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7. Are Galicians bound to diglossia?

An analysis of the nature, uses and values of standard Galician
  • Verónica Loureiro-Rodríguez
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Spanish in Contact
This chapter is in the book Spanish in Contact

Abstract

Galician is a minority Romance language spoken in the northwestern Spain, where it shares co-official status with Spanish. Over the centuries, the status of Galician has changed due to the political situations within Spain, ultimately affecting speakers' attitudes and the use of both languages. Spanish has always enjoyed high status while Galician has been considered a non-standard and much stigmatized dialect since the 15th century to Franco's dictatorship (1939–1975). Due to its rural economy, the native language of Galicia remained a linguistic variety principally used by lower-class rural dwellers. Democracy (1978) transformed the linguistic conditions of Galicia, elevating the status of Galician to that of “language” and declaring it co-official with Spanish. This paper will analyze the legal language used to refer to Spanish and Galician in the Spanish Constitution, the Autonomy Statute of Galicia, and the Linguistic Normalization Act. In addition, I will examine the relatively new construct of “standard” Galician and its use in school curriculum, public institutions, and the media. Finally I will analyze speakers' attitudes towards “standard” Galician as well as their linguistic choices in Galician society: Spanish, “standard” Galician, and the local dialects. The theoretical background for this paper relies on the idea of (1) diglossia (Ferguson 1959; Fishman 1967; Fernández 1978), an embedded phenomenon in the socio-linguistic history of Galicia; (2) the intermingled concepts of language revitalization (Fishman 1991; Del Valle 2000), and (3) language identity (Fishman 1991; Shannon 1995; Lécours 2001). The data are drawn from ethnolinguistic and sociolinguistic studies of Galician and Spanish (Mapa Sociolingüístico de Galicia1996; Del Valle 2000; Ramallo 2000; Beswick 2002), and observations from my own continuing ethnolinguistic research of the region (2002–2004). Recent standardization efforts have attempted to extend “standard” Galician to formal contexts meant to confer linguistic prestige. Having a Galician standard would allow citizens to converge into this variety instead of Spanish, avoiding the common Spanish/Galician diglossia. Furthermore, the standardization movement has tried to reinforce Galician identity and attract the loyalty of speakers. But, “standard” Galician has become a source of diglossia in and of itself. Speakers may shift into “standard” Galician because they consider it more appropriate and higher in status than the local varieties. This may lead to a more traditional diglossic society where speakers who are not competent in standard Galician shift into Spanish in formal contexts. These ramifications will be discussed in light of the ethnograpthic data.

