Information about Languages Of Spain

Languages of Spain
Official language	Spanish/Castillian
Official regional languages	Catalan/Valencian, Basque, Galician, Aranese
Unofficial regional languages	Aragonese, Astur-Leonese (Asturian, Leonese, Cantabrian, Extremaduran), Eonavian, Fala language and several dialects and varieties of Spanish some of which may be considered separate languages
Main immigrant languages	Maghrebi Arabic, Romanian
Main foreign languages	English 27%, French 12%, German 2%Source: [1]

The Languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in the territory of the country of Spain.

Modern

The most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish (Castilian, castellano), which nearly everyone in Spain can speak as a first or second language. Other languages figure prominently in many regions:

• Basque (Vasco or Euskara) in parts of the Basque Country and Navarre.
• Catalan in Catalonia, eastern Aragon and the Balearic Islands and (in the same dialect continuum), as a variant of this, Valencian, in Valencia.
• Galician in Galicia (which also forms a dialectal continuum with Portuguese.

Spanish or Castilian is official throughout the country; the rest of these have co-official status in their respective regions and all are major enough to have numerous daily newspapers in these languages and (especially for Catalan, Basque and Galician) significant book publishing and media sectors. Many citizens in these regions consider their regional language as their primary language and Spanish, as secondary; these languages cover broad enough regions to have multiple distinct dialects. Spanish itself also has distinct dialects around the country, for example the Andalusian and Canarian dialects, each of these with their own subvarieties, some of them being partially closer to the Spanish of the Americas, which they heavily influenced at different degrees, depending on the regions or periods, and according to different and non-homogeneous migrating or colonization processes.

In addition, there is strong and growing support for other regional languages, some of them in danger of extinction. These include :

• Astur-Leonese: Asturian in Asturias and Leonese in parts of the former Kingdom of León.
• Aragonese in northern Aragon.
• Aranese, a variety of the Gascon, which in turn is a variety of the Occitan language; a dialect spoken only in the tiny Val d'Aran in the Pyrenees, in north-western Catalonia, but enough of a live language to be co-official and used in the public schools there.

With the exception of Basque, which appears to be a language isolate, all of these are Latin derived, that is, Romance languages.

Arabic or Berber are spoken by the Muslim population of Ceuta and Melilla and by recent immigrants (mainly from Morocco and Algeria) elsewhere.

During the 1939–1975 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, all languages except Spanish were banned from public use, as Franco wanted to create a united and uniform Spain and crush any forms or factors of separatism, especially the Basque, Catalan and (to a lesser extent) Galician movements. However, the pressure against these languages, and all repressive policies in general, loosened as time passed. (See Language politics in Spain under Franco.)

Portuguese language in Spain

Also, Portuguese is spoken in:

• San Martín de Trevejo (Sa Martin de Trevellu), Eljas (As Elhas) and Valverde del Fresno (Valverdi du Fresnu), in the Valley of Jálama (Val de Xálima), (Cáceres Province) (in the dialect called A Fala).
• Olivenza (Badajoz Province) - Although disappearing since the Spanish take over.
• Cedillo or Cedilho horn (including Herrera de Alcántara or Ferreira de Alcântara).
• Various villages in the Galician border with Portugal.

None of these situations are protected by the Spanish Government nor Regional Governments, and not even by some form of support from the Government of Portugal. The use of Portuguese, the language of some of the ancestors of these places, is discouraged by the Castilian dominated society.

Historically

Other languages have been extensively spoken in the territory of modern Spain:

• Andalusi Arabic
• Celtic languages
• Celtiberian language
• Gallaecian language
• Lusitanian language
• Guanche
• Galician-Portuguese
• Gothic language
• Iberian language
• Judeo-Catalan
• Latin language
• Ladino
• Mozarabic languages
• Romany language
• Tartessian language

Variants

There are also variants of these languages proper to Spain, either dialect, cants or pidgins:

• Barallete
• Bron
• Caló
• Cheli
• Fala dos arxinas
• Gacería
• Germanía
• Inglés de escalerilla
• Mingaña

Further information

• Aragonese language
• Astur-Leonese language
• Asturian language
• Extremaduran language
• Leonese language
• Cantabrian language
• Basque language (Euskara)
• Catalan language
• Valencian
• Fala language
• Galician (Galego)
• Gascon language
• Aranese language
• Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish, Sefardi, etc.)
• Occitan language
• Spanish language (castellano)
• Names given to the Spanish language
• Signed languages
• Spanish Sign Language (Lengua de Signos Española, LSE).
• Catalan Sign Language (Llengua de Signes Catalana, LSC).
• Valencian Sign Language (Llengua de Signes de la Comunitat Valenciana, LSCV).
• Language politics in Francoist Spain

See also

• Iberian languages
• Languages of Portugal
• Iberian Romance languages

External links

• Detailed Ethno-Linguistic map of Pre-Roman Iberia (around 200 BC)
• Detailed linguistic map of Spain

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