língua''
''Associação de Amizade Galiza-Portugal''
''Irmandades da Fala da Galiza e Portugal''
''ADIGAL''
– reintegracionist association in Argentina
''Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa''
Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language
''Novas da Galiza''
– newspaper in AGAL norm
''FAQ do Reintegracionismo''
– "FAQ on Reintegracionism", b
Gentalha do Pichel
Conference by Professor Martinho Monteiro Santalha
where he argues for the linguistic unity of Galician and Portuguese – from minute 04:09
''Amostra comparativa''
– comparison between Galician, Portuguese and Brazilian-Portuguese pronunciation (with sound files)
''Reportagem sobre a língua galega''
– short documentary about Galician language on Portuguese national television ( RTP); 8:21 total running time
Galician language
Portuguese language
Spelling reform
Sociolinguistics