Galician
Origins of the Galician Language
 Galician shares its origins and early development
with Portuguese, as the language GalicianPortuguese.
 25BC Establishment of Roman Empire.
Introduction of Latin Language and Roman law.
Gallaecia Province.
 Latinisation of the Peninsula.
 Local communities in eastern and southern
provinces quickly adopted Vulgar Latin but the
process of acculturation and assimilation took place
and a much slower pace in the western and
northern provinces.
 3rd century AD – collapse of Roman control and invasions of
the Germanic tribes of Swabians, who transformed parts of
Roman Gallaecia into an independent kingdom.
 711 AD – Islamic conquest.
 Galicia had a newly found status as an important Christian
Pilgrimage which is why it began to experience more than
minimal contact with the outside world.
 1179 – Pope officially recognised the independent kingdom
of Portugal.
 Integration into the Kingdom of Castile marked the
beginning of the end of Galicia’s cultural and linguistic
isolation.
 Events of 14th century. Civil war between son
of Alfonso XI of Castille (Enrique Trastamara)
and his half brother, Pedro the Cruel.
 Upper echelons of society attempted to
establish Castilian as the official language.
 1474: Isabella I became the Crown of Castile
 1486: Spanish monarchy initiated the process of
centralisation known as “Doma y Castración del Reino de
Galicia”.
 End of the 15th century: Galicia was totally integrated into
the Crown of Castile.
 15th- 16th century: Galician clergy evicted. Galician seen as a
negative social trait.
 16th-18th century: “Séculos Escuros”
 1700: Monarchy wanted a ‘united Spain’. Castilian imposed.
 1713: ‘Real Academia Española’ set up to purify and
preserve the Castilian language.
 End of the 18th century: economic development in Galicia.
 1807-1814: Peninsular War.
 1833: Galicia formally lost its condition of kingdom,
Spain moved towards the creation of a centralised
nation-state.
 1857: In education, the ‘Ley Moyano’ forbade the use
of any language other than Castilian:
 “La Gramática y Ortografía de la Academia Española
serán texto obligatorio y único para estas materias en
la enseñanza pública”.
 Galeguismo
 1863: Rosalía de Castro published ‘Os Cantares
Gallegos’, the first modern work written entirely in
Galician.
 1905: Establishment of the Real Academia Galega.
Galician Language and Nationalism
under Franco
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Partido Galeguista created in 1931
Monolingual Galician in rural areas
State control over mass media and education
Exile activity abroad
Galicia Emigrante magazine 1954-1959
Radio show 1954-1971
By the 1950s
 Galician used publicly in 1949
 Editorial Galixia founded in 1950 by Ramón Piñeiro
In the 1960s
 Partido Socialista Galego in 1963
 Unión do Pobo Galego in 1964
 Civil protest poetry- Manuel María’s Terra Cha
By the 70s
 More relaxed attitude towards the Galician language.
 1963- Historia da literatura galega contemporánea by Caballo
Calero
 1965- Gramatica elemental del gallego común
 1971- Instituto da Lingua Galega (ILG)
O Estatuto de Autonomía de Galicia
(1981)
ARTIGO 5
 A lingua propia de Galicia é o galego.
 Os idiomas galego e castelán son oficiais en Galicia e
todos teñen o dereito de os coñecer e de os usar.
 Os poderes públicos de Galicia garantirán o uso
normal e oficial dos dous idiomas e potenciarán o
emprego do galego en tódolos planos da vida pública,
cultural e informativa, e disporán os medios
necesarios para facilita-lo seu coñecemento.
 Ninguén poderá ser discriminado por causa da lingua.
Lei de Normalización Lingüística de
Galicia (1983)
 Official language for public administration and public
entities in Galicia.
 Can also be used in the judicial system
 Children can receive their nursery education in either
language
 Compulsory subject in all schools
 University education can be in either Castilian or Galician
 Compulsory aspect of teacher training
 Promotes dubbing, subtitling and the production of plays,
films and literature in Galician.
 Makes the Real Academia Gallega responsible for
maintenance of the language.
In the Franxa Exterior
1989 and 1990
Congresses calling for
support from the Xunta
in promoting Galician.
