Valencian language explained

Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: valencià) or the Valencian language^[2] (Catalan; Valencian: llengua valenciana) is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the Romance language also known as Catalan,^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]} either as a whole or in its Valencia-specific linguistic forms.^{[8] [9]} The Valencian Community's 1982 Statute of Autonomy officially recognises Valencian as the name of the regional language.^[10]

Valencian displays transitional features between Ibero-Romance languages and Gallo-Romance languages. According to philological studies, the varieties of this language spoken in the Valencian Community and Carche cannot be considered a single dialect restricted to these borders: the several dialects of Valencian (Alicante's Valencian, Southern Valencian, Central Valencian or Catalan; Valencian: Apitxat, Northern Valencian or Castellon's Valencian and Transitional Valencian) belong to the Western group of Catalan dialects.^{[11] [12]}

There is a political controversy within the Valencian Community regarding its status as a glottonym or as an independent language, since official reports show that the majority of the people in the Valencian Community consider it as a separate language, different from Catalan, although the same studies show that this percentage decreases among younger generations and people with higher studies.^{[13] [14]} According to the 2006 Statute of Autonomy, Valencian is regulated by the Catalan; Valencian: [[Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua]] (AVL), following the legacy established by the Castelló Norms,^[15] which adapt Catalan orthography to Valencian idiosyncrasies.

Some of the most important works of Valencian literature experienced a Golden Age during the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Important works include Joanot Martorell's chivalric romance Catalan; Valencian: [[Tirant lo Blanch]], and Ausiàs March's poetry. The first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in the Valencian variety.^[16] The earliest recorded chess game with modern rules for moves of the queen and bishop was in the Valencian poem Catalan; Valencian: [[Scachs d'amor]] (1475).

History

The Valencian language is usually assumed to have spread in the Kingdom of Valencia when Catalan and Aragonese colonists settled the territory after the conquests carried out by James I the Conqueror.^[17] A new resettlement in the 17th century, after the expulsion of the Moriscos, largely led by Castilians, defined the Spanish language varieties of inland Valencia. However, Valencian has historically been the predominant and administrative language in the kingdom.

The first documental reference to the usage of the term Catalan; Valencian: valencià to refer to the spoken language of the Valencians is found in a judicial process of Minorca against Gil de Lozano, dated between 1343 and 1346, in which it is said that the mother of the indicted, Sibila, speaks Catalan; Valencian: valencianesch because she was from Orihuela (formerly Oriola).^[18]

The concept of Valencian language appeared in the second half of the 14th century and it was progressively consolidated at the same time that its meaning changed due to events of a diverse nature (political, social, economic). In the previous centuries the Catalan spoken in the territory of the Kingdom of Valencia was called in different ways: Catalan; Valencian: romanç (13th century) and Catalan; Valencian: catalanesch (during the 14th century, for the medieval concept of nation as a linguistic community). The concept of the Valencian language appeared with a particularistic character due to the reinforced nature of the legal entity of the Kingdom of Valencia for being the Mediterranean commercial power during the 14th and 15th centuries, becoming in the cultural and literary centre of the Crown of Aragon. Thus, the Valencians, together with the Majorcans, presented themselves to other peoples as Catalans while they referred to themselves as Valencians and Majorcans to themselves to emphasise the different legal citizenship of each kingdom.

In the 15th century, the so-called Valencian Golden Age, the name "Valencian" was already the usual name of the predominant language of the Kingdom of Valencia, and the names of Catalan; Valencian: vulgar, Catalan; Valencian: romanç or Catalan; Valencian: catalanesch had fallen into disuse. Joanot Martorell, author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch, said: "." ("I dare to express myself: not only in English in Portuguese. But even so from Portuguese to vulgar Valencian: for that the nation I am from born can rejoice").

Since the Spanish democratic transition, the autonomy or heteronomy of Valencian with respect to the rest of the Valencian-Catalan linguistic system has been the subject of debate and controversy among Valencians, usually with a political background. Although in the academic field (universities and institutions of recognszed prestige) of linguists the unity of the language has never been questioned since studies of the Romance languages, part of Valencian public opinion believes and affirms that Valencian and Catalan are different languages, an idea that began to spread during the turbulent Valencian transition by sectors of the regionalist right and by the so-called Catalan; Valencian: [[Blaverism|blaverisme]] (Blaverism). There is an alternative secessionist linguistic regulation, the Normes del Puig (Norms of El Puig), drawn up by the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Catalan; Valencian: Real Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), an institution founded in 1915 by the Deputation of Valencia, but its use is very marginal.

Official status

The official status of Valencian is regulated by the Spanish Constitution and the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, together with the Law on the Use and Teaching of Valencian (ca).

Article 6 of the Valencian Statute of Autonomy sets the legal status of Valencian, establishing that:^[19]

• The native language of the Valencian Community is Valencian.

• Valencian is the official language in the Valencian Community, along with Spanish, which is the official language of Spain. Everyone shall have the right to know and use them, and to receive education on Valencian and in Valencian.

• No one can be discriminated against by reason of their language.

• Special protection and respect shall be given to the recuperation of Valencian.

• The Catalan; Valencian: Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua shall be the normative institution of the Valencian language.

Passed in 1983, the Law on the Use and Teaching of Valencian develops this framework, providing for the implementation of a bilingual educational system, regulating the use of Valencian in the public administration and judiciary system, where citizens can freely use it when acting before both, or establishing the right to be informed by media in Valencian among others.

Valencian is also protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, ratified by Spain. However, the Committee of Experts of the Charter has pointed out a considerable number of deficiencies in the application of the Charter by the Spanish and Valencian governments.^[20]

Distribution and usage

Distribution

Unlike in other bilingual autonomous communities, Valencian has not historically been spoken to the same extent throughout the Valencian Community. Slightly more than a quarter of its territory, equivalent to 10-15% of the population (its inland and southernmost areas), is Spanish-speaking since the Middle Ages.Additionally, it is also spoken by a small number of people in the Carche comarca, a rural area in the Region of Murcia adjoining the Valencian Community.^{[21] [22] [23]} Nevertheless, Valencian does not have any official recognition in this area. Nowadays about 600 people are able to speak Valencian in Carche.^[24]

The Valencian language is traditionally spoken along the coast and in some inland areas in the provinces of Alicante and Castellón, from Vinaròs (northernmost point of the extension of Valencian on the coast of the Valencian Community) to Guardamar (southernmost point of Valencian).

Knowledge and usage

In 2010 the Generalitat Valenciana, or Valencian government, published a study, Catalan; Valencian: Coneixement i ús social del valencià (Knowledge and Social Use of Valencian),^[25] which included a survey sampling more than 6,600 people in the provinces of Castellón, Valencia, and Alicante. The survey simply collected the answers of respondents and did not include any testing or verification. The results were:

• Valencian was the language "always, generally, or most commonly used":
  • at home: 31.6%
  • with friends: 28.0%
  • in internal business relations: 24.7%
• For ability:
  • 48.5% answered they can speak Valencian "perfectly" or "quite well" (54.3% in the Valencian-speaking areas and 10% in the Spanish-speaking areas)
  • 26.2% answered they can write Valencian "perfectly" or "quite well" (29.5% in the Valencian-speaking areas and 5.8% in the Spanish-speaking areas)

The survey shows that, although Valencian is still the common language in many areas in the Valencian Community, where slightly more than half of the Valencian population are able to speak it, most Valencians do not usually use Valencian in their social relations.

Moreover, according to the most recent survey in 2021,^[26] there is a downward trend in everyday Valencian users. The lowest numbers are in the major cities of Valencia and Alicante, where the percentage of everyday speakers is at single-digit numbers. However, the percentage of residents who claim to be able to understand and read Valencian seems to have increased since 2015.

Knowledge of Valencian in the Valencian Community (2021)^[27]

	Valencian-speaking zone	Spanish-speaking zone	Total
Understands it	79,4%	54%	75,8%
Knows how to speak it	54,9%	24,2%	50,6%
knows how to read it	60,9%	35%	57,2%
Knows how to write it	44,4%	19,5%	40,8%

Due to a number of political and social factors, including repression, immigration and lack of formal instruction in Valencian, the number of speakers has severely decreased, and the influence of Spanish has led to the appearance of a number of barbarisms.^[28]

Features of Valencian

This is a list of features of the main forms of Valencian. There is a great deal of variety within the Valencian Community, and by no means do the features below apply to every local version. For more general information about other linguistic varities, see Catalan language.

The Catalan; Valencian: [[Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua]] (AVL) specifies Standard Valencian as having some specific syntax, vocabulary, verb conjugations and accent marks compared to Standard Catalan.

Phonology

See main article: Catalan phonology.

Vowels

! scope="col"

Front	Back
Close	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Open	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	pronounced as /link/

• The stressed vowel system of Valencian (V) is the same as that of Eastern Catalan (EC):
  • pronounced as //a//, pronounced as //e//, pronounced as //ɛ//, pronounced as //i//, pronounced as //o//, pronounced as //ɔ//, and pronounced as //u// (with pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //ɔ// being considerably lower than in EC).

Close (and close-mid) vowels

• The vowels pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //u// are more open and centralised than in Spanish.

• • This effect is more pronounced in unstressed syllables, where the phones are best transcribed pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|ɪ}}, {{IPAplink|ʊ}}]/ (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: x'''i'''quet pronounced as /[t͡ʃɪˈket]/ 'boy'). As the process is completely predictable, the latter symbols are not used elsewhere in the article.

• • • (Due to the proximity of unstressed close and/or close-mid/mid vowels, non-standard colloquial Valencian may feature further lowerings producing vowel alterations or metathesis, e.g. Catalan; Valencian: piscina → *Catalan; Valencian: pescina 'pool').

• The vowel pronounced as //e// is somewhat retracted pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as //o// is somewhat advanced pronounced as /link/ both in stressed and unstressed syllables (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: m'''e'''tr'''o''' pronounced as /[ˈme̠tɾo̟]/ 'metro').

• • pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //o// can be realised as mid vowels pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|e̞}}, {{IPAplink|o̞}}]/ in some cases. This occurs more often with pronounced as //o// (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: am'''o'''r pronounced as /[aˈmo̞ɾ]/ 'love').

Open vowels

• The so-called "open vowels", pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //ɔ//, are generally as low as pronounced as //a// in most Valencian dialects. The phonetic realisations of pronounced as //ɛ// approaches pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as //ɔ// is as open as pronounced as /link/ (as in traditional RP dog). This feature is also found in Balearic. For a list showing the frequency of these vowels, see cases where /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are found in Valencian.

• • pronounced as //ɛ// is slightly more open and centralised before liquids pronounced as //l, ɾ, r// (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: v'''e'''rdes pronounced as /[ˈvæɾðes]/ 'greens') and in monosyllabics (Catalan; Valencian: s'''e'''t pronounced as /[ˈsæt]/ 'seven').

