Catalan orthography
Template:Short description Template:Rough translation Template:IPA notice Template:Catalan-Valencian cultural domain
The Catalan and Valencian orthographies encompass the spelling and punctuation of standard Catalan (set by the IEC) and Valencian (set by the AVL). There are also several adapted variants to the peculiarities of local dialects of Insular Catalan (Alguerese and the Balearic subdialects).
History
The history of the Catalan and Valencian orthographies shows a singularity in regard to the other Romance languages. These have been mostly developed from Latin, adapting them to their own phonetic particularities. It had been a gradual and slow process through centuries until the creation of the Academies in the 18th century that fixed the orthography from their language dominant variety.<ref name="Badia">Badia i Margarit, Antoni M. «Template:Lang».</ref>
In the case of Catalan and Valencian, the mediaeval orthography had a noticeable homogeneity. The Royal Chancellery set a unitary written model in several fields. Thus, Ramon Muntaner expressed in his Chronicle (1325–1328) that the Catalans are the largest group with a single language, since all the Romance-speaking regions had very divided languages like the difference that exists between Catalans and Aragonese.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the 16th century, just after the Golden Age, the split of Catalans started. With the isolation of the Royal Court and several political events, the unitary linguistic consciousness and the shared cultural tradition broke off. The production became more dialectal.
In the 19th century, the recovery of the unity emerged, beginning with the orthography. Institutions like the Acadèmia de Bones Lletres or the Floral Games were in the middle of several orthographic dilemmas.
The orthographic norms of Catalan were first defined officially in the First Internationals Congress of the Catalan Language, held in Barcelona in October 1906. Subsequently, the Philological Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC, founded in 1911) published the Normes ortogràfiques in 1913 under the direction of Antoni Maria Alcover and Pompeu Fabra. Despite some opposition, the spelling system was adopted immediately and became widespread enough that, in 1932, Valencian writers and intellectuals gathered in Castelló to make a formal adoption of the so-called Normes de Castelló, a set of guidelines following Pompeu Fabra's Catalan language norms.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1917, Fabra published an Orthographic Dictionary following the orthographic norms of the IEC. In 1931–1932 the Diccionari General de la Llengua Catalana (General Dictionary of the Catalan language) appeared. In 1995, a new normative dictionary, the Dictionary of the Catalan Language of the Institute of Catalan Studies (DIEC), marked a new milestone in the orthographic fixation of the language, in addition to the incorporation of neologisms and modern uses of the language.
Template:Wiktionary category 2 On the 24th October 2016, the IEC published a new orthography for Catalan, the Template:Lang, which outlined several modifications, including a reduced number of monosyllabic words that take an acute or grave diacritic for reasons of disambiguation.<ref name="IEC_2016">Template:Cite web</ref> Thus, the disyllabic word Template:Wikt-lang is now generally spelled Template:Wikt-lang; the monosyllabic words Template:Wikt-lang ("dry", pronounced Template:IPA in Central Catalan) and Template:Wikt-lang ("fold, wrinkle", pronounced Template:IPA) are both written Template:Wikt-lang after the reform. Discretionary use of a diacritic is possible if the context is not sufficient for disambiguation.<ref name="IEC_2016" />
Alphabet
Like those of many other Romance languages, the Catalan and Valencian alphabet derives from the Latin alphabet and is largely based on the respective language's phonology.<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Wheeler|2005|p=6">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
The Catalan and Valencian alphabet consists of the 26 letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet:
| Upper case | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower case | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |
The following letter-diacritic combinations are used, but they do not constitute distinct letters in the alphabet: À à, É é, È è, Í í, Ï ï, Ó ó, Ò ò, Ú ú, Ü ü and Ç ç (though the Catalan keyboard includes the letter Ç as a separate key).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> K k and W w are used only in loanwords. Outside loanwords, the letters Q q and Y y appear only in the digraphs qu, qü and ny. However, Y was used until the official orthography was established in 1913, when it was replaced with I, except in the digraph ny and loanwords.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some Catalan surnames conserve the letter y and the word-final digraph ch (pronounced Template:IPA), e. g. Template:Lang, Template:Lang.
The following table shows the letters and their names in Standard Catalan (IEC) and Standard Valencian (AVL):
The names efa (Template:IPA), ela (Template:IPA), ema (Template:IPA), ena (Template:IPA), erra (Template:IPA), and essa (Template:IPA) are also used in certain speeches of Valencian.<ref name="AVL-alfabet"/>
The names be alta ("high b") and ve baixa ("low v") are used by speakers who do not distinguish the phonemes Template:IPA and Template:IPA. Speakers that do distinguish them use the simple names be and ve.<ref name="AVL-alfabet">Estàndard oral valencià. L'alfabet, AVL, p. 36.</ref>
Spelling and pronunciation
Template:Self-reference Template:Further
Catalan is a pluricentric language; the pronunciation of some of the letters is different in Central Eastern Catalan (IEC) and Valencian (AVL). Apart from those variations, the pronunciation of most consonants is fairly straightforward and is similar to French, Occitan or Portuguese pronunciation.
Spelling-to-sound correspondences
The following lists includes a quick pronunciation of letters in standard Catalan and Valencian, for an in-depth view see attached main article on top of this section.
Sound-to-spelling correspondences
The following lists include most sound-to-spelling correspondences in Catalan and Valencian. It also includes gemination as well as more foreign spellings than previous lists (as it is easier to represent them in the charts).
