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Catalan (;〔Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh; also or ()〕 autonym: ''català'' (:kətəˈɫa) or (:kataˈɫa)) is a Romance language named for its origins in Catalonia, in what is northeastern Spain and adjoining parts of France. It is the national and only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community (where the language is known as Valencian, and there exist regional standards). It also has semi-official status in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of Sardinia. It is also spoken with no official recognition in parts of the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon (La Franja) and Murcia (Carche), and in the historic French region of Roussillon/Northern Catalonia, roughly equivalent to the department of Pyrénées-Orientales. According to the Statistical Institute of Catalonia in 2008 the Catalan language is the second most commonly used in Catalonia, after Spanish,〔http://www.idescat.cat/dequavi/?TC=444&V0=15&V1=2&VA=2008&x=13&y=12〕 as a native or self-defining language.〔 The Generalitat of Catalunya spends part of its annual budget on the promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories.〔(Datos lingüísticos en Cataluña )〕 Catalan evolved from Vulgar Latin around the eastern Pyrenees in the 9th century. During the Low Middle Ages it saw a golden age as the literary and dominant language of the Crown of Aragon, and was widely used all over the Mediterranean. The union of Aragon with the other territories of Spain in 1479 marked the start of the decline of the language. In 1659 Spain ceded Northern Catalonia to France, and Catalan was banned in both states in the early 18th century. 19th-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, which culminated in the 1913 orthographic standardization, and the officialization of the language during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–39). However, the Francoist dictatorship (1939–75) banned the language again. Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been recognized as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media, all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. There is no parallel in Europe of such a large, bilingual, non-state speech community. Catalan dialects are relatively uniform, and are mutually intelligible.〔 They are divided into two blocks, Eastern and Western, differing mostly in pronunciation. The terms "Catalan" and "Valencian" (respectively used in Catalonia and the Valencian Community) are two different names for the same language.〔(''"Dictamen de l'Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua sobre els principis i criteris per a la defensa de la denominació i l'entitat del valencià"'' ). Report from Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua about denomination and identity of Valencian.〕 There are two institutions regulating two standard varieties, the Institute of Catalan Studies in Catalonia and the Valencian Academy of the Language in Valencia. The two standards are based on the same orthographical norms and the differences are similar to those between British and American English. Catalan shares many traits with its neighboring Romance languages. However, despite being mostly situated in the Iberian Peninsula, Catalan differs more from Iberian Romance (such as Spanish and Portuguese) in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar than from Gallo-Romance (Occitan, French, Gallo-Italic languages, etc.).〔Marc Howard Ross, (''Cultural Contestation in Ethnic Conflict'' ), page 139. Cambridge University Press, 2007.〕 These similarities are most notable with Occitan. Catalan has an inflectional grammar, with two genders (masculine, feminine), and two numbers (singular, plural). Pronouns are also inflected for case, animacy and politeness, and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and gender. In terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters, in contrast with many other Romance languages. ==Etymology and pronunciation== (詳細はCatalonia, itself of disputed etymology. The main theory suggests that ''Catalunya'' (Latin ''Gathia Launia'') derives from the name ''Gothia'' or ''Gauthia'' ("Land of the Goths"), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, whence ''Gothland'' > ''Gothlandia'' > ''Gothalania'' > ''Catalonia'' theoretically derived. In English, the term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as ''Catelaner'', followed in the 15th century as ''Catellain'' (from French). It is attested a language name since at least 1652. ''Catalan'' can be pronounced as , or .〔 The endonym is pronounced in the Eastern Catalan dialects, and in the Western dialects. In the Valencian Community, the term ''valencià'' () is frequently used instead. The names "Catalan" and "Valencian" are two names for the same language.〔 See also status of Valencian below. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Catalan language」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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