• • pronounced as //ɔ// is most often a back vowel (Catalan; Valencian: s'''o'''c pronounced as /[ˈsɒk]/ 'clog', Catalan; Valencian: b'''o'''u pronounced as /[ˈbɒw]/ 'bull').

• • • In some dialects (including Balearic) pronounced as //ɔ// can be unrounded (pronounced as /[ˈsɑk]/, pronounced as /[ˈbɑw]/).

• The vowel pronounced as //a// is slightly more fronted and closed than in Central EC (but less fronted and closed than in Majorcan). The precise phonetic realisation of the vowel pronounced as //a// in Valencian is [{{IPA link|ɐ}} ~ {{IPA link|ä}}], this vowel is subject to assimilation in many instances.

• • Stressed pronounced as //a// can be retracted to pronounced as /link/ in contact with velar consonants (including the velarised pronounced as /link/): Catalan; Valencian: p'''a'''l pronounced as /[ˈpɑl]/ ('stick'); and fronted to pronounced as /link/ in contact with palatals: Catalan; Valencian: ny'''a'''p pronounced as /[ˈɲap]/ ('botched job'). This is not transcribed in the article.

• • • The palatal pronunciation of pronounced as //a// may merge with pronounced as //ɛ// by some speakers: Catalan; Valencian: r'''a'''ig pronounced as /[ˈræt͡ʃ]/ ('ray').

Vowel reduction

• There are five general unstressed vowels pronounced as //a, e, i, o, u// (rare instances of pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //ɔ// are found through compounding and vowel harmony). Although unstressed vowels are more stable than in EC dialects, there are many cases where they merge:

• • pronounced as //a//: final unstressed pronounced as //a// may have the following values: [{{IPA link|ɜ|ɛ̈}} ~ {{IPA link|ɞ|ɔ̈}} ~ {{IPA link|ɐ|ä̝}}] (phonetically pronounced as /[ɜ ~ ɞ ~ ɐ]/, and traditionally transcribed without diacritics and/or atypical characters: pronounced as //ɛ, ɔ, a// for simplicity), depending on the preceding sounds and/or dialect (see vowel harmony below).

• • • In some regions of the Valencian Community (especially Southern Valencian) unstressed pronounced as //a// followed by stressed pronounced as //i// becomes pronounced as /link/: Catalan; Valencian: r'''a'''ïm pronounced as /[rəˈim]/ ('grape'). states, that final pronounced as //a// is close to pronounced as /[ə]/ in some towns of Marina Alta: Catalan; Valencian: xic'''a''' pronounced as /[ˈt͡ʃikə]/ ('girl').

• • pronounced as //e//: unstressed pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //ɛ// may be realised as pronounced as //a// (phonetically pronounced as /[a]/, pronounced as /[ɐ̃]/, pronounced as /[ɑ̃]/, etc.) in initial position in contact with sibilants, nasals and certain approximants and liquids (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: '''e'''ixam pronounced as /[ajˈʃam]/ 'swarm').

• • • Similarly (although not recommended by the AVL), unstressed pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //ɛ// merges with pronounced as //i// (phonetically pronounced as /[ɪ]/) in contact with palatal consonants (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: g'''e'''noll pronounced as /[d͡ʒiˈnoʎ]/ 'knee'), and especially (in this case it is accepted) in lexical derivation with the suffix Catalan; Valencian: -ix'''e'''ment (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: coneix'''e'''ment pronounced as /[konejʃiˈment]/ 'knowledge').

• • • • In the standard (pronounced as //e// → pronounced as //i// pronounced as /[ɪ]/) is only accepted in words with the suffix Catalan; Valencian: -ixement).

• • pronounced as //i//: it is more open and centralised pronounced as /[ɪ]/ in unstressed position.

• • pronounced as //o//: unstressed pronounced as //o// and pronounced as //ɔ// may be realised as pronounced as //u// (phonetically pronounced as /[ʊ]/) before labial consonants (e.g. coberts pronounced as /[kuˈbɛɾ(t)s]/ 'cutlery'), before a stressed syllable with a high vowel (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: s'''o'''spira pronounced as /[susˈpiɾa]/ 'they sighs') and in some given names (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: J'''o'''sep pronounced as /[d͡ʒuˈzɛp]/ 'Joseph').

• • • (Note in some colloquial speeches initial unstressed pronounced as //o// can diphthongise to pronounced as /[aw]/, Catalan; Valencian: '''o'''lor pronounced as /[awˈloɾ]/) 'smell (n.)'). This is regarded as non-standard.

• • pronounced as //u//: it is more open and centralised pronounced as /[ʊ]/ in unstressed position.

Elision and diphthongisation

• In certain cases, unstressed pronounced as //a// and pronounced as //e// become silent when followed or preceded by a stressed vowel:

• • Unstressed pronounced as //a//: Catalan; Valencian: quin'''a''' hora és? pronounced as /[ˌkin‿ˈɔɾɔ ˈes]/ or pronounced as /[ˌkin‿ˈɔɾa ˈes]/ ('what time is it?')

• • Unstressed pronounced as //e//: Catalan; Valencian: est'''e''' home pronounced as /[ˌest‿ˈɔme]/ ('this man').

• In some accents, vowels occurring at the end of a prosodic unit may be realised as centring diphthongs for special emphasis, so that Catalan; Valencian: Eh tu! Vine ací 'Hey you! Come here!' may be pronounced pronounced as /[ˈe ˈtuə̯ ˈvine a̯ˈsiə̯]/. The non-syllabic pronounced as /[a̯]/ (phonetically pronounced as /[ɐ̯]/) is unrelated to this phenomenon as it is an unstressed non-syllabic allophone of pronounced as //a// that occurs after vowels, much like in Spanish.

Vowel harmony

• Many Valencian dialects feature some sort of vowel harmony (Catalan; Valencian: harmonia vocàlica). This process is normally progressive (i.e. preceding vowels affect those pronounced afterwards) over the last unstressed vowel of a word; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: t'''e'''l'''a''' pronounced as //ˈtɛla// > pronounced as /[ˈtɛlɛ]/ 'fabric, cloth', Catalan; Valencian: h'''o'''r'''a''' pronounced as //ˈɔɾa// > pronounced as /[ˈɔɾɔ]/ 'hour'. However (although regarded as non-standard), there are cases where regressive metaphony occurs over pretonic vowels; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: '''a'''f'''e'''ct'''a''' pronounced as //aˈfɛkta// > pronounced as /[ɛˈfɛktɛ]/ 'affects', Catalan; Valencian: t'''o'''v'''a'''ll'''o'''l'''a''' pronounced as //tovaˈʎɔla// > pronounced as /[tɔvɔˈʎɔlɔ]/ 'towel'.

• • Vowel harmony differs greatly from dialect to dialect, while many varieties assimilate both to the height and the quality of the preceding stressed vowel (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: terra pronounced as /[ˈtɛrɛ]/ 'Earth, land' and Catalan; Valencian: dona pronounced as /[ˈdɔnɔ]/ 'woman'); in other varieties, it is just the height that assimilates, so that Catalan; Valencian: terra and Catalan; Valencian: dona can be realised with either pronounced as //ɛ// (pronounced as /[ˈtɛrɛ]/ and/or pronounced as /[ˈdɔnɛ]/) or with pronounced as //ɔ// (pronounced as /[ˈtɛrɔ]/ and/or pronounced as /[ˈdɔnɔ]/), depending on the region and speaker.

• • • In some subvarieties the unstressed vowels produced by vowel harmony may actually be higher than the stressed ones (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: port'''a''' pronounced as /[ˈpɔɾtɔ̝]/ 'door').

• In a wider sense, vowel assimilations can occur in further instances (that is all or most instances of final unstressed pronounced as //а//, regardless of the preceding sounds and involving palatalisation and/or velarisation): Catalan; Valencian: xic'''a''' pronounced as /[ˈt͡ʃikɛ]/ or pronounced as /[ˈt͡ʃikɔ]/ ('girl'). This is considered non-standard.

Other sound changes

Vowel nasalisation and lengthening

• All vowels are phonetically nasalised between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: dium'''e'''nge pronounced as /[diwˈmẽɲd͡ʒe]/ 'Sunday').

• Vowels can be lengthened in some contexts (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: c'''oo'''rdinació pronounced as /[koːɾðinasiˈo]/ 'co-ordination').

