# Where Is Catalan Spoken?



## vikramkr

Hello:

I know Catalan is spoken in Andorra, but what regions of Spain is it spoken in? Are most people in Spain bilingual in both Spanish and Catalan? Is Catalan a language derived from Spanish?

Thanks,

Vikram


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## zazap

Hello, I think this can help you
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language


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## Outsider

No and no to the second and third questions. I believe Catalan is mostly spoken in three regions of Spain: Catalonia, Valencia, and the Mediterranean archipelado of the Balearic Islands.


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## DrLindenbrock

Hi!
Catalan is spoken in... Catalonia!   
And also in the Valencia region (where it is called.... Valencian!  ), the Balearic Islands and some other places and regions.
For much more info, you might want to rely on the Wikipedia, which has plenty on all this.  
I can't post a link for you here but I'm sure you'll find everything easily.
Oh, if you have any questions about Catalan, remember that there is a forum specifically devoted to it.


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## vikramkr

zazap said:


> Hello, I think this can help you
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language



Thanks, I'll read that article. I should have read this before asking questions here!


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## vikramkr

DrLindenbrock said:


> Hi!
> Catalan is spoken in... Catalonia!
> And also in the Valencia region (where it is called.... Valencian!  ), the Balearic Islands and some other places and regions.
> For much more info, you might want to rely on the Wikipedia, which has plenty on all this.
> I can't post a link for you here but I'm sure you'll find everything easily.
> Oh, if you have any questions about Catalan, remember that there is a forum specifically devoted to it.



Thanks! I'll post in the Catalan forum in the future.


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## Outsider

Here's a nice map.


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## panjabigator

vikramkr said:


> Hello:
> 
> I know Catalan is spoken in Andorra, but what regions of Spain is it spoken in? Are most people in Spain bilingual in both Spanish and Catalan? Is Catalan a language derived from Spanish?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Vikram



Catalan speakers are bilingual in both Catalan and Spanish.  You´ll rarely encounter a monolingual.  Do some searching in this forum; there are various topics which should interest you.


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## Andreas_Jensen

It's true that most catalans by far are bilingual in both spanish and catalan. In central Barcelona my impression is that you hear the two almost to the same degree. But on the other hand all the Spanish (castillian-speaking) people I know have a very poor understanding of catalan because of the extremely limited exposure to the language outside the catalan-speaking areas and the non-offcial status of the language on the national level.

Andreas


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## Cecilio

Outsider said:


> Here's a nice map.



El mapa està bastant bé però és inexacte. Hi ha àmplies zones de la Comunitat Valenciana on no es parla el català. És un mapa útil a grans trets però una mica 'optimista' pel que fa a la distribució del català, el basc, etc.


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## Tomby

DrLindenbrock said:


> Hi!
> Catalan is spoken in... Catalonia!
> And also in the Valencia region (where it is called.... Valencian!  ), the Balearic Islands and some other places and regions...//...


For instance in the city of L'Alguer, in the island of Sardinia (in the Sassari country) in Italy.
TT


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## TraductoraPobleSec

Tombatossals said:


> For instance in the city of L'Alguer, in the island of Sardinia (in the *province* of Sassari country) in Italy.
> TT


 
L'Alguer is my "pàtria xica" or second home and personal paradise and yes, you'll find that they speak beautiful Catalan over there, very influeced by both Italian and Sardinian. Some Catalans, though, find it hard to understand: if you don't have some notions of Italian, you may not catch all they are saying to you. To stitch, for instance, is "recamar", instead of "brodar" as we say over here. Very similar to the Italian "ricamare". The emergencies are "el pront socors" (similar to "pronto socorso") not "urgències", etc. 

By the way, Vikram, say hello to Seattle (the Needle, Rainier, the Sound, the ferries...): I spent a year of my life there: such a GIFT.


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## Tomby

Estic d'acord amb tu Traductora. Però això és com si a Lleida (Catalunya) o a la Comunitat Valenciana et diuen "agarra la granera i agrana" i tu no ho entens a la primera perquè a moltes parts de Catalunya diuen "agafa l'escombra i escombra". No per això deixa de ser català. Per exemple, al Brasil diuen "_terno_" al vestit (jaqueta i pantalons) i a Portugal "_fato_" i es tracta de la mateixa llengua.
Com barral i porró: l'important és que el vi sigui bo.  
Bon cap de setmana!


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## konungursvia

Catalan is spoken in one of the three loveliest parts of Spain.


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## Fernando

Cecilio said:


> El mapa està bastant bé però és inexacte. Hi ha àmplies zones de la Comunitat Valenciana on no es parla el català. És un mapa útil a grans trets però una mica 'optimista' pel que fa a la distribució del català, el basc, etc.



I el "asturisch".


