Pompeu Fabra i Poch
Pompeu Fabra i Poch (born February 20, 1868 in Gràcia , (now the municipality of Barcelona ), † December 25, 1948 in Prades , France) was a Catalan philologist . He is considered the "father" of the linguistic norms of the Catalan language .
Pompeu Fabra i Poch studied at the University of Barcelona . He was an industrial engineer by profession, but developed a keen interest in his native language very early on. Through the magazine L'Avenç , he launched a campaign to reform Catalan orthography from 1890–91. 1904 published with Jaume Massó i Torrents (1863-1943) and Joaquim Casas i Carbó (1858-1943) a treatise on Catalan orthography. He was also very active at the first international congress on the Catalan language (1906).
Life
Pompeu Fabra i Poch studied at the University of Barcelona . He was an industrial engineer by profession, but developed a keen interest in his native language very early on. Through the magazine L'Avenç , he launched a campaign to reform Catalan orthography from 1890–91. 1904 published with Jaume Massó i Torrents (1863-1943) and Joaquim Casas i Carbó (1858-1943) a treatise on Catalan orthography. He was also very active at the first international congress on the Catalan language (1906).
In 1912 he published a standard work in Spanish that is still used today: Gramática de la lengua catalana ( grammar of the Catalan language ). In 1913 the Institut d'Estudis Catalans declared the grammatical norms contained in Pompeu Fabra's book to be the standard, and in 1918 the Institute's own book appeared under Fabra's supervision. Later he also became chairman of the institute. In 1917 the dictionary of Catalan spelling was published there.
His probably greatest and best known work was the Diccionari General de la Llengua Catalana ( General Dictionary of the Catalan Language ) published in 1932 . In the same year he was appointed professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona without dissenting .
In 1934 he was imprisoned after political tensions, which only made him more famous in Catalonia . At the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) he left his country for exile in France, where he lived until his death. His grave in Cuixà near Prada (French: Prades ) in the French north of Catalonia is still visited by thousands of Catalans every year.
The Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, founded in 1990 by a Catalan parliamentary decision , was named after him. A large square in Barcelona also bears his name.
childhood
Pompeu Fabra was born on February 20, 1868 on Carrer de la Mare de Déu de la Salut 32 in the middle of the Barcelona district of Gracia . Many years later he lived on Carrer Gran de Gràcia , which is one of the most important streets in Gracia. His parents were Josep Fabra Roca and Carolina Poch i Martí. He had 12 older siblings, ten of whom died and only two of his sisters survived. When he was five years old, the First Spanish Republic was proclaimed. His father was a Republican and was therefore elected mayor. When he was six years old, he and his family moved to Barcelona, but he always remembered his origins in Gracia.
Fruitful and controversial beginnings
Fabra began studying industrial engineering, but it became a self-taught study of philology. In 1891, L'Avenç published his essay on modern Catalan grammar, which for the first time attempted to transcribe the language phonetically accurately using scientific methods. Together with Joaquim Casas Carbó, Jaume Massó and Torrents Fabra, he undertook the second language campaign for that magazine. This created controversy as they made a scientific attempt at systematization, which provided the basis for a future normalization of language. In 1902 he won the chair of chemistry at a Bilbao engineering school through opposition , in which he lived without interruption until 1912. Despite the distance to Catalonia, he intensified his commitment to philology. When he returned to his homeland in the same year, he moved to the then maritime village of Badalona. There he had the pleasure of living far away from the big cities, which was especially good for Teresa, his middle daughter, as doctors had prescribed air and sea baths for her because of her poor health. Pompeu Fabra stayed there from 1912 to 1939 until he went into exile.
In 1906 he took part in an international congress on Catalan spelling ( I Congrés Internacional de la Llengua Catalana ). His intellectual prestige became so great that Prat de la Riba appointed him to head a project to normalize the language of Catalan. He then returned to Catalonia, was appointed founder of the Philological Section of the IEC (Institut d´Estudis Catalans ) and held a chair for the Estudis Universitaris Catalans.