Main vocalic allophones

Phoneme	Allophone	Usage	Example	English
pronounced as //a//
	pronounced as /[ä] ~ [ɐ]/	- Found in most instances	Catalan; Valencian: m'''à'''	English: hand
	pronounced as /[a]/	- Before/after palatals, may be higher pronounced as /[æ]/ (both in stressed and unstressed position)	Catalan; Valencian: ny'''a'''p	English: botched job
	pronounced as /[ã]/		Catalan; Valencian: ll'''a'''mp	English: lightning
	pronounced as /[ɑ]/	- Before/after velars, usually higher in unstressed position pronounced as /[ʌ]/	Catalan; Valencian: po'''a'''l	English: bucket
	pronounced as /[ɑ̃]/	- Same than pronounced as /[ɑ]/, but followed by a nasal; usually higher in unstressed position pronounced as /[ʌ̃]/	Catalan; Valencian: s'''a'''ng	English: blood
	pronounced as /[ɐ]/	- In unstressed position	Catalan; Valencian: '''a'''bans	English: before
	pronounced as /[ɐ̃]/	- Nasal pronounced as /[ɐ]/; that is, pronounced as /[ɐ]/ followed by or in between nasals	Catalan; Valencian: ll'''a'''nçat	English: thrown
	pronounced as /[ɛ̈] ~ [ɔ̈]/	- Final unstressed syllables (vowel harmony), may be lower pronounced as /[ɛ̞̈]/ and pronounced as /[ɔ̞̈]/		English: Earth, land English: woman
pronounced as //ɛ//
	pronounced as /[æ]/	- Before liquids and in monosyllabic terms	Catalan; Valencian: s'''e'''t	English: seven
	pronounced as /[æ̃]/	- Before nasals	Catalan; Valencian: d'''e'''ns	English: dense
	pronounced as /[ɛ]/	- Rest of cases, may be lower pronounced as /[ɛ̞]/	Catalan; Valencian: t'''e'''si	English: thesis
pronounced as //e//
	pronounced as /[e]/	- Found in stressed and unstressed syllables, may be lower pronounced as /[e̞]/	Catalan; Valencian: s'''e'''c	English: dry
	pronounced as /[ẽ]/	- In stressed and unstressed position followed by or in between nasals, may be lower pronounced as /[ẽ̞]/	Catalan; Valencian: l'''e'''nt	English: slow
	pronounced as /[a]/	- In some cases, in initial unstressed position before palatals; may be higher pronounced as /[æ]/	Catalan; Valencian: '''e'''ixam	English: swarm
	pronounced as /[ɐ]/	- In some cases, in unstressed position	Catalan; Valencian: t'''e'''rrós	English: earthy
	pronounced as /[ɐ̃]/	- In some cases, in initial unstressed position before nasals (except velar nasals)	Catalan; Valencian: '''e'''ntén	English: they understands
	pronounced as /[ɑ]/	- In some cases, in unstressed position in contact with velars; may be higher pronounced as /[ʌ]/	Catalan; Valencian: cl'''e'''vill	English: crevice
	pronounced as /[ɑ̃]/	- In some cases, in initial unstressed position before velar nasals; may be higher pronounced as /[ʌ̃]/	Catalan; Valencian: '''e'''nclusa	English: anvil
	pronounced as /[ɪ]/	- Found in the suffix -ixement	Catalan; Valencian: naix'''e'''ment	English: birth
pronounced as //i//
	pronounced as /[i]/	- Especially found in stressed syllables	Catalan; Valencian: s'''i'''s	English: six
	pronounced as /[ĩ]/	- Nasal pronounced as /[i]/; that is, pronounced as /[i]/ followed by or in between nasals	Catalan; Valencian: d'''i'''ns	English: in, within, inside
	pronounced as /[ɪ]/	- Unstressed position	Catalan; Valencian: x'''i'''quet	English: boy
	pronounced as /[ɪ̃]/	- Nasal pronounced as /[ɪ]/; that is, pronounced as /[ɪ]/ followed by or in between nasals	Catalan; Valencian: m'''i'''nvar	English: to decrease, to wane
	pronounced as /[j]/	- Unstressed position before/after vowels	Catalan; Valencian: '''i'''ogurt	English: yoghurt
pronounced as //ɔ//
	pronounced as /[ɒ]/	- Found before stops and in monosyllabic terms	Catalan; Valencian: r'''o'''ig	English: red
	pronounced as /[ɒ̃]/	- Before nasals	Catalan; Valencian: p'''o'''nt	English: bridge
	pronounced as /[ɔ]/	- Rest of cases, may be lower pronounced as /[ɔ̞]/	Catalan; Valencian: d'''o'''na	English: woman
pronounced as //o//
	pronounced as /[o]/	- Found in stressed and unstressed syllables	Catalan; Valencian: m'''o'''lt	English: much, very
	pronounced as /[õ]/	- Nasal pronounced as /[o]/; that is, pronounced as /[o]/ followed by or in between nasals	Catalan; Valencian: '''o'''n	English: where
	pronounced as /[o̞]/	- Found in the suffix -dor and in coda stressed syllables	Catalan; Valencian: canç'''ó'''	English: song
	pronounced as /[ʊ]/	- Unstressed position before labials, a syllable with a high vowel and in some given names	Catalan; Valencian: J'''o'''sep	English: Joseph
	pronounced as /[ʊ̃]/	- Same as pronounced as /[ʊ]/, but followed by a nasal	Catalan; Valencian: c'''o'''mplit	English: to fulfill
	pronounced as /[ew]/	- Found in most cases with the weak pronoun ho	Catalan; Valencian: h'''o'''	English: it
pronounced as //u//
	pronounced as /[u]/	- Especially found in stressed syllables	Catalan; Valencian: ll'''u'''ç	English: hake
	pronounced as /[ũ]/	- Nasal pronounced as /[u]/; that is, pronounced as /[u]/ followed by or in between nasals	Catalan; Valencian: f'''u'''m	English: smoke
	pronounced as /[ʊ]/	- Unstressed position	Catalan; Valencian: s'''u'''car	English: to soak, to dip
	pronounced as /[ʊ̃]/	- Nasal pronounced as /[ʊ]/; that is, pronounced as /[ʊ]/ followed by or in between nasals	Catalan; Valencian: m'''u'''ntó	English: a lot
	pronounced as /[w]/	- Unstressed position before/after vowels	Catalan; Valencian: te'''u'''a	English: your (f.)

Consonants

Consonants of Valencian

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal			pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/		(pronounced as /link/)
Plosive		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Affricate				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/	(pronounced as /ink/)
Approximant	Central						pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
	Lateral				pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Rhotic	Tap				pronounced as /link/
	Trill				pronounced as /link/

Nasals

• pronounced as //m// is bilabial, except before pronounced as //v// and pronounced as //f// where it becomes labiodental pronounced as /[ɱ]/.
• pronounced as //n// is apical front alveolar pronounced as /[n̺]/, and laminal denti-alveolar pronounced as /[n̪]/ before pronounced as //t// and pronounced as //d//.
  • In addition, pronounced as //n// is postalveolar pronounced as /[n̠]/ or alveolo-palatal pronounced as /[ɲ̟]/ before pronounced as //d͡ʒ//, pronounced as //t͡ʃ//, and pronounced as //ʃ//; velar pronounced as /[ŋ]/ before pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //k//; and labiodental pronounced as /[ɱ]/ before pronounced as //v// and pronounced as //f//, where it merges with pronounced as //m//. It also merges with pronounced as //m// (to pronounced as /[m]/) before pronounced as //b// and pronounced as //p//.
• pronounced as //ɲ// is laminal front alveolo-palatal pronounced as /[ɲ̟]/.
• pronounced as //ŋ// is velar and is only found in the coda.

Obstruents

• Obstruents assimilate to the voicing of the following consonant and vowel: Catalan; Valencian: el'''s''' amics pronounced as /[elz‿aˈmiks]/ ('the friends').
  • Voiced obstruents undergo final-obstruent devoicing so that Catalan; Valencian: fre'''d''' ('cold', m. s.) is pronounced with pronounced as /[t]/ (or pronounced as /[d̥]/) pronounced as /[ˈfɾet]/ while Catalan; Valencian: fre'''d'''es ('cold', f. pl.) is pronounced with pronounced as /[ð]/ pronounced as /[ˈfɾeðes]/. (See also "plosives" and "affricates and fricatives").

Plosives

• pronounced as //b// and pronounced as //p// are bilabial.

• • pronounced as //b// is lenited to the approximant (or fricative) pronounced as /link/ (or pronounced as /link/) in betacist dialects, after a continuant, i.e. a vowel or any type of consonant other than a stop or nasal (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: ca'''b'''ut pronounced as /[kaˈβ̞ut]/ 'big head, stubborn' vs. Catalan; Valencian: can'''v'''i pronounced as /[ˈkambi]/ 'change', Standard without betacism: pronounced as /[kaˈbut]/ and pronounced as /[ˈkaɱvi]/).

• • Voiced contrast is lost word finally, so Catalan; Valencian: cu'''b''' ('cube') and Catalan; Valencian: cu'''p''' ('winepress') are both pronounced with final pronounced as /[p]/ (also represented as pronounced as /[b̥]/).

• • • Final pronounced as //p// may be lenited before a vowel: Catalan; Valencian: ca'''p''' estret pronounced as /[ˈkab‿esˈtɾet]/ or pronounced as /[ˈkaβ̞‿esˈtɾet]/ ('narrow head').

• • • Final pronounced as //p// after nasals is preserved in most dialects: Catalan; Valencian: cam'''p''' pronounced as /[ˈkamp]/ ('field').

• pronounced as //d// and pronounced as //t// are laminal denti-alveolar pronounced as /[t̪]/ and pronounced as /[d̪]/. After pronounced as //s// and pronounced as //z//, they are laminal alveolar pronounced as /[t̻]/ and pronounced as /[d̻]/.

• • pronounced as //d// is lenited to the approximant (or fricative) pronounced as /link/ (or pronounced as /link/), after a continuant, i.e. a vowel or any type of consonant other than a stop or nasal (exceptions include pronounced as //d// after lateral consonants): Catalan; Valencian: fa'''d'''es pronounced as /[ˈfað̞es]/ 'fairies' vs. Catalan; Valencian: fal'''d'''es pronounced as /[ˈfal̪des]/ ('skirts').

• • • pronounced as //d// pronounced as /[ð]/ is often elided between vowels following a stressed syllable (found notably in feminine participles, pronounced as //ada// → pronounced as /[aː]/, and in the suffix Catalan; Valencian: -dor); e.g. Catalan; Valencian: fideuà pronounced as /[fiðeˈwaː]/ (< Catalan; Valencian: fideua'''d'''a) 'fideuà', Catalan; Valencian: moca'''d'''or pronounced as /[mokaˈoɾ]/ 'tissue' (note this feature, although widely spread in south Valencia, is not recommended in Standard Valencian, except for reborrowed terms such as Catalan; Valencian: Albà, Catalan; Valencian: Roà, the previously mentioned Catalan; Valencian: fideuà, etc.).

• • Voiced contrast is lost word finally, so Catalan; Valencian: sor'''d''' ('deaf') and Catalan; Valencian: sor'''t''' ('luck') are both pronounced with final pronounced as /[t]/ (also represented as pronounced as /[d̥]/).

• • • Final pronounced as //t// may be lenited before a vowel: Catalan; Valencian: to'''t''' açò pronounced as /[ˈtoð‿aˈsɔ]/ ('all this').

• • • Final pronounced as //t// after nasals and laterals is preserved in most dialects: Catalan; Valencian: cen'''t''' pronounced as /[ˈsen̪t]/ ('hundred') and Catalan; Valencian: mol'''t''' pronounced as /[ˈmol̪t]/ ('very').

• pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //k// are velar.

• • pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //k// are fronted to pre-velar position [{{IPA link|ɟ̠}}, {{IPA link|c̠}}] before front vowels: Catalan; Valencian: '''qu'''i pronounced as /[ˈc̠i]/ ('who'). This is not transcribed in broader transcriptions of Valencian.

• • pronounced as //ɡ// is lenited to the approximant (or fricative) pronounced as /link/ (or pronounced as /link/) after a continuant, i.e. a vowel or any type of consonant other than a stop or nasal.

• • • In some dialects, pronounced as //ɡ// may lenite pronounced as /[ɣ]/ in all environments (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: '''g'''at pronounced as /[ˈɣ̞at]/), except after nasal (Catalan; Valencian: an'''g'''oixa pronounced as /[aŋˈɡojʃa]/ 'anguish').

• • Voiced contrast is lost word finally, so Catalan; Valencian: re'''g''' ('irrigation') and Catalan; Valencian: re'''c''' ('irrigation ditch') are both pronounced with final pronounced as /[k]/ (also represented as pronounced as /[ɡ̥]/).

• • • Final pronounced as //k// may be lenited before a vowel: Catalan; Valencian: po'''c''' alt pronounced as /[ˈpɔɣ‿ˈal̪t]/ ('not very tall').

• • • Final pronounced as //k// after nasals is preserved in most dialects: Catalan; Valencian: ban'''c''' pronounced as /[ˈbaŋk]/ ('bank').

Affricates and fricatives

• pronounced as //d͡z// and pronounced as //t͡s// are apical alveolar pronounced as /[d͡z̺]/ and pronounced as /[t͡s̺]/. They may be somewhat fronted, so that the stop component is laminal denti-alveolar, while the fricative component is apical post-dental. pronounced as //t͡s// is rare and may not be phonemic.

