Catalan orthography

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.

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.

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 International 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.

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.

On the 24th October 2016, the IEC published a new orthography for Catalan, the Ortografia catalana, which outlined several modifications, including a reduced number of monosyllabic words that take an acute or grave diacritic for reasons of disambiguation. Thus, the disyllabic word adéu is now generally spelled adeu; the monosyllabic words sec ("dry", pronounced /sɛk/ in Central Catalan) and séc ("fold, wrinkle", pronounced /sek/) are both written sec after the reform. Discretionary use of a diacritic is possible if the context is not sufficient for disambiguation.

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.

The Catalan and Valencian alphabet consists of the 26 letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet:

Catalan and Valencian 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). 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. Some Catalan surnames conserve the letter y and the word-final digraph ch (pronounced /k/), e. g. Layret, Aymerich.

The following table shows the letters and their names in Standard Catalan (IEC) and Standard Valencian (AVL):

Letter	Catalan		Valencian
	Name (IEC)	Pronunciation	Name (AVL)	Pronunciation
Aa	a	/ˈa/	a	/ˈa/
Bb	be, be alta	/ˈbe/, /ˈbe ˈaltə/	be, be alta	/ˈbe/, /ˈbe ˈalta/
Cc	ce	/ˈse/	ce	/ˈse/
Dd	de	/ˈde/	de	/ˈde/
Ee	e	/ˈɛ/	e	/ˈe/
Ff	efa	/ˈefə/	efe, ef	/ˈefe/, /ˈef/
Gg	ge	/ˈʒe/	ge	/ˈdʒe/
Hh	hac	/ˈak/	hac	/ˈak/
Ii	i, i llatina	/ˈi/, /ˈi ʎəˈtinə/	i, i llatina	/ˈi/, /ˈi ʎaˈtina/
Jj	jota	/ˈʒɔtə/	jota	/ˈdʒota/
Kk	ca	/ˈka/	ca	/ˈka/
Ll	ela	/ˈelə/	ele, el	/ˈele/, /ˈel/
Mm	ema	/ˈemə/	eme, em	/ˈeme/, /ˈem/
Nn	ena	/ˈenə/	ene, en	/ˈene/, /ˈen/
Oo	o	/ˈɔ/	o	/ˈo/
Pp	pe	/ˈpe/	pe	/ˈpe/
Qq	cu	/ˈku/	cu	/ˈku/
Rr	erra	/ˈerə/	erre, er	/ˈere/, /ˈeɾ/
Ss	essa	/ˈesə/	esse, es	/ˈese/, /ˈes/
Tt	te	/ˈte/	te	/ˈte/
Uu	u	/ˈu/	u	/ˈu/
Vv	ve, ve baixa	/ˈve/, /ˈbe ˈbaʃə/	ve, ve baixa	/ˈve/, /ˈbe ˈbajʃa/
Ww	ve doble	/ˈve ˈdobːlə/, /ˈbe ˈdobːlə/	ve doble	/ˈve ˈdoble/, /ˈbe ˈdoble/
Xx	ics, xeix	/ˈiks/, /ˈʃeʃ/	ics, xeix	/ˈiks/, /ˈʃejʃ/
Yy	i grega	/ˈi ˈɡɾeɡə/	i grega	/ˈi ˈɡɾeɡa/
Zz	zeta	/ˈzɛtə/	zeta	/ˈzeta/

The names efa (/ˈefa/), ela (/ˈela/), ema (/ˈema/), ena (/ˈena/), erra (/ˈera/), and essa (/ˈesa/) are also used in certain speeches of Valencian.

The names be alta ("high b") and ve baixa ("low v") are used by speakers who do not distinguish the phonemes /b/ and /v/. Speakers that do distinguish them use the simple names be and ve.

Spelling patterns

Spelling-to-sound correspondences

Main article: Lists of spelling-to-sound correspondences in Catalan

Further information: Catalan phonology

Catalan is a pluricentric language; the pronunciation of some of the letters is different in 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. (The following list 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).

