Catalan_language

context: Catalan (/ˈkætəlæn/; autonym: català [kətəˈla] or [kataˈla]) is a Romance language named for its origins in Catalonia, in what is northeastern Spain and adjoining parts of France. It is the national and only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia (where the language is known as Valencian, and there exist regional standards). It also has semi-official status in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of Sardinia. It is also spoken with no official recognition in parts of the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon (La Franja) and Murcia (Carche), and in the historic French region of Roussillon/Northern Catalonia, roughly equivalent to the department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
qas: answers: text: Catalonia
question: What place is Catalan named for?

answers: text: Romance language
question: What type of language is Catalan?

answers: text: Valencian
question: What is Catalan called in Valencia?

answers: text: Andorra
question: Where is Catalan the only official language?

context: According to the Statistical Institute of Catalonia in 2008 the Catalan language is the second most commonly used in Catalonia, after Spanish, as a native or self-defining language. The Generalitat of Catalunya spends part of its annual budget on the promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories.
qas: answers: text: Catalan
question: What is the second most often spoken language is Catalonia?

answers: text: Spanish
question: What is the most used language in Catalonia?

answers: text: native
question: What is the type designation of Catalan in Catalonia?

answers: text: The Generalitat of Catalunya
question: What group spends money to promote the language?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What language is promoted in Catalonia?

context: Catalan evolved from Vulgar Latin around the eastern Pyrenees in the 9th century. During the Low Middle Ages it saw a golden age as the literary and dominant language of the Crown of Aragon, and was widely used all over the Mediterranean. The union of Aragon with the other territories of Spain in 1479 marked the start of the decline of the language. In 1659 Spain ceded Northern Catalonia to France, and Catalan was banned in both states in the early 18th century. 19th-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, which culminated in the 1913 orthographic standardization, and the officialization of the language during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–39). However, the Francoist dictatorship (1939–75) banned the language again.
qas: answers: text: Vulgar Latin
question: From what language did Catalan come?

answers: text: eastern Pyrenees
question: In what area did Catalan develop?

answers: text: 9th century
question: When did Catalan develop in the Eastern Pyrenees?

answers: text: Low Middle Ages
question: When was Catalan's Golden Age as a dominant language?

answers: text: 1479
question: What year started the decline of Catalan as a main language?

context: Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been recognized as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media, all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. There is no parallel in Europe of such a large, bilingual, non-state speech community.
qas: answers: text: Spanish transition to democracy
question: What happened in 1975-1982?

answers: text: increased prestige
question: What has this official language state done for Catalan?

answers: text: Europe
question: Where is there nothing like this non-state speech community?

answers: text: mass media
question: Besides being the official language and language of education, what other group uses Catalan?

context: Catalan dialects are relatively uniform, and are mutually intelligible. They are divided into two blocks, Eastern and Western, differing mostly in pronunciation. The terms "Catalan" and "Valencian" (respectively used in Catalonia and the Valencian Community) are two different varieties of the same language. There are two institutions regulating the two standard varieties, the Institute of Catalan Studies in Catalonia and the Valencian Academy of the Language in Valencia.
qas: answers: text: Eastern and Western
question: What is the division of Catalan dialects?

answers: text: pronunciation
question: What is the basic difference between the dialects?

answers: text: different varieties
question: What is the differenctiation between Catalan and Valencian?

answers: text: the same language
question: What are Catalan and Valencian assumed to be?

answers: text: two standard varieties
question: What are Catalan and Valencian considered to be in the language?

context: Catalan shares many traits with its neighboring Romance languages. However, despite being mostly situated in the Iberian Peninsula, Catalan differs more from Iberian Romance (such as Spanish and Portuguese) in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar than from Gallo-Romance (Occitan, French, Gallo-Italic languages, etc.). These similarities are most notable with Occitan.
qas: answers: text: many traits
question: What does Catalan have in common with other Romance languages in the same area?

answers: text: Iberian Peninsula
question: Where is Catalonia located?

answers: text: Spanish and Portuguese
question: What other Iberian Romance languages are found in this area?

answers: text: pronunciation
question: Besides vocabulary and grammar, what other diffinence is there from other similar area languages?

answers: text: Gallo-Romance
question: What are these similar Latin derived languages called?

context: Catalan has an inflectional grammar, with two genders (masculine, feminine), and two numbers (singular, plural). Pronouns are also inflected for case, animacy[citation needed] and politeness, and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and gender. In terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters, in contrast with many other Romance languages.
qas: answers: text: two
question: How many genders does Catalan have?

answers: text: singular, plural
question: What numbers does Catalan have?

answers: text: inflectional
question: What style of grammar does Catalan have?

answers: text: consonants
question: What is used in Catalan as word endings that is different from other similar Romance languages? 

context: The word Catalan derives from the territory of Catalonia, itself of disputed etymology. The main theory suggests that Catalunya (Latin Gathia Launia) derives from the name Gothia or Gauthia ("Land of the Goths"), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Catalonia theoretically derived.
qas: answers: text: Catalonia
question: What is Catalan the derivitive of?

answers: text: Gathia Launia
question: What is the Latin for Calalunya?

answers: text: March of Gothia
question: Where did the Catalan  people originate?

answers: text: Gothia
question: What is the root word from which Catalonia comes?

context: In English, the term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as Catelaner, followed in the 15th century as Catellain (from French). It is attested a language name since at least 1652. Catalan can be pronounced as /ˈkætəlæn/, /kætəˈlæn/ or /ˈkætələn/.
qas: answers: text: mid 14th century
question: When did the reference Catelaner first appear?

answers: text: Catellain
question: What is a Catalan person called in the 15th century?

answers: text: French
question: What language is the source of the term Catellain?

answers: text: English
question: What is the language source of the term Catelaner?

answers: text: 1652
question: Since what year has this term been used?

context: The endonym is pronounced /kə.təˈɫa/ in the Eastern Catalan dialects, and /ka.taˈɫa/ in the Western dialects. In the Valencian Community, the term valencià (/va.len.siˈa/) is frequently used instead. The names "Catalan" and "Valencian" are two names for the same language. See also status of Valencian below.
qas: answers: text: Valencian Community
question: Where is Valencia used instead of Catalan?

