THE PlACEMENT OF CATAlAN IN THE ROMANCE SCHEMA by Barbara A. Medema A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the College of Humanities in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton) Florida August) 1971 THE PLACEMENT OF CATALAN IN THE ROMANCE SCHEMA by Barbara A. Medema This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Robert L. Trammell, Department of Languages and Linguistics, and has been approved by the members of her super­ visory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Humanities and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: artment of and Linguistics) ~'3/ 71 ii ABSTRACT Author: Barbara A. Medema Title: The Placement of Catalan in the Romance Schema Institution: Florida Atlantic University Degree: Master of Arts Year: 1971 The purpose of this thesis is to present an objective overview of the controversy concerning the placement of Catalan among the West- ern Romance languages. Catalan has been classified as Ibero-Romance) Galla-Romance) and as a member of new groupings of the various Romance languages) such as a distinct Pyrenean group (Gascon) Aragonese) Cata- lan) and one large group of the Western Romance languages which ex- eludes French. A critical analysis of the theories of classification shows the Ibero-Romance theory to be the soundest. The strongest evidence for the Ibero-Romance affiliation of Catalan was obtained from linguistic comparisons of Modern Catalan and Old Castilian or other dialects and languages of the Peninsula) excluding Modern Castilian because it was the most innovative. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract . iii List of Maps . • . • . v Key to Abbreviations and Symbols ............ .. ............. vi Introduction . • . 1 Chapter 1: From Latin to Catalan .....•........... .......... 2 Chapter 2: The Galla-Romance Grouping of Catalan 21 Chapter 3: The Ibero-Romance Grouping of Catalan 38 Chapter 4: Other Classifications of Catalan ... ...... ....... 46 Chapter 5: Conclusions .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 57 Bibliography . • . 63 iv LIST OF MAPS Map 1 Dialects and Sub-dialects of Catalan .......... .. 18 Map 2 The Aragonese-Catalan Linguistic Frontier ........ 34 v KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS Arab. = Arabic Arag. Aragonese Berb. = Berber Cast. Castilian Cat. = Catalan Fr. = French Gasc. = Gascon Leon. Leonese Mallor. = Mallorquin Moz. = Mozarabic Prov. = Proven~al Ptg. = Portuguese Roum. = Roumanian Sp. = Spanish Latin forms are indicated in capital letters. [ ] Brackets: used for phonetic transcriptions. I I Slashes: used for phonemic transcriptions. > Used in etymology to mean becomes) develops into. < Used in etymology to mean came from) developed from. ~·~ Used in etymology to signal a conjectural form. Used in charts to mean repeat the form to the left. vi -1- INTRODUCTION The prefatory chapter of this thesis presents a brief history of Catalonia in the context of the development of the Western Romance area. This knowledge of the background of Catalan will enable the reader to understand why and how the controversy concerning its classification among the Western Romance languages arose . The theories of the Gallo-Romance affiliation of Catalan are presented in the second chapter. The theories of the Ibero-Romance affiliation of Catalan and the theories classifying Catalan other­ wise, such as a lengua puente "language bridge," and as a member of a distinct Pyrenean group, follow in subsequent chapters. Each theory is critically discussed in an effort to determine its bearing on the classification of Catalan. In c onclusion, the strongest evidence supports the Ibero-Ro­ mance classification of Catalan. Linguistic comparisons verify the sharing of many features among the Peninsular dialects and lan­ guages and establish a basis for the Ibero-Romance group. CHAPTER 1 FROM LATIN TO CATALAN -3- The special character of each Peninsular language) i.e.) Portu- guese) Spanish) and Catalan) results from differences in the develop- ment of common Latin material. Through the natural evolution of Vul- gar Latin) or Proto-Romance 1 ) further influenced by extra-linguistic events) the individual Romance tongues emerged. There is no real dividing line between Latin and its divergent Romance idioms. Romance was the term used at the close of the 5th century to designate the then unrecorded speech of the people) i.e.) the popular Latin vernacular. 2 The following sub-groupings of the Ro- mance tongues within the former Roman Empire are distinguished: Gallo- Romance (French) Proven~al)) Ibero-Romance (Spanish) Portuguese) Cata- lan) ) Italo-Romance (Italian) dialects of Sardinia)) Rhaeto-Romance (principally Romansch) 3) and Balkan-Romance (principally Roumanian). A wider sub-grouping is Western Romance (Gallo-Romance) Ibero-Romance) 4 and Eastern Romance (Italo-Romance) Rhaeto-Romance) Balkan-Romance). Although Catalan is listed as Ibero-Romance above) its affilia- tion is debated by linguists. Many agree that Catalan can easily be 1w. D. Elcock) The Romance Languages (London) 1960)) p. 21. Vulgar Latin is the accepted term that means precisely the spoken Latin of the Roman Empire. Proto-Romance is the hypothetical form of spoken Latin derived by reconstructing all the essential characteris­ tics through a comparative study of the Romance languages together with their many dialects. 