Languages in Mallorca
The languages in Mallorca are shaped by very different historical and political influences.
Both standard Catalan and the Majorcan dialect ( Mallorquí ) as well as Spanish are spoken by the locals in Mallorca today.
The Mallorcan dialect is based on the Catalan language, which after decades of oppression by Franco has now become an official language with equal rights and once again determines public life. During the period of oppression, not only did all of Mallorca's residents have to learn Spanish, but attempts were also made to displace the minority languages entirely. The current language situation is a consequence of this policy.
history
Catalan has been the island's language since the reconquest of Mallorca in the 13th century. However, Castilian Spanish was established as the official Spanish language at the beginning of the 18th century , and in 1716 it was legally established as the language of instruction.
The 18th century is therefore considered to be the lowest point of the Catalan language. It was not until the 19th century that Catalan experienced a new boom, until the public use of Catalan was again (more or less) banned after the Spanish Civil War . Franco, who wanted a unified, centralized Spain, suppressed all languages except Spanish.
The consequences of this policy can still be felt today. Most Mallorcans have a command of Spanish, but mostly use Mallorcan among themselves, which in its spoken form (depending on the region) deviates from the Catalan standard. To this day, many Mallorcans find it a matter of course to use Spanish on official occasions, but also towards foreigners. Some of them can speak and understand the Majorcan dialect, but do not have a command of the written Catalan language, since under Franco it was only possible to pass the language on orally in families.
With the 1978 constitution, Spanish is the official and state language of the entire state, but Catalan enjoys the status of an official language with equal rights as a regional language. All squares, streets, places etc. on Mallorca were given their original names back then. So Bañalbufar became Banyalbufar again , cuevas (caves) became coves again , and the port of Puerto became a port again .
Speech situation for the vacationer
The mainland Spaniards who have come to Mallorca in recent decades with the tourism boom mostly only speak Spanish, the long-term tourists (roughly 10% of the population) of course their own mother tongue and often some Spanish, standard Catalan or the Mallorcan dialect. German and English are spoken as foreign languages, especially in the tourist centers and increasingly by the people working in tourism.
See also
literature
- Sandra Herling: Catalan and Castilian in the Balearic Islands . University Press Winter, Heidelberg 2008.
- Hans-Ingo Radatz: gibberish . Mallorcan word for word. 4th edition. Reise Know-How Verlag Peter Rump, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 3-89416-324-0 .
- Hans-Ingo Radatz: The Mallorcan: spoken Catalan on Mallorca . Descriptive, typological and sociolinguistic aspects. In: Biblioteca Catalànica Germànica - Supplements to the magazine for Catalan studies . No. 8 . Shaker, Aachen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8322-8870-9 (plus habilitation thesis Vienna 2008).