The Importance of Catalan

Catalan, is one of the official languages in Barcelona, as well as Catalonia, the region it is in. When I first became aware of Catalan, I thought it was just another language. However, through continuous exposure, I soon realized how culturally significant Catalan is to its people. If you plan to visit Catalonia, it is beneficial to learn about the language’s rich history, including the persecution it has faced.  

Like Spanish, Catalan is also a Romance language that originated from Latin. Over centuries, it evolved to have its own distinct vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. As the Catalan language is geographically close to Spanish, both languages are very similar but still distinguishable. Differences can also be found in their alphabet. For example, Catalan lacks the ñ letter, while Spanish lacks the ç letter.

Throughout history, the Catalan language has had its ups and downs. However, nothing comes close to the repression it faced shortly after the Spanish Civil War. In 1936, Franciso Franco rose to power as Spain’s new leader. Throughout this time, he was determined to unify everyone under one Spanish identity, with Castellano(Spanish) as the only national language. As a result, he effectively banned languages other than Castellano from being used. Catalonians were stripped of their Catalan identity in order to be united under the Spanish identity. This meant that Catalan was prohibited from being used in public. Students could be punished if caught using Catalan in schools. Anything relating to Catalan culture is also banned, such as displaying the Catalan flag.

Recently, I took a tour of Monserrat, a sacred mountain to the Catalonians. My local tour guide educated me on a really important moment. I learned that many Catalonians regardless of religion, went to the Monserrat Monastery just to hear Catalan secretly being spoken. 

Personally, I felt this very similar to my ethnic background. Although I am Chinese and speak Mandarin, my roots lie in the Fuzhou region of China. There, we also have our own dialect of Chinese, called Fuzhounese. We share the same writing system as Mandarin, but our spoken language is very different. Without any prior knowledge, Fuzhounese speakers cannot understand Mandarin and vice versa. Sadly, our language is facing a heavy decline as Mandarin is the preferred language of choice for many individuals. While our language hasn’t faced suppression like Catalan, I found it relatable to witness a language that has a history of decline. For this reason, it is very important to mindful and recognize other languages as it is a factor of identification for many people. Thankfully, Catalan has now overcome its prosecution and is experiencing a revival.