In 1912 Fabra published a grammar of the Catalan language, but this grammar was written in Spanish. A year later, he published the Orthographic Norms ( Normes ortogràfiques) , which included a major, controversial spelling reform by the Institute for Catalan Studies, which created a heated public mood.
One of his fundamental points of orthography was the advocacy of the pronunciation of dialects and the etymology of words. Ultimately, the Spelling Dictionary (1917) supplemented the 1913 rules.
An effective mastery
With the publication of Catalan grammar, adopted both in practice and in official use, a basis was created from 1918 onwards, which was expanded in 1931 with the publication of the General Dictionary of the Catalan Language.
In the same year, the General Catalan Grammar Course, specially designed for the school, was re-taught in 1968, entitled Introduction to Catalan Grammar. The Philological Conversations (1924) arose out of an effort to disseminate their linguistic reflections. They are relatively short articles that raise and resolve very common idiomatic doubts. The following year he published Les principals faltes de gramàtica (“The main mistakes in grammar”). In 1925 he started working for the Department of Public Education and Fine Arts of the Diputació de Barcelona .
The consolidation of a task
In 1932, due to his reputation, Fabra directly joined the Chair of Catalan Language at the University of Barcelona. With him, the Catalan language was officially introduced for the first time in the history of the university. In 1933 he became President of the newly established Autonomous University of Catalonia. The aforementioned dictionary from 1932, commonly known as the “Fabra Dictionary” or “Pompeu”, was conceived as a sketch of a future official dictionary of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans . The criteria for creating the dictionary can be summarized as follows:
- Exclusion of archaisms and dialectalisms from more restricted areas.
- Forecast to eliminate words that will lose their validity over time.
- No admission of foreign words from other languages that replace the Catalan words or make it impossible for them to create new ones.
- Incorporation of technical words, previously Catalan, of Greco-Latin origin and universal scope
The last few years
Pompeu Fabra crossed the Franco-Spanish border on January 31, 1939, five days after General Franco's troops marched into Barcelona. He then went on a long pilgrimage with stays in Paris, Montpellier, Perpignan and finally Prada de Conflent, where he died on December 25, 1948 at 15 Marxants Street. Between September 14, 1945 and January 22, 1948 he was Minister in the Exile. In the last few years of his life, despite adverse circumstances, he continued to work, finishing a new Catalan grammar published posthumously in 1956 by Joan Coromines.
Appreciations
- An avenue in the “La Salut” district of Barcelona was named after him in 1980, where he was born and raised.
- On June 18, 1990, the Catalan government founded the Pompeu Fabra University, with which it paid tribute to his services. The university organizes various events to bring Fabra closer to the students.
- A square and a subway station in Badalona (where he lived for almost 30 years) bear his name.
- The avenue of Pompeu Fabra (Palafrugell)
- Pompeu-Fabra-Platz in Sabadell's directory of names.
- At the suggestion of various associations, the city of Badalona announced the Pompeu Fabra Prize in 1935.
- Since July 2010, line 2 of the Barcelona metro has been running to Badalona-Pompeu Fabra station.
- 2018: Fabra year. On the occasion of his 150th birthday and the publication of Catalan grammar 100 years ago, the Catalan government dedicated the year 2018 to Pompeu Fabra.
Literary heritage
During his time in Bilbao, where he moved in 1902, he wrote “The Grammar of the Catalan Language” (1912). In Badalona , the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC) worked to ensure that Fabra's work "The Spelling of the Catalan Language" is taken into account. It shows a fundamental part of the spelling rules that the L'Avenç group defended. They were the basis for the compilation of the orthographic dictionary, which took place under his direction (1917). During his time in Badalona, Fabra published “The Catalan Grammar” on behalf of the Institute for Catalan Studies in 1918, which was officially recognized by the IEC. During his time in Badalona, he himself wrote the famous “Course of Catalan Grammar” (Curs mitjà de la gramàtica catalana), published by the Association for the Protection of Catalan Education (1918).
