Catalan dialects
The Catalan dialects feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages;[4] both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology.[5] Mutual intelligibility between its dialects is very high,[6][7][8] estimates ranging from 90% to 95%.[9] The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.[4]
In 1861, linguist Manuel Milà i Fontanals split Catalan into two main dialects: Western and Eastern.[8][5] The most obvious phonetic difference lies in the treatment of unstressed a and e, which have merged to /ə/ in Eastern dialects, but remain distinct as /a/ and /e/ in Western dialects.[4][8] There are a few other differences in pronunciation, verbal morphology, and vocabulary.[6]Western Catalan comprises the two dialects of Northwestern Catalan and Valencian; the Eastern block comprises three to four dialects (depending on their classification): Central, Roussillonese (Northern Catalan), and Insular (Balearic and Alguerese).[8] Each dialect can be further subdivided into several subdialects.
There are two spoken standards for the language based on the Eastern and Western dialects respectively:
Valencians are only surpassed in number of Catalan-speakers by Catalans themselves, representing approximately a third of the whole Catalan-speaking population.[10] Therefore, in the context of linguistic conflict, recognition and respect towards the dual standard, as well as the dual Catalan–Valencian denomination,[11] pacifies the tense central–periphery relations between Catalonia and the Valencian community.
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, Asturian, and Aragonese.[13] Balearic has also instances of stressed /ə/.[14] Dialects differ in the different degrees of vowel reduction,[15] and the incidence of the pair /ɛ e/.[16]
In Eastern Catalan (except Majorcan), unstressed vowels reduce to three: /a e ɛ/ → [ə]; /o ɔ u/ → [u]; /i/ remains distinct.[17] There are a few instances of unreduced [e], [o] in some words.[17] Alguerese has lowered [ə] to [a], similar to Eastern dialects spoken in the Barcelona metropolitan area (however, in the latter dialects the vowels are distinct as [ɐ] vs. [a]).