| Consonants | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Spelling | Examples | |
| Catalan | Valencian | ||
| Template:IPA | m, mh, mm, mp, tm, n | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | mm, nm, tm Template:Small, ntm Template:Small | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Small, Template:Lang Template:Small | |
| Template:IPA | m, n | Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | n, nh, nn, cn, gn, mn, pn | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | nn, tn, ntn Template:Small | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Small | |
| Template:IPA | ny, n, ñ, nh, nj, gn | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | n, ng, g, c | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | p, ph, pp, b | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | pp, p Template:Small | Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Small | |
| Template:IPA | b, bh, bb, p | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | bb, b Template:Small, bv Template:Small | Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Small, Template:Lang Template:Small | |
| Template:IPA | t, th, tt, ct, ft, pt, d | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | tt | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | d, dh, dd, bd, t | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | dd | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | c, ch, ck, g, gh, k, q, qu, cqu | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | c Template:Small | Template:Lang Template:Small | |
| Template:IPA | g, gh, gg, c, ch | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | gg, g Template:Small | Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Small | |
| Template:IPA | f, fh, ff, ph, v, w | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA (or Template:IPA) | v, f, w | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | th, z | Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | th | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | s, ss, sc, ç, z, zz, sz, ps | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | z, s, sh, zh, zz, tz Template:Small, ç | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Small, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | Template:No wrap | x, ix, j, g, ch, sc, sh, sch, sz, s, ti | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang |
| Template:IPA | Template:No wrap | j, g, x, ix, zh, sh | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang |
| Template:IPA | kh, ch, j | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | h, wh | Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | rr, r, rh | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | r, rh | Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | l, lh, ll | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA (or Template:IPA) | ŀl, ll, tl | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | ll, l, lh, lj, gli | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA (or Template:IPA) | tll | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | i, y, yy, j Template:Small, ill | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Small, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | u, ü, w, wh, ou | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | ts, zz, z, c | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | tz, zz, z | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | Template:No wrap | Template:No wrap | |
| Template:IPA | tg, tj, ig, g, gg, gi, ggi, zh | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | x, xc, xs, cc, cs, cks, gs | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | x, xh, cz, gz | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Vowels | |||
| IPA | Spelling | Examples | |
| Catalan | Valencian | ||
| Template:IPA | a, à, ã, u | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | a, e, o | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang |
| Template:IPA | e, ea, ae | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | e | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | aa, aha | Template:Lang, Template:Lang |
| Template:IPA | ee, ehe | Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | e, è, ä, ea, i | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | e, é, a, eu | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | i, í, ï, y, ee, ie, e, ea | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, whisky, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | ii | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | o, ò, ea, ou, aw | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | o, ó, au, eau, a, oa | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | oo | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | u, ú, ü, o, oo, ou | Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang |
| Template:IPA | o | Template:Lang | |
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | oo, oho | Template:Lang, Template:Lang |
| Template:IPA | uu | Template:Lang | |
Letters
The sounds [ɡ] and [k]
The voiced plosive Template:IPA (or the corresponding fricative Template:IPA) is represented by the spellings Template:Lang and Template:Lang, and the voiceless stop sound Template:IPA, by the spellings Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and, sporadically, Template:Lang and Template:Lang.
At the beginning of a syllable, the sounds Template:IPA and Template:IPA:
- a) They are represented by Template:Lang and Template:Lang, respectively, before the vowels Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, or when they are followed by the liquid consonants Template:Lang, Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('cat'), Template:Lang ('government'), Template:Lang ('taste'), Template:Lang ('gulp'), Template:Lang ('yellow'); Template:Lang ('house'), Template:Lang ('pigeon'), Template:Lang ('to shorten'), Template:Lang ('clamor'), Template:Lang ('to burn').
- b) They are represented by Template:Lang and Template:Lang, respectively, before the vowels Template:Lang, Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('war'), Template:Lang ('to follow'); Template:Lang ('chimera'), Template:Lang ('package, parcel').
In the case of the sound Template:IPA, in addition:
- c) It is represented by Template:Lang when it precedes a rising diphthong: Template:Lang ('consequence'), Template:Lang ('share, fee').
- d) The spelling Template:Lang is used only in certain words from non-Romance languages: Template:Lang ('kaiser'), Template:Lang ('Kantianism'), Template:Lang ('Kurdish').
At the end of a syllable, in the inner or final position of the word, the opposition between the unvoiced and the voiced consonant is neutralized, to the extent that it ceases to be distinctive. Regardless of the pronunciation, which can be unvoiced or voiced depending on the phonic context, the use of the spellings Template:Lang or Template:Lang conforms to the following rules:
- e) Within a word, Template:Lang is written before Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang; instead, Template:Lang is written before Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('action'), Template:Lang ('actress'), Template:Lang ('corn'); Template:Lang ('tonsil'), Template:Lang ('fragment'), Template:Lang ('magnitude').
- EXCEPTIONS: Template:Lang is written in some words of cultured formation or from other languages, such as Template:Lang ('anecdote'), Template:Lang ('arachnid'), Template:Lang ('drachma'), Template:Lang ('picnic'), Template:Lang ('technician'), etc.
- f) At the end of an acute word (oxytone), Template:Lang is written after a vowel: Template:Lang ('infirmity'), Template:Lang ('beat'), Template:Lang ('pinch'), Template:Lang ('apricot'), Template:Lang ('caducous') and the first person of the present indicative of certain verbs of the second conjugation (Template:Lang 'I drink', Template:Lang 'I owe', Template:Lang 'I say', Template:Lang 'I take out', etc.).
- EXCEPTIONS: Template:Lang is written in some acute words of cultured formation or from other languages (Template:Lang 'bulldog', Template:Lang 'magician', Template:Lang 'Tuareg', Template:Lang 'demagogue').
Instead, Template:Lang or Template:Lang is written, depending on the spelling of the derivatives, at the end of an acute word after another consonant or at the end of a plain word after a vowel:
- Template:Lang ('mud') ↔ Template:Lang ('place full of mud')
- Template:Lang ('long') ↔ Template:Lang ('length')
- Template:Lang ('prodigal') ↔ Template:Lang ('to waste, to lavish')
- Template:Lang ('white') ↔ Template:Lang ('whiteness')
- Template:Lang ('arch') ↔ Template:Lang ('arcade, retching')
- Template:Lang ('practical') ↔ Template:Lang ('to practice')
- EXCEPTIONS: It is written Template:Lang, despite having derivatives with Template:Lang, in some plain or grave words (paroxytones), like Template:Lang 'Arabic', Template:Lang ('sullen, scorched'), Template:Lang ('charge, position [work]'), Template:Lang ('asparagus'), etc.
- NOTE: In the past, the digraph Template:Lang was used in final position, to represent the sound Template:IPA, spelling that is still preserved in some lineages: Template:Lang 'Doménech', Template:Lang 'March', Template:Lang 'Pitarch', Template:Lang 'Estruch', etc.
The representation of the sound [s]: the spellings s, ss, c and ç
The spelling s
The voiceless fricative alveolar sound Template:IPA is represented by Template:Lang in the following cases:
- a) At the beginning of a word: Template:Lang ('health, greeting'), Template:Lang ('lord, owner, mister').