• • In the Standard, intervocalic pronounced as //d͡z//, e.g. Catalan; Valencian: se'''tz'''e ('sixteen'), and pronounced as //t͡s//, e.g. Catalan; Valencian: po'''ts'''er ('maybe'), are recommended to be pronounced with a gemination of the stop element (pronounced as /[dd͡z]/ and pronounced as /[tt͡s]/, respectively. However this is not transcribed in standard transcriptions.

• • • Note pronounced as //d͡z// is deaffricated to pronounced as /link/ in verbs ending in Catalan; Valencian: -itzar and derivatives: Catalan; Valencian: anali'''tz'''ar pronounced as /[analiˈzaɾ]/ ('to analyse'), Catalan; Valencian: organi'''tz'''ació pronounced as /[oɾɣanizasiˈo]/ ('organisation'). Also in words like Catalan; Valencian: bo'''tz'''ina pronounced as /[boˈzina]/ ('horn'), Catalan; Valencian: hori'''tz'''ó pronounced as /[oɾiˈzo]/ ('horizon') and Catalan; Valencian: maga'''tz'''em pronounced as /[maɣaˈzem]/ ('storehouse') (c.f. Catalan; Valencian: gui'''tz'''a pronounced as /[ˈɡid͡za]/, 'kick' (from an animal)).

• pronounced as //d͡ʒ//, pronounced as //t͡ʃ//, (pronounced as /[ʒ]/), and pronounced as //ʃ// are described as back alveolo-palatal, or postalveolar.

• • Valencian has preserved in most of its varieties the mediaeval voiced pre-palatal affricate pronounced as /link/ (similar to the j in English "jeep") in contexts where other modern dialects have developed fricative consonants pronounced as //ʒ// (like the si in English "vision"), e.g. Catalan; Valencian: di'''j'''ous pronounced as /[diˈd͡ʒɔws]/ ('Thursday').

• • Note the fricative pronounced as /link/ (and pronounced as /[jʒ]/) appears only as a voiced allophone of pronounced as //ʃ// (and pronounced as //jʃ//) before vowels and voiced consonants; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: pe'''ix''' al forn pronounced as /[ˈpejʒ al ˈfoɾn]/ ('oven fish').

• • Unlike other Catalan dialects, pronounced as //d͡ʒ// and pronounced as //t͡ʃ// do not geminate (in most accents): Catalan; Valencian: me'''tg'''e pronounced as /[ˈmed͡ʒe]/ ('medic'), and Catalan; Valencian: co'''tx'''e pronounced as /[ˈkot͡ʃe]/ ('car'). Exceptions may include learned terms like Catalan; Valencian: pi'''dg'''in pronounced as /[ˈpidd͡ʒin]/ ('pidgin').

• • Final etymological pronounced as //d͡ʒ// is devoiced to pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/: Catalan; Valencian: lle'''ig''' pronounced as /[ˈʎet͡ʃ]/ ('ugly').

• pronounced as //z// and pronounced as //s// are apical back alveolar pronounced as /[z̺]/ and pronounced as /[s̺]/, also described as postalveolar.

• • In some dialects, pronounced as //s// is pronounced pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/ after pronounced as //i, j, ʎ, ɲ//. In the Standard only is accepted after pronounced as //i// (in the inchoative form with pronounced as //sk// → pronounced as /[ʃk]/), and after pronounced as //ʎ, ɲ//: Catalan; Valencian: ell'''s''' pronounced as /[ˈeʎʃ]/ ('they'). In some variants the result may be an affricate.

• • Final pronounced as //z// is devoiced to pronounced as /[s]/ (also represented as pronounced as /[z̥]/): Catalan; Valencian: brun'''z''' pronounced as /[ˈbɾuns]/ ('they buzzes').

• pronounced as //v// and pronounced as //f// are labiodental.

• • pronounced as //v// occurs in Balearic, Alguerese, Standard Valencian and some areas in southern Catalonia (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: '''v'''iu pronounced as /[ˈviw]/, 'they lives'). It has merged with pronounced as //b// elsewhere.

• • • pronounced as //v// is realised as an approximant pronounced as /link/ after continuants: Catalan; Valencian: a'''v'''anç pronounced as /[aˈʋans]/ ('advance'). This is not transcribed in this article.

• • • Final pronounced as //v// is devoiced to pronounced as /[f]/ (also represented as pronounced as /[v̥]/): Catalan; Valencian: sal'''v''' pronounced as /[ˈsalf]/ ('save, except').

Liquids

• pronounced as //l// is apical front alveolar pronounced as /[l̺]/, and laminal denti-alveolar pronounced as /[l̪]/ before pronounced as //t// and pronounced as //d//. (In addition, pronounced as //l// is postalveolar pronounced as /[l̠]/ or alveolo-palatal pronounced as /[ʎ̟]/ before pronounced as //d͡ʒ//, pronounced as //t͡ʃ//, and pronounced as //ʃ//).
  • pronounced as //l// is normally velarised (pronounced as /link/), especially in the coda.
    • pronounced as //l// is generally dropped in the word Catalan; Valencian: a'''l'''tre pronounced as /[ˈatɾe]/ ('other'), as well as in derived terms.
• pronounced as //ʎ// is laminal front alveolo-palatal pronounced as /[ʎ̟]/.
• pronounced as //ɾ// is apical front alveolar pronounced as /[ɾ̺]/ and pronounced as //r// is apical back alveolar pronounced as /[r̺]/, also described as postalveolar.
  • Between vowels, the two rhotics contrast (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: mi'''r'''a pronounced as /[ˈmiɾa]/ 'they looks' vs. Catalan; Valencian: mi'''rr'''a pronounced as /[ˈmira]/ 'myrrh'), but they are otherwise in complementary distribution. pronounced as /link/ appears in the onset, except in word-initial position (Catalan; Valencian: '''r'''uc 'donkey'), after pronounced as //l//, pronounced as //n//, and pronounced as //s// (Catalan; Valencian: fol'''r'''e 'lining', Catalan; Valencian: hon'''r'''a 'honour', and Catalan; Valencian: Is'''r'''ael 'Israel'), and in compounds (Catalan; Valencian: infra'''r'''oig 'infrared'), where pronounced as /link/ is used.
  • pronounced as //ɾ// is mostly retained in the coda (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: ana'''r''' pronounced as /[aˈnaɾ]/, 'to go'), except for some cases where it can be dropped: Catalan; Valencian: p'''r'''endre pronounced as /[ˈpendɾe]/ ('to take'), Catalan; Valencian: a'''r'''bre pronounced as /[ˈabɾe]/ ('tree'), and Catalan; Valencian: dine'''r'''s pronounced as /[diˈnes]/ ('money').
    • In some dialects pronounced as //ɾ// can be further dropped in combinatory forms with infinitives and pronouns (Catalan; Valencian: ana'''r'''-me'n pronounced as /[aˈna.men]/ 'to go away, to leave' [myself]).
    • In other dialects, further instances of final pronounced as //ɾ// (like nouns and/or infinitives, regardless of combinatory forms with pronouns) are lost: Catalan; Valencian: ana'''r''' pronounced as /[aˈna]/ ('to go').

Semivowels

• The vowels pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //u// have as non-vocalic correlates the semivowels pronounced as /[j]/ and pronounced as /[w]/, respectively, which form a diphthong with the preceding or following vowel (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: h'''i'''ena pronounced as /[ˈjena]/ 'hyena', Catalan; Valencian: fe'''i'''a pronounced as /[ˈfeja]/ 'I / they was doing', Catalan; Valencian: me'''u'''a pronounced as /[ˈmewa]/ 'mine', Catalan; Valencian: pasq'''u'''a pronounced as /[ˈpaskwa]/ 'Easter').
  • According, the sequences pronounced as /[ɡw]/ or pronounced as /[kw]/ are regarded as labiovelar phonemes pronounced as //ɡʷ// and pronounced as //kʷ//.

Metathesis

• In some places, some terms can undergo sound changes (such as metathesis), like Catalan; Valencian: cridar → *Catalan; Valencian: crid(r)ar or Catalan; Valencian: quid(r)ar ('to call'). This is heard frequently in the term Catalan; Valencian: aigua (standard) → Catalan; Valencian: àuia (colloquial) ('water').

Morphology

• The present first-person singular of verbs differs from Central Catalan. All those forms without final -o are more akin to mediaeval Catalan and contemporary Balearic Catalan.

Comparison of present first-person singular with Central Catalan

Stem	Infinitive		Present first person singular
	Catalan	English	Valencian		Central		English
		IPA		IPA
-ar	Catalan; Valencian: parlar	to speak	Catalan; Valencian: parle	pronounced as /[ˈpaɾle]/	Catalan; Valencian: parlo	pronounced as /[ˈpaɾlu]/	I speak
-re	Catalan; Valencian: batre	to beat	Catalan; Valencian: bat	pronounced as /[ˈbat]/	Catalan; Valencian: bato	pronounced as /[ˈbatu]/	I beat
-er	Catalan; Valencian: témer	to fear	Catalan; Valencian: tem	pronounced as /[ˈtem]/	Catalan; Valencian: temo	pronounced as /[ˈtemu]/	I fear
-ir	Catalan; Valencian: sentir	to feel	Catalan; Valencian: sent	pronounced as /[ˈsent]/	Catalan; Valencian: sento	pronounced as /[ˈsentu]/	I feel
			Catalan; Valencian: senc (col.)	pronounced as /[ˈseŋk]/
inchoative -ir	Catalan; Valencian: patir	to suffer	Catalan; Valencian: patisc	pronounced as /[paˈtisk]/	Catalan; Valencian: pateixo	pronounced as /[pəˈtɛʃu]/	I suffer
			Catalan; Valencian: patesc	pronounced as /[paˈtesk]/

• Present subjunctive is more akin to medieval Catalan and Spanish; -ar infinitives end, -re, -er and -ir verbs end in (in contemporary Central Catalan present subjunctive ends in).
• An exclusive feature of Valencian is the subjunctive imperfect morpheme -ra: Catalan; Valencian: que ell vinguera ('that he might come').
• Valencian has -i- as theme vowel for inchoative verbs of the third conjugation; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: servix ('they serves'), like North-Western Catalan. Although, again, this cannot be generalised since there are Valencian dialects that utilise -ei-, e.g. Catalan; Valencian: serveix.
• In Valencian the simple past tense (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: cantà 'he sang') is more frequently used in speech than in Central Catalan, where the periphrastic past (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: va cantar 'he sang') is prevailing and the simple past mostly appears in written language. The same, however, may be said of the Balearic dialects.
• The second-person singular of the present tense of the verb Catalan; Valencian: ser ('to be'), Catalan; Valencian: ets ('you are'), has been replaced by Catalan; Valencian: eres in colloquial speech.
• The infinitive Catalan; Valencian: veure ('to see') has the variant Catalan; Valencian: vore, which belongs to more informal and spontaneous registers.
• The usage of the periphrasis of obligation Catalan; Valencian: tindre + Catalan; Valencian: que + infinitive is widely spread in colloquial Valencian, instead of the Standard Catalan; Valencian: haver + Catalan; Valencian: de (equivalent to English "have to").