answers: text: the same language
question: What are Catalan and Valencian the names for?

answers: text: dialects
question: What affect does  different pronunciations in the two areas of Catalan speakers produce?

context: By the 9th century, Catalan had evolved from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern end of the Pyrenees, as well as the territories of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis to the south. From the 8th century onwards the Catalan counts extended their territory southwards and westwards at the expense of the Muslims, bringing their language with them. This process was given definitive impetus with the separation of the County of Barcelona from the Carolingian Empire in 988.
qas: answers: text: Vulgar Latin
question: What language did Catalan descend from?

answers: text: 9th century
question: When had Catalan covered the eastern end of the Pyrenees?

answers: text: Hispania Tarraconensis
question: Besides the Pyrenees, what area had Catalan covered by the 9th century?

answers: text: Catalan counts
question: Who broadened their territory and the use of Catalan in the 8th century?

answers: text: 988
question: When did the County of Barcelona separate from the Carolengian Empire?

context: In the 11th century, documents written in macaronic Latin begin to show Catalan elements, with texts written almost completely in Romance appearing by 1080. Old Catalan shared many features with Gallo-Romance, diverging from Old Occitan between the 11th and 14th centuries.
qas: answers: text: 11th century
question: When did macaronic Latin start showing signs of Catalan?

answers: text: by 1080
question: When did texts begin to appear solely in Romance?

answers: text: Gallo-Romance
question: To what language did Catalan display similarities?

answers: text: Old Occitan
question: What Gallo-Romance language did Old Catalan separate from?

context: During the 11th and 12th centuries the Catalan rulers expanded up to north of the Ebro river, and in the 13th century they conquered the Land of Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The city of Alghero in Sardinia was repopulated with Catalan speakers in the 14th century. The language also reached Murcia, which became Spanish-speaking in the 15th century.
qas: answers: text: 11th and 12th centuries
question: When did Catalan rulers broaden their territory to north of the Ebro River?

answers: text: 13th century
question: When did the Catalan rulers take over Valencia and the Balearic Islands?

answers: text: 14th century
question: When Catalan reach Sardinia?

answers: text: Murcia
question: Where did the Catalan language reach in the 15th century?

answers: text: 15th century
question: When did Murcia become Spanish speaking?

context: In the Low Middle Ages, Catalan went through a golden age, reaching a peak of maturity and cultural richness. Examples include the work of Majorcan polymath Ramon Llull (1232–1315), the Four Great Chronicles (13th–14th centuries), and the Valencian school of poetry culminating in Ausiàs March (1397–1459). By the 15th century, the city of Valencia had become the sociocultural center of the Crown of Aragon, and Catalan was present all over the Mediterranean world. During this period, the Royal Chancery propagated a highly standardized language. Catalan was widely used as an official language in Sicily until the 15th century, and in Sardinia until the 17th. During this period, the language was what Costa Carreras terms "one of the 'great languages' of medieval Europe".
qas: answers: text: Low Middle Ages
question: When was the golden age of Catalan?

answers: text: city of Valencia
question: Where was the center of the Crown of Aragon?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What was the official language of Sicily until the 15th century?

answers: text: 17th
question: Until what century was Catalan used as the official language in Sardinia?

answers: text: Costa Carreras
question: Who called Catalan one of the great languages?

context: Martorell's outstanding novel of chivalry Tirant lo Blanc (1490) shows a transition from Medieval to Renaissance values, something that can also be seen in Metge's work. The first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in Catalan.
qas: answers: text: Martorell
question: Who wrote Tirant lo Blanc?

answers: text: chivalry
question: What kind of tale was Tirant lo Blanc?

answers: text: Renaissance values
question: To what does Matorell's work show a transition?

answers: text: Metge
question: What other writer showed a transition to the Renaissance? 

answers: text: movable type
question: In what was the first Catalan book printed on the Iberian Peninsula?

context: With the union of the crowns of Castille and Aragon (1479), the use of Spanish gradually became more prestigious. Starting in the 16th century, Catalan literature experienced a decline, the language came under the influence of Spanish, and the urban and literary classes became bilingual.
qas: answers: text: 1479
question: When were Castille and Aragon united?

answers: text: Spanish
question: After 1479, what language became more valued?

answers: text: 16th century
question: When did Catalan literature begin a downward trend?

answers: text: Spanish
question: What language began to supersede Catalan?

answers: text: urban and literary
question: At this time what classes became bilingual?

context: With the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), Spain ceded the northern part of Catalonia to France, and soon thereafter the local Catalan varieties came under the influence of French, which in 1700 became the sole official language of the region.
qas: answers: text: 1659
question: When was the Treaty of the Pyrenees?

answers: text: northern part
question: What part of Catalonia did Spain give to France?

answers: text: Treaty of the Pyrenees
question: Why did Spain give part of Catalonia to France?

answers: text: French
question: What language began to influence Catalan?

answers: text: 1700
question: When did French become the official language of that part of Catalonia?

context: Shortly after the French Revolution (1789), the French First Republic prohibited official use of, and enacted discriminating policies against, the nonstandard languages of France (patois), such as Catalan, Alsatian, Breton, Occitan, Flemish, and Basque.
qas: answers: text: 1789
question: When did France outlaw Catalan?

answers: text: French Revolution
question: What upheaval had occurred in France just before the prohibition of patois?

answers: text: Occitan, Flemish, and Basque
question: Besides Catalan, Alsatian, and Breton, what other patois were banned?

answers: text: patois
question: What are French non standard languages called?

context: Following the French capture of Algeria (1833), that region saw several waves of Catalan-speaking settlers. People from the Spanish Alacant province settled around Oran, whereas Algiers received immigration from Northern Catalonia and Minorca. Their speech was known as patuet. By 1911, the number of Catalan speakers was around 100,000. After the declaration of independence of Algeria in 1962, almost all the Catalan speakers fled to Northern Catalonia (as Pieds-Noirs) or Alacant.
qas: answers: text: 1833
question: When did the French obtain Algeria?