- b) Between consonant and vowel or between vowel and consonant: Template:Lang ('handle'), Template:Lang ('aspect').
- c) At the end of a word: Template:Lang ('dog'), Template:Lang ('of great excellence').
- EXCEPTIONS: Some words from other languages are written with Template:Lang, such as Template:Lang ('hertz'), and the noun Template:Lang (buzz), from the verb Template:Lang (to buzz).
- d) After certain prefixes and prefixed forms: Template:Lang ('asymmetry'), Template:Lang ('antisocial'), Template:Lang ('password'), Template:Lang ('multisecular'), Template:Lang ('polysemy'), Template:Lang ('psychosomatic'), Template:Lang ('dinosaur'), etc.
- e) In compound words whose second formant is written with an initial Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('bloody/saffron milk cap'), Template:Lang ('parasol, sunshade').
The spelling ss
The voiceless fricative alveolar sound Template:IPA is represented by Template:Lang between vowels: Template:Lang ('pond'), Template:Lang ('to pass').
NOTE: The spelling Template:Lang preceded by a consonant may also appear in words in which a prefix ending in Template:Lang, such as Template:Lang or Template:Lang, is attached to a root beginning with Template:Lang (Template:Lang 'transsexual', Template:Lang 'trans-Siberian', Template:Lang 'sub-secretary') and in the plurals of cultured formation Template:Lang ('any, whichever') and Template:Lang ('any, whichever').
The spellings c and ç
For etymological reasons, the sound Template:IPA is also represented by the spellings Template:Lang and Template:Lang in certain cases:
- a) It is represented by Template:Lang before Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and at the end of a word: Template:Lang ('trust'), Template:Lang ('lesson'), Template:Lang ('won, expired'), Template:Lang ('happy').
- b) It is represented by Template:Lang before Template:Lang, Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('onion'), Template:Lang ('bicycle').
- NOTE: In the most common pronunciation, the Template:Lang group also represents the Template:IPA sound in words such as Template:Lang ('pool') and Template:Lang ('lift').
The representation of the sound [z]: The spellings s and z
The voiced fricative alveolar sound Template:IPA is represented by the spellings Template:Lang or Template:Lang, according to the following rules:
- a) It is represented by Template:Lang in word-initial position and between consonant and vowel: Template:Lang ('zebra'), Template:Lang ('paint brush').
- EXCEPTIONS: Derivatives and compounds of Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang are written with Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('to send down, to sink'), Template:Lang ('to put in, to go into'), Template:Lang ('transatlantic'), etc.
- b) It is represented by Template:Lang between vowels: Template:Lang ('house'), Template:Lang ('review').
- EXCEPTIONS: Some loans and cultisms (learned borrwings) are written with Template:Lang in intervocalic position: Template:Lang ('Byzantine'), Template:Lang ('protozoo'), Template:Lang ('Nazism'), Template:Lang ('bulldozer'), etc.
The spelling tz
In certain heritage words, the spelling Template:Lang represents the alveolar affricate phonetic group Template:IPA: Template:Lang ('twelve'), Template:Lang ('thirteen'), Template:Lang ('sixteen').
This same group is also used, with the phonetic value of Template:IPA, in the graphic representation of verbs formed with the suffix -Template:Lang (and derivatives), such as Template:Lang ('characterize'), Template:Lang ('realization'), etc.
The representation of the sounds [ʒ] and [dʒ]: The spellings g, j, tg and tj
The voiced fricative palatal sound Template:IPA (Catalan) or the affricate palatal sound Template:IPA (Valencian) is represented by the consonants Template:Lang and Template:Lang, according to the following rules:
- a) It is represented by Template:Lang before Template:Lang, Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('angel'), Template:Lang ('agile').
- EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, Template:Lang is written before Template:Lang in certain cases, such as Template:Lang ('hierarchy'), Template:Lang ('hieroglyphs'), Template:Lang ('jersey'), Template:Lang ('Jesuit'), Template:Lang ('majesty'), etc., and before the groups -ecc- and -ect-: Template:Lang ('injection'), Template:Lang ('object'), etc. In fewer cases, and mainly in loanwords, Template:Lang is also found before Template:Lang (Template:Lang 'Beijing', Template:Lang 'Fijian', Template:Lang 'Fuji', Template:Lang 'Jim', etc.).
- b) It is represented by Template:Lang before Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('to hung [up]'), Template:Lang ('young'), Template:Lang ('fasting').
The spellings Template:Lang and Template:Lang for the sound Template:IPA in both language standards, which correspond to the geminate pronunciation practiced in some places, are presented only in intervocalic position. Parallel to the corresponding simple spellings, Template:Lang is written before Template:Lang, Template:Lang, and Template:Lang before Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('courage'), Template:Lang ('landscape'); Template:Lang ('to wish'), Template:Lang ('worse'), Template:Lang ('leathery, tough').
The representation of the sound [tʃ]: The spellings x, tx, ig and g
The voiceless affricate palatal sound Template:IPA is represented by the spellings Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang, according to the following rules:
- a) At the beginning of a word it is written x: Template:Lang ('to crush'), Template:Lang ('boy'), Template:Lang ('Chelva'), Template:Lang ('Xirivella'). Note: Those words are pronounced with Template:IPA only in some language varieties (Valencian), in other varieties they are pronounced with Template:IPA.
- EXCEPTIONS: In word-initial position, it is also represented by Template:Lang in some words or proper names from other languages: Template:Lang ('Chad'), Template:Lang ('Chaikovski'), Template:Lang ('Czech'), etc.
- b) Between vowels it is always represented by Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('blue mussel'), Template:Lang ('pitcher').
- c) After a consonant is represented by Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('anchovy'), Template:Lang ('pole, hanger'), Template:Lang ('punch'), Template:Lang ('Barx'), Template:Lang ('Elche'). See the note in the item a).
- EXCEPTIONS: It is also represented by Template:Lang between consonant and vowel in some words or proper nouns from other languages: Template:Lang ('solonchak'), Template:Lang ('Khrushchev').