In Badalona, Pompeu Fabra wrote his most important and famous work: the “General Dictionary of the Catalan Language”. Words from Badalona (badiu, micaco ...) have undoubtedly been included in this dictionary. Because of this, Fabra Badalona is called the adopted child and was honored with the city medal. The medal was donated by the city as the highest honor for those citizens who have contributed to the honor and appreciation of the city with their deeds, talents and virtues. The medal is also awarded to those with moral and intellectual worth and recognizes literary, economic, artistic and heroic merits.
In 1939 he left Badalona and spent the summer in Sant Feliu de Codines, from where he went into exile in France. He lived in Paris, Montpellier and Perpignan and eventually settled in Prades, where he died and was buried in 1948. During the last years of his life he continued his philological work. "The Catalan Grammar" was published posthumously in 1956.
Sporty leading figure
Fabra dedicated his life to so-called research hiking and had been a member of the Center Excursionista de Catalunya hiking club since 1891. He went on excursions to research the Catalan geography and stays in summer camps in the Pyrenees during which he climbed the most famous mountains. He was elected chairman of the tennis club Associació de Lawn Tennis (now Federació Catalana de Tennis) and in 1933 became the first chairman of the newly founded sports association Unió Catalana de Federacions Esportives. He was also part of the tennis department of FC Barcelona. Fabra saw sport as essential for both personal development and expression of the Catalan nation. He often played tennis with his daughter Carola in the tennis facilities of the Cros factory in Badalona.
In a report, Fabra spoke about the importance of tennis in Catalonia and emphasized that “tennis is very important in Catalonia today. Our country is one of the tennis centers on the peninsula. The others are in Madrid, in the Basque Country, in Huelva and are now beginning to spread to other cities. Tennis has achieved a considerable degree of importance and prestige in Catalonia, not only because of the large number of tennis players, but also because of its level, which exceeds that of the best elsewhere. "
As chairman of the Unió Catalana de Federacions Esportives, Fabra became a leading figure in Catalan sport during the time of the Second Spanish Republic, until he gave up his commitment due to the civil war that began.
Complete works
The collected works Obres completes Pompeu Fabras are the result of a research project resulting from a cooperation agreement signed in 2002 between the governments of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands and the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC). The nine volumes of this complete work combine parts of Fabra's essential bibliography as well as overlooked and even unpublished documents. Some examples of this are notes that Fabra students have taken in his lectures or courses. These show content that cannot be seen in the linguist's works or early grammatical approaches that were later implemented in his works.
The first volume includes the first three grammars from 1891, 1898 and 1912; the second contains the five grammar books published between 1918 and 1946 and numerous oral courses; the third contains the French grammar of 1919 and the English of 1924 and a number of specialist articles published between 1887 and 1926; the fourth includes linguistic manuals from the Barcino-Verlag and the spelling work Fabras: Tractat d'ortografia (1904), Normes ortogràfiques (1913) and Diccionari ortogràfic (1917–1937). The fifth volume contains the dictionary Diccionari general de la llengua catalana (1932); the sixth includes the grammar books 1917–1933, the Catalan grammar from 1946 and the posthumously published grammar from 1956, as well as plays translated by Fabra. The seventh volume contains the shorthand collection Converses filològiques ; the eighth a collection of Fabra's letters and the correspondence course Curs de llengua catalana per correspondència. Finally, the ninth volume includes texts and documents by Fabras from various publications, a general curriculum vitae and a bibliography on Fabra's work and person. Since March 2018, all of his works have been available in digitized form on the Portal Pompeu Fabra website.
Badalona inheritance
The city of Badalona dedicated some public spaces to Fabra because of the close connection with him. For example, from October 20 to November 20, 2010, there was an exhibition dedicated to the “language engineer” at the local cultural institution Espai Betúlia. Pompeu Fabra, una llengua per a tot i tothom ("Pompeu Fabra, one language for everything and for everyone") combines the three words language, Fabra and Badalona with the aim of assigning the same importance to each of them.