answers: text: Northern Catalonia and Minorca
question: Where did the Algiers immigrants come from?

answers: text: patuet
question: What was the Catalan immigrant's speech called?

answers: text: around 100,000
question: How many Catalan speakers lived in Algiers by 1911?

answers: text: 1962
question: When did most Catalan speakers leave northern Catalonia?

context: Nowadays, France only recognizes French as an official language. Nevertheless, on 10 December 2007, the General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales officially recognized Catalan as one of the languages of the department and seeks to further promote it in public life and education.
qas: answers: text: French
question: What is the official language of France?

answers: text: in public life and education
question: Where does the General Council want to promote Catalan?

answers: text: General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales
question: Who recognized Catalan as a departmental language?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What language does the General Council want to promote?

context: The decline of Catalan continued in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Catalan defeat in the War of Spanish Succession (1714) initiated a series of measures imposing the use of Spanish in legal documentation.
qas: answers: text: Catalan
question: What declined in the 16th and 17th centuries?

answers: text: War of Spanish Succession
question: Where did Catalan experience defeat?

answers: text: 1714
question: When was the war of Spanish Succession?

answers: text: Spanish
question: What did the war in 1714 mandate as the proper language in documentation?

answers: text: Catalan
question: Who was defeated in the War of Spanish Succession?

context: In parallel, however, the 19th century saw a Catalan literary revival (Renaixença), which has continued up to the present day. This period starts with Aribau's Ode to the Homeland (1833); followed in the second half of the 19th century, and the early 20th by the work of Verdaguer (poetry), Oller (realist novel), and Guimerà (drama).
qas: answers: text: revival
question: What did the 19th century produce in Catalan literature?

answers: text: Catalan literary revival
question: What is Renaixenca?

answers: text: 1833
question: When did Aribau write Ode to the Homeland?

answers: text: 1833
question: When did this revival period begin?

answers: text: early 20th
question: In what century did Vedaguer, Oller, and Guimera wrte?

context: Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been institutionalizated as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media; all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. In Catalonia, there is no parallel of a large, bilingual, European, non-state speech community. The teaching of Catalan is mandatory in all schools, but it is possible to use Spanish for studying in the public education system of Catalonia in two situations, if the teacher assigned to a class chooses to use Spanish, or during the learning process of one or some recently arrived students.  There is also some intergenerational shift towards Catalan.
qas: answers: text: Catalan
question: Since the transition what language has been proclaimed mandatory in schools?

answers: text: in all schools
question: Where is the teaching of Catalan mandatory?

answers: text: Catalan
question: Since the transition, what is the official language?

answers: text: mass media
question: Besides as an official  and an educational language, where else is Catalan the prefered language?

context: In Andorra, Catalan has always been the sole official language. Since the promulgation of the 1993 constitution, several Andorranization policies have been enforced, like Catalan medium education.
qas: answers: text: Andorra
question: Where has Catalan always been the only language?

answers: text: 1993
question: When was the Andorran constitution produced?

answers: text: Andorranization policies
question: What policies are the Andorrans enforcing?

answers: text: Catalan medium education
question: What is an Andorran school policy?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What is the only language of Andorra?

context: On the other hand, there are several language shift processes currently taking place. In Northern Catalonia, Catalan has followed the same trend as the other minority languages of France, with most of its native speakers being 60 or older (as of 2004). Catalan is studied as a foreign language by 30% of the primary education students, and by 15% of the secondary. The cultural association La Bressola promotes a network of community-run schools engaged in Catalan language immersion programs.
qas: answers: text: language shift processes
question: What kind of  shifts are taking place in Catalan speaking areas?

answers: text: 60 or older
question: How old are most of the native language speakers in northern Catalonia?

answers: text: 2004
question: When was it determined that most native speakers in France are 60 or older?

answers: text: 30%
question: What percentage of primary students study Catalan as a foreign language?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What do 15% of secondary school students study as a foreign language?

context: In the Alicante province Catalan is being replaced by Spanish, and in Alghero by Italian. There are also well ingrained diglossic attitudes against Catalan in the Valencian Community, Ibiza, and to a lesser extent, in the rest of the Balearic islands.
qas: answers: text: Spanish
question: What is Catalan being supplanted by in Alicante?

answers: text: Italian
question: What is Catalan being replaced by in Alghero?

answers: text: ingrained diglossic attitudes
question: What are the anti-Catalan attitudes in Valencia and Ibiza?

answers: text: diglossic attitudes
question: What is another expression for bilingual attitudes?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What is Spanish replacing in Alicante province?

context: The ascription of Catalan to the Occitano-Romance branch of Gallo-Romance languages is not shared by all linguists and philologists, particularly among Spanish ones, such as Ramón Menéndez Pidal.
qas: answers: text: Occitano-Romance
question: To what branch of Gallo-Romance languages is Catalan attributed?

answers: text: linguists
question: Who disagrees with putting Catalan in the Occitano-Romance branch?

answers: text: Spanish ones
question: What kind of linguists do not like placing Catalan in the Occitano-Romance category?

context: Catalan bears varying degrees of similarity to the linguistic varieties subsumed under the cover term Occitan language (see also differences between Occitan and Catalan and Gallo-Romance languages). Thus, as it should be expected from closely related languages, Catalan today shares many traits with other Romance languages.
qas: answers: text: Occitan language
question: What is Catalan a variety of?

answers: text: varying degrees
question: What are the degrees of similarity with Occitan and Gallo-Romance languages?

answers: text: differences
question: What are there besides degrees of similarity with Occitan?

answers: text: many traits
question: What does Catalan share with other Romance languages?

answers: text: closely related
question: Why does Catalan share many traits with other Romance languages?

context: Catalan shares many traits with the other neighboring Romance languages (Italian, Sardinian, Occitan, and Spanish). However, despite being mostly situated in the Iberian Peninsula, Catalan has marked differences with the Ibero-Romance group (Spanish and Portuguese) in terms of pronunciation, grammar, and especially vocabulary; showing instead its closest affinity with Occitan and to a lesser extent Gallo-Romance (French, Franco-Provençal, Gallo-Italian).
qas: answers: text: many traits
question: What does Catalan share with nearby Romance languages?