- d) At the end of a word following a vowel, the spelling Template:Lang is used if the derivatives are written with Template:Lang, and the spelling ig is used (after Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang) and the spelling Template:Lang (after Template:Lang) if the derivatives are written with Template:Lang/Template:Lang or Template:Lang/Template:Lang:
- Template:Lang ('office, dispatch') ↔ Template:Lang ('to complete, to send, to attend')
- Template:Lang ('caprice, fancy') ↔ Template:Lang ('to cause to fall in love')
- Template:Lang ('cartridge') ↔ Template:Lang ('cartridge belt')
- Template:Lang ('baptism') ↔ Template:Lang ('to baptize')
- Template:Lang ('red') ↔ Template:Lang ('red', f.)
- Template:Lang ('wish') ↔ Template:Lang ('to wish')
The representation of the sound [ʃ]: The spelling x
The voiceless fricative palatal sound Template:IPA is always represented by the spelling Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('Xàtiva'), Template:Lang ('Xavier'), Template:Lang ('xenophobic'), Template:Lang ('cushion'), Template:Lang ('draw'). The letter Template:Lang in this value can be word-initial, follow a syllabic or non-syllabic Template:Lang, a non-syllabic Template:Lang or a consonant. Some speakers do not pronounced a non-syllabic Template:Lang before an Template:Lang, so the [ʃ] sound following a syllabic vowel different from Template:Lang should be written as Template:Lang except in compound words (e. g. Template:Lang) and in some surnames (e. g. Template:Lang).
The representation of the phonetic group [ks]
The phonetic group Template:IPA is represented by the letter Template:Lang in the following positions:
- a) Between vowels: Template:Lang ('to fix'), Template:Lang ('maximum').
- b) Between vowel and voiceless consonant: Template:Lang ('explosion'), Template:Lang ('extensive').
- c) At the end of a word after a vowel: Template:Lang ('annexe), Template:Lang ('appendix').
- EXCEPTIONS: At the end of a word after a consonant, the phonetic group Template:IPA is also represented, in some cases, by Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('sphinx'), Template:Lang ('larynx') and Template:Lang ('lynx').
- NOTE: The Template:Lang does not represent the unvoiced group Template:IPA, but the voiced Template:IPA, in the initial groups Template:Lang- and Template:Lang- followed by a vowel, Template:Lang or voiced consonant: Template:Lang ('exam'), Template:Lang ('to exaggerate'), Template:Lang ('to exhort'), Template:Lang ('ex-deputy'), Template:Lang ('inexorable').
The spellings b and p
The bilabial occlusive voiced sound Template:IPA (or the corresponding fricative variant Template:IPA) is represented by the spelling b, and the bilabial voiceless occlusive sound Template:IPA, by the spelling Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('low, short'), Template:Lang ('clothes'); Template:Lang ('little, [a] few'), Template:Lang ('sweet-toothed'), Template:Lang ('shopping').
At the end of a syllable, in internal or word-final position, the opposition between voiceless and voiced consonants is neutralized. Regardless of the pronunciation, which can be unvoiced or voiced depending on the context, the use of the spellings Template:Lang and Template:Lang conforms to the following rules:
- a) At the beginning of a word, the syllables Template:Lang-, Template:Lang-, Template:Lang-, Template:Lang-, Template:Lang-, Template:Lang- are written with Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('to abdicate'), Template:Lang ('to abstract'), Template:Lang ('objection'), Template:Lang ('to obstruct'), Template:Lang ('subsidy'), Template:Lang ('substantive').
- EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as Template:Lang ('apnea'), Template:Lang ('apt'), Template:Lang ('to opt'), Template:Lang ('opticians'), Template:Lang ('optimal'), etc. are written with Template:Lang.
- b) At the beginning of a word, the syllable Template:Lang- is written with Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('head [of a bed], pillow'), Template:Lang ('captive').
- EXCEPTIONS: Some words such as Template:Lang ('main, primary'), Template:Lang ('ball [of wool, cotton]'), Template:Lang ('caudillo'), etc. are written with Template:Lang.
- c) Within a word, Template:Lang is written before the spellings Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('Egyptian'), Template:Lang ('apse, apsis, apside'), Template:Lang ('hypnotic'), Template:Lang ('challenge').
- EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as Template:Lang ('Saturday'), Template:Lang ('doubt') and Template:Lang ('suddenly', only used after de) are written with Template:Lang.
- d) At the end of an acute word, Template:Lang is written after a vowel: Template:Lang ('vine, cep'), Template:Lang ('gallop'), Template:Lang ('group'), Template:Lang ('soaked, black poplar').
- EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as Template:Lang ('adobe'), Template:Lang ('well, cistern'), Template:Lang ('club'), Template:Lang ('snob'), Template:Lang ('incubus'), Template:Lang ('tube'), etc. are written with Template:Lang.
Instead, Template:Lang or Template:Lang is written, depending on the spelling of the derivatives, at the end of an acute word after another consonant or at the end of a plain word after a vowel:
- Template:Lang ('obstacle, nuisance') ↔ Template:Lang ('to obstruct')
- Template:Lang ('crow') ↔ Template:Lang ('crow's chick')
- Template:Lang ('Arabian') ↔ Template:Lang ('arabesque')
- Template:Lang ('countryside, field') ↔ Template:Lang ('rural')
- Template:Lang ('polyp') ↔ Template:Lang ('polypoid')
- Template:Lang ('snake') ↔ Template:Lang ('snakelike, serpentine')
The spellings b and v
Although some Valencian speakers differentiate the voiced occlusive bilabial sound Template:IPA from the voiced labiodental fricative Template:IPA, to avoid confusion in the use of the spellings Template:Lang and Template:Lang it is necessary to take into account that Template:Lang is written in the following cases:
- a) Before Template:Lang and Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('chard, a passive person'), Template:Lang ('froth, lather').
- b) After Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('stuffed, crammed'), Template:Lang ('tomb').
- c) In those cases where it alternates with Template:Lang in words of the same family: Template:Lang 'big-headed, stubborn' (↔ cap, 'head'), Template:Lang 'to know' (↔ sap, 'he/she/it/formal singular you know(s), also ↔saps, informal you know).
- NOTE: In some cases, due to differences in cultural or heritage treatment, words from the same family may alternate the use of Template:Lang and Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('to abort') / Template:Lang ('abortive'); Template:Lang ('bald') / Template:Lang ('baldness'), Template:Lang ('brain') / Template:Lang ('cerebral').