Other places worth mentioning are the Monument by Òmnium Cultural for Pompeu Fabra on the occasion of the 17th Pompeu Fabra Festival. These are yet another example of the desire of the citizens of Badalona for Fabra's recognition, the respect his work enjoys and the memory that Pompeu Fabra left the city.
With the expansion of subway line 2 (L2) to Badalona and the redesign of the main square, where the subway exits are located, a large part of the Badalonian population reaffirmed the will to honor Fabra by providing both the U -Bahn station as well as the new main square of the community were named after him.
Due to the cooperation of the institutions, but especially also due to social pressure, the subway station and the square are now called “Pompeu Fabra”. Other cities also dedicate public to the linguist
Places such as the town of Sabadell with a square or the town of Palafrugell with a street named after Fabra.
Nowadays there is a plaque placed by Badalona Town Hall in 2010, commemorating Fabra's last residence in the city. On the house in Badalona, where Fabra spent the last years of his life, there has been a plaque of the Badalona government since 2010.
The Institute for Catalan Studies devoted Fabra as one of the seven founders of its linguistic department in 1911 to projects and cultural spaces. There is, for example, the Espai Pompeu Fabra collection, which contains a selection of materials that come from the institute itself and are related to Fabra. They document Fabra's connection to the facility and his valuable contributions to the Catalan language. Another collection is the Fons Pompeu Fabra by Jordi Mir, which consists of 1,535 printed documents. All this material is cataloged and managed in the Institute for Catalan Studies.
Works (selection)
- Contribució a la gramàtica de la llengua catalana (1898)
- Gramática de la lengua catalana (1912)
- Normes ortogràfiques (1913)
- Gramàtica Catalana (1918)
- Diccionari general de la llengua catalana (1932)
- Miscel lània Fabra (1943)
-
Obres completes , 9 vols., Barcelona / València / Palma 2005–2013
- 1. Gramàtiques de 1891, 1898, 1912
- 2. Sil • labari. Gramàtiques de 1918 (curs mitjà), 1928, 1929, 1941. Cursos orals
- 3. Articles erudits. Gramàtiques francesa i anglesa
- 4. Obra ortogràfica. Manuals divulgatius (1925–1926)
- 5. Diccionari general de la llengua catalana
- 6. Gramàtiques de 1918-1933, 1956, 1946. Traduccions de teatre
- 7. Converses filològiques
- 8. Epistolari; Curs de llengua catalana per correspondència
- 9. Textos i materials. Cronologia general. Recepió de l'obra i la figura
Web links
- Pompeu Fabra i Poch at L'Enciclopèdia Catalana (English)
- Biographical portrait of Pompeu Fabras by Josep Pla (from Homenots ) at lletres.net (Catalan)
Individual evidence
- ↑ El Catalán, lengua de Europa . Generalitat de Catalunya - Departament de Cultura / Govern de les Illes Balears - Conselleria d'Educació i Cultura, Barcelona 2001, ISBN 84-393-5553-X , p. 13 (Fabra i Poch describes this publication of the Catalan and Balearic regional governments as "[...] inspirador y principal impulsor de la codificación ortográfica y gramatical de la lengua catalana.").
- ↑ Ramon Pla i Arxé: "L'Avenç: la modernització de la cultura catalana". In: UOC. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, accessed December 5, 2018 (Catalan).
- ^ Josep Massot i Muntaner: Antoni M. Alcover i la llengua catalana. L'Abadia de Montserrat, 1983, ISBN 84-7202-745-7 , pp. 153 .
- ^ Antoni Bassas: «“ Gracies Fabra, i vetlla'ns des de Prada ”». Retrieved February 17, 2018 (Catalan).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fabra i Poch, Pompeu |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fabra, Pompeu |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish philologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 20, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gràcia, today Barcelona |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 25, 1948 |
| Place of death | Prades |