answers: text: Iberian Peninsula
question: Where is the Catalan language mostly located?

answers: text: Ibero-Romance group
question: In pronunciation what is Catalan different from?

answers: text: Spanish and Portuguese
question: What are examples of Ibero-Romance languages?

answers: text: Occitan
question: To what group is Catalan most closely related?

context: According to Ethnologue, the lexical similarity between Catalan and other Romance languages is: 87% with Italian; 85% with Portuguese; 80% with Spanish; 76% with Ladin; 75% with Sardinian; and 73% with Romanian.
qas: answers: text: 87%
question: What is the similarity between Catalan and Italian?

answers: text: 85%
question: Hoe similar is Catalan to Portuguese?

answers: text: 80%
question: What is the percent relationship of Catalan to Spanish?

answers: text: 76%
question: What is the relationship similarity to Ladin?

answers: text: 75%
question: How related is Sardinian to Catalan?

context: During much of its history, and especially during the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), the Catalan language has often been degraded as a mere dialect of Spanish. This view, based on political and ideological considerations, has no linguistic validity. Spanish and Catalan have important differences in their sound systems, lexicon, and grammatical features, placing the language in a number of respects closer to Occitan (and French). 
qas: answers: text: dialect of Spanish
question: What has Catalan often been considered?

answers: text: Francoist
question: During what dictatorship was Catalan considered a dialect?

context: There is evidence that, at least from the a.d. 2nd century, the vocabulary and phonology of Roman Tarraconensis was different from the rest of Roman Hispania. Differentiation has arisen generally because Spanish, Asturian, and Galician-Portuguese share certain peripheral archaisms (Spanish hervir, Asturian/Portuguese ferver vs. Catalan bullir, Occitan bolir "to boil") and innovatory regionalisms (Sp novillo, Ast nuviellu vs. Cat torell, Oc taurèl "bullock"), while Catalan has a shared history with the Western Romance innovative core, especially Occitan.
qas: answers: text: rest of Roman Hispania
question: What area was Roman Tarraconensis language different from?

answers: text: Occitan
question: What language branch did Catalan share a history with?

answers: text: Western Romance
question: What is Occitan a branch of?

context: The Germanic superstrate has had different outcomes in Spanish and Catalan. For example, Catalan fang "mud" and rostir "to roast", of Germanic origin, contrast with Spanish lodo and asar, of Latin origin; whereas Catalan filosa "spinning wheel" and pols "temple", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish rueca and sien, of Germanic origin.
qas: answers: text: Germanic
question: What is the origin of language elements found in Catalan and not in Spanish?

answers: text: Latin origin
question: What is the origin of some Spanish words?

answers: text: Germanic superstrate
question: What has different results in Spanish and Catalan?

context: The same happens with Arabic loanwords. Thus, Catalan alfàbia "large earthenware jar" and rajola "tile", of Arabic origin, contrast with Spanish tinaja and teja, of Latin origin; whereas Catalan oli "oil" and oliva "olive", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish aceite and aceituna. However, the Arabic element in Spanish is generally much more prevalent.
qas: answers: text: Arabic element
question: What element in Spanish is more prominent than in Catalan?

answers: text: Arabic loanwords
question: What language loanwords are found in both Spanish and Catalan?

answers: text: Spanish
question: In which language is the Arabic element stand out more?

answers: text: of Arabic origin
question: Where does the Catalan word alfabia come from?

answers: text: Latin origin
question: What is the origin of the Spanish word teja?

context: Situated between two large linguistic blocks (Ibero-Romance and Gallo-Romance), Catalan has many unique lexical choices, such as enyorar "to miss somebody", apaivagar "to calm down somebody", or rebutjar "reject".
qas: answers: text: Ibero-Romance and Gallo-Romance
question: What are the linguistic blocks Catalan lies between?

answers: text: unique
question: What kind of linguistic choices does Catalan have?

answers: text: lexical
question: What type of unique choices does Catalan have?

answers: text: enyorar
question: What is the Catalan to miss somebody?

context: These territories are sometimes referred to as the Països Catalans (Catalan Countries), a denomination based on cultural affinity and common heritage, that has also had a subsequent political interpretation but no official status. Various interpretations of the term may include some or all of these regions.
qas: answers: text: Catalan Countries
question: What are the Paisos Catalans

answers: text: cultural affinity and common heritage
question: What is that determination based on?

answers: text: no official status
question: What status does Catalan Countries have?

answers: text: Various interpretations
question: What is the interpretation of the term?

answers: text: Països Catalans
question: What is the term for Catalan Countries?

context: In contrast with other Romance languages, Catalan has many monosyllabic words; and those ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters. Also, Catalan has final obstruent devoicing, thus featuring many couplets like amic "(male friend") vs. amiga ("female friend").
qas: answers: text: many monosyllabic words
question: How is Catalan different from other Romance languages?

answers: text: consonant clusters
question: What other type of endings do Catalan words have?

answers: text: obstruent
question: What kind of final devoicing does the language have?

answers: text: couplets
question: What do many words feature?

context: Central Catalan is considered the standard pronunciation of the language. The descriptions below are mostly for this variety. For the differences in pronunciation of the different dialects, see the section pronunciation of dialects in this article.
qas: answers: text: Central Catalan
question: What is the standard pronunciation of Catalan?

answers: text: standard pronunciation
question: What is Central Catalan?

answers: text: standard pronunciation
question: What are the descriptions for?

answers: text: section pronunciation
question: Where do you look for the pronunciation of different dialects?

context: Catalan has inherited the typical vowel system of Vulgar Latin, with seven stressed phonemes: /a ɛ e i ɔ o u/, a common feature in Western Romance, except Spanish. Balearic has also instances of stressed /ə/. Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction, and the incidence of the pair /ɛ e/.
qas: answers: text: Vulgar Latin
question: Where does Catalan get its vowel system?

answers: text: seven
question: How many stressed phenoms are there?