And Template:Lang is written in the following cases:
- a) After Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('to change'), Template:Lang ('invent').
- b) In those cases where it alternates with Template:Lang in words of the same family: Template:Lang 'blue, f.' (↔ Template:Lang, 'blue, m.'), Template:Lang 'you write' (↔ Template:Lang, 'to write').
- c) In the endings of the imperfect indicative of the first conjugation -Template:Lang, -Template:Lang, -Template:Lang, -Template:Lang, -Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('I sang, they sang'), Template:Lang ('you sang'), Template:Lang ('we sang'), Template:Lang ('you sang, pl.', Template:Lang ('they sang, pl.').
The spellings d and t
The voiced occlusive dental sound Template:IPA (or the corresponding fricative variant Template:IPA) is represented by the spelling Template:Lang, and its voiceless correlate Template:IPA, by the spelling Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('to give'), Template:Lang ('side, band'), Template:Lang ('to open [up], to be careless'); Template:Lang ('to cut'), Template:Lang ('to tell, to say'), Template:Lang ('shepherd's crook').
At the end of a syllable, in internal or word-final position, the opposition between voiceless and voiced consonants is neutralized. Regardless of the pronunciation, which can be unvoiced or voiced depending on the phonetic context, the use of the spellings Template:Lang or Template:Lang conforms to the following rules:
- a) The final consonant of the following syllable is written with Template:Lang of consonant, in word-initial position: Template:Lang ('to award, adjudge'), Template:Lang ('admission').
- EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as Template:Lang ('Atlantic'), Template:Lang ('atlas'), Template:Lang ('athlete') and Template:Lang ('atmosphere') are written with Template:Lang.
- b) At the end of an acute word, Template:Lang is generally written after a vowel: Template:Lang ('wheat'), Template:Lang ('milk'), Template:Lang ('humid'), Template:Lang ('warlock'), Template:Lang ('hairy').
- EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as Template:Lang ('almude'), Template:Lang ('fluid'), Template:Lang ('cold'), Template:Lang ('South'); Template:Lang ('Alfred'), Template:Lang ('Conrad'), Template:Lang ('David'), as well as feminine words formed with the cultured endings -Template:Lang and -Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('stillness, calm'), Template:Lang ('crowd'), etc.
Instead, Template:Lang or Template:Lang is written, depending on the spelling of the derivatives, at the end of an acute word after another consonant or at the end of a flat word after a vowel:
- Template:Lang ('green') ↔ Template:Lang ('greenish')
- Template:Lang ('deaf') ↔ Template:Lang ('to deafen')
- Template:Lang ('arid') ↔ Template:Lang ('aridity')
- Template:Lang ('luck') ↔ Template:Lang ('draw, sorting')
- Template:Lang ('bridge') ↔ Template:Lang ('little bridge')
- Template:Lang ('credit') ↔ Template:Lang ('creditor')
The spellings m, n, mp, tm and tn
The letter m usually represents the nasal bilabial sound Template:IPA: Template:Lang ('mother'), Template:Lang ('leg'), Template:Lang ('thermal'), Template:Lang ('bray, roar'), and the Template:Lang, the nasal alveolar sound Template:IPA: Template:Lang ('nose'), Template:Lang ('to command'), Template:Lang ('urn'), Template:Lang ('great, grand').
The spelling Template:Lang is used with the value of Template:IPA or Template:IPA, for etymological reasons, in a medial syllable, in cases such Template:Lang ('assumption'), Template:Lang ('attempt'), Template:Lang ('to count'), Template:Lang ('soon'), Template:Lang ('symptom'), etc.
At the end of a syllable, in word-internal position, the opposition between the nasal consonants is neutralized. In this position, the spellings Template:Lang or Template:Lang are used, according to the following rules:
- a) Template:Lang is written before Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('symbol'), Template:Lang ('amphitheatre'), Template:Lang ('to disturb, to move'), Template:Lang ('to fill [up]').
- EXCEPTIONS: The spelling Template:Lang is kept when it belongs to certain prefixed forms or to the first constituent of a compound word: Template:Lang ('in the middle'), Template:Lang ('well-spoken'), Template:Lang ('baseboard'), etc. As for Template:Lang, the spelling Template:Lang is also used in words beginning with Template:Lang-, Template:Lang- and in most of those beginning with Template:Lang-: Template:Lang ('to confess'), Template:Lang ('to spell'); Template:Lang ('nurse'), Template:Lang ('infinite'); Template:Lang ('to cover with mud'), Template:Lang ('to strengthen'), etc.
- b) Template:Lang is written before Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('convent'), Template:Lang ('spare, replacement').
- EXCEPTIONS: The spelling Template:Lang is kept when it belongs to prefixed forms or to the first constituent of a compound word: Template:Lang ('ring road'), Template:Lang ('tramway'), Template:Lang ('triumvir'), etc.
For etymological reasons, certain borrowings are spelled Template:Lang or Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('week'), Template:Lang ('born in the seventh month of gestation'), Template:Lang ('logarithm'); Template:Lang ('pork rind'), Template:Lang ('ethnic group, ethnicity').
The spelling ny
The nasal palatal sound Template:IPA is represented in all positions by the spelling Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('a type of pepper'), Template:Lang ('pine cone, pineapple'), Template:Lang ('quince [fruit]').
The spellings l, ŀl and tl
The lateral alveolar sound Template:IPA is represented in all cases by the consonant Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('liquid'), Template:Lang ('to strain'), Template:Lang ('hair'), Template:Lang ('wheat').
For etymological reasons, certain words are written with Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('lure, incentive'), Template:Lang ('Avelline'), Template:Lang ('Brussels'), Template:Lang ('to collaborate'), Template:Lang ('cockade'), Template:Lang ('Gallicism'), Template:Lang ('illegal'), Template:Lang ('illogical'), Template:Lang ('illusion, hope, happiness'), Template:Lang ('millimeter'), Template:Lang ('syllable'), Template:Lang ('watercolour'), etc.