Consonants Spelling IPA Example Catalan Valencian b /b/ barra, també c /k/, /s/ casa, amic; cent, fàcil ç /s/ açò, març d /d/ dos, banda f /f/ fer, baf g /ɡ/, /ʒ/ /ɡ/, /d͡ʒ/ gana, angle; gel, fugir h ∅ home, ahir j /ʒ/ /d͡ʒ/ jocs, menja k /k/ kurd, viking l /l/ lira, ala m /m/ mal, fum n /n/ nas, entra p /p/ peu, copa q /k/ quart, freqüent r /r/, /ɾ/, ∅ /r/, /ɾ/ racó; mare; ser s /s/, /z/ savi, pols; casa, trànsit t /t/ tou, morter v /v/ (or /b/) /v/ (or /b/) vaca, avet w /w/, /v/ (or /b/) /w/, /v/ (or /b/) web, Newton; watt, Ludwig x /ʃ/, /ks/, /ɡz/ /t͡ʃ/, /ʃ/, /ks/, /ɡz/ xiular; ix; fixar; èxit y /j/, /i/ Yuan; henry z /z/ zero, ozó   Main digraphs and letter combinations Spelling IPA Example Catalan Valencian ch /k/ Folch gu /ɡ/ guerrer, àguila ig /t͡ʃ/ raig ix /ʃ/ /jʃ/ eixida, feix kh /x/ khi, Txékhov ll /ʎ/ llig, brollar ŀl /lː/ /l/ coŀlegi ny /ɲ/ senyal, anys qu /k/ qui, aquest rr /r/ garra sc /s/ ascens ss bossa tg /d͡ʒ/ fetge tj viatjar th /θ/ theta tl /lː/ /l/ or /lː/ Betlem tll /ʎː/ /ʎ/ bitllet tm /mː/ /m/ setmana tn /nː/ /n/ or /nː/ cotna ts /t͡s/ tsar, potser tx /t͡ʃ/ txec, cotxe tz /d͡z/ /d͡z/ setze /z/ analitzar

Vowels Spelling IPA Example Catalan Valencian a /a/, /ə/ /a/ mar; amar à /a/ mà e /ɛ/, /e/, /ə/ /ɛ/, /e/ set; anell; demà è /ɛ/, */ə/ /ɛ/, /e/ dèbit; què é /e/ bé i /i/, /i̯/, ∅ dia; feia; raig í /i/ veí ï /i/ raïm, veïnat o /ɔ/, /o/, /u/, /u̯/ /ɔ/, /o/ soc; molt; socors; oasi ò /ɔ/ això ó /o/ són u /u/, /u̯/, /w/, ∅ suc; creua; quan; àguila ú /u/ ús ü /u/, /w/ reüll; egües

The letters

The representation of the sounds [ɡ] and [k]

The voiced stop sound [ɡ] (or the corresponding fricative variant [ɣ]) is represented by the spellings g and gu, and the voiceless stop sound [k], by the spellings c, q, qu and, sporadically, g and k.

At the beginning of a syllable, the sounds [ɡ] and [k]:

a) They are represented by g and c, respectively, before the vowels a, o, u, or when they are followed by the liquid consonants l, r: gat ('cat'), govern ('government'), gust ('taste'), glop ('gulp'), groc ('yellow'); casa ('house'), colom ('pigeon'), acurtar ('to shorten'), clam ('clamor'), cremar ('to burn').

b) They are represented by gu and qu, respectively, before the vowels e, i: guerra ('war'), seguir ('to follow'); quimera ('chimera'), paquet ('package, parcel').

In the case of the sound [k], in addition:

c) It is represented by q when it precedes a rising diphthong: conseqüència ('consequence'), quota ('share, fee').

d) The spelling k is used only in certain words from non-Romance languages: kàiser ('kaiser'), kantisme ('Kantianism'), kurd ('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 c or g conforms to the following rules:

e) Within a word, c is written before c, t, s; instead, g is written before d, m, n: acció ('action'), actriu ('actress'), dacsa ('corn'); amígdala ('tonsil'), fragment ('fragment'), magnitud ('magnitude').

EXCEPTIONS: c is written in some words of cultured formation or from other languages, such as anècdota ('anecdote'), aràcnid ('arachnid'), dracma ('drachma'), pícnic ('picnic'), tècnic ('technician'), etc.

f) At the end of an acute word (oxytone), c is written after a vowel: alifac ('infirmity'), batec ('beat'), pessic ('pinch'), albercoc ('apricot'), caduc ('caducous') and the first person of the present indicative of certain verbs of the second conjugation (bec 'I drink', dec 'I owe', dic 'I say', trac 'I take out', etc.).

EXCEPTIONS: g is written in some acute words of cultured formation or from other languages (buldog 'bulldog', mag 'magician', tuareg 'Tuareg', demagog 'demagogue').

Instead, g or c 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:

fang ('mud') ↔ fangar ('place full of mud')

llarg ('long') ↔ llargària ('length')

pròdig ('prodigal') ↔ prodigar ('to waste, to lavish')

blanc ('white') ↔ blancor ('whiteness')

arc ('arch') ↔ arcada ('arcade, retching')

pràctic ('practical') ↔ practicar ('to practice')

EXCEPTIONS: It is written c, despite having derivatives with g, in some plain or grave words (paroxytones), like aràbic 'Arabic', bròfec ('sullen, scorched'), càrrec ('charge, position [work]'), espàrrec ('asparagus'), etc.

NOTE: In the past, the digraph ch was used in final position, to represent the sound [k], spelling that is still preserved in some lineages: Doménech 'Doménech', March 'March', Pitarch 'Pitarch', Estruch 'Estruch', etc.

