Pluricentricity in catalan: sociolinguistic and linguistic aspects

Abstract

This paper studies the Catalan language as a pluricentric language. We approach the concept of pluricentricity and we deal with the historical process which results in more than one standard variety in Catalan. This research focuses on the area of the Valencian Community where an adaptation of Fabra’s linguistic codification was devised and, subsequently, validated by the Institut d’Estudis Catalans. However, the Valencian socio-political environment caused a new linguistic norm-centre to be born, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. We compare the consequences of this pluricentricity, analysing differences in orthography and grammatical and lexical features between the standard variety of Catalonia and that of the Valencian Community. In addition, we address the coexistence of two standard varieties in the Valencian area, where some features are viewed as symbols of identity.