Catalan Language - Dialects

Dialects

The dialects of the Catalan language feature a relative uniformity, specially when compared to other Romance languages. The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.

In 1861, Manuel Milà i Fontanals proposed a division of Catalan into two major dialect blocks: Eastern Catalan and Western Catalan. The different Catalan dialects show differences in lexicon, grammar, morphology and pronunciation due to historical isolation. Each dialect also encompasses several regional varieties. The transitions between dialects tend to be smooth.

The main difference between the Eastern and Western blocks is their treatment of unstressed ⟨a⟩ and ⟨e⟩; which have merged to /ə/ in Eastern dialects, but which remain distinct as /a/ and /e/ in Western dialects.

Western Catalan
(Català occidental)		 Eastern Catalan
(Català oriental)
Classical Latin /eː/, /ɪ/ become /e/ under most conditions.
E.g. sec /ˈsek/.		 Classical Latin /eː/, /ɪ/ become /ɛ/ under most conditions ( in Balearic).
E.g. sec /ˈsɛk/ (Balearic /ˈsək/).
/e/, /ɛ/, are reduced to when unstressed. /a/ is not reduced. /e/, /ɛ/, /a/ are reduced to when unstressed.
/o/, /ɔ/, are reduced to when unstressed. /u/ remains distinct. /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ are reduced to when unstressed (in Majorca they behave like Western Catalan).
Initial or post-consonantal ⟨x⟩ is affricated /tʃ/. (many exceptions with /ʃ/, likexarxa 'net').
Intervocalic ⟨x⟩ and word-final ⟨ix⟩, it is /jʃ/.
E.g. caixa /ˈkajʃa/ ('box').		 Initial or post-consonantal ⟨x⟩ is fricative /ʃ/.
Intervocalic ⟨x⟩ and word-final ⟨ix⟩ is also /ʃ/.
E.g. caixa /ˈkaʃə/ ('box').
1st person present indicative is -e (∅ in verbs of the 2nd and 3rd conjugation), or -o.
E.g. parle, tem, sent (Valencian); parlo, temo, sento (North-Western).		 1st person present indicative desinence is -o, -i or ∅ in all conjugations.
E.g.parlo (Central), parl (Balearic), parli (Northern), ('I speak').
Inchoative desinceces in verbs are -isc/-ixo, -ix, -ixen, -isca. Inchoative desinceces in verbs are -eixo, -eix, -eixen, -eixi.
Maintenance of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g.hòmens 'men', jóvens 'youth'.		 Loss of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g.homes 'men', joves 'youth'.
Specific lexicon.
E.g. espill 'mirror', xiquet 'boy', granera 'broom', llombrígol 'navel', eixir 'to exit', etc.		 Specific lexicon.
E.g. mirall 'mirror', noi 'boy', escombra 'broom', melic 'navel', sortir 'to exit', etc.

The following diagram summarizes all the dialects and sub-dialects of Catalan:

Western Catalan

  • North-Western Catalan
    • Ribagorçan -ribagorçà- (from Ribagorça)
    • Pallarès (from Pallars)
    • Lleidatà (from Lleida)
    • Transitional Valencian -tortosí- (from Tortosa)
  • South-Western Catalan (Valencian)
    • Northern Valencian -castellonenc- (from region of Plana)
    • Central Valencian -apitxat-
    • Southern Valencian
    • Alacantí (from the Alicante/Alacant's metropolitan area and most of Vinalopó valley)
    • Majorcan Valencian (from Tàrbena and La Vall de Gallinera)

Eastern Catalan

  • Northern Catalan -rossellonès- (from Roussillon)
  • Central Catalan
    • Salat (from some coastal areas of Girona)
    • Barceloní (from Barcelona)
    • Tarragoní (from Tarragona)
    • Xipella (transitional Western–Eastern Catalan)
  • Balearic
    • Majorcan -mallorquí- (from Majorca)
    • Minorcan -menorquí- (from Minorca)
    • Ibizan -eivissenc- (from Ibiza/Eivissa and Formentera)
  • Alguerese -alguerès/alguerés- (from the Sardinian city of Alghero/L'Alguer)

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