Abstract

Galician is a minority Romance language spoken in the northwestern Spain, where it shares co-official status with Spanish. Over the centuries, the status of Galician has changed due to the political situations within Spain, ultimately affecting speakers' attitudes and the use of both languages. Spanish has always enjoyed high status while Galician has been considered a non-standard and much stigmatized dialect since the 15th century to Franco's dictatorship (1939–1975). Due to its rural economy, the native language of Galicia remained a linguistic variety principally used by lower-class rural dwellers. Democracy (1978) transformed the linguistic conditions of Galicia, elevating the status of Galician to that of “language” and declaring it co-official with Spanish. This paper will analyze the legal language used to refer to Spanish and Galician in the Spanish Constitution, the Autonomy Statute of Galicia, and the Linguistic Normalization Act. In addition, I will examine the relatively new construct of “standard” Galician and its use in school curriculum, public institutions, and the media. Finally I will analyze speakers' attitudes towards “standard” Galician as well as their linguistic choices in Galician society: Spanish, “standard” Galician, and the local dialects. The theoretical background for this paper relies on the idea of (1) diglossia (Ferguson 1959; Fishman 1967; Fernández 1978), an embedded phenomenon in the socio-linguistic history of Galicia; (2) the intermingled concepts of language revitalization (Fishman 1991; Del Valle 2000), and (3) language identity (Fishman 1991; Shannon 1995; Lécours 2001). The data are drawn from ethnolinguistic and sociolinguistic studies of Galician and Spanish (Mapa Sociolingüístico de Galicia1996; Del Valle 2000; Ramallo 2000; Beswick 2002), and observations from my own continuing ethnolinguistic research of the region (2002–2004). Recent standardization efforts have attempted to extend “standard” Galician to formal contexts meant to confer linguistic prestige. Having a Galician standard would allow citizens to converge into this variety instead of Spanish, avoiding the common Spanish/Galician diglossia. Furthermore, the standardization movement has tried to reinforce Galician identity and attract the loyalty of speakers. But, “standard” Galician has become a source of diglossia in and of itself. Speakers may shift into “standard” Galician because they consider it more appropriate and higher in status than the local varieties. This may lead to a more traditional diglossic society where speakers who are not competent in standard Galician shift into Spanish in formal contexts. These ramifications will be discussed in light of the ethnograpthic data.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction ix
  4. Part I. Heritage Spanish in the United States
  5. 1. Subjects in early dual language development 3
  6. 2. Interpreting mood distinctions in Spanish as a heritage language 23
  7. 3. Anglicismos en el léxico disponible de los adolescentes hispanos de Chicago 41
  8. Part II. Education and policy issues
  9. 4. Teaching Spanish in the U.S. 61
  10. 5. The politics of English and Spanish aquí y allá 81
  11. 6. Language attitudes and the lexical de-Castilianization of Valencian 101
  12. 7. Are Galicians bound to diglossia? 119
  13. Part III. Pragmatics and contact
  14. 8. Addressing peers in a Spanish-English bilingual classroom 135
  15. 9. Style variation in Spanish as a heritage language 153
  16. 10. “Baby I'm Sorry, te juro, I'm Sorry” 173
  17. 11. Cross-linguistic influence of the Cuzco Quechua epistemic system on Andean Spanish 191
  18. 12. La negación en la frontera domínico-haitiana 211
  19. Part IV. Variation and contact
  20. 13. On the development of contact varieties 237
  21. 14. Linguistic and social predictors of copula use in Galician Spanish 253
  22. 15. Apuntes preliminares sobre el contacto lingüístico y dialectal en el uso pronominal del español en Nueva York 275
  23. 16. Is the past really the past in narrative discourse? 297
  24. 17. The impact of linguistic constraints on the expression of futurity in the Spanish of New York Colombians 311
  25. 18. Quantitative evidence for contact-induced accommodation 329
  26. 19. Está muy diferente a como era antes 345
  27. Part V. Bozal Spanish
  28. 20. Where and how does bozal Spanish survive? 359
  29. 21. The appearance and use of bozal language in Cuban and Brazilian neo-African literature 377
  30. Index 395
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.22.10lou

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction ix
  4. Part I. Heritage Spanish in the United States
  5. 1. Subjects in early dual language development 3
  6. 2. Interpreting mood distinctions in Spanish as a heritage language 23
  7. 3. Anglicismos en el léxico disponible de los adolescentes hispanos de Chicago 41
  8. Part II. Education and policy issues
  9. 4. Teaching Spanish in the U.S. 61
  10. 5. The politics of English and Spanish aquí y allá 81
  11. 6. Language attitudes and the lexical de-Castilianization of Valencian 101
  12. 7. Are Galicians bound to diglossia? 119
  13. Part III. Pragmatics and contact
  14. 8. Addressing peers in a Spanish-English bilingual classroom 135
  15. 9. Style variation in Spanish as a heritage language 153
  16. 10. “Baby I'm Sorry, te juro, I'm Sorry” 173
  17. 11. Cross-linguistic influence of the Cuzco Quechua epistemic system on Andean Spanish 191
  18. 12. La negación en la frontera domínico-haitiana 211
  19. Part IV. Variation and contact
  20. 13. On the development of contact varieties 237
  21. 14. Linguistic and social predictors of copula use in Galician Spanish 253
  22. 15. Apuntes preliminares sobre el contacto lingüístico y dialectal en el uso pronominal del español en Nueva York 275
  23. 16. Is the past really the past in narrative discourse? 297
  24. 17. The impact of linguistic constraints on the expression of futurity in the Spanish of New York Colombians 311
  25. 18. Quantitative evidence for contact-induced accommodation 329
  26. 19. Está muy diferente a como era antes 345
  27. Part V. Bozal Spanish
  28. 20. Where and how does bozal Spanish survive? 359
  29. 21. The appearance and use of bozal language in Cuban and Brazilian neo-African literature 377
  30. Index 395
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