Catalan is the official language of majestic cities like Barcelona, Valencia, and Palma de Mallorca. These cities also have Spanish-speaking populations, so both languages inevitably have and continue to coexist. Catalan and Spanish vocabulary are somewhat similar. Many words in Catalan are familiar to native Spanish-speakers.
Both are languages derived from Latin, so knowing one or the other gives you an advantage when it comes to learning vocabulary. When it comes to Spanish vs Catalan, the pronunciation is similar to a great extent with a few particularities. In both languages the letter H is pronounced silently and the letter R has a strong sound and people make a rolling sound when they say it.
When comparing both languages, the following differences are ideal for you distinguishing one language from another. These place markers in Catalan are used to replace other words and have no Spanish counterpart.
In Catalan, the object of sentences that are combined with a verb, are joined by a vowel at the beginning. For example:. Catalan: El meu coche. English: My car. English: Andrea came to the house yesterday. English: Do you want coffee? Spelling can be quite different since words in Catalan also relate to other Latin-derived languages like French or Italian. This makes it obvious that by simply being a native Spanish speaker, one is not fully equipped to understand Catalan or recognize all of its vocabulary.
This list of vocabulary has a few words that are unique to Catalan so you can see how extensive the differences can be. Pronunciation of Catalan can sound very different because of the regional accent native speakers have, this depends on the area where they are from, people from Barcelona have a particular accent and people from Andorra a completely different one, Catalan sounds way stronger than Spanish. Unlike Spanish, Catalan has more open and closed vowels and a wider range of consonants.
It is also spoken in some parts of France and Italy. Catalan is a language in its own right. It does not derive from Spanish, or even from French, even though many people say that Catalan sounds like a mixture of both.
Catalan evolved directly from common Latin. It is said that the Spanish language in its most original form comes from there.
For foreign students, the Castilian Spanish accent is the easiest kind to understand. This is because every letter and sound in Castilian Spanish is carefully pronounced, as opposed to, for example, Andalusian Spanish, where letters or even whole syllables are sometimes dropped, making it hard for beginners to understand the regional native accent.
Some Catalan speakers consider Spanish their first language, and Catalan the second. In a very small number of cases, Catalan speakers speak no other languages at all, not even Spanish. Because the region of Catalonia has two official languages, you will see Catalan alongside Spanish on road signs, in shop advertisements and in the media. Through education and active promotion Catalan people are encouraged to speak the language in order to keep it alive. Having said all that, Spanish is also an official language in Catalonia, because, of course, the region is part of Spain.
In Barcelona, Spanish and Catalan newspapers, books, television channels, art and culture also exist side by side, so that people can choose the language they prefer. There is an on-going heated debate happening in Catalonia, because some political agencies and certain factions of the population would like to separate Catalonia from Spain, in order to establish the region as a separate, independent country.
During the dictatorship, the teaching and speaking of Catalan was not allowed though obviously people still used it in secret at home. Fortunately, that is no longer the case and the Catalan people are allowed to use their language as they see fit. Isn't Catalan basically the same as Castilian? They're two completely different languages and although, of course, there are some similarities and Spanish speakers are able to get the gist of the sentence most of the time, though its a lot easier to understand written down that spoken you'll also notice many similarities with French, Italian and even Portugese because Catalan shares the same latin and romantic roots.
So what if you're moving to Barcelona and can't speak a word of Catalan?
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