answers: text: Western Romance
question: Where is this a common feature?

answers: text: Spanish
question: What is the exception to this common characteristic?

answers: text: Dialects
question: What differs in vowel reduction?

context: In Central Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to three: /a e ɛ/ > [ə]; /o ɔ u/ > [u]; /i/ remains distinct. The other dialects have different vowel reduction processes (see the section pronunciation of dialects in this article).
qas: answers: text: three
question: How many  reduced unstressed are vowels are there in Central Catalan?

answers: text: /i/
question: What vowel stays distinct?

answers: text: different
question: What kind of vowel processes do other dialects have?

answers: text: In Central Catalan
question: Where do unstressed vowels reduce to three?

answers: text: section pronunciation
question: Where do you find dialectic vowel reductions?

context: Catalan sociolinguistics studies the situation of Catalan in the world and the different varieties that this language presents. It is a subdiscipline of Catalan philology and other affine studies and has as an objective to analyse the relation between the Catalan language, the speakers and the close reality (including the one of other languages in contact).
qas: answers: text: Catalan sociolinguistics
question: What field studies the placement of Catalan in the world?

answers: text: Catalan sociolinguistics
question: What is the study of the differenet varieties of Catalan?

answers: text: Catalan philology
question: What is this a subdiscipline of?

answers: text: analyse the relation
question: What does it want to do with the language, the speakers, and reality?

answers: text: other languages in contact
question: What outside affects does this study include?

context: The dialects of the Catalan language feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages; both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology. Mutual intelligibility between dialects is very high, estimates ranging from 90% to 95%. The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.
qas: answers: text: uniformity
question: What do the dialects of Catalan feature?

answers: text: other Romance languages
question: In comparison to what are the dialects uniform?

answers: text: intelligibility
question: What is high among dialects?

answers: text: 90% to 95%
question: What is the percentage of intelligibility between dialects?

answers: text: Alguerese
question: What dialect is the exception to intelligibility?

context: Catalan is split in two major dialectal blocks: Eastern Catalan, and Western Catalan. The main difference lies in the treatment of unstressed a and e; which have merged to /ə/ in Eastern dialects, but which remain distinct as /a/ and /e/ in Western dialects. There are a few other differences in pronunciation, verbal morphology, and vocabulary.
qas: answers: text: treatment of unstressed a and e
question: What is the major difference between the two blocks?

answers: text: distinct
question: How are a and e in western dialects?

answers: text: merged
question: What have a and e done in eastern dialects?

context: Western Catalan comprises the two dialects of Northwestern Catalan and Valencian; the Eastern block comprises four dialects: Central Catalan, Balearic, Rossellonese, and Alguerese. Each dialect can be further subdivided in several subdialects.
qas: answers: text: Northwestern Catalan and Valencian
question: What two dialects does Western Catalan include?

answers: text: four
question: How many dialects are in the eastern group?

answers: text: Eastern block
question: To what division does Central Catalan belong?

answers: text: subdialects
question: What other divisions can be made of dialects?

answers: text: Western Catalan
question: What block does Northwestern Catalan and Valencian belong to?

context: Central Catalan is considered the standard pronunciation of the language and has the highest number of speakers. It is spoken in the densely populated regions of the Barcelona province, the eastern half of the province of Tarragona, and most of the province of Girona.
qas: answers: text: Central Catalan
question: What comprises the standard pronunciation of Catalan?

answers: text: Central Catalan
question: Where are the most speakers found?

answers: text: Barcelona province
question: In what densely populated area is it spoken?

answers: text: eastern half
question: What part of the province of Tarragona is Central Catalan spoken?

context: Catalan has inherited the typical vowel system of Vulgar Latin, with seven stressed phonemes: /a ɛ e i ɔ o u/, a common feature in Western Romance, except Spanish. Balearic has also instances of stressed /ə/. Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction, and the incidence of the pair /ɛ e/.
qas: answers: text: Vulgar Latin
question: What is the vowel system of Catalan?

answers: text: seven
question: How many stressed phonemes are there in Catalan?

answers: text: Western Romance
question: Where is this system common?

answers: text: Spanish
question: What language is the exception?

answers: text: Dialects
question: What language form differs in the amount of vowel reduction?

context: In Eastern Catalan (except Majorcan), unstressed vowels reduce to three: /a e ɛ/ > [ə]; /o ɔ u/ > [u]; /i/ remains distinct. There are a few instances of unreduced [e], [o] in some words. Alguerese has lowered [ə] to [a].
qas: answers: text: Eastern Catalan
question: Where do unstressed vowels reduce to three?

answers: text: Majorcan
question: What is the exception to this reduction?

answers: text: /i/
question: Which vowel remains distinct?

context: In Majorcan, unstressed vowels reduce to four: /a e ɛ/ follow the Eastern Catalan reduction pattern; however /o ɔ/ reduce to [o], with /u/ remaining distinct, as in Western Catalan.
qas: answers: text: Majorcan
question: In what language do unstressed vowels reduce to four?

answers: text: Eastern Catalan
question: What reduction pattern do some vowels follow?

answers: text: Western Catalan
question: What other pattern do other vowels follow?

answers: text: /u/
question: What letter remains distinct?

answers: text: Western Catalan
question: /u/ remaining distinct is like what form of Catalan?

context: In Western Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to five: /e ɛ/ > [e]; /o ɔ/ > [o]; /a u i/ remain distinct. This reduction pattern, inherited from Proto-Romance, is also found in Italian and Portuguese. Some Western dialects present further reduction or vowel harmony in some cases.
qas: answers: text: five
question: What do unstressed vowels reduce to in Western Catalan?

answers: text: /a u i/
question: Which letters remain distinct?

answers: text: Proto-Romance
question: Where did this pattern come from?

answers: text: Italian and Portuguese
question: In what other languages is this pattern found?

answers: text: further reduction
question: What do other Western dialects sometimes  offer?