Clitics

• In general, use of modern forms of the determinate article (Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:el#Catalan|el]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:els#Catalan|els]] 'the') and the third-person unstressed object pronouns (Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:el#Catalan|el]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:els#Catalan|els]] 'him, them'), though some dialects (for instance the one spoken in Vinaròs area) preserve etymological forms Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:lo#Catalan|lo]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:los#Catalan|los]] as in Lleida. For the other unstressed object pronouns, etymological old forms (Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:me#Catalan|me]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:te#Catalan|te]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:se#Catalan|se]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:ne#Catalan|ne]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:mos#Catalan|mos]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:vos#Catalan|vos]]...) can be found, depending on places, in conjunction with the more modern reinforced ones (Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:em#Catalan|em]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:et#Catalan|et]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:es#Catalan|es]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:en#Catalan|en]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:ens#Catalan|ens]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:us#Catalan|us]]...).
  • Several local variations for Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:nosaltres#Catalan|nosaltres]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:vosaltres#Catalan|vosaltres]] ('we, you'): Catalan; Valencian: mosatros, Catalan; Valencian: moatros, Catalan; Valencian: matros, etc.; Catalan; Valencian: vosatros, Catalan; Valencian: voatros, Catalan; Valencian: vatros, etc.; also for the weak form Catalan; Valencian: mos/Catalan; Valencian: -mos instead of standard Catalan; Valencian: ens/Catalan; Valencian: 'ns/Catalan; Valencian: -nos ('us') and Catalan; Valencian: vos/Catalan; Valencian: -vos instead of Catalan; Valencian: us/Catalan; Valencian: -vos ('you pl.'), the latter (Catalan; Valencian: vos, instead of Catalan; Valencian: us) is considered standard.
• The adverbial pronoun Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:hi#Catalan|hi]] ('there') is almost never used in speech and is replaced by other pronouns. The adverbial pronoun Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:en|en]] ('him/her/them/it') is used less than in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.^[29]
• Combined weak clitics with Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:li#Catalan|li]] ('him/her/it') preserve the Catalan; Valencian: li, whereas in Central Catalan it is replaced by Catalan; Valencian: hi. For example, the combination Catalan; Valencian: li + Catalan; Valencian: el gives Catalan; Valencian: li'l in Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: l'hi in Central Catalan).
• The weak pronoun Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:ho#Catalan|ho]] ('it') is pronounced as:
  • pronounced as /[ew]/, when it forms syllable with a pronoun: Catalan; Valencian: m'ho dona pronounced as /[mew ˈðona]/, Catalan; Valencian: dona-m'ho pronounced as /[ˈdonamew]/ ('they give it to me')
  • pronounced as /[ew]/ or pronounced as /[u]/, when it comes before a verb starting with consonant: Catalan; Valencian: ho dona pronounced as /[ew ˈðona]/ (or pronounced as /[u ˈðona]/) ('they give it')
  • pronounced as /[w]/, when precedes a vowel or when coming after a vowel: Catalan; Valencian: li ho dona pronounced as /[liw ˈðona]/ ('they gives it to her/him'), Catalan; Valencian: dona-ho pronounced as /[ˈdonaw]/ ('you give it')
  • pronounced as /[o]/, when it comes after a consonant or a semivowel: Catalan; Valencian: donar-ho pronounced as /[doˈnaɾo]/ ('to give it').
• The personal pronoun Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:jo#Catalan|jo]] ('I') and the adverb Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:ja#Catalan|ja]] ('already') are not pronounced according to the spelling, but to the etymology (pronounced as /[ˈjɔ]/ and pronounced as /[ˈja]/, instead of pronounced as //ˈ(d)ʒɔ// and pronounced as //ˈ(d)ʒa//). Similar pronunciations can be heard in North-Western Catalan and Ibizan.
• The preposition Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:amb#Catalan|amb]] ('with') merges with Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:en#Catalan|en]] ('in') in most Valencian dialects.
• The compound preposition Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:per a#Catalan|per a]] ('for') is usually reduced to Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:p'a#Catalan|p'a]] in colloquial Valencian.
• Valencian preserves the mediaeval system of demonstratives with three different levels of demonstrative precision (Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:este#Catalan|este]] or Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:aquest#Catalan|aquest]]/Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:açò#Catalan|açò]]/Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:ací#Catalan|ací]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:eixe#Catalan|eixe]] or Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:aqueix#Catalan|aqueix]]/Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:això#Catalan|això]]/Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:ahí#Catalan|ahí]], Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:aquell#Catalan|aquell]]/Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:allò#Catalan|allò]]/Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:allí#Catalan|allí]] or Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:allà#Catalan|allà]], where Catalan; Valencian: aquest and Catalan; Valencian: aqueix are almost never used) (feature shared with modern Ribagorçan and Tortosan).
  • The colloquial variant of Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:açò#Catalan|açò]] ('this'), Catalan; Valencian: [[wikt:astò#Catalan|astò]], is heard frequently in Alicante's Valencian.

Vocabulary

Valencian vocabulary contains words both restricted to the Valencian-speaking domain, as well as words shared with other Catalan varieties, especially with North-Western ones. Words are rarely spread evenly over the Valencian Community, but are usually contained to parts of it, or spread out into other dialectal areas. Examples include Catalan; Valencian: hui 'today' (found in all of Valencia except transitional dialects, in Northern dialects Catalan; Valencian: avui) and Catalan; Valencian: espill 'mirror' (shared with North-Western dialects, Central Catalan Catalan; Valencian: mirall). There is also variation within Valencia, such as 'corn', which is Catalan; Valencian: dacsa in Central and Southern Valencian, but Catalan; Valencian: panís in Alicante and Northern Valencian (as well as in North-Western Catalan). Since Standard Valencian is based on the Southern dialect, words from this dialect are often used as primary forms in the standard language, despite other words traditionally being used in other Valencian dialects. Examples of this are Catalan; Valencian: tomaca 'tomato' (which is Catalan; Valencian: tomata outside of Southern Valencian) and Catalan; Valencian: matalaf 'mattress' (which is Catalan; Valencian: matalap in parts of Valencia, including the Southern Valencian area).

Below are a selection of words which differ or have different forms in Standard Valencian and Catalan. In many cases, both standards include this variation in their respective dictionaries, but differ as to what form is considered primary. In other cases, Valencian includes colloquial forms not present in the IEC standard. Primary forms in each standard are shown in bold (and may be more than one form). Words in brackets are present in the standard in question, but differ in meaning from how the cognate is used in the other standard.

Standard Valencian (AVL)[30]	Standard Catalan (IEC)[31]	English
Catalan; Valencian: '''ací''', Catalan; Valencian: aquí	Catalan; Valencian: '''aquí''', Catalan; Valencian: ací	here
Catalan; Valencian: '''avi''', Catalan; Valencian: iaio, Catalan; Valencian: uelo	Catalan; Valencian: '''avi''', Catalan; Valencian: iaio	grandpa
Catalan; Valencian: '''així''', Catalan; Valencian: aixina	Catalan; Valencian: '''així'''	like this
Catalan; Valencian: '''artista''' Catalan; Valencian: artiste, Catalan; Valencian: -a	Catalan; Valencian: '''artista'''	artist
Catalan; Valencian: '''bou''', Catalan; Valencian: brau, Catalan; Valencian: toro	Catalan; Valencian: '''toro''', Catalan; Valencian: bou, Catalan; Valencian: brau	bull
Catalan; Valencian: '''brull''', Catalan; Valencian: brossat, Catalan; Valencian: mató	Catalan; Valencian: '''mató''', Catalan; Valencian: brull, Catalan; Valencian: brossat	curd cheese
Catalan; Valencian: '''bresquilla''', Catalan; Valencian: préssec	Catalan; Valencian: '''préssec''', Catalan; Valencian: bresquilla	peach
Catalan; Valencian: '''festa''', Catalan; Valencian: comboi	Catalan; Valencian: '''festa'''	fest
Catalan; Valencian: '''corder''', Catalan; Valencian: xai, Catalan; Valencian: anyell	Catalan; Valencian: '''xai''', Catalan; Valencian: corder, Catalan; Valencian: anyell	lamb
Catalan; Valencian: '''creïlla''', Catalan; Valencian: patata	Catalan; Valencian: '''patata''', Catalan; Valencian: creïlla	potato
Catalan; Valencian: '''dacsa''', Catalan; Valencian: panís	Catalan; Valencian: '''blat de moro''', Catalan; Valencian: panís	corn
Catalan; Valencian: '''dènou''', Catalan; Valencian: dèneu, Catalan; Valencian: dinou	Catalan; Valencian: '''dinou''', Catalan; Valencian: dènou	nineteen
Catalan; Valencian: '''dos''', Catalan; Valencian: dues	Catalan; Valencian: '''dues''', Catalan; Valencian: dos	two (f.)
Catalan; Valencian: '''eixe''', Catalan; Valencian: '''aqueix'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''aqueix''', Catalan; Valencian: eixe	that
Catalan; Valencian: '''eixir''', Catalan; Valencian: sortir	Catalan; Valencian: '''sortir''', Catalan; Valencian: eixir	to exit, leave
Catalan; Valencian: '''engrunsador(a)''', Catalan; Valencian: gronxador(a)	Catalan; Valencian: '''gronxador(a)'''	swing
Catalan; Valencian: '''espill''', Catalan; Valencian: mirall	Catalan; Valencian: '''mirall''', Catalan; Valencian: espill	mirror
Catalan; Valencian: '''este''', Catalan; Valencian: '''aquest'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''aquest''', Catalan; Valencian: este	this
Catalan; Valencian: '''fraula''', Catalan; Valencian: maduixa	Catalan; Valencian: '''maduixa''', Catalan; Valencian: fraula	strawberry
Catalan; Valencian: '''germà''', Catalan; Valencian: tete	Catalan; Valencian: '''germà'''	brother
Catalan; Valencian: '''granera''', Catalan; Valencian: escombra	Catalan; Valencian: '''escombra''', Catalan; Valencian: granera	broom
Catalan; Valencian: '''hui''', Catalan; Valencian: avui	Catalan; Valencian: '''avui''', Catalan; Valencian: hui	today
Catalan; Valencian: '''llaurador''', Catalan; Valencian: pagés	Catalan; Valencian: '''pagès''', Catalan; Valencian: laurador	farmer
Catalan; Valencian: '''lluny''', Catalan; Valencian: llunt	Catalan; Valencian: '''lluny'''	far
Catalan; Valencian: '''matalaf''', Catalan; Valencian: matalap, Catalan; Valencian: matalàs	Catalan; Valencian: '''matalàs''', Catalan; Valencian: matalaf	mattress
Catalan; Valencian: '''melic'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''llombrígol''', Catalan; Valencian: melic	belly button
Catalan; Valencian: '''meló d'Alger''', Catalan; Valencian: meló d'aigua, Catalan; Valencian: síndria	Catalan; Valencian: '''síndria''', Catalan; Valencian: meló d'Alger, Catalan; Valencian: meló d'aigua	watermelon
Catalan; Valencian: '''mitat''', Catalan; Valencian: meitat	Catalan; Valencian: '''meitat''', Catalan; Valencian: mitat	half
Catalan; Valencian: '''palometa''', Catalan; Valencian: papallona	Catalan; Valencian: '''papallona''', Catalan; Valencian: palometa	butterfly
Catalan; Valencian: '''paréixer''', Catalan; Valencian: semblar	Catalan; Valencian: '''semblar''', Catalan; Valencian: parèixer	to seem
Catalan; Valencian: '''per favor'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''si us plau''', Catalan; Valencian: per favor	please
Catalan; Valencian: '''poal'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''galleda'''	bucket
Catalan; Valencian: '''quint''', Catalan; Valencian: cinqué	Catalan; Valencian: '''cinquè''', Catalan; Valencian: quint	fifth
Catalan; Valencian: '''rabosa''', Catalan; Valencian: guineu	Catalan; Valencian: '''guineu''', Catalan; Valencian: rabosa	fox
Catalan; Valencian: '''roí(n)''', Catalan; Valencian: dolent	Catalan; Valencian: '''dolent''', Catalan; Valencian: roí	bad, evil
Catalan; Valencian: '''roig''', Catalan; Valencian: vermell	Catalan; Valencian: '''vermell''', Catalan; Valencian: roig	red
Catalan; Valencian: '''safanòria''', Catalan; Valencian: '''carlota'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''pastanaga''', Catalan; Valencian: safanòria, Catalan; Valencian: carrota	carrot
Catalan; Valencian: '''sext''', Catalan; Valencian: sisé	Catalan; Valencian: '''sisè''', Catalan; Valencian: sext	sixth
Catalan; Valencian: '''tindre''', Catalan; Valencian: tenir	Catalan; Valencian: '''tenir''', Catalan; Valencian: tindre	to have
Catalan; Valencian: '''tomaca''', Catalan; Valencian: tomàquet, Catalan; Valencian: tomata	Catalan; Valencian: '''tomàquet''', Catalan; Valencian: tomaca, Catalan; Valencian: tomata	tomato
Catalan; Valencian: '''vacacions''', Catalan; Valencian: vacances	Catalan; Valencian: '''vacances''', Catalan; Valencian: vacacions	holidays
Catalan; Valencian: '''vesprada'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''tarda'''	afternoon
Catalan; Valencian: '''veure''', Catalan; Valencian: vore	Catalan; Valencian: '''veure'''	to see
Catalan; Valencian: '''vindre''', Catalan; Valencian: venir	Catalan; Valencian: '''venir''', Catalan; Valencian: vindre	to come
Catalan; Valencian: '''xicotet''', Catalan; Valencian: petit	Catalan; Valencian: '''petit''', Catalan; Valencian: xicotet	small
Catalan; Valencian: '''xiquet''', Catalan; Valencian: nen	Catalan; Valencian: '''nen''', Catalan; Valencian: nin, Catalan; Valencian: xiquet	boy
Catalan; Valencian: '''xic'''	Catalan; Valencian: '''noi''', Catalan; Valencian: xic