The representation of the sound [s]: the spellings s, ss, c and ç

The spelling s

The voiceless fricative alveolar sound [s] is represented by s in the following cases:

a) At the beginning of a word: salut ('health, greeting'), senyor ('lord, owner, mister').

b) Between consonant and vowel or between vowel and consonant: ansa ('handle'), aspecte ('aspect').

c) At the end of a word: gos ('dog'), excels ('of great excellence').

EXCEPTIONS: Some words from other languages ​​are written with z, such as hertz ('hertz'), and the noun brunz (buzz), from the verb brunzir (to buzz).

d) After certain prefixes and prefixed forms: asimetria ('asymmetry'), antisocial ('antisocial'), contrasenya ('password'), multisecular ('multisecular'), polisèmia ('polysemy'), psicosomàtic ('psychosomatic'), dinosaure ('dinosaur'), etc.

e) In compound words whose second formant is written with an initial s: esclata-sang ('bloody/saffron milk cap'), para-sol ('parasol, sunshade').

The spelling ss

The voiceless fricative alveolar sound [s] is represented by ss between vowels: bassa ('pond'), passar ('to pass').

NOTE: The spelling ss preceded by a consonant may also appear in words in which a prefix ending in s, such as trans- or sots-, is attached to a root beginning with s (transsexual 'transsexual', transsiberià 'trans-Siberian', sotssecretari 'sub-secretary') and in the plurals of cultured formation qualssevol ('any, whichever') and qualssevulla ('any, whichever').

The spellings c and ç

For etymological reasons, the sound [s] is also represented by the spellings c and ç in certain cases:

a) It is represented by ç before a, o, u and at the end of a word: confiança ('trust'), lliçó ('lesson'), vençut ('won, expired'), feliç ('happy').

b) It is represented by c before e, i: ceba ('onion'), bicicleta ('bicycle').

NOTE: In the most common pronunciation, the sc group also represents the [s] sound in words such as piscina ('pool') and ascensor ('lift').

The representation of the sound [z]: The spellings s and z

The voiced fricative alveolar sound [z] is represented by the spellings z or s, according to the following rules:

a) It is represented by z in word-initial position and between consonant and vowel: zebra ('zebra'), pinzell ('paint brush').

EXCEPTIONS: Derivatives and compounds of fons, dins and trans are written with s: enfonsar ('to send down, to sink'), endinsar ('to put in, to go into'), transatlàntic ('transatlantic'), etc.

b) It is represented by s between vowels: casa ('house'), revisió ('review').

EXCEPTIONS: Some loans and cultisms are written with z in intervocalic position: bizantí ('Byzantine'), protozou ('protozoo'), nazisme ('Nazism'), buldòzer ('bulldozer'), etc.

The spelling tz

In certain heritage words, the spelling tz represents the alveolar affricate phonetic group [dz]: dotze ('twelve'), tretze ('thirteen'), setze ('sixteen').

This same group is also used, with the phonetic value of [z], in the graphic representation of verbs formed with the suffix -itzar (and derivatives), such as caracteritzar ('characterize'), realització ('realization'), etc.

The representation of the sound [dʒ]: The spellings g, j, tg and tj

The voiced affricate palatal sound [dʒ] is represented by the consonants g and j, according to the following rules:

a) It is represented by g before e, i: àngel ('angel'), àgil ('agile').

EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, j is written before e in certain cases, such as jerarquia ('hierarchy'), jeroglífic ('hieroglyphs'), jersei ('jersey'), jesuïta ('Jesuit'), majestat ('majesty'), etc., and before the groups -ecc- and -ect-: injecció ('injection'), objecte ('object'), etc. In fewer cases, and mainly in loanwords, j is also found before i (Beijing 'Beijing', fijià 'Fijian', Fuji 'Fuji', Jim 'Jim', etc.).

b) It is represented by j before a, o, u: penjar ('to hung [up]'), jove ('young'), dejuni ('fasting').

The spellings tg and tj, which correspond to the geminate pronunciation practiced in some places, are presented only in intervocalic position. Parallel to the corresponding simple spellings, tg is written before e, i, and tj before a, o, u: coratge ('courage'), paisatgístic ('landscape'); desitjar ('to wish'), pitjor ('worse'), corretjut ('leathery, tough').

The representation of the sound [tʃ]: The spellings x, tx, ig and g

The voiceless affricate palatal sound [tʃ] is represented by the spellings x, tx, ig and g, according to the following rules:

a) At the beginning of a word it is written x: xafar ('to crush'), xiquet ('boy'), Xelva ('Chelva'), Xirivella ('Xirivella').

EXCEPTIONS: In word-initial position, it is also represented by tx in some words or proper names from other languages: Txad ('Chad'), Txaikovski ('Chaikovski'), txec ('Czech'), etc.

b) Between vowels it is always represented by tx: clòtxina ('blue mussel'), pitxer ('pitcher').

c) After a consonant is represented by x: anxova ('anchovy'), perxa ('pole, hanger'), ponx ('punch'), Barx ('Barx'), Elx ('Elche').