context: Central, Western, and Balearic differ in the lexical incidence of stressed /e/ and /ɛ/. Usually, words with /ɛ/ in Central Catalan correspond to /ə/ in Balearic and /e/ in Western Catalan. Words with /e/ in Balearic almost always have /e/ in Central and Western Catalan as well.[vague] As a result, Central Catalan has a much higher incidence of /e/.
qas: answers: text: Balearic
question: What form has the same /e/ as Central and Western?

answers: text: /e/
question: What vowel does Central have a larger occurrence of?

answers: text: higher incidence
question: What is the result of /e/ being the same in Central,  Western and Belearic?

context: In verbs, 1st person present indicative desinence is -e (∅ in verbs of the 2nd and 3rd conjugation), or -o.
E.g. parle, tem, sent (Valencian); parlo, temo, sento (Northwestern). In verbs, 1st person present indicative desinence is -o, -i or ∅ in all conjugations.
E.g. parlo (Central), parl (Balearic), parli (Northern), ('I speak').
qas: answers: text: Valencian
question: What language is parle or tem ?

answers: text: Northwestern
question: What language  is parlo or temo ?

answers: text: Balearic
question: What language is parl?

answers: text: Northern
question: What language form is parli?

context: In nouns and adjectives, maintenance of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g. hòmens 'men', jóvens 'youth'. In nouns and adjectives, loss of /n/ of medieval plurals in proparoxytone words.
E.g. homes 'men', joves 'youth'.
qas: answers: text: nouns and adjectives
question: Where do you find medieval plurals?

answers: text: /n/
question: What letter is lost in some words?

answers: text: homes
question: When homens loses /n/, it becomes what word?

answers: text: joves
question: The medieval jovens becomes what what word?

answers: text: proparoxytone
question: What kind of plural words lose /n/?

context: Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices. Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually Central Catalan acts as an innovative element.
qas: answers: text: word choices
question: What do the two blocks of Catalan display differences in?

answers: text: as an archaism
question: How can you explain differences in the language groups?

answers: text: Central Catalan
question: What form is innovative?

answers: text: Eastern and Western
question: What are the two blocks of Catalan?

answers: text: lexical divergence
question: What does an archaism explain?

context: Standard Catalan, virtually accepted by all speakers, is mostly based on Eastern Catalan, which is the most widely used dialect. Nevertheless, the standards of Valencia and the Balearics admit alternative forms, mostly traditional ones, which are not current in eastern Catalonia.
qas: answers: text: Eastern Catalan
question: What is Standard based on?

answers: text: Standard Catalan
question: What form is excepted by most speakers?

answers: text: traditional ones
question: What language forms are not now used in eastern Catalonia?

context: The most notable difference between both standards is some tonic ⟨e⟩ accentuation, for instance: francès, anglès (IEC) – francés, anglés (AVL). Nevertheless, AVL's standard keeps the grave accent ⟨è⟩, without pronouncing this ⟨e⟩ as /ɛ/, in some words like: què ('what'), or València. Other divergences include the use of ⟨tl⟩ (AVL) in some words instead of ⟨tll⟩ like in ametla/ametlla ('almond'), espatla/espatlla ('back'), the use of elided demonstratives (este 'this', eixe 'that') in the same level as reinforced ones (aquest, aqueix) or the use of many verbal forms common in Valencian, and some of these common in the rest of Western Catalan too, like subjunctive mood or inchoative conjugation in -ix- at the same level as -eix- or the priority use of -e morpheme in 1st person singular in present indicative (-ar verbs): jo compre instead of jo compro ('I buy').
qas: answers: text: jo compre
question: What is jo compro changed to ?

answers: text: many verbal forms
question: What common Valencian forms are used?

answers: text: verbal forms
question: What forms are also common in the rest of Western Catalan?

context: In the Balearic Islands, IEC's standard is used but adapted for the Balearic dialect by the University of the Balearic Islands's philological section. In this way, for instance, IEC says it is correct writing cantam as much as cantem ('we sing') but the University says that the priority form in the Balearic Islands must be "cantam" in all fields. Another feature of the Balearic standard is the non-ending in the 1st person singular present indicative: jo compr ('I buy'), jo tem ('I fear'), jo dorm ('I sleep').
qas: answers: text: the Balearic Islands
question: Where is IEC's standard used?

answers: text: adapted for the Balearic dialect
question: How is the standard used there?

answers: text: non-ending
question: What is a first person singular  feature of the Balearic standard?

context: In Alghero, the IEC has adapted its standard to the Alguerese dialect. In this standard one can find, among other features: the definite article lo instead of el, special possessive pronouns and determinants la mia ('mine'), lo sou/la sua ('his/her'), lo tou/la tua ('yours'), and so on, the use of -v- /v/ in the imperfect tense in all conjugations: cantava, creixiva, llegiva; the use of many archaic words, usual words in Alguerese: manco instead of menys ('less'), calqui u instead of algú ('someone'), qual/quala instead of quin/quina ('which'), and so on; and the adaptation of weak pronouns.
qas: answers: text: Alghero
question: Where has the IEC adapted its standard to the Alguerese dialect?

answers: text: lo
question: What definite article is found rather than el?

answers: text: imperfect tense
question: What is -v- used for?

answers: text: Alguerese
question: What dialect employs many archaic words?

answers: text: weak pronouns
question: What type of pronouns has Alguerese adapted?

context: In 2011, the Aragonese government passed a decree for the establishment of a new language regulator of Catalan in La Franja (the so-called Catalan-speaking areas of Aragon). The new entity, designated as Acadèmia Aragonesa del Català, shall allow a facultative education in Catalan and a standardization of the Catalan language in La Franja.
qas: answers: text: La Franja
question: Where is the Catalan speaking part of Aragon?

answers: text: 2011
question: When did the government of Aragon  degree the establishment of a language regulator?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What language is the regulator meant to standardize?

answers: text: La Franja
question: Where is the language to be regulated located?

context: Valencian is classified as a Western dialect, along with the northwestern varieties spoken in Western Catalonia (provinces of Lleida and the western half of Tarragona). The various forms of Catalan and Valencian are mutually intelligible (ranging from 90% to 95%)
qas: answers: text: Western dialect
question: How is Valencian classified?

answers: text: northwestern varieties
question: What kind of Valencan is spoken in Western Catalonia?