Some heritage words that have a geminate pronunciation Template:IPA in a part of Valencian are written with the spelling Template:Lang, such as Template:Lang ('almond'), Template:Lang ('mayor'), Template:Lang ('quail'), Template:Lang ('mold'), Template:Lang ('to stay up, to patrol, to watch over'), etc. However, the spelling Template:Lang represents the sounds Template:IPA in borrowings such as Template:Lang ('atlas'), Template:Lang ('Atlantic'), etc.
The spellings ll and tll
The lateral palatal sound Template:IPA is usually represented by the letter Template:Lang, which can appear in any position: Template:Lang ('hare'), Template:Lang ('clown'), Template:Lang ('neck').
But, in certain cases, it is also represented by the spelling Template:Lang (Template:IPA in Standard Catalan): Template:Lang ('ticket, bank note'), Template:Lang ('roll, annoyance'), Template:Lang ('line, scratch'), etc.
The spellings r and rr
The spelling r is used to represent the alveolar tap sound Template:IPA and the vibrating alveolar sound Template:IPA: Template:Lang ('they look') / Template:Lang ('myrrh').
The tap is always represented by the spelling Template:Lang, while the vibrating is represented by the spellings Template:Lang or Template:Lang, according to the following rules:
- a) Template:Lang is written at the beginning of a word or after Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang: Template:Lang ('fox'), Template:Lang ('honoured').
- b) Template:Lang is written between vowels: Template:Lang ('cliff'), Template:Lang ('Earth, land').
- EXCEPTIONS: The sound Template:IPA is also represented by the spelling Template:Lang in intervocalic position when it follows a prefix, a prefixed form or a formant of a compound word ending in a vowel: Template:Lang ('arrhythmia'), Template:Lang ('counteract'), Template:Lang ('vice-rector'), Template:Lang (rose geranium), etc.
The h spelling
The h spelling is usually silent; it is used, for etymological reasons, in a series of words, such as Template:Lang ('harmony'), Template:Lang ('herb'), Template:Lang ('winter'), Template:Lang ('yesterday'), etc.
NOTE: In certain interjections or in words derived from foreign proper names, the spelling Template:Lang is pronounced aspirated: Template:Lang ('ahem'), Template:Lang ('ha [laugh]'), Template:Lang ('he [laugh]'), Template:Lang ('Hegelian').
The spelling w
The spelling Template:Lang is used in certain words from other languages, but it represents two different phonic values depending on whether they have a Germanic or Anglo-Saxon origin:
- a) In words of continental Germanic origin, it represents the voiced bilabial fricative sound Template:IPA: Template:Lang ('Wagnerian'), Template:Lang ('tungsten').
- b) In words of Anglo-Saxon origin, it has a phonic value equivalent to that of the semivowel Template:Lang Template:IPA: Template:Lang ('whisk[e]y'), Template:Lang ('welter').
The spelling y
The spelling Template:Lang, in addition to being used to form the digraph Template:Lang, is also used independently, with the phonetic value that would correspond to Template:Lang, in the representation of certain words from other languages or formed from proper names: Template:Lang ('faraday'), Template:Lang ('gray'), Template:Lang ('jansky'), Template:Lang ('New York'), etc.
Diacritics
Accentuation
Acute and grave accents
Catalan and Valencian also use the acute and grave accents to mark stress or vowel quality. An acute on Template:Angbr indicates that the vowel is stressed and close-mid (Template:IPA), while grave on Template:Angbr indicates that the vowel is stressed and open-mid (Template:IPA). Grave on Template:Angbr and acute on Template:Angbr simply indicate that the vowels are stressed. Thus, the acute is used on close or close-mid vowels, and the grave on open or open-mid vowels.<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Wheeler|2005|p=6" /> For example:
- també: Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('also')
- èxtasi: Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('ecstasy')
- córrer: Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('to run')
- pròxim: Template:IPA ('nearby')
- ànima: Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('soul')
- pastís: Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('pie')
- fúcsia: Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('fuchsia')
Standard rules governing the presence of accents are based on word endings and the position of the stressed syllable. In particular, accents are expected for:
- Oxytones ending in a syllabic vowel, a vowel + -Template:Angbr, or -Template:Angbr/Template:Angbr, examples:
- parlà Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('he spoke')
- parlés Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('that he spoke' past subjunctive)
- entén Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('he understands')
- This does not occur in words like parleu Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('you are speaking' plural), or parlem Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('we are speaking').
- Paroxytones with any other ending, including non-syllabic -Template:Angbr, -Template:Angbr, examples:
- parlàveu Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('you were speaking' plural)
- parlàvem Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('we were speaking')
- This does not occur in words like parla Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('he is speaking'), parles Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('you are speaking' singular), or parlen Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('they are speaking').
- Any proparoxytones, examples:
- química Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('chemistry')
- ciència Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('science')
Since there is no need to mark the stressed syllable of a monosyllabic word, most of them do not have an accent. Exceptions are those with a diacritical accent differentiating words that would otherwise be homographic. Example: es Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('it' impersonal) vs és Template:IPA ('is'), te Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('you' clitic) vs té Template:IPA ('s/he has'), mes Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('month') vs més Template:IPA ('more'), dona Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('woman') vs dóna Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('s/he gives'). In most cases, the word bearing no accent is either unstressed (as in the case of 'es' and 'te'), or the word without the accent is more common, usually a function word.
The different distribution of open e Template:IPA vs closed e Template:IPA between Eastern Catalan and Western Catalan is reflected in some orthographic divergences between standard Catalan and Valencian norms, for example: Template:Lang Template:IPA (Catalan) vs Template:Lang Template:IPA (Valencian) ('English'). In the Balearic Islands, open e Template:IPA tends to be a centralised e (Template:IPA) in the same cases where open e contrasts with closed e in Catalan and Valencian. The cases where the difference of pronunciation of e can have graphical repercussions are the followings:<ref>Guia d'usos lingüístics, Institut Interuniversitari de Filologia Valenciana, 2002. Diferències dialectals en la distribució de la e tònica, p. 40</ref>
- Words ending with the demonym -es (anglès / anglés 'English', francès / francés 'French'), the past participles (admès / admés 'admitted', compromès / compromés 'committed') and adjectives (cortès / cortés 'courteous').
- The ordinal numerals ending in stressed e: cinquè / cinqué ('fifth'), sisè / sisé ('sixth').