Writing system

See main article: Catalan orthography.

See also: Lists of spelling-to-sound correspondences in Catalan.

Main forms	Catalan; Valencian: [[A]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[a]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[B]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[b]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[C]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[c]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[D]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[d]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[E]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[e]]|italic=unset		Catalan; Valencian: [[F]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[f]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[G]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[g]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[H]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[h]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[I]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[i]]|italic=unset		Catalan; Valencian: [[J]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[j]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[K]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[k]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[L]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[l]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[M]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[m]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[N]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[n]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[O]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[o]]|italic=unset		Catalan; Valencian: [[P]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[p]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[Q]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[q]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[R]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[r]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[S]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[s]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[T]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[t]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[U]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[u]]|italic=unset		Catalan; Valencian: [[V]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[v]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[W]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[w]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[X]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[x]]|italic=unset		Catalan; Valencian: [[Y]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[y]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[Z]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[z]]|italic=unset
forms	Catalan; Valencian: [[À]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[à]]|italic=unset		Catalan; Valencian: [[Ç]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[ç]]|italic=unset		Catalan; Valencian: [[É]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[é]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[È]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[è]]|italic=unset				Catalan; Valencian: [[Í]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[í]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[Ï]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[ï]]|italic=unset			Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan orthography#Punt volat (middot)|ĿL]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[ŀl]]|italic=unset			Catalan; Valencian: [[Ó]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[ó]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[Ò]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[ò]]|italic=unset							Catalan; Valencian: [[Ú]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[ú]]|italic=unset	Catalan; Valencian: [[Ü]]|italic=unset Catalan; Valencian: [[ü]]|italic=unset
IPA	pronounced as //a//	pronounced as //b//	pronounced as //k// pronounced as //s//	pronounced as //d//	pronounced as //e//	pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as //f//	pronounced as //ɡ// pronounced as //d͡ʒ//	∅	pronounced as //i// pronounced as //j//		pronounced as //d͡ʒ//	pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //l//	pronounced as //m//	pronounced as //n//	pronounced as //o//	pronounced as //ɔ//	pronounced as //p//	pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //r// pronounced as //ɾ//	pronounced as //s// pronounced as //z//	pronounced as //t//	pronounced as //u// pronounced as //w//		pronounced as //v//	pronounced as //w// pronounced as //v//	pronounced as //ks// pronounced as //ɡz//	pronounced as //t͡ʃ// pronounced as //ʃ//	pronounced as //j// pronounced as //i//	pronounced as //z//

Valencian and Catalan use the Latin script, with some added symbols and digraphs. The Catalan-Valencian orthographies are systematic and largely phonologically based. Standardisation of Catalan was among the topics discussed during the First International Congress of the Catalan Language, held in Barcelona October 1906. Subsequently, the Philological Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC), founded in 1911, published the Normes ortogràfiques in 1913 under the direction of Antoni Maria Alcover and Pompeu Fabra. In 1932, Valencian writers and intellectuals gathered in Castelló de la Plana to make a formal adoption of the so-called Normes de Castelló (Castelló Norms), a set of guidelines following Pompeu Fabra's Catalan language norms.^[32]

The letters k, y and w only appear in loanwords. In the case of y it also appears in the digraph ny. Most of the letters are pronounced the same in both standards (Valencian and Catalan). The letters c and g have a soft and hard pronunciation similar to English and other Romance languages, ç (found also in Portuguese and French) always has a soft pronunciation and may appear in word final position. The only differences between the main standards are the contrast of b pronounced as //b// and v pronounced as //v// (also found in Insular Catalan), the treatment of long consonants with a tendency to simplification in Valencian (see table with main digraphs and letter combinations), the affrication (pronounced as //d͡ʒ//) of both soft g (after front vowels) and j (in most cases), the affrication (pronounced as //t͡ʃ//) of initial and postconsonantal x (except in some cases) and the lenition (deaffrication) of tz pronounced as //d͡z// in most instances (especially the -itzar suffix).

Main digraphs and letter combinations Spelling IPA Example Meaning Catalan Valencian ch pronounced as //k// Folch Folch gu pronounced as //ɡ// àguila eagle ig pronounced as //t͡ʃ// raig ray ix pronounced as //ʃ// pronounced as //jʃ// eixida exit kh pronounced as //x// Txékhov Chekhov ll pronounced as //ʎ// brollar to sprout ŀl pronounced as //lː// or pronounced as //l// pronounced as //l// coŀlegi school, college ny pronounced as //ɲ// senyal signal qu pronounced as //k// què what rr pronounced as //r// garra shank, claw sc pronounced as //s// ascens rise ss bossa bag, purse tg pronounced as //d͡ʒ// fetge liver tj viatjar to travel th pronounced as //θ// theta theta tl pronounced as //lː// pronounced as //l// or pronounced as //lː// Betlem Bethlehem tll pronounced as //ʎː// pronounced as //ʎ// bitllet bank note, ticket tm pronounced as //mː// pronounced as //m// setmana week tn pronounced as //nː// pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //nː// cotna pork rind ts pronounced as //t͡s// potser maybe tx pronounced as //t͡ʃ// cotxe car tz pronounced as //d͡z// pronounced as //d͡z// setze sixteen pronounced as //z// analitzar to analyse

Diacritics Spelling IPA Example Meaning pronounced as //a// butà butane   Spelling IPA Example Meaning pronounced as //e// més more pronounced as //ɛ// rètol sign, label   Spelling IPA Example Meaning pronounced as //o// emoció emotion pronounced as //ɔ// òbila barn owl   Spelling IPA Example Meaning pronounced as //i// físic physical ruïna ruin   Spelling IPA Example Meaning pronounced as //u// dejú fasting peüc bootee pronounced as //w// aigües waters

Varieties of Valencian

Standard Valencian

The Academy of Valencian Studies (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, AVL), established by law in 1998 by the Valencian autonomous government and constituted in 2001, is in charge of dictating the official rules governing the use of Valencian.^[33] Currently, the majority of people who write in Valencian use this standard.

Standard Valencian is based on the standard of the Institute of Catalan Studies (Catalan; Valencian: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, IEC), used in Catalonia, with a few adaptations. This standard roughly follows the Castelló Norms (Catalan; Valencian: Normes de Castelló) from 1932, a set of othographic guidelines regarded as a compromise between the essence and style of Pompeu Fabra's guidelines, but also allowing the use of Valencian idiosyncrasies.