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## TraductoraPobleSec

Ja ho sé, Tombatossals: si precisament jo sóc anticentralista fins al moll de l'os. Només volia fer notar que el català de l'Alguer està molt italianitzat. Ho deia a tall de curiositat per a l'amic de Seattle 

En aquest fòrum veuràs que he intervingut nombrosíssimes vegades en fils sobre el català del País Valencià i de les Illes.

Besets!


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## Tomby

Lògic Traductora. Al marge que pertany a altra nació, està lluny de Catalunya i separada pel mar. 
Que passis un feliç cap de setmana!


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## Spectre scolaire

Nobody seems to have mentioned the fact that Catalan is also spoken in France. I was once touring around in Catalan-spoken land – mostly in Andorra and Roussillon! – for a whole summer.

Barcelona is of course the center of Catalan language. An impressive number of books and periodicals are published in Barcelona, and the _Generalitat de Catalunya_ is very conscious about linguistic issues. Catalan is, however, “only” a regional language. 

The only country in the world with Catalan as the only official language is Andorra! But Spanish and French are much used. In fact, the formal heads of state in Andorra are the bishop of Seu d’Urgell and the French president! – a curious relic of an earlier feudal state of affairs. What did _not_ impress me in Andorra was the extremely limited printing activity in the official language. But this was almost 20 years ago...

The most interesting Catalan region – from a historical and a linguistic point of view (and obviously from my own ) – is _Roussillon_. When I was there, I happened to buy the first number of a newspaper in Catalan. I can’t remember the name of it and my archives are far from where I am now. I am very curious to learn what eventually happened to this newspaper. At the time, Catalan publishing activities in Roussillon was a risky business; written Catalan was definitely frowned upon. The brilliant book _Le Roussillon : une société contre l’Etat, 1780-1820_ by Michel Brunet had just been published. It tells a story of linguistic repression – as if the battle of Béziers (1229) was not enough to annihilate a whole culture. Brunet’s book is said to have eased the situation of Catalan in France. Together with historical consciousness, linguistic awakening often follows.

I have no precise knowledge about the status of Catalan in today’s France.
 ​


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## Sancho Panza

From what I've been told, Spectre Scolarie, not so many people still speak it over there. I think one of the last mayors of Rosillon spoke it and was stressed in some media when elected...
Perhaps someone from France could help us more


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## FranParis

Here a link, in french, about the *Catalan in France. *

I do think it's pretty accurate.


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## Spectre scolaire

> _El _Punt _Catalunya-Nord _était un hebdomadaire d'information locale créé en 1987, comme magazine autonome de la société de presse _El Punt_ (Catalogne), qui avait son siège à Perpignan. En 1993, le magazine commença à introduire l'usage du français, mais suite à son passage à la couleur sous le nom de _Punt Magazine_, il a cessé de paraître depuis début 1994.


 Voilà le nom du périodique! –ainsi que son sort... Glad I kept the first number!

Thanks for an interesting link! I’ll look more into it tomorrow. It’s bedtime in China.

Judging from the Spanish side of the border, cf. _Sancho Panza_ and _Breogan_, France is not particularly “digno de alabanza” when it comes to minority languages. But in INALCO you can study both Berber and Kurdish...
 ​


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## MarX

Spectre scolaire said:


> Nobody seems to have mentioned the fact that Catalan is also spoken in France. I was once touring around in Catalan-spoken land – mostly in Andorra and Roussillon! – for a whole summer.
> 
> Barcelona is of course the center of Catalan language. An impressive number of books and periodicals are published in Barcelona, and the _Generalitat de Catalunya_ is very conscious about linguistic issues. Catalan is, however, “only” a regional language.
> 
> The only country in the world with Catalan as the only official language is Andorra! But Spanish and French are much used. In fact, the formal heads of state in Andorra are the bishop of Seu d’Urgell and the French president! – a curious relic of an earlier feudal state of affairs. What did _not_ impress me in Andorra was the extremely limited printing activity in the official language. But this was almost 20 years ago...
> 
> The most interesting Catalan region – from a historical and a linguistic point of view (and obviously from my own ) – is _Roussillon_. When I was there, I happened to buy the first number of a newspaper in Catalan. I can’t remember the name of it and my archives are far from where I am now. I am very curious to learn what eventually happened to this newspaper. At the time, Catalan publishing activities in Roussillon was a risky business; written Catalan was definitely frowned upon. The brilliant book _Le Roussillon : une société contre l’Etat, 1780-1820_ by Michel Brunet had just been published. It tells a story of linguistic repression – as if the battle of Béziers (1229) was not enough to annihilate a whole culture. Brunet’s book is said to have eased the situation of Catalan in France. Together with historical consciousness, linguistic awakening often follows.
> 
> I have no precise knowledge about the status of Catalan in today’s France.
> 
> ​


AFAIK, Catalan is no longer spoken by (young) Roussillonais.
En revanche, you see Catalan flag a lot there.
I guess they don't deny their Catalanness, but cease to speak the language.

Salutacions,


MarK


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