- The ending of the third person of the plural of indicative -en of some verbs of the 2nd conjugation (aprèn / aprén 'learn', comprèn / comprén 'comprehend', depèn / depén 'depend'), except in the cases where this ending is preceded by the consonant t or c, where it is pronounced with a closed e in all speeches (atén 'attend', entén 'understand', pretén 'pretend', encén 'switch on').
- The infinitives ending in -eixer (conèixer / conéixer 'to know', merèixer / meréixer 'to deserve', parèixer / paréixer 'to seem', but uniquely créixer 'to grow') and -encer (vèncer / véncer 'to win', convèncer / convéncer 'to convince').
- The second and third person of the plural of the simple past tense of indicative with accent on the radical: fèiem / féiem 'we did', fèieu / féieu 'you pl. did'.
Circumflex
The circumflex is rarely used in modern Catalan and Valencian, nonetheless it has been used in the beginning of the 19th century by Antoni Febrer i Cardona to represent schwa in the Balearic subdialects. According to the Diccionari català-valencià-balear, in modern times there are some cases where the circumflex can be used to indicate silent etymological sounds (similar to French)<ref>accent. Diccionari català-valencià-balear</ref> or a contraction.<ref>circumflex. Diccionari català-valencià-balear</ref> Contrary to the restrictions of the acute and grave accent, the circumflex can be used with all vowels Template:Angbr, the most common, especially in Valencian, being Template:Angbr (i.e. due to the elision of Template:IPA), e.g. mascletâes (instead of mascletades 'pyrotechnic festivals'), anâ (instead of anar 'to go'), témê (instead of témer 'to fear'), sortî (instead of sortir 'to exit'), pâ (instead of per 'for' akin to Colloquial Spanish 'pa' from para 'for').
Diaeresis
The diaeresis has two different uses: to mark hiatus over Template:Angbr, and to mark that Template:Angbr is not silent in the groups Template:Angbr.
If a diaeresis appears over an Template:Angbr or Template:Angbr that follows another vowel, it denotes a hiatus, examples:<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
- raïm Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('grape')
- taüt Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('coffin')
This diaeresis is not used over a stressed vowel that already should have an accent. Examples: suís Template:IPA ('Swiss' masculine), but suïssa Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('Swiss' feminine), suïs Template:IPA ('that you sweat' subjunctive) (without the diaeresis, this last example would be pronounced Template:IPA, i.e. as only one syllable, like reis Template:IPA 'kings').
Certain verb forms of verbs ending in -uir do not receive a diaeresis, although they are pronounced with separate syllables. This concerns the infinitive, gerund, future and conditional forms (for example traduir, traduint, traduiré and traduiria, all with bisyllabic Template:IPA). All other forms of such verbs do receive a diaeresis on the ï according to the normal rules (e.g. traduïm, traduïa).
In addition to this, Template:Angbr represents Template:IPA between a velar consonant Template:IPA or Template:IPA and a front vowel (Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr are used to represent a hard (i.e. velar) pronunciation before Template:Angbr or Template:Angbr).<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
- ungüent Template:IPA ('ointment')
- qüestió Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('topic')
Forms of the verb argüir represents a rare case of the sequence Template:IPA, and the rules for Template:IPA and Template:IPA clash in this case. The ambiguity is resolved by an additional rule, which states that in cases where diaereses would appear on two consecutive letters, only the second receives one. This thus gives arguïm /arguˈim/, i.e. and arguïa /arguˈia/, but argüir /arˈgwir/, argüint /arˈgwint/ and argüiré /argwiˈre/ as these forms don't receive a diaeresis on the i normally, according to the exception above.
Ce trencada (c-cedilla)
Catalan and Valencian ce trencada (Ç ç), literally 'broken c', is a modified Template:Angbr with a cedilla mark ( ¸ ). It is only used before Template:Angbr to indicate a soft c Template:IPA because using Template:Angle bracket, much like in Portuguese, Occitan or French, would make it pronounced Template:IPA (e.g. compare coça Template:IPA or Template:IPA 'kick', coca Template:IPA or Template:IPA 'cake' and cosa Template:IPA or Template:IPA 'thing'). In Catalan and Valencian, ce trencada also appears as last letter of a word (e.g. feliç Template:IPA or Template:IPA 'happy', falç Template:IPA 'sickle'), but then Template:Angbr may be voiced to Template:IPA before vowels and voiced consonants, e.g. feliçment Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('happily') and braç esquerre Template:IPA or Template:IPA ('left arm').
Capitalization
Neither of the Catalan and Valencian standards capitalise days of the week, months, or demonyms.Template:Sfn Although, like in English, both standards capitalise proper nouns.
- dilluns, setembre, anglès, Barcelona
- 'Monday', 'September', 'English', 'Barcelona'
Punctuation
Catalan and Valencian punctuation rules are similar to English, with some minor differences.Template:Sfn
- Guillemets (cometes baixes) « » are frequently used instead of double inverted commas. They are used to mark titles of works, or phrases used as proper names.Template:Sfn
- In texts containing dialogue, quoted speech is usually set off with dashes, rather than inverted commas.Template:Sfn
- —Què proposes, doncs?
- —El que hauríem de fer —s'atreví a suggerir— és anar a...
- 'What do you propose, then?'
- 'What we should do' she ventured to suggest 'is to go to...'
- In Catalan, there is no Template:Angle bracket or Template:Angle bracket unlike in Spanish, but in Valencian questions and exclamations are optionally opened with a Template:Angle bracket or Template:Angle bracket, like in Spanish.Template:Sfn Before 1993, questions and exclamations could be enclosed with ¿...? or ¡...!, but this is no longer recommended by the IEC but still is optionally allowed by the AVL.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Punt volat (middot)
The punt volat or middot is only used in the sequence Template:Angbr (called ela or el(e) geminada, 'geminated l') to represent a geminated sound Template:IPA (often simplified to Template:IPA, especially in Valencian), as the digraph Template:Angbr is used for the palatal lateral Template:IPA. This usage of the middot sign dates to the beginning of twentieth century; in medieval and modern Catalan, before Fabra's standardisation, it was sometimes used to note certain elisions, especially in poetry. The only (and improbable) possibility of ambiguity in the whole language is the pair ceŀla Template:IPA ('cell') vs cella Template:IPA ('eyebrow').