Galician currently has
no recognised status in
the Franxa Exterior.
Language Planning Measures
post Franco.
1983 - LEI DE NORMALIZACIÓN
LINGÜÍSTICA DE GALICIA
 "Law of Linguistic Normalization", Ley 3/1983, 15 June
1983)
 first time since the introduction of mass education
that a generation has attended school in Galician.
 Reinforced the sociolinguistic status as well as the
role it has to play alongside Castilian, as a viable
language of administration.
Ley de Normalización Lingüística :
 Concerning linguistic rights in Galicia:
 Article 1. Galician is the autochthonous language of Galicia.
Everyone has the right to know it and the right to use it.
 Article 2. the public authorities of Galicia will guarantee the
normal use of Galician or of Castilian, as the official languages of
the self-governing region.
 Article 3. the public authorities of Galicia will adopt the necessary
measurements to ensure that no one is discriminated against
because of their language. As far as the right to employ their
own language is concerned, citizens will have the recourse to
the law courts and tribunals in order to obtain legal protection.
Aims of the law
 to re-establish Galician as foremost symbol of ethnic
identity at the very least from a socio-political and
socio-linguistic perspective.
 to reintroduce language to those who had stopped
using it, or only used it in very restricted contexts
 hoped to create the situation where pupils would be
competent in Galician so that within schools the
status of Castilian would be limited to that of study.
Laws on education
 Article12:1 Galician, as the autochthonous language of
Galicia, is also the official language of the education
system at all levels.
 Article 13 Children have the right to receive their preschool and primary education in their mother tongue.
 Article 14 Made the study of Galician mandatory at all
compulsory education levels.
Media and government institutions
 Title IV, Article 18: Galician will be the customary language
used in radio and television and in other means of public
communication liable to administration by or competition
from business concerns of the self governing community.
 TITLE II regarding legislation relating to language use by
governmental institutions in communication with the
general public.
 Title II Article 6:1 Citizens have the right to demand the use
of Galician, both in spoken and written communications
with public service authorities within the confines of self
governing community.
2004 - PLAN XERAL DE
NORMALIZACIÓN DA LINGUA
GALEGA
 Decrees prior: decreto 257/1995 and decreto 66/1997
were precursors to Plan Xeral or PNL. In English,
General Plan for the linguistic normalization of the
Galician language.
 Eg. Article 4. At pre school level and in first years of
primary school, teachers will use in class the mother
tongue that prevails among the pupils.
Plan Xeral cont.
 General objectives of Plano Xeral de Normalizacion
Linguistica (PNL) makes attempt to disengage from
political deliberations:
 To implement series of measure that will provide for a
recovery in no. of speakers
 Generate more respect for the language
 Encourage speakers to use it naturally without
restrictions
 Should not be used as political tool or for political bias
Plan Xeral cont.
 Incorporates many suggestions from council for Galician
culture and main objective is to overturn age old inferiority
complex. This is to be achieved by:
Introducing changes in social behaviour of speakers
 eg. Encouraging people to use Galician outside their
intragroup environment, in other more influential sectors
of society and persuading parents to pass on their spoken
Galician to their children.
 Suggested pupils in compulsory education should receive
at least 50% of their instruction in Galician.
Further areas of promotion
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Communications industry.
Public radio station, Radio Gallega introduced in 1980’s.
Regional tv channel, TVG (television galega)
Huge effort to promote literatacy since 1980’s
Galicia drama centre created in 1980’s (centro dramatico galego)
Local authorities and public services.
Lei 5/1988 reinforced stipulations from lei 1983 regarding Galician as official
language of use by local government. Oral and written purposes in Xunta
offices and debates carried out in G.
 Official documents tend to be in both languages.
 Lei 1983 says Place names should be in Galician.
 PNL adds that business and commerce should be encouraged to promote it
in workforce, church, tourism and social services.
Political history of Galicia
XUNTA DE
GALICIA
• Órgano colegiado del gobierno de
Galicia.
• Compuesta por el presidente,
vicepresidentes y consejeros.
• Creada en 1981 con la aprobación
del Estatuto de Autonomía. Elección
popular de su primer presidente,
Gerardo Fernández Albor.
