catalán

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Catalan

[ˈkætəlæn]

sustantivo

1. catalán(ana) (sustantivo masculino o femenino) (person)

2. catalán (m) (language)

adjetivo

3. catalán(ana)

Catalan [ka-ta-lan]

adjetivo & sustantivo

1. Catalán (person, language).

Catalan [ˈkætəlæn]

adjective

catalán

noun

1 (person) catalánanacatalana (m) (f);ana catalana

2 (Ling) catalán (m)

Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

catalán
video translation

catalán, -ana

adjective & masculine or feminine noun

1. Catalan, Catalonian

masculine noun

2. Catalan (lengua)

CATALÁN Catalan is one of several official languages in Spain in addition to Castilian Spanish. Like Spanish (“castellano”) and Galician (“gallego”) it developed from late Latin. It is spoken by about six million people in Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Close relatives of Catalan are spoken in the Balearic Islands (“mallorquín”) and the Valencian region (“valenciano”), though whether they are dialects of Catalan or separate languages remains an issue of political as much as linguistic controversy. Catalonia's economic development in the latter part of the 19th century encouraged a renaissance in the use of the language as a literary medium. During Franco's dictatorship (1939-75), Catalan was effectively banned for official purposes, but it continued to be used in everyday life as well as in literature. Since the return of democracy, Catalonia's regional government has promoted Catalan as the official language for use in education and public administration.

catalán [cah-tah-lahn’, lah’-nah]

adjective

1. Catalonian.

catalánana catalana

adjetivo

Catalan; Catalonian

(Lingüística) Catalan

Catalan is a romance language whose earliest literature dates back to the 12th century. In the Middle Ages Catalan military expansion spread the use of the language beyond modern Catalonia, but following the unification of Castile and Aragon the language lost ground to Castilian. During the Franco régime the use of Catalan and other minority national languages was prohibited in the media and in public institutions. This, together with the influx of Castilian-speaking immigrants, posed a threat to the survival of the language. Since 1979, when Catalonia's autonomous government, the Generalitat, was re-established and Catalan gained lengua cooficial status, the language has returned to public life in Catalonia and is flourishing. Indeed, many Catalan authors publish first in Catalan and only later in Castilian. Outside Catalonia, Catalan is also spoken by large numbers of people in the Balearic Islands and Andorra. Valenciano, a language spoken in the Valencia region, is closely related.

note See culture box in entry lengua.