answers: text: Western Catalonia
question: Where are the provinces of Lleida and Tarragona?

answers: text: Catalan and Valencian
question: What forms are mutually intelligible?

answers: text: 90% to 95%
question: What is the percentage of intelligibility between Catalan and Valencian?

context: Linguists, including Valencian scholars, deal with Catalan and Valencian as the same language. The official regulating body of the language of the Valencian Community, the Valencian Academy of Language (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, AVL) declares the linguistic unity between Valencian and Catalan varieties.
qas: answers: text: as the same language
question: How do linguists view Catalan and Valencian?

answers: text: as the same language
question: How do Valencian scholars view Catalan and Valencian?

answers: text: the Valencian Academy of Language
question: What is the official regulating body of  Valencian?

answers: text: Valencian Academy of Language
question: Who says that there is linguistic unity between Catalan and Valencian?

context: The AVL, created by the Valencian parliament, is in charge of dictating the official rules governing the use of Valencian, and its standard is based on the Norms of Castelló (Normes de Castelló). Currently, everyone who writes in Valencian uses this standard, except the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which uses for Valencian an independent standard.
qas: answers: text: Valencian parliament
question: Who established the AVL?

answers: text: use of Valencian
question: Over what does the AVL  make rules governing?

answers: text: Norms of Castelló
question: What is the AVL standard based on?

answers: text: everyone who writes
question: Who uses this standard?

answers: text: Royal Academy of Valencian Culture
question: Who is exempt from the standard and uses their own?

context: Despite the position of the official organizations, an opinion poll carried out between 2001 and 2004 showed that the majority of the Valencian people consider Valencian different from Catalan. This position is promoted by people who do not use Valencian regularly. Furthermore, the data indicates that younger generations educated in Valencian are much less likely to hold these views. A minority of Valencian scholars active in fields other than linguistics defends the position of the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture (Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana, RACV), which uses for Valencian a standard independent from Catalan.
qas: answers: text: different
question: What do most Valencian people think Valencian is in regards to Catalan?

answers: text: between 2001 and 2004
question: When was an opinion poll done concerning Valencian?

answers: text: younger generations
question: Who is less likely to believe that Catalan and Valencian are different?

answers: text: Royal Academy of Valencian Culture
question: Who uses a Valencian standard separate from Catalan?

answers: text: A minority
question: How many scholars outside of linguistics agree with the Royal Academy?

context: This clash of opinions has sparked much controversy. For example, during the drafting of the European Constitution in 2004, the Spanish government supplied the EU with translations of the text into Basque, Galician, Catalan, and Valencian, but the latter two were identical.
qas: answers: text: clash of opinions
question: What has produced a great deal of controversy?

answers: text: 2004
question: When did the EU create the European Constitution?

answers: text: Spanish government
question: Who gave the EU translations of the European Constitution?

context: Despite its relative lexical unity, the two dialectal blocks of Catalan (Eastern and Western) show some differences in word choices. Any lexical divergence within any of the two groups can be explained as an archaism. Also, usually Central Catalan acts as an innovative element.
qas: answers: text: as an archaism
question: As what can divergence in the groups be shown?

answers: text: as an innovative element
question: How does central Catalan behave with the groups?

answers: text: Eastern and Western
question: What are the two dialectical groups of Catalan?

answers: text: Catalan
question: What language has a lexical unity?

context: Literary Catalan allows the use of words from different dialects, except those of very restricted use. However, from the 19th century onwards, there is a tendency of favoring words of Northern dialects in detriment of others, even though nowadays there is a greater freedom of choice.
qas: answers: text: Literary Catalan
question: What can use words from different dialects?

answers: text: restricted use
question: What kind of words are excepted from literary use?

answers: text: 19th century
question: When did the preference of use of words from northern dialects begin?

answers: text: detriment of others
question: What affect did this favoring of northern dialects have on other dialects?

answers: text: greater freedom of choice
question: What kind of choice is now available in word choice?

context: Like other languages, Catalan has a large list of learned words from Greek and Latin. This process started very early, and one can find such examples in Ramon Llull's work. On the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Catalan had a number of Greco-Latin learned words much superior to other Romance languages, as it can be attested for example in Roís de Corella's writings.
qas: answers: text: Greek and Latin
question: Where does Catalan get a lot of its learned words?

answers: text: very early
question: When did the process of acquiring words from Latin and Greek begin?

answers: text: Ramon Llull
question: In whose work can you find examples of acquired words?

answers: text: fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
question: When did Catalan have a greater number of Greco-Latin words than other Romance languages?

answers: text: Roís de Corella
question: Whose writings are a good example of learned words in Catalan?

context: The process of morphological derivation in Catalan follows the same principles as the other Romance languages, where agglutination is common. Many times, several affixes are appended to a preexisting lexeme, and some sound alternations can occur, for example elèctric [əˈlɛktrik] ("electrical") vs. electricitat [ələktrisiˈtat]. Prefixes are usually appended to verbs, for as in preveure ("foresee").
qas: answers: text: agglutination
question: What is common in Romance languages?

answers: text: morphological
question: What kind of derivation in Catalan is similar to other languages?

answers: text: Prefixes
question: What word additive is usually added to verbs?

answers: text: sound alternations
question: What other word changes can occur in derivations?

answers: text: affixes
question: What word supplement  can be put on an already existing word base?

context: In gender inflection, the most notable feature is (compared to Portuguese, Spanish or Italian), the loss of the typical masculine suffix -o. Thus, the alternance of -o/-a, has been replaced by ø/-a. There are only a few exceptions, like minso/minsa ("scarce"). Many not completely predictable morphological alternations may occur, such as:
qas: answers: text: -o
question: What is the usual masculine suffix?

context: Catalan has few suppletive couplets, like Italian and Spanish, and unlike French. Thus, Catalan has noi/noia ("boy"/"girl") and gall/gallina ("cock"/"hen"), whereas French has garçon/fille and coq/poule.
qas: answers: text: suppletive couplets
question: What kind of words does Catalan have few of?

answers: text: French
question: What languages have more couplets than Catalan?