Valencian dialects

• Northern area:
  • Transitional Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: valencià de transició) or Tortosan (Catalan; Valencian: tortosí), also ambiguously termed Northern Valencian: spoken only in the northernmost areas of the province of Castellon in towns like Benicarló or Vinaròs, the area of Matarranya in Aragon (province of Teruel), and a southern border area of Catalonia surrounding Tortosa, in the province of Tarragona.
    • Word-initial and postconsonantal pronounced as //dʒ// (Catalan pronounced as //ʒ// and pronounced as //dʒ/~/ʒ//) alternates with pronounced as /[(j)ʒ]/ intervocalically; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: joc pronounced as /[ˈdʒɔk]/ ('game'), but Catalan; Valencian: pitjor pronounced as /[piˈʒo]/ ('worse'), Catalan; Valencian: boja pronounced as /[ˈbɔjʒa]/ ('crazy') (Standard Valencian pronounced as //ˈdʒɔk//, pronounced as //piˈdʒoɾ//; pronounced as //ˈbɔdʒa//; Standard Catalan pronounced as //ˈʒɔk//, pronounced as //piˈdʒo// and pronounced as //ˈbɔʒə//).
    • Final pronounced as /link/ is not pronounced in infinitives; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: cantar pronounced as /[kanˈta]/ (Standard pronounced as //kanˈtaɾ//) ('to sing').
    • Archaic articles Catalan; Valencian: lo, Catalan; Valencian: los ('the') are used instead of Catalan; Valencian: el, Catalan; Valencian: els; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: lo xic ('the boy'), Catalan; Valencian: los hòmens ('the men').
  • Northern Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: valencià septentrional) or Castellon's Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: valencià castellonenc): spoken in an area surrounding the city of Castellón de la Plana.
    • Use of pronounced as /[e]/ sound instead of standard pronounced as //a// in the third person singular of most verbs; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: (ell) cantava pronounced as /[kanˈtave]/ (Standard pronounced as //kanˈtava//) 'he sang'. Thus, Northern Valencian dialects contrast forms like Catalan; Valencian: (jo) cantava pronounced as /[kanˈtava]/ ('I sang') with Catalan; Valencian: (ell) cantava pronounced as /[kanˈtave]/ ('he sang'), but merges Catalan; Valencian: (jo) cante pronounced as /[ˈkante]/ ('I sing') with Catalan; Valencian: (ell) canta pronounced as /[ˈkante]/ ('he sings').
    • Palatalisation of pronounced as //ts// > pronounced as /[tʃ]/ and pronounced as //dz// > pronounced as /[ddʒ]/; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: pots pronounced as //ˈpots// > pronounced as /[ˈpotʃ]/ ('cans, jars, you can'), Catalan; Valencian: dotze pronounced as //ˈdodze// > pronounced as /[ˈdoddʒe]/ ('twelve'). Thus, this dialect may merge Catalan; Valencian: passeig ('walk') and Catalan; Valencian: passets ('little steps').
    • Depalatalization of pronounced as //jʃ// to pronounced as /[jsʲ]/ by some speakers; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: caixa pronounced as //ˈkajʃa/ > [ˈkajsʲa]/ ('box').
• Central area:
  • Central Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: valencià central), or Catalan; Valencian: '''Apitxat''', spoken in Valencia city and its area, but not used as standard by the Valencian media.
    • Sibilant merger: all voiced sibilants are devoiced (pronounced as //dʒ/ > [tʃ]/, pronounced as //dz/ > [ts]/, pronounced as //z/ > [s]/); that is, Catalan; Valencian: apitxat pronounces Catalan; Valencian: casa pronounced as /[ˈkasa]/ ('house') and Catalan; Valencian: joc pronounced as /[ˈtʃɔk]/ ('game'), where other Valencians would pronounce pronounced as //ˈkaza// and pronounced as //ˈdʒɔk// (feature shared with Ribagorçan).
    • Betacism, that is the merge of pronounced as //v// into pronounced as //b//; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: viu pronounced as /[ˈbiw]/ (instead of pronounced as //ˈviw//) ('he lives').
    • Fortition (gemination) and vocalisation of final consonants; Catalan; Valencian: nit pronounced as /[ˈnitː(ə)]/ (instead of pronounced as //ˈnit//) ('night').
    • It preserves the strong simple past, which has been substituted by an analytic past (periphrastic past) with + infinitive in the rest of modern Catalan and Valencian variants. For example, aní instead of Catalan; Valencian: vaig anar ('I went').
• Southern area:
  • Southern Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: valencià meridional) or Upper Southern Valencian: spoken in the contiguous Catalan; Valencian: [[comarques of the Valencian Community|comarques]] located in the southernmost part of the Valencia province and the northernmost part in the province of Alicante. This dialect is considered as Standard Valencian.
    • Vowel harmony: the final syllable of a disyllabic word adopts a preceding open (pronounced as //ɛ//) and/or (pronounced as //ɔ//) if the final vowel is an unstressed -; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: terra pronounced as /[ˈtɛrɛ]/ ('Earth, land'), Catalan; Valencian: dona pronounced as /[ˈdɔnɔ]/ ('woman'). Further merges (such as pronounced as /[ˈtɛrɔ]/ and pronounced as /[ˈdɔnɛ]/) depends on the town and speaker.
    • This dialect retain geminate consonants (pronounced as //lː// and pronounced as //nː//); e.g. Catalan; Valencian: guatla pronounced as /[ˈɡwalːa]/ ('quail'), Catalan; Valencian: cotna pronounced as /[ˈkonːa]/ ('rind').
    • Weak pronouns are "reinforced" in front of the verb (Catalan; Valencian: em, Catalan; Valencian: en, Catalan; Valencian: et, Catalan; Valencian: es, etc.) contrary to other dialects which maintains "full form" (Catalan; Valencian: me, Catalan; Valencian: ne, Catalan; Valencian: te, Catalan; Valencian: se, etc.).
  • Alicante's Valencian (Catalan; Valencian: valencià alacantí) or Lower Southern Valencian: spoken in the southern half of the province of Alicante, and the area of Carche in Murcia.
    • Vowel harmony like in the central Southern areas.
    • Intervocalic pronounced as //d// elision in most instances; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: roda pronounced as /[ˈrɔa]/ ('wheel'), Catalan; Valencian: nadal pronounced as /[naˈal]/ ('Christmas').
    • Yod is not pronounced in pronounced as //jʃ/ > [ʃ]/; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: caixa pronounced as /[ˈkaʃa]/ ('box').
    • Final is not pronounced in infinitives in some areas and/or contexts; e.g. Catalan; Valencian: cantar pronounced as /[kanˈta]/ ('to sing').
    • There are some archaisms like: Catalan; Valencian: ans instead of Catalan; Valencian: abans ('before'), Catalan; Valencian: manco instead of Catalan; Valencian: menys ('less'), Catalan; Valencian: dintre instead of Catalan; Valencian: dins ('into') or Catalan; Valencian: devers instead of Catalan; Valencian: cap a ('towards').
    • There are more interferences with Spanish than other dialects: Catalan; Valencian: assul (from Spanish; Castilian: azul) instead of Catalan; Valencian: blau (or Catalan; Valencian: atzur) ('azure'), Catalan; Valencian: llimpiar (from Spanish; Castilian: limpiar) instead of Catalan; Valencian: netejar ('to clean') or Catalan; Valencian: sacar (from Spanish; Castilian: sacar) instead of Catalan; Valencian: traure ('take out').

Authors and literature

• Misteri d'Elx . Liturgical drama. Listed as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
• Curial e Güelfa (15th century), humanistic chivalric romance
• Ausiàs March (Gandia, 1400 – Valencia, 3 March 1459). Poet, widely read in renaissance Europe.
• Joanot Martorell (Gandia, 1413–1468). Knight and the author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch.
• Isabel de Villena (Valencia, 1430–1490). Religious poet.
• Joan Roís de Corella (Gandia or Valencia, 1435 – Valencia, 1497). Knight and poet.
• Obres e trobes en lahors de la Verge Maria (1474) The first book printed in Spain. It is the compendium of a religious poetry contest held that year in the town of Valencia.

Media in Valencian

See main article: Ràdio Televisió Valenciana and Valencian Media Corporation. Until its dissolution in November 2013, the public-service Ràdio Televisió Valenciana (RTVV) was the main broadcaster of radio and television in Valencian language. The Generalitat Valenciana constituted it in 1984 in order to guarantee the freedom of information of the Valencian people in their own language.^[34] It was reopened again in 2018 in the same location but under a different name, À Punt, and it is owned by À Punt Media, a group owned by the Generalitat Valenciana. The new television channel claims to be plural, informative and neutral for all of the Valencian population. It is bilingual, with a focus on the Valencian language. It is recognised as a regional TV channel.^[35]

Prior to its dissolution, the administration of RTVV under the People's Party (PP) had been controversial due to accusations of ideological manipulation and lack of plurality. The news broadcast was accused of giving marginal coverage of the Valencia Metro derailment in 2006 and the indictment of President de la Generalitat Francisco Camps in the Gürtel scandal in 2009.^[36] Supervisors appointed by the PP were accused of sexual harassment.^[37]

In face of an increasing debt due to excessive expenditure by the PP, RTVV announced in 2012 a plan to shed 70% of its labour. The plan was nullified on 5 November 2013 by the National Court after trade unions appealed against it. On that same day, the President de la Generalitat Alberto Fabra (also from PP) announced RTVV would be closed, claiming that reinstating the employees was untenable.^[38] On 27 November, the legislative assembly passed the dissolution of RTVV and employees organised to take control of the broadcast, starting a campaign against the PP. Nou TV's last broadcast ended abruptly when Spanish police pulled the plug at 12:19 on 29 November 2013.^[39]

Having lost all revenues from advertisements and facing high costs from the termination of hundreds of contracts, critics question whether the closure of RTVV has improved the financial situation of the Generalitat, and point out to plans to benefit private-owned media.^[40] Currently, the availability of media in the Valencian language is extremely limited. All the other autonomous communities in Spain, including the monolingual ones, have public-service broadcasters, with the Valencian Community being the only exception despite being the fourth most populated.

In July 2016 a new public corporation, Valencian Media Corporation, was launched in substitution of RTVV. It manages and controls several public media in the Valencian Community, including the television channel À Punt, which started broadcasting in June 2018.

Politico-linguistic controversy

Linguists, including Valencian scholars, deal with Catalan and Valencian as the same language. The official regulating body of the language of the Valencian community, the Valencian Language Academy (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, AVL) considers Valencian and Catalan to be two names for the same language.^[41]

The AVL was established in 1998 by the PP-UV government of Eduardo Zaplana. According to El País, Jordi Pujol, then president of Catalonia and of the CiU, negotiated with Zaplana in 1996 to ensure the linguistic unity of Catalan in exchange for CiU support of the appointment of José María Aznar as Prime Minister of Spain.^[42] Zaplana has denied this, claiming that "[n]ever, never, was I able to negotiate that which is not negotiable, neither that which is not in the negotiating scope of a politician. That is, the unity of the language". The AVL orthography is based on the Normes de Castelló, a set of rules for writing Valencian established in 1932.