EXCEPTIONS: It is also represented by tx between consonant and vowel in some words or proper nouns from other languages: solontxac ('solonchak'), Khruixtxov ('Khrushchev').

d) At the end of a word following a vowel, the spelling tx is used if the derivatives are written with tx, and the spelling ig is used (after a, e, o, u) and the spelling g (after i) if the derivatives are written with g/j or tg/tj:

despatx ('office, dispatch') ↔ despatxar ('to complete, to send, to attend')

capritx ('caprice, fancy') ↔ encapritxar ('to cause to fall in love')

cartutx ('cartridge') ↔ cartutxera ('cartridge belt')

bateig ('baptism') ↔ batejar ('to baptize')

roig ('red') ↔ roja ('red', f.)

desig ('wish') ↔ desitjar ('to wish')

The representation of the sound [ʃ]: The spelling x

The voiceless fricative palatal sound [ʃ] is always represented by the spelling x: Xàtiva ('Xàtiva'), Xavier ('Xavier'), xenòfob ('xenophobic'), coixí ('cushion'), dibuix ('draw').

The representation of the phonetic group [ks]

The phonetic group [ks] is represented by the letter x in the following positions:

a) Between vowels: fixar ('to fix'), màxim ('maximum').

b) Between vowel and voiceless consonant: explosió ('explosion'), extens ('extensive').

c) At the end of a word after a vowel: annex ('annexe), apèndix ('appendix').

EXCEPTIONS: At the end of a word after a consonant, the phonetic group [ks] is also represented, in some cases, by x: esfinx ('sphinx'), larinx ('larynx') and linx ('lynx').

NOTE: The x does not represent the unvoiced group [ks], but the voiced [ɡz], in the initial groups ex- and inex- followed by a vowel, h or voiced consonant: examen ('exam'), exagerar ('to exaggerate'), exhortar ('to exhort'), exdiputat ('ex-deputy'), inexorable ('inexorable').

The spellings b and p

The bilabial occlusive voiced sound [b] (or the corresponding fricative variant [β]) is represented by the spelling b, and the bilabial voiceless occlusive sound [p], by the spelling p: baix ('low, short'), roba ('clothes'); poc ('little, [a] few'), llépol ('sweet-toothed'), compra ('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 b and p conforms to the following rules:

a) At the beginning of a word, the syllables ab-, abs-, ob-, obs-, sub-, subs- are written with b: abdicar ('to abdicate'), abstraure ('to abstract'), objecció ('objection'), obstruir ('to obstruct'), subvenció ('subsidy'), substantiu ('substantive').

EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as apnea ('apnea'), apte ('apt'), optar ('to opt'), òptica ('opticians'), òptim ('optimal'), etc. are written with p.

b) At the beginning of a word, the syllable cap- is written with p: capçal ('head [of a bed], pillow'), captiu ('captive').

EXCEPTIONS: Some words such as cabdal ('main, primary'), cabdell ('ball [of wool, cotton]'), cabdill ('caudillo'), etc. are written with b.

c) Within a word, p is written before the spellings c, s, n and t: egipci ('Egyptian'), àpside ('apse, apsis, apside'), hipnòtic ('hypnotic'), repte ('challenge').

EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as dissabte ('Saturday'), dubte ('doubt') and sobte ('suddenly', only used after de) are written with b.

d) At the end of an acute word, p is written after a vowel: cep ('vine, cep'), galop ('gallop'), grup ('group'), xop ('soaked, black poplar').

EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as adob ('adobe'), aljub ('well, cistern'), club ('club'), esnob ('snob'), íncub ('incubus'), tub ('tube'), etc. are written with b.

Instead, b or p 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:

destorb ('obstacle, nuisance') ↔ destorbar ('to obstruct')

corb ('crow') ↔ corbató ('crow's chick')

àrab ('Arabian') ↔ arabesc ('arabesque')

camp ('countryside, field') ↔ campestre ('rural')

pòlip ('polyp') ↔ polipoide ('polypoid')

serp ('snake') ↔ serpentí ('snakelike, serpentine')

The spellings b and v

Although some Valencian speakers differentiate the voiced occlusive bilabial sound [b] from the voiced labiodental fricative [v], to avoid confusion in the use of the spellings b and v it is necessary to take into account that b is written in the following cases:

a) Before l and r: bleda ('chard, a passive person'), bromera ('froth, lather').

b) After m: embotit ('stuffed, crammed'), tomba ('tomb').

c) In those cases where it alternates with p in words of the same family: cabut 'big-headed, stubborn' (↔ cap, 'head'), saber 'to known' (↔ sap, 'they know').