Hyphen
The hyphen (called a guionet) is used in Catalan and Valencian to separate a verb and the combination of pronouns that follow them (e.g. menjar-se-les), to separate certain compounds (e.g. vint-i-un and para-sol), and to split a word at the end of a line of text for the purpose of maintaining page margins.
Compounds are hyphenated in cases that involve numerals (e.g. trenta-sis, and trenta-sisè/é); cardinal points (e.g. sud-americà); repetitive and expressive compounds (xup-xup); those compounds in which the first element ends in a vowel and the second starts with Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, or Template:Angbr (e.g. penya-segat); and those compounds in which the combination of the two elements can lead to wrong reading (e.g. pit-roig). There are also compound terms in which the first element carries a grave accent (mà-llarg), the construction no plus nounTemplate:Clarify (but not no plus adjective, no-violència but the nacions no violentes) and certain singular constructions like abans-d'ahir and adéu-siau.
The hyphen in numbers is set according to the D-U-C rule (Desenes-Unitats-Centenes, 'Tens-Units-Hundreds'), thus, a hyphen is placed between tens and units (quaranta-dos) and between units and hundreds (tres-cents). For example, the number 35,422 is written trenta-cinc mil quatre-cents vint-i-dos.
When a word gets separated due to a new line, syllable boundaries are kept, although, there are some digraphs that can be separated. These digraphs are those that, when splitting them, they result in two graphs the corresponding sound from which they share a phonetic trait with the sound of the digraph. The digraphs that cannot be separated are those in which the two graphs correspond to sounds that they are not related with the sound of the digraph.
The syllabic separation of words follow the following rules:
- The following digraphs and combination of letters can be separated:
- ix (quei-xa), rr (car-rer), ss (pas-sar), sc (es-ce-na), l·l (vil-la), tj (jut-jat), tg (fet-ge), tx (pit-xer), tl (vet-la), tll (rot-llo), tm (rit-me), tn (cot-na), ts (pot-ser), tx (despat-xar), tz (set-ze), mm (im-mens), nn (in-no-cent)
- The following digraphs cannot be separated:
- gu (jo-guet), ny (pe-nya), qu (pa-quet), ig (ba-teig), ll (pe-lle-ter)
- The constituents of a compound, or the prefix of a prefixed word, can be separated:
- ad-herir, in-expert, ben-estar, mil-hòmens, des-encolar, vos-altres
- Letters cannot be left on their own at the end or beginning of a line:
- d'a-mor, aber-rant, l'a-plicació, histò-ria
Apostrophes
Catalan and Valencian follow some apostrophisation rules that serve to determine whether it is necessary to use an apostrophe (') or not
- Articles
The masculine singular articles (el, en, and dialectally lo, in Continental Catalan; and es and so in Balearic), and the feminine singular articles (la, na and dialectally sa) are apostrophised before all masculine words that begin with a vowel, e.g. l'avió, l'encant, l'odi, n'Albert, s'arbre, and l'emoció, l'ungla, l'aigua; with a silent h, e.g. l'home, l'ham, n'Hug, s'home, and l'heura, l'holografia, n'Hermínia, s'horabaixa. The masculine singular article also contract when the next word starts with s + consonant, e.g. l'spa, l'Stuttgart; but la Scala de Milà. They aren't apostrophised before words that begin with an Template:Angle bracket or Template:Angle bracket (with or without h) that is pronounced Template:IPA or Template:IPA, or for the feminine articles when the word begins with an unstressed Template:Angle bracket or Template:Angle bracket, e.g. el iogurt, el iode (or dialectally lo iogurt, lo iode), and, la hiena, la humitat, la universitat, la imatge. Additionally, la, na and sa before letter names, e.g. la i, la hac, la essa; and some other specific words like la una (when referring to the time), la ira, la host, etc. .
The forms al (dial. as), del (dial. des), pel (dial. pes), cal (dial. cas) and can are broken and become a l' (dial. a s'), de l' (dial. de s'), per l' (dial. per s'), ca l' (dial. ca s') and ca n' respectively.
Traditionally, to avoid ambiguity, words beginning with the negative prefix a- did not take an apostrophe. Nowadays, general apostrophising rules are followed: l'anormalitat, l'amoralitat, l'atipicitat, l'asimetria, l'asèpsia, etc. . The 1995 edition of the Diccionari de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans (DIEC) started was the first one to use this rule, however, it was never explicitly stated.
- The preposition de
The preposition de changes into d' in all the same cases as the femenine singular articles with one exception: normally it doesn't contract in metalanguage: el plural de alt és alts.
- Weak pronouns
Weak pronouns take the apostrophe in the following cases:
Before a verb that starts with a vowel, using its elided form: m'agrada, n'abastava, s'estimaran, l'aconseguiria, at the end of a verb that finishes in a vowel, using the reduced form: menja'n, trenca'l, fondre's, compra'ns, between two of them if the other orthographic rules allow it: me'n, li'n , se'm, te'ls, la'n, n'hi; if it is possible, it takes the apostrophe with the following word, like me n'ha dut tres. The apostrophe always goes the further to the right possible: te l'emportes, not *te'l emportes.
Does not take the apostrophe:
The pronouns us, vos, hi, ho, li, les: us el dono or vos el done, se us esperava or se vos esperava. Like in the case of the article, the pronoun before words that start by unstressed i and u (with silent h or without): la ignora, la hi pren, la humitejarem, la usàvem. It also does not take the apostrophe the first weak pronoun in the forms la hi and se us.
Other conventions
The distribution of the two rhotics Template:IPA and Template:IPA closely parallels that of Spanish. Between vowels, the two contrast but they are otherwise in complementary distribution: in the onset, an alveolar trill, Template:IPA, appears unless preceded by a consonant; different dialects vary in regards to rhotics in the coda with Western Catalan generally featuring an alveolar tap, Template:IPA, and Central Catalan dialects like those of Barcelona or Girona featuring a weakly trilled Template:IPA unless it precedes a vowel-initial word in the same prosodic unit, in which case Template:IPA appears.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
In Eastern Catalan and North Western Catalan, most instances of word-final Template:Angbr are silent, but there are plenty of unpredictable exceptions (e.g. in Central Eastern Catalan Template:Lang Template:IPA 'fear' but Template:Lang Template:IPA 'sea').
In Valencian, most instances of word-final Template:Angbr are pronounced.