answers: text: Italian and Spanish
question: What languages are  similar to Catalan in numbers of  couplets?

answers: text: French
question: What language is not like Catalan in suppletive couplets?

context: There is a tendency to abandon traditionally gender-invariable adjectives in favour of marked ones, something prevalent in Occitan and French. Thus, one can find bullent/bullenta ("boiling") in contrast with traditional bullent/bullent.
qas: answers: text: Occitan and French
question: What languages have a tendency to lose gender-invariable adjectives?

answers: text: bullent/bullenta
question: What is ab example of a gender marked adjective?

answers: text: bullent/bullenta
question: What would be the traditional form of a gender-invariable adjective?

context: As in the other Western Romance languages, the main plural expression is the suffix -s, which may create morphological alternations similar to the ones found in gender inflection, albeit more rarely. The most important one is the addition of -o- before certain consonant groups, a phonetic phenomenon that does not affect feminine forms: el pols/els polsos ("the pulse"/"the pulses") vs. la pols/les pols ("the dust"/"the dusts").
qas: answers: text: suffix -s
question: What is the usual way to make a plural?

answers: text: morphological alternations
question: What can the addition of the suffix -s produce?

answers: text: gender inflection
question: To what are these morphological changes similar?

answers: text: addition of -o-
question: What is an important plural alternation?

context: The inflection of determinatives is complex, specially because of the high number of elisions, but is similar to the neighboring languages. Catalan has more contractions of preposition + article than Spanish, like dels ("of + the [plural]"), but not as many as Italian (which has sul, col, nel, etc.).
qas: answers: text: complex
question: What does the large number of omissions  make the determinatives?

answers: text: inflection of determinatives
question: What is much like the neighboring languages?

answers: text: Spanish
question: What language does Catalan have more contractions than?

answers: text: Italian
question: Catalan has less contractions than what language?

answers: text: article
question: What type of word is added to the contraction of the preposition?

context: Central Catalan has abandoned almost completely unstressed possessives (mon, etc.) in favour of constructions of article + stressed forms (el meu, etc.), a feature shared with Italian.
qas: answers: text: unstressed possessives
question: What has Central Catalan mostly abandoned?

answers: text: Italian
question: What other language shares this type of construction?

answers: text: el meu
question: What is an example of an article +stressed forms?

answers: text: mon
question: What is an example of an unstressed possessive?

context: The morphology of Catalan personal pronouns is complex, specially in unstressed forms, which are numerous (13 distinct forms, compared to 11 in Spanish or 9 in Italian).  Features include the gender-neutral ho and the great degree of freedom when combining different unstressed pronouns (65 combinations).
qas: answers: text: 13 distinct forms
question: How many forms of personal pronouns are there in Catalan?

answers: text: 11
question: How many personal pronouns are there is Spanish?

answers: text: 9
question: What is the number of personal pronouns in Italian?

answers: text: 65
question: How many different combinations of unstressed pronouns are there?

context: Catalan pronouns exhibit T–V distinction, like all other Romance languages (and most European languages, but not Modern English). This feature implies the use of a different set of second person pronouns for formality.
qas: answers: text: all other Romance languages
question: What is this distinction similar to?

answers: text: English
question: What modern language does not have a T-Y distinction?

answers: text: formality
question: What does this imply the use an extra group of pronouns for?

context: This flexibility allows Catalan to use extraposition extensively, much more than French or Spanish. Thus, Catalan can have m'hi recomanaren ("they recommended me to him"), whereas in French one must say ils m'ont recommandé à lui, and Spanish me recomendaron a él. This allows the placement of almost any nominal term as a sentence topic, without having to use so often the passive voice (as in French or English), or identifying the direct object with a preposition (as in Spanish).
qas: answers: text: French or Spanish
question: What languages use extrapositioning in sentences less than Catalan? 

answers: text: passive voice
question: What do you not need to use in Catalan?

answers: text: French or English
question: What languages use the passive voice more than Catalan?

answers: text: preposition
question: What method does Spanish use to identify the object?

context: Like all the Romance languages, Catalan verbal inflection is more complex than the nominal. Suffixation is omnipresent, whereas morphological alternations play a secondary role. Vowel alternances are active, as well as infixation and suppletion. However, these are not as productive as in Spanish, and are mostly restricted to irregular verbs.
qas: answers: text: more complex
question: What is Catalan verbal inflection ?

answers: text: Suffixation
question: What plays a primary part in Catalan?

answers: text: morphological alternations
question: What plays a secondary part in Catalan?

answers: text: active
question: How are vowel alternances in Catalan?

context: The Catalan verbal system is basically common to all Western Romance, except that most dialects have replaced the synthetic indicative perfect with a periphrastic form of anar ("to go") + infinitive.
qas: answers: text: Catalan verbal system
question: What system is common to Western Romance?

answers: text: synthetic indicative perfect
question: What have many dialects replaced?

answers: text: all Western Romance
question: What is the Catalan verbal system common to?

context: Catalan verbs are traditionally divided into three conjugations, with vowel themes -a-, -e-, -i-, the last two being split into two subtypes. However, this division is mostly theoretical. Only the first conjugation is nowadays productive (with about 3500 common verbs), whereas the third (the subtype of servir, with about 700 common verbs) is semiproductive. The verbs of the second conjugation are fewer than 100, and it is not possible to create new ones, except by compounding.
qas: answers: text: into three conjugations
question: How are Catalan verbs grouped?

answers: text: first conjugation
question: Which conjugation has about 3500 verbs?

answers: text: 700
question: How many verbs are in the third conjugation?

answers: text: second
question: Which conjugation has less than 100 verbs?

context: In Spain, every person officially has two surnames, one of which is the father's first surname and the other is the mother's first surname. The law contemplates the possibility of joining both surnames with the Catalan conjunction i ("and").
qas: answers: text: two
question: How many surnames does everyone in Spain have?

answers: text: first
question: Which one of one's father's surnames is used?

answers: text: joining both surnames
question: What is Spain thinking of doing to the two surnames?

answers: text: in
question: What conjunction would be used to join a person's surnames?