NOTE: In some cases, due to differences in cultural or heritage treatment, words from the same family may alternate the use of b and v: avortar ('to abort') / abortiu ('abortive'); calb ('bald') / calvície ('baldness'), cervell ('brain') / cerebral ('cerebral').

And v is written in the following cases:

a) After n: canviar ('to change'), invent ('invent').

b) In those cases where it alternates with u in words of the same family: blava 'blue, f.' (↔ blau, 'blue, m.'), escriviu 'you write' (↔ escriure, 'to write').

c) In the endings of the imperfect indicative of the first conjugation -ava, -aves, -àvem, -aveu, -aven: cantava ('I sang, they sang'), cantaves ('you sang'), cantàvem ('we sang'), cantàveu ('you sang, pl.', cantaven ('they sang, pl.').

The spellings d and t

The voiced occlusive dental sound [d] (or the corresponding fricative variant [ð]) is represented by the spelling d, and its voiceless correlate [t], by the spelling t: donar ('to give'), banda ('side, band'), badar ('to open [up], to be careless'); tallar ('to cut'), contar ('to tell, to say'), gaiato ('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 d or t conforms to the following rules:

a) The final consonant of the following syllable is written with d of consonant, in word-initial position: adjudicar ('to award, adjudge'), admissió ('admission').

EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as atlàntic ('Atlantic'), atles ('atlas'), atleta ('athlete') and atmosfera ('atmosphere') are written with t.

b) At the end of an acute word, t is generally written after a vowel: blat ('wheat'), llet ('milk'), humit ('humid'), bruixot ('warlock'), pelut ('hairy').

EXCEPTIONS: For etymological reasons, some words such as almud ('almude'), fluid ('fluid'), fred ('cold'), sud ('South'); Alfred ('Alfred'), Conrad ('Conrad'), David ('David'), as well as feminine words formed with the cultured endings -etud and -itud: quietud ('stillness, calm'), multitud ('crowd'), etc.

Instead, d or t 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:

verd ('green') ↔ verdós ('greenish')

sord ('deaf') ↔ ensordir ('to deafen')

àrid ('arid') ↔ aridesa ('aridity')

sort ('luck') ↔ sorteig ('draw, sorting')

pont ('bridge') ↔ pontet ('little bridge')

crèdit ('credit') ↔ creditor ('creditor')

The spellings m, n, mp, tm and tn

The letter m usually represents the nasal bilabial sound [m]: mare ('mother'), cama ('leg'), termal ('thermal'), bram ('bray, roar'), and the n, the nasal alveolar sound [n]: nas ('nose'), manar ('to command'), urna ('urn'), gran ('great, grand').

The spelling mp is used with the value of [m] or [n], for etymological reasons, in a medial syllable, in cases such assumpció ('assumption'), atemptar ('attempt'), compte ('to count'), prompte ('soon'), símptoma ('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 m or n are used, according to the following rules:

a) m is written before b, f, m and p: símbol ('symbol'), amfiteatre ('amphitheatre'), commoure ('to disturb, to move'), omplir ('to fill [up]').

EXCEPTIONS: The spelling n is kept when it belongs to certain prefixed forms or to the first constituent of a compound word: enmig ('in the middle'), benparlat ('well-spoken'), entornpeu ('baseboard'), etc. As for f, the spelling n is also used in words beginning with con-, in- and in most of those beginning with en-: confessar ('to confess'), confegir ('to spell'); infermer ('nurse'), infinit ('infinite'); enfangar ('to cover with mud'), enfortir ('to strengthen'), etc.

b) n is written before v: convent ('convent'), recanvi ('spare, replacement').

EXCEPTIONS: The spelling m is kept when it belongs to prefixed forms or to the first constituent of a compound word: circumvalació ('ring road'), tramvia ('tramway'), triumvir ('triumvir'), etc.

For etymological reasons, certain words are spelled tm or tn: setmana ('week'), setmesí ('born in the seventh month of gestation'), logaritme ('logarithm'); cotna ('pork rind'), ètnia ('ethnic group, ethnicity').

The spelling ny

The nasal palatal sound [ɲ] is represented in all positions by the spelling ny: nyora ('a type of pepper'), pinya ('pine cone, pineapple'), codony ('quince [fruit]').

The spellings l, ŀl and tl

The lateral alveolar sound [l] is represented in all cases by the consonant l: líquid ('liquid'), colar ('to strain'), pèl ('hair'), blat ('wheat').

For etymological reasons, certain cultisms are written with ŀl: aŀlicient ('lure, incentive'), Aveŀlí ('Avelline'), Brusseŀles ('Brussels'), coŀlaborar ('to collaborate'), escarapeŀla ('cockade'), gaŀlicisme ('Gallicism'), iŀlegal ('illegal'), iŀlògic ('illogical'), iŀlusió ('illusion, hope, happiness'), miŀlímetre ('millimeter'), síŀlaba ('syllable'), aquareŀla ('watercolour'), etc.

