Galician language

Galician, also known as Galego, is a Romance language spoken mainly in the region of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It has official status there along with Spanish and is spoken by around 2.4 million people. The language is also found in some nearby regions, as well as among Galician communities in countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States.

Modern Galician belongs to the West Iberian language group and developed from Vulgar Latin. It shares a common history with Portuguese, and the two were once very similar. Over time, they diverged, especially because of changes in Portuguese. Today, Galician has its own distinct features, with many words coming from Latin, but also influenced by Germanic, Celtic, and Arabic languages.

The language is regulated by the Royal Galician Academy, which works to preserve and promote it. Some groups believe Galician and Portuguese are versions of the same language, while others see Galician as part of Portuguese. Regardless, Galician remains an important part of the culture and identity of Galicia.

Classification and relation with Portuguese

Further information: Galician-Portuguese § Language

Modern Galician and Portuguese come from a common medieval language called Galician-Portuguese. This language developed from Vulgar Latin in the old Kingdom of Galicia and Northern Portugal. By the 13th century, it was used in writing, but by the 14th century, it split into two varieties: Galician and Portuguese. Portuguese became the official language of the Kingdom of Portugal, while Galician was used in legal and religious documents in the Kingdom of Galicia, which was part of the crown of Castile.

Galician gradually lost its use in official documents by the 16th century and became mainly a spoken language. It wasn’t until the 18th century that the first Galician dictionaries were created, and it wasn’t until the 19th century that Galician literature began to grow again. Only in the late 20th century did Galician start being taught in schools and used in government. Today, Galician speakers can usually understand northern Portuguese very well. Some experts think Galician and Portuguese are varieties of the same language, while others see them as separate languages due to differences in sounds and words. Most Galician speakers consider it a distinct language with its own history and literature.

Geographic distribution and legal status

Galician is spoken by around three million people, mainly in Galicia and by Galician communities in many places such as Madrid, Biscay, Andorra la Vella, New Jersey, Montevideo, Mexico City, Havana, San Juan in Puerto Rico, and other cities in Europe and the Americas.

In Galicia, Galician is an official language along with Spanish. It is used in local government and taught in schools. It is also an official language at universities in Galicia and has some legal recognition in León and Zamora. Other official languages in Spain include Spanish, Catalan, Basque, and Aranese.

History

Further information: Galician–Portuguese and History of the Galician language

Galician has a long and interesting history. It began as a version of Latin that was influenced by the local Romance language spoken in the area. By the 12th century, it was recognized as a language separate from Latin. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Galician-Portuguese flourished as a language of culture, with many songs and poems written in it. Important figures like King Alfonso X the Learned supported the language.

Over time, the political separation of Portugal and Galicia led to the two languages diverging. By the 17th century, Spanish became more dominant among the elite, leading to a period where Galician was less used in writing. However, interest in the language revived in the 19th century, leading to a resurgence in literature and the establishment of institutions to promote Galician culture and language. Today, Galician is co-official with Spanish in Galicia and is taught in schools.

Dialects

Some people think Galician has no real dialects, but local varieties can be grouped into three main blocks. These blocks are made up of different areas, and the language in each area is still easy to understand when spoken by someone from another area.

These three blocks differ mainly in how they change certain sounds from old Galician words. For example, some words that ended with special sounds in the past now have different endings depending on where you are. In the east, center, and west, these endings change in their own special ways. Another difference is in how the sound “g” is pronounced—in the west, it often sounds a bit like the “ch” in “Bach.” There are also differences in how certain vowel sounds are stressed and how “s” sounds are made in different parts of Galicia.

Each area has its own special traits, and Standard Galician usually uses features from the central area but also includes some traits from the east and west. The three main dialect areas are Eastern Galician, Central Galician, and Western Galician.

Phonology

Main article: Galician phonology

Galician has its own special sounds and ways of speaking that make it unique. These sounds help Galicians communicate in their own language, which is used mainly in the region of Galicia in Spain. Studying these sounds helps us understand how the language works and what makes it different from other languages.

Grammar

Galician, like Portuguese, allows small words called pronominal clitics to stick to the ends of sentences. It also borrows many words and ways of speaking from Spanish.

In Galician, words have genders — they can be masculine, like "o rapaz" (the young man), or feminine, like "a rapaza" (the young woman). This gender shows up in articles, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. For example, "o can" means "the dog" and "a cadela" means "the female dog."

Words can also be singular, like one item, or plural, like many items. The most common way to show the plural is by adding an "s" at the end, as in "cantiga" (song) changing to "cantigas" (songs).

There are different ways to talk to people, either informally using "ti" (you, singular) and "vos" (you, plural), or formally using "vostede" (you, singular) and "vostedes" (you, plural).

Verbs in Galician change their endings depending on who is doing the action and when. Dictionaries list verbs by their infinitive form, which ends in "-ar", "-er", or "-ir".

Orthography

The current official Galician orthography is guided by the "Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do Idioma Galego" (NOMIGa), first introduced in 1982, by the Royal Galician Academy (RAG). In July 2003, the Royal Galician Academy updated the rules to include some older Galician-Portuguese forms, which are now used in most media, cultural works, and education.

There is also another norm called International Galician or Reintegrationist, which aligns with modern Portuguese orthography. This form is supported by the Galician Language Association (AGAL) and is accepted in international groups like the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the European Parliament. Some people support having both norms recognized officially.

Acute accent

In Galician, each word has one syllable that is stressed more than the others. Sometimes an acute accent (´) is placed over the vowel in the stressed syllable to show where the stress falls, as in paspalhás or móbil. The accent can also show when two vowels are separate syllables or help tell apart words that sound the same without it.