Central CatalanCentral Catalan (Catalan: català central) is an Eastern Catalan dialect spoken in the whole province of Barcelona, the eastern half of the province of Tarragona and most of the province of Girona, except for its northern part, where a transition to Northern Catalan begins. This variety (when free of localisms from Barcelona, Tarragona or Girona) is perceived by most Catalans as the standard form in Catalonia.
Catalan dialectsThe dialects of the Catalan language (and restrictively also of Valencian, itself a Western Catalan variety) feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages; both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology. Mutual intelligibility between its dialects is very high, estimates ranging from 90% to 95%. The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.
Valencian languageValencian (valencià) or the Valencian language (llengua valenciana) is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community to refer to the Romance language also known as Catalan, either as a whole or in its Valencia-specific linguistic forms. The Valencian Community's 1982 Statute of Autonomy officially recognises Valencian as the name of the native language.
Close-mid back rounded vowelIPA: Vowelsaudiofull chartLegend: unrounded • roundedThe close-mid back rounded vowel, or high-mid back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨o⟩. Close-mid back protruded vowelThe close-mid back protruded vowel is the most common variant of the close-mid back rounded vowel.
Algherese dialectAlgherese or Alguerese (autonym: alguerés) is the variety of Catalan spoken in the city of Alghero (L'Alguer in Catalan), in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. The dialect has its roots in 1372, when Catalan-speaking colonists were allowed to repopulate Alghero and expel the native population, after several revolts. Catalan was replaced as the official language by Spanish, then by Italian in the mid-18th century.
Catalan languageRomance languageCatalan (català) is a Western Romance language that is native to the eastern Iberian Peninsula. It shares official status with Spanish in three autonomous communities in eastern Spain – Catalonia; the Balearic Islands; and the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian (valencià) – and is the sole official language of Andorra.
LenitionConsonant sound change Sound change and alternation Metathesis Quantitative metathesis Lenition Consonant gradation Consonant voicing and devoicing Assibilation Spirantization L-vocalization Debuccalization Fortition Epenthesis Prothesis Paragoge Unpacking Vowel breaking Elision Apheresis Syncope Apocope Haplology Cluster reduction Transphonologization Compensatory lengthening Nasalization Tonogenesis Floating tone Assimilation Fusion Coarticulation Palatalization Velarization Labialization Final devoicing Metaphony (vowel harmony, umlaut) Consonant harmony Dissimilation Sandhi Liaison, linking R Consonant mutation Tone sandhi Vowel hiatus Synalepha Elision Crasis Synaeresis and diaeresis Synizesis Other types Apophony Affrication Gemination Clipping Fronting Raising Betacism Iotacism Fusion Merger Compensatory lengthening Monophthongization Rhotacism Rhinoglottophilia Sulcalization Shm-reduplication Consonant mutation Vowel shift Chain shift vte In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way.
Morphology (linguistics)In linguistics, morphology is the study of how words are formed, and how they relate to one another within a language. Most approaches to morphology investigate the structure of words in terms of morphemes, which are the smallest units in a language with some independent meaning or grammatical function. Morphemes include roots that can exist as words by themselves, but also categories such as affixes that can only appear as part of a larger word.
PhonologyPhonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics) is the branch of linguistics that concerns how languages organize the foundational elements that make their words. In spoken languages, these are phonemes like vowel and consonant sounds that affect meaning. Examples of this effect can be found in comparisons of English words like bat and gnat. In sign languages, these are components of signs such as hand shape and location.
SemanticsSemantics is the study of linguistic meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction between sense and reference. Sense is given by the ideas and concepts associated with an expression while reference is the object to which an expression points.SyntaxIn linguistics, syntax ( SIN-taks) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form well-formed larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns in this area of linguistics include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency), agreement, cross-linguistic variation, and the relationship between structure and meaning (semantics).VocabularyA vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word vocabulary originated from the Latin vocabulum, meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of language and communication, helping convey thoughts, ideas, emotions, and information.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.