2 Ibid.) p. 212. 3Robert A. Hall) Jr.) Introductory Linguistics (New York) 1967)) p. 312. This linguist groups Rhaeto-Romance dialects as Galla-Romance. 4william J. Entwistle) The Spanish Language (London) 1962)) p. 53. A third grouping) Central Romance) may be added) to which Standard Italian) based on the Tuscan dialect) would belong. -4- identified with Galla-Romance because of its apparent likeness to Pro- ven~al. Others believe that the smooth transition from Catalan to Spanish through intermediate dialects proves the Ibero-Romance affili- ation of Catalan. Still others regard Catalan as independent of both Galla-Romance and Ibero-Romance, possibly belonging to a distinct Pyrenean group. It is necessary to look at the simultaneous development of Cata- lan, Spanish, and Proven~al to establish any linguistic ties in favor of either grouping. The formation of the Western Romance languages is part of the cultural and political history of France and the Ibe- rian Peninsula. The early colonizers, the substratic ethnic groups, and the periods of Romanization influenced the development of Romance in these areas. It will help in understanding the various theories of the affiliation of Catalan to briefly trace the history of Cata- lonia and of the area in general. About 1000 B.C. the Phoenicians and the Greeks arrived in Spain. Phoenician traders established a post at Gadir, modern Cadiz, and spread out along the southern coast. According to one theory, the Phoenicians gave the modern name "Spain" to the largest part of the Peninsula. They called it Span, or Spania, meaning hidden or remote 5 land. The Greeks settled mainly along the eastern coast of Spain. The Phocaeans, the principal colonizers for the Greeks, had their chief outpost in Spain at Emporium, the present-day site of Castellon 5 charles E. Chapman, ~History of Spain (New York, 1958), p. 8. The name Spania was applied by the Romans in the plural, Hispaniae, to the whole Peninsula. -5- de Ampurias, in the province of Gerona, Catalonia. They were confined by the Phoenicians and their Carthaginian successors to the upper north­ east coast. The other Greek base was at Marseilles, France. The First Punic War began as an attempt by the Roman s t o gain con­ trol of Carthaginian-held Sicily. As a result of the war, Rome replaced Carthage as the main power in Sicily in 242 B.C. Hamilcar of the great Barca family of Carthage, wanting a new war with Rome, proposed a more complete occupation of Spain to gain more land. He entered Spain in 236 B.C., made vast conquests, and is traditionally recognized as having founded the city of Barcelona, which bears his family name. The Barcas continued to rule part of Spain like kings. They declared war on Rome in 218 B.C. , which was the outbreak of the Second Punic War. The Romans conquered a large part of Catalonia and Valencia, but were then defeated in 211 B.C. They were able to renew the war again and finally drove the Carthaginians out of the Peninsula in 206 B.C. Each of these three early groups helped prepare the way for the shaping of the Span­ ish civilization by the Romans, whose rule lasted until the Barbarian invasions in the 5th century A.D. The Iberian Peninsula had a somewhat heterogeneous assemblage of substratic ethnic groups. Its spoken Latin absorbed a great vari­ ety of these pre-Roman elements. Early tribes of Proto-Indo-European­ speaking peoples which entered Spain from the 9th to the 6th centuries B.C. include the Iberians, Celts, and Ligurians. The name Iberian was used by the Greek, Scylax, in the 6th century B.C. to designate the tribes of the vicinity of the Ebro River in Northeast -6- Spain. 6 An Iberian culture developed in Eastern and Southern Spain while the Celtic hegemony in Central and Western Spain resulted in the development of a separate culture. The Celtic and Iberian elements later mingled) forming the Celtiberian culture. It is the theory of Humboldt in particular that the present- 7 day Basque language is the last trace of the old Iberian language. The Iberians extended their settlements along the Mediterranean coast of Spain and into France) reaching the city of Montpellier. This fact of extension is attested in inscriptions written in a Greek-type script which appears to be partly phonetic and partly syllabic. But in this same Basque region the Ligurians) of unknown origin) were found. Their settlement extended from north of the Ebro River in Northwest Spain to the mouth of the Arno River in Italy.