Some heritage words that have a geminate pronunciation [lː] in a part of Valencian are written with the spelling tl, such as ametla ('almond'), batle ('mayor'), guatla ('quail'), motle ('mold'), vetlar ('to stay up, to patrol, to watch over'), etc. However, the spelling tl represents the sounds [dl] in cultisms such as atles ('atlas'), atlàntic ('Atlantic'), etc.

The spellings ll and tll

The lateral palatal sound [ʎ] is usually represented by the letter ll, which can appear in any position: llebre ('hare'), pallasso ('clown'), coll ('neck').

But, in certain cases, it is also represented by the spelling tll ([ʎː] in Standard Catalan): bitllet ('ticket, bank note'), rotllo ('roll, annoyance'), ratlla ('line, scratch'), etc.

The spellings r and rr

The spelling r is used to represent the alveolar tap sound [ɾ] and the vibrating alveolar sound [r]: mira ('they look') / mirra ('myrrh').

The tap is always represented by the spelling r, while the vibrating is represented by the spellings r or rr, according to the following rules:

a) r is written at the beginning of a word or after l, n and s: rabosa ('fox'), honrat ('honoured').

b) rr is written between vowels: barranc ('cliff'), terra ('Earth, land').

EXCEPTIONS: The sound [r] is also represented by the spelling r in intervocalic position when it follows a prefix, a prefixed form or a formant of a compound word ending in a vowel: arítmia ('arrhythmia'), contrarestar ('counteract'), vicerector ('vice-rector'), malva-rosa (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 harmonia ('harmony'), herba ('herb'), hivern ('winter'), ahir ('yesterday'), etc.

NOTE: In certain interjections or in words derived from foreign proper names, the spelling h is pronounced aspirated: ehem ('ahem'), ha ('ha [laugh]'), he ('he [laugh]'), hegelià ('Hegelian').

The spelling w

The spelling w 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 [v]: wagnerià ('Wagnerian'), wolframi ('tungsten').

b) In words of Anglo-Saxon origin, it has a phonic value equivalent to that of the semivowel u [w]: whisky ('whisk[e]y'), wèlter ('welter').

The spelling y

The spelling y, in addition to being used to form the digraph ny, is also used independently, with the phonetic value that would correspond to i, in the representation of certain words from other languages ​​or formed from proper names: faraday ('faraday'), gray ('gray'), jansky ('jansky'), Nova York ('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 ⟨é ó⟩ indicates that the vowel is stressed and close-mid (/e o/), while grave on ⟨è ò⟩ indicates that the vowel is stressed and open-mid (/ɛ ɔ/). Grave on ⟨à⟩ and acute on ⟨í ú⟩ 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. For example:

• també: /təmˈbe/ or /tamˈbe/ ('also')
• èxtasi: /ˈɛkstəzi/ or /ˈɛkstazi/ ('ecstasy')
• córrer: /ˈkorə/ or /ˈkoreɾ/ ('to run')
• pròxim: /ˈpɾɔksim/ ('nearby')
• ànima: /ˈanimə/ or /ˈanima/ ('soul')
• pastís: /pəsˈtis/ or /pasˈtis/ ('pie')
• fúcsia: /ˈfuksiə/ or /ˈfuksia/ ('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 + -⟨s⟩, or -⟨en⟩/⟨in⟩, examples:
  • parlà /pəɾˈla/ or /paɾˈla/ ('he spoke')
  • parlés /pəɾˈles/ or /paɾˈles/ ('that he spoke' past subjunctive)
  • entén /ənˈten/ or /enˈten/ ('he understands')

This does not occur in words like parleu /pəɾˈlɛw/ or /paɾˈlɛw/ ('you are speaking' plural), or parlem /pəɾˈlɛm/ or /paɾˈlɛm/ ('we are speaking').

• Paroxytones with any other ending, including non-syllabic -⟨i⟩, -⟨u⟩, examples:
  • parlàveu /pəɾˈlabəw/ or /paɾˈlavew/ ('you were speaking' plural)
  • parlàvem /pəɾˈlabəm/ or /paɾˈlavem/ ('we were speaking')

This does not occur in words like parla /ˈpaɾlə/ or /ˈpaɾla/ ('he is speaking'), parles /ˈpaɾləs/ or /ˈpaɾles/ ('you are speaking' singular), or parlen /ˈpaɾlən/ or /ˈpaɾlen/ ('they are speaking').