A rival set of rules, called Normes del Puig, were established in 1979 by the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Real Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which considers itself a rival language academy to the AVL, and promotes an alternative orthography, treating Valencian as an independent language, as opposed to a variety of Catalan. Compared to Standard Valencian, this orthography excludes many words not traditionally used in the Valencian Community, and also prefers spellings such as ⟨ch⟩ for /tʃ/ and ⟨y⟩ for /j/ (as in Spanish). Besides, these alternative Norms are also promoted and taught by the cultural association Lo Rat Penat. Valencian is classified as a Western dialect, along with the North-Western varieties spoken in Western Catalonia (Province of Lleida and most of the Province of Tarragona). The various forms of Catalan and Valencian are mutually intelligible (ranging from 90% to 95%)^[43]

Despite the position of the official organisations, an opinion poll carried out between 2001 and 2004 showed that the majority (65%) of the Valencian people (both Valencian and Spanish speakers) consider Valencian different from Catalan: this position is promoted by people who do not use Valencian regularly. Furthermore, the data indicate that younger people educated in Valencian speaking areas are considerably less likely to hold these views. According to an official poll in 2014, 54% of Valencians considered Valencian to be a language different from Catalan, while 41% considered the languages to be the same. By applying a binary logistic regression to the same data, it was also found that different opinions about the unity of the language are different between people with certain levels of studies and the opinion also differs between each of the Valencian provinces. The opinion agreeing on the unity of Valencian and Catalan has significant differences regarding age, level of education and province of residence, with a majority of those aged 18–24 (51%) and those with a higher education (58%) considering Valencian to be the same language as Catalan. This can be compared to those aged 65 and above (29%) and those with only primary education (32%), where the same view has its lowest support. People living in the province of Castellón are more prone to be in favor of the unity of the language, while people living in the province of Alicante are more prone to be against the unity of the language, especially in the areas where Valencian is not a mandatory language at schools.^[44] Later studies also showed that the results differ significantly depending on the way the question is posed.^[45]

The ambiguity regarding the term Valencian and its relation to Catalan has sometimes led to confusion and controversy. In 2004, during the drafting of the European Constitution, the regional governments of Spain where a language other than Spanish is co-official were asked to submit translations into the relevant language in question. Since different names are used in Catalonia ("Catalan") and in the Valencian Community ("Valencian"), the two regions each provided one version, which were identical to each other.^[46]

See also

• Pluricentric language
• Valencian Sign Language
• Che (interjection) § Other uses (spelled xe in Modern Valencian)
• Valencian linguistic conflict
• Similar linguistic controversies:
  • Andalusian language movement
  • Names given to the Spanish language
  • Moldovan language
  • Occitan language
  • Serbo-Croatian

Bibliography

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .

External links

• Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL)
• Diccionari normatiu valencià (DNV)
• Institut Joan Lluís Vives

Documents

• Disputing theories about Valencian origin
• The origins and evolution of language secessionism in Valencia. An analysis from the transition period until today
• Article from El País (25 October 2005) regarding report on use of Valencian published by Servei d'Investicació i Estudis Sociolingüístics

Notes and References

1. Luján . Míriam . Martínez . Carlos D. . Alabau . Vicente . Evaluation of several Maximum Likelihood Linear Regression variants for language adaptation . Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, LREC 2008 . 860 . the total number of people who speak Catalan is 7,200,000, (...). The Valencian dialect is spoken by 27% of all Catalan speakers.. citing Vilajoana, Jordi, and Damià Pons. 2001. Catalan, Language of Europe. Generalitat de Catalunya, Department de Cultura. Govern de les Illes Balears, Conselleria d'Educació i Cultura.
2. Web site: Ley Orgánica 1/2006, de 10 de abril, de Reforma de la Ley Orgánica 5/1982, de 1 de julio, de Estatuto de Autonomía de la Comunidad Valenciana. . 17 February 2013 . Generalitat Valenciana . 10 April 2006 .
3. Web site: Valenciano, na . 9 June 2017 . . . Spanish .
4. http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/330167/0/catalan/sentencia/filologia/ «Otra sentencia equipara valenciano y catalán en las oposiciones, y ya van 13.»
5. https://www.docv.gva.es/portal/portal/2008/06/10/pdf/2008_7155.pdf Decreto 84/2008, de 6 de junio, del Consell, por el que se ejecuta la sentencia de 20 de junio de 2005, de la Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunitat Valenciana
6. Web site: no trobat. sindicat.net.
7. News: Europa Press . La AVL publica una 'Gramàtica Valenciana Bàsica' con las formas más "genuinas" y "vivas" de su tradición histórica . 23 April 2016 . 20minutos.es . 22 April 2016.
8. Web site: Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua . 9 February 2005 . Acord de l'Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL), adoptat en la reunió plenària del 9 de febrer del 2005, pel qual s'aprova el dictamen sobre els principis i criteris per a la defensa de la denominació i l'entitat del valencià . 52 . ca-valencia . 16 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923181117/http://www.avl.gva.es/va/acords-AVL/main/03/document/NOMENTITAT.pdf . 23 September 2015.
9. Web site: Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Resultats de la consulta:valencià. DIEC 2. ca-valencia . 23 February 2016. 2 6 m. [FL] Al País Valencià, llengua catalana..
10. Web site: Dictamen sobre los Principios y Criterios para la Defensa de la Denominación y entidad del Valenciano . It is a fact the in Spain there are two equally legal names for referring to this language: Valencian, as stated by the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community, and Catalan, as recognised in the Statutes of Catalonia and Balearic Islands..
11. Book: Alcover, Antoni Maria . Antoni Maria Alcover i Sureda . Per la llengua . 26 September 2012 . ca . 1983 . Barcelona . 9788472025448 . 37 . Secció de Filologia Catalana, Universitat de Palma .
12. Book: Moll, Francesc de Borja . Gramàtica catalana: Referida especialment a les Illes Balears . Editorial Moll . 1968 . 84-273-0044-1 . Palma de Mallorca . 12–14 . ca . Catalan grammar: Referring especially to the Balearic Islands . Francesc de Borja Moll i Casasnovas.
13. Baròmetre d'abril 2014 . 2014 . Presidència de la Generalitat Valenciana . 29 January 2018. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405160945/http://www.argos.gva.es/fileadmin/argos/Documentos/Encuestas/201404A_cruce.pdf. 2016-04-05.
14. News: 9 December 2004 . Casi el 65% de los valencianos opina que su lengua es distinta al catalán, según una encuesta del CIS . Almost 65% of Valencians think that their language is different from Catalan, according to a CIS survey . La Vanguardia . 12 October 2017.
15. Web site: Ley 7/1998, de 16 de septiembre, de creación de la Academia Valenciana de la Lengua. . 34727–34733 . es . Boletín Oficial de España.
16. Catalan; Valencian: Trobes en llaors de la Verge Maria ("Poems of praise of the Virgin Mary") 1474.
17. Book: Coll i Alentorn, Miquel . Història . L'Abadia de Montserrat . 1992 . 346 . 8478263616.
18. Book: Ferrando i Francés . Antoni . Nicolás Amorós . Miquel . Història de la llengua catalana . Editorial UOC . 2011 . 105 . 978-8497883801.
19. Web site: Título I. La Comunitat Valenciana – Estatuto Autonomía. Congreso.es. 12 October 2017.
20. Web site: Aplicación de la Carta en España, Segundo ciclo de supervisión. Estrasburgo, 11 de diciembre de 2008. A.1.3.28 pag 7; A.2.2.5 . 107. Coe.int. 1 March 2015.
21. Web site: El valencià continua viu en la comarca murciana del Carxe . 13 September 2014 . Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua . 23 July 2013 . ca-valencia . avl.gva.es . https://web.archive.org/web/20140913174418/http://www.avl.gva.es/va/gabinet-de-comunicacio/notes-de-premsa-historic/El-valenci--continua-viu-en-la-comarca-murciana-del-Carxe . 13 September 2014 .
22. News: El valenciano 'conquista' El Carche . 12 February 2016 . 21 February 2016 . La Opinión de Murcia .
23. News: En Murcia quieren hablar valenciano. 21 February 2016. 21 February 2016. Miquel Hernandis . El Mundo .
24. News: Martínez . D. . 26 November 2011 . Una isla valenciana en Murcia . es . A Valencian island in Murcia . ABC . 13 July 2017.
25. Web site: 2010 . Servei d'Investigació i Estudis Sociolingüístics (Research Service and Sociolinguistic Studies) . http://web-old.archive.org/web/20101210094400/http://www.edu.gva.es/polin/docs/sies_docs/encuesta2010/index.html . 10 December 2010 . 1 July 2010 . Servei d'Investigació i Estudis Sociolingüístics.
26. Web site: Enquestes sobre la situació del valencià - Política Lingüística - Generalitat Valenciana . 2023-07-30 . Direcció General de Política Lingüística i Gestió del Multilingüisme . ca-ES.
27. Web site: Coneixement i ús social del valencià. 2021. ca-valencia. Generalitat Valenciana.
28. Casanova . Emili . 1980 . Castellanismos y su cambio semántico al penetrar en el catalán . Boletín de la Asociación Europea de Profesores de Español . 12 . 23 . 15–25.
29. Book: Badia i Margarit, Antoni M.. Gramática de la llengua catalana: Descriptiva, normativa, diatópica, diastrática. Proa. Barcelona. 1995. ca.
30. Diccionari Normatiu Valencià. http://www.avl.gva.es/lexicval/
31. Diccionari de la llengua catalana, Segona edició. http://dlc.iec.cat/index.html
32. Book: The Architect of Modern Catalan: Selected writings . 2009 . John Benjamins Publishing . 978-9027289247 . Carreras . Joan Costa . en . Yates . Alan.
33. Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community, article 6, section 4.
34. Web site: Ley de Creación de la Entidad Pública Radiotelevisión Valenciana. 1984. 1 April 2015. UGT RTTV.
35. Web site: Benvinguts a À Punt. L'espai públic de comunicació valencià. À Punt .
36. Web site: Los escándalos de Canal 9. 2013. 1 April 2015. vertele.com.
37. Web site: Sanz, destituït de secretari general de RTVV per assetjament sexual. 2010. 1 April 2015. Vilaweb.
38. News: El fracaso de Fabra acaba con el PP. 2013. 1 April 2015. El País. Bono . Ferran .
39. Web site: Polic evict staff in Spain after closure of station. 2013. 1 April 2015. BBC.
40. Web site: El coste del cierre de RTVV asciende a 144,1 millones. 2014. 1 April 2015. Levante-EMV.
41. http://ca.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictamen_sobre_els_principis_i_criteris_per_a_la_defensa_de_la_denominaci%C3%B3_i_l%27entitat_del_valenci%C3%A0 "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"
42. News: Pujol revela que pactó con Zaplana para avanzar con discreción en la unidad del catalán. El País. Barcelona / Valencia . 10 November 2004 . 13 July 2017 . es .
43. Central Catalan has 90% to 95% inherent intelligibility for speakers of Valencian (1989 R. Hall, Jr.), cited on Ethnologue.
44. Agulló Calatayud. Vicent. 2011. Análisis de la realidad sociolingüística del valenciano . Papers. 96 . 2. 501. 10.5565/rev/papers/v96n2.149 . 15 October 2023. free. 10550/37211. free.
45. Baldaquí Escandell. Josep M.. 2005. A Contribution to the Study of Valencian Linguistic Secessionism: Relations between the Perception of the Supradialectal Unity of the Catalan Language and Other Sociolinguistic Variables . Catalan Review. XIX. 47–58. 10.3828/CATR.19.5. 15 October 2023. 10045/4347. free.
46. Web site: Isabel I Vilar . Ferran . 30 October 2004 . Traducció única de la Constitució europea . 29 April 2009 . I-Zefir.