European parliament working paper
Download 1.21 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- General references
- Aragonese (Fabla)
- The use of the language in various fields
SpainIntroductionNine lesser-used languages are spoken in Spain. Not all have official recognition. They are Arabic (Ceuta, on the North African coast), Aragonese, Asturian, Basque, Berber (also called Tamazight; Melilla, on the North African coast), Catalan (in eastern Spain and the Balearic Islands), Galician, Occitan (Aran Valley, in Catalonia) and Portuguese (Olivenza). About 10·5 million people, i.e. 26% of the population of Spain, speak these languages. In 1998 the Spanish government research centre ‘Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas’ (referred to hereafter as ‘CIS’) published a number of reports on the regional language situation. The 1978 Spanish Constitution, the regional Statutes of Autonomy and Constitutional Court jurisprudence define the legal status of language. The Constitution states that Spanish is the official language of the State, and that the other languages of Spain shall also be official in their autonomous communities in accordance with the Statutes. State law establishes that Spanish is the language for state administrative procedures, but that citizens may address state bodies based in a bilingual autonomous community in either official language, and that the procedure must continue in the language chosen by the citizen. The law also establishes that the authority must translate into Spanish any documents that are to have effect outside the territory in which a minority language is the official language. The governments of the Balearic Islands, Basque Autonomous Community, Catalonia, Galicia, Navarre and Valencia have directorate-generals responsible for language promotion. There have been positive developments in recent years for minority languages in Spain. Spain ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in December 2000, and this came into force in August 2001. The text avoids listing the languages for which the government undertakes to take measures; it uses as legal frameworks the statutes of autonomy, thus recognising languages already included these instruments. On March 13, 2001, the Spanish Congress approved two motions asking the Government to issue multilingual personal ID cards and driving licenses. Language laws have been adopted in Asturias and Catalonia. However, some setbacks have also occurred, such as a Navarre government decree, and the apparent non-compliance by the Asturias government of its own norms. Finally, Arabic in Ceuta and Berber in Melilla face a delicate situation, since they are not officially recognised; the very lack of reliable and accurate information about them is in itself an indicator of their precarious status. Indeed, it has not proved possible to gather enough data to prepare a report on Arabic. General referencesCentro de Investigaciones Científicas, Regional language reports (October 1998): Galicia, ref. 2295; Basque autonomous community, 2296; Navarre, 2297; Catalonia, 2298; Valencia, 2299; and the Balearic Islands, 2300. http://www.cis.es/bd_estudios.asp?tema=3&subtema1=3. Siguan, Miquel, Multilingual Spain. Coll. European Studies on Multilingualism, Vol. 2. Swets & Zeitlinger; 1993. Turell, M. Teresa, ed. Multilingualism in Spain. Sociolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Aspects of Minority Language Groups. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2001.
IntroductionAragonese developed in an area, on the southern slopes of the Pyrenees, where the Iberian and Basque languages had been spoken at the time of the Roman conquest. Many 10th and 11th century texts were written in Aragonese mixed with Latin, but in the 12th century almost all written references to Aragonese disappeared, mainly because of a cultivated move towards Latin; nevertheless, it expanded southwards until the 13th century. By the 17th century the process of language shift from Aragonese to Spanish had almost been completed in the field of cultural production, though the language was still used in the north of the region. Writers and linguists took interest in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but after the Spanish Civil war (1936-39) Aragonese declined rapidly as a living language for daily communication, due to the flooding of valleys for reservoirs, poor communications, the migration into urban areas and the effects of monolingual schooling. Aragonese is only spoken inside Spain. Aragonese still lacks an official status in the region (population 1,189,909 on 1/1/00). It is estimated to have 12,000 regular (mainly elderly) speakers and 40,000 occasional users, mostly in the mountainous north of Huesca province. The use of the language in various fieldsEducation: About 400 primary schoolchildren were being taught Aragonese at the end of the 1990s. Cultural organisations, e.g. Consello d'a Fabla Aragonesa, Ligallo de Fabláns de l'Aragonés and Nogará, have organised courses for children and adults since the early 1980s. The Courts, Public Authorities and Services: As far as is known, Aragonese is not used in courts, public offices and services, although in small villages and towns in some Pyrenees valleys, citizens and local civil servants may converse informally in Aragonese. Mass media and Information technology: Aragonese is only occasionally used in the main newspapers and other mass media of the region for contributions in some Spanish-language magazines. It is used in the 30-min weekly radio programme Charramos broadcast by Radio Huesca since 1980. Some local periodicals, such as magazines and comics, are written in Aragonese, though their print run is rather low. The Arts: Since c. 1970 Aragonese has revived in the cultural domain: literary activity in novels, plays and children’s literature are produced by a new generation of young writers. The business world: There are no reliable or concrete data concerning the use of Aragonese in this domain. Aragonese has no economic added value: proficiency is of no value in looking for a job, even in areas where the language is still spoken. Family and social use of the language: Since the late 1980s young people in some of the northernmost areas of Aragon show a growing interest in recovering the language and in learning it. Many young parents no longer feel that the language is socially unacceptable and, though perhaps unable to transmit the language, they can at least encourage their children to learn it and to use it informally. Conclusion: In March 2001 a Bill was put to the regional Parliament to make Aragonese (and Catalan) official in their respective areas, and in dealings with regional authorities. It would enshrine the right to receive education in one's own language, adapt place-names and personal names to the local language; and found an institution to standardise both languages. References Nagore Laín, Francho (1998) ‘Los territorios lingüísticos en Aragón’. In: Seminario sobre normalización lingüística de las lenguas minoritarias de Aragón: Zaragoza, 12 de noviembre de 1998. Volumen 3. Nagore Laín, Francho (1999) ‘O aragonés’. In: Francisco Fernández Rei y Antón Santamaría Fernández (eds.) Estudios de sociolingüística románica. Linguas e variedades minorizadas. Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.
Directory: RegData -> etudes -> document travail document travail -> Working paper a single market in financial services RegData -> European commission brussels, XXX RegData -> The european commission RegData -> Provisional agreement resulting from interinstitutional negotiations Download 1.21 Mb. Share with your friends:
|