Statement by the 21 Vives Network universities on the name that the new Aragon Language Act gives to Catalan
Coat of arms of the University of Barcelona.
Institutional
(14/05/2013)
In view of the Law on the Use, Protection and Promotion of Aragonʼs Own Languages passed by the Parliament of Aragon, the General Council of the Vives Network, composed by the rectors of 21universities from Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia, Andorra and Sardinia, wants to stress the following facts:
— The new law repeals the one passed in 2009, which recognises Catalan as one of the official languages in Aragon, and gives a new name to Catalan: LAPAO, an acronym for ʻLengua Aragonesa Propia de la Parte Orientalʼ (Aragonese Language of the Eastern Area). The new law also changes the name of Aragonese and names it LAPAPYP, an acronym for ʻLengua Aragonesa Propia de la Areas Pirenaicas Y Prepirenaicasʼ (Aragonese Language of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees Areas). These new names do not match with any language and do not answer to any romance languages scientific criteria. Catalanʼs unity in the territories of Andorra, Catalonia, Valencia Community, Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia, Alghero and some areas of Aragon is unquestionable.
— The Institute for Catalan Studies, which is the academic authority in the area of Franja de Ponent, supports this argument. To avoid its recommendations would be like limiting Royal Spanish Academyʼs competences to certain territorial administrative circumscriptions.
— The neologism introduced by the new law poses a worrying question about its future consequences. It constitutes the clearest declaration of a narrow conception of Aragonʼs linguistic and cultural richness.
— According to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, authorities must respect the geographical area of each regional or minority language. Furthermore, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has repeatedly recommended to Spain to adopt a specific legal framework for protecting and promoting Catalan and Aragonese and it uses explicitly these two names.
— In short, language must not be used as a political instrument; on the contrary, it must be protected as it represents the cultural heritage of a society. The Vives Network has more than enough reasons to make a call for common sense to achieve the lawʼs respect to philological convention and the name of Catalan language.
Castelló de la Plana, Barcelona, Palma, Perpignan, Sant Julià de Lòria, Sassari
10th May 2013
Coat of arms of the University of Barcelona.
Institutional
14/05/2013
In view of the Law on the Use, Protection and Promotion of Aragonʼs Own Languages passed by the Parliament of Aragon, the General Council of the Vives Network, composed by the rectors of 21universities from Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia, Andorra and Sardinia, wants to stress the following facts:
— The new law repeals the one passed in 2009, which recognises Catalan as one of the official languages in Aragon, and gives a new name to Catalan: LAPAO, an acronym for ʻLengua Aragonesa Propia de la Parte Orientalʼ (Aragonese Language of the Eastern Area). The new law also changes the name of Aragonese and names it LAPAPYP, an acronym for ʻLengua Aragonesa Propia de la Areas Pirenaicas Y Prepