Catalan
According to the official government of Catalonia, Catalan is the second most spoken language of the region, after Spanish (over 35% of Catalans use exclusively Catalan as their first language, while 11% of Catalans use equally both Catalan and Spanish). It is the most spoken language in many comarques of Catalonia, with the exception of the Barcelona metropolitan area (Barcelonès plus surrounding comarques) and Camp de Tarragona. Catalan language is a compulsory subject at school and enjoys equals rights than Spanish all through Catalonia.
Since the death of Franco and the restoration of the democacry in Spain, Catalan has experienced a new revival in its usage, first, due to the liberalisation and creation of the Catalan linguistic and cultural institutions, and second, to their promotion.
Catalan, a Romance language, is regarded by some Iberian linguists as belonging to the Iberian Romance sub-family (which also includes Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, and Aragonese), while others (especially Occitanists) classify it within the Gallo-Romance sub-family (which includes French, Occitan and Gallo-Italian) languages. It shares attributes with both linguistic groups.
Read more about this topic: Languages Of Catalonia
Famous quotes containing the word catalan:
“It’s better that it should make you sick than that you don’t eat it at all.”
—Catalan proverb, quoted in Colman Andrews, Catalan Cuisine.
“The table kills more people than war does.”
—Catalan proverb, quoted in Colman Andrews, Catalan Cuisine.
“God forgives the sin of gluttony.”
—Catalan proverb, quoted in Colman Andrews, Catalan Cuisine.