• Any proparoxytones, examples:
  • química /ˈkimikə/ or /ˈkimika/ ('chemistry')
  • ciència /siˈɛnsiə/ or /siˈɛnsia/ ('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 /əs/ or /es/ ('it' impersonal) vs és /ˈes/ ('is'), te /tə/ or /te/ ('you' clitic) vs té /ˈte/ ('s/he has'), mes /ˈmɛs/ or /ˈmes/ ('month') vs més /ˈmes/ ('more'), dona /ˈdɔnə/ or /ˈdɔna/ ('woman') vs dóna /ˈdonə/ or /ˈdona/ ('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 /ɛ/ vs closed e /e/ between Eastern Catalan and Western Catalan is reflected in some orthographic divergences between standard Catalan and Valencian norms, for example: anglès /əŋˈɡlɛs/ (Catalan) vs anglés /aŋˈɡles/ (Valencian) ('English'). In the Balearic Islands, open e /ɛ/ tends to be a centralised e (/ə/) 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:

• 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) or a contraction. Contrary to the restrictions of the acute and grave accent, the circumflex can be used with all vowels ⟨â ê î ô û⟩, the most common, especially in Valencian, being ⟨â⟩ (i.e. due to the elision of /d/), 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 ('to', preposition in colloquial Valencian).

Diaeresis

The diaeresis has two different uses: to mark hiatus over ⟨ï, ü⟩, and to mark that ⟨u⟩ is not silent in the groups ⟨gü, qü⟩.

If a diaeresis appears over an ⟨i⟩ or ⟨u⟩ that follows another vowel, it denotes a hiatus, examples:

• raïm /rəˈim/ or /raˈim/ ('grape')
• taüt /təˈut/ or /taˈut/ ('coffin')

This diaeresis is not used over a stressed vowel that already should have an accent. Examples: suís /suˈis/ ('Swiss' masculine), but suïssa /suˈisə/ or /suˈisa/ ('Swiss' feminine), suïs /ˈsuis/ ('that you sweat' subjunctive) (without the diaeresis, this last example would be pronounced /ˈsui̯s/, i.e. as only one syllable, like reis /ˈrei̯s/ '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 /u.i/). 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, ⟨ü⟩ represents /w/ between a velar consonant /ɡ/ or /k/ and a front vowel (⟨gu⟩ and ⟨qu⟩ are used to represent a hard (i.e. velar) pronunciation before ⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩).

• ungüent /uŋˈɡwen(t)/ ('ointment')
• qüestió /kwəstiˈo/ or /kwestiˈo/ ('topic')

Forms of the verb argüir represents a rare case of the sequence /ɡu.i/, and the rules for /gu/ and /ui/ 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 in English 'broken cee', is a modified ⟨c⟩ with a cedilla mark ( ¸ ). It is only used before ⟨a u o⟩ to indicate a soft c /s/, much like in Portuguese, Occitan or French (e.g. compare coça /ˈkosə/ or /ˈkosa/ 'kick', coca /ˈkokə/ or /ˈkoka/ 'cake' and cosa /ˈkɔzə/ or /ˈkɔza/ 'thing'). In Catalan and Valencian, ce trencada also appears as last letter of a word (e.g. feliç /fəˈlis/ or /feˈlis/ 'happy', falç /ˈfals/ 'sickle'), but then ⟨ç⟩ may be voiced to [z] before vowels and voiced consonants, e.g. feliçment /fəˌlizˈmen(t)/ or /feˌlizˈmen(t)/ ('happily') and braç esquerre /ˈbɾaz əsˈkɛrə/ or /ˈbɾaz esˈkɛre/ ('left arm').

Capitalization

Catalan and Valencian do not capitalize the days of the week, months, or national adjectives.

dilluns, setembre, anglès

'Monday', 'September', 'English'

Punctuation

Catalan and Valencian punctuation rules are similar to English, with some minor differences.

• 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.
• In texts containing dialogue, quoted speech is usually set off with dashes, rather than inverted commas.

—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 go to and ...'

• Questions are ended with ?, as in English. Before 1993, questions could be enclosed with ¿...?, as in Spanish, but this is no longer recommended by the IEC.

Punt volat (middot)

The punt volat or middot is only used in the sequence ⟨ŀl⟩ (called ela or el(e) geminada, 'geminate el') to represent a geminated sound /lː/ (often simplified to /l/, especially in Valencian), as the digraph ⟨ll⟩ is used for the palatal lateral /ʎ/. This usage of the middot sign dates to the beginning of twentieth century; in medieval and modern Catalan, before Fabra's standardization, 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 /ˈsɛlːa/ ('cell') vs cella /ˈseʎa/ ('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 ⟨r⟩, ⟨s⟩, or ⟨x⟩ (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 substantive (but not no plus adjective, no-violència but the nacions no violentes) and certain singular constructions like abans-d'ahir and adéu-siau.

Since 1996, the normative set that in the none mentioned cases in the previous paragraph do not carry hyphen. Thus, the general norm set that the prefixed forms, aside from the cited exceptions, are written without hyphen (the only normative option, then, is to write arxienemic and fisicoquímic).

In regard to numbers, hyphen 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.