En 1983 se aprueba la Ley autonómica 1/1983, reguladora de la Xunta
y de su Presidente.
• La Junta de Galicia moderna aparece por vez primera en el proyecto
de Estatuto de Autonomía de Galicia de 1936.
• Aprobado el Real Decreto-Ley 7/1978 y el Real Decreto 474/1978 se
establece la Junta de Galicia como gobierno autonómico gallego.
COMPETENCIAS
• Organización de sus instituciones de autogobierno y de las comarcas y parroquias
como entidades propias de Galicia.
• Ordenación del territorio y del litoral, urbanismo y vivienda.
• Actuaciones en relación a las instituciones del derecho civil gallego; normas
procesales y procedimientos administrativos que se deriven del específico derecho
gallego o de la organización de los poderes públicos.
• Obras públicas; vías férreas, carreteras y transporte; puertos, aeropuertos y
helipuertos.
• Aprovechamientos forestales, hidráulicos y relativos a la energía eléctrica; aguas
minerales y termales; pesca en las rías y aguas interiores; ferias y mercados.
• Artesanía, patrimonio artístico, bibliotecas, museos, conservatorios de música y
servicios de Bellas Artes; fomento de la cultura y de la investigación; promoción de
la enseñanza de la lengua gallega, del turismo y del deporte;
Resultados Elecciones Gallegas
Effectiveness of
Language Planning
Measures
Most important Measures:
 1. 1978 Spanish Constitution
 2. 1981, Article 5 of the Estatuto de
Autonomía de Galicia
 3. June 1983 – Lei de Normalización
Linguística de Galicia
 4. September 2004 – the Plan Xeral de
Normalización da Lingua Galega
First Language
First Language 1991
First Language 2003
11.4 0.6
16.27
1.67
Galician
Galician
25.6
62.4
Spanish
Bilingual
Other
30.31
51.75
Spanish
Bilingual
Other
Daily Language
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1991
2003
Only Galician
More Galician
More Spanish
Only Spanish
•Less Bilingualism – More Monolingualism
•Larger Increase of Castillian speakers, yet there is still a
larger number of Galician speakers.
Language Proficiency in Galician
100
90
80
70
60
50
1991
40
2001
30
20
10
0
Comprehension
Speaking
Reading
Writing
Galician Today...
 Administration:

Autonomous administration - under the obligation to promote the widespread use of
Galician, not only because of the legislation, but also because the language is the
vernacular of the country it governs and it gives prestige with relation to other
administrative bodies (http://www.galego.org/english/today/administration.html).
 City Halls
 “within the central offices of the Xunta, Galician is employed almost exclusively for
both oral and written purposes and the majority of politicians and local
representatives employ Galician in debates of the regional parliament” (Regional
Nationalism in Spain – Beswick)
 Public Institutions:
o Health
o “Access to any public administration post includes tests in the Galician language to
guarantee a minimum knowledge”
(http://www.galego.org/english/today/administration.html).
Galician Today...
 Mass Media:
 Press
 Books
 Radio
 TV
 Music
 Education
The Current Debate in Education:
 Alberto Núñez Feijóo
 Decree 79/2010 - establishes the language of each
subject in primary and secondary education, and
allows parents to decide the main language of
education within the classroom.
 Promoting bilingualism.
 Triggered an adverse reaction among Galician civil
society.
Future of Galician?
 Galician speakers are optimistic about the future of their
language
 While they almost unanimously believe that bilingualism will
continue to prevail in Galicia, over half of them take the view
that the use of Galician will increase.
 Almost 90% consider Galician to be as useful as Castilian.
 Despite all improvements in Administration, Education and Mass
Media there was not an increase in the oral use of Galician, but a
general rise of Castilian speakers.
Bibliography
 Beswick, Jaine, Regional nationalism in Spain :
language use and ethnic identity in Galicia (Clevedon :
Multilingual Matters, 2007)
 http://www.editorialgalaxia.es/
 http://es.wikilingue.com/gl/Galicia_Emigrante
 http://grupogalabra.com/documentos/Presen%C3%A7a
%20e%20Refer%C3%AAncias%20Portuguesas...%20(Ci%C
3%AAncias%20Sociais,%20Coi.pdf