In the case of the separation of a term at the end of line, syllable boundaries are maintained. Still, there are digraphs that can be separated and others that cannot. The digraphs that can be separated 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. (Thus, the digraph rr, for example it corresponds with the nearest sound of a rhotic alveolar trill. Cor-randes, calit-ja and as-sas-sí are words with digraphs that can be split). 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. (For example, the digraph ny cannot be separated.)

To orthographic effects, the syllabic separation of words follow the following norms:

• 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

Apostrophe

Catalan and Valencian follow some apostrophation rules that serve to determine whether it is necessary to use an apostrophe (') with an article, preposition or pronoun or not if the word that follows it or precedes it begins or finishes in a vowel, respectively.

Article

The masculine singular article (el, en, and dialectally also lo, in Continental Catalan, and es and so in Balearic, the so called salted article, with s) is apostrophated before all words of masculine gender that begin with a vowel, e.g. l'avió, l'encant, l'odi, n'Albert, s'arbre; with a silent h, e.g. l'home, l'ham, n'Hug, s'home; with a liquid s, e.g. l'spa, l'Stuttgart. It is not apostrophated before of words that begin with a consonantic i or u (with or without h), el iogurt, el iode (or dialectally lo iogurt, lo iode).

In case of apostrophation, the specific 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.

The feminine singular article (la, na and dialectally sa) are apostrophated in the following cases: When the following word start with a vowel: l'emoció, l'ungla, l'aigua, n'Elena; when the word start with a silent h: l'heura, l'holografia, n'Hermínia, s'horabaixa. It is not apostrophated in the following cases: When it goes before word that starts with a consonantic i or u (with h or not): la hiena; when it goes before a word that begins with unstressed i or u (with h or not): la humitat, la universitat, la imatge; before some specific terms like la una (when referring to the time), la ira, la host, la Haia (toponym); before the name of the letters (la i, la hac, la essa); before a word that start with s followed by a consonant, la Scala de Milà.

Traditionally, to avoid ambiguities, words beginning with the negative prefix a- did not take an apostrophe. Nowadays, general apostrophation rules are followed in written text: l'anormalitat, l'amoralitat, l'atipicitat, l'asimetria, l'asèpsia, etc. The Diccionari de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans (DIEC) of 1995 started to apply the new criteria; however, it was never formulated explicitly. In the same way, the introduction of DIEC writes about the abnormality of the situation, and the outline of the new normative grammar that prepares the IEC already does not collect that traditional exception.

Preposition de

The preposition de takes the apostrophe before a vowel (with silent h, or without): d'aigua, d'enveja, d'humitat. It does not apostrophate however before the following cases: words that start with a consonantic i or u (with silent h or without); de iode, de ioga, de uombat, de iogurt, de Utah, de ouija; before names of letters; de a, de hac. In general it does not apostrophate in case of metalanguage: el plural de alt és alts; before a liquid s: de Stalin.

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. When there are two, the second if the 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 /r/ and /ɾ/ closely parallels that of Spanish. Between vowels, the two contrast but they are otherwise in complementary distribution: in the onset, an alveolar trill, [r], appears unless preceded by a consonant; different dialects vary in regards to rhotics in the coda with Western Catalan generally featuring an alveolar tap, [ɾ], and Central Catalan dialects like those of Barcelona or Girona featuring a weakly trilled [r] unless it precedes a vowel-initial word in the same prosodic unit, in which case [ɾ] appears.

In Eastern Catalan and North Western Catalan, most instances of word-final ⟨r⟩ are silent, but there are plenty of unpredictable exceptions (e.g. in Central Eastern Catalan por [ˈpo] 'fear' but mar [ˈmɑɾ] 'sea'). In Central Eastern Catalan monosyllabic words with a pronounced final ⟨r⟩ get a reinforcement final consonant [t] when in absolute final position (e.g. final ⟨r⟩ of cor ('heart') in reina del meu cor /ˈrejnə dəl ˈmew ˈkɔrt/ 'queen of my heart' vs el cor es mou /əl ˈkɔɾ əz ˈmɔw/ 'the heart is moving').

In Valencian, most instances of word-final ⟨r⟩ are pronounced.

See also

• Catalan manual alphabet
• Catalan Braille

Bibliography

• Ortografía catalana. Institut des estudis catalans
• Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992). "Catalan". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 22 (1–2): 53–56. doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618. S2CID 249411809.
• Padgett, Jaye (2003). Systemic contrast and Catalan rhotics. University of California, Santa Cruz.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Swan, Michael; Smith, Bernard (26 April 2001). Learner English: A Teacher's Guide to Interference and Other Problems. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77939-5.
• Wheeler, Max W.; Yates, Alan; Dols, Nicolau (1999). Catalan: A Comprehensive Grammar. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-20777-0.
• Wheeler, Max W. (2005). The Phonology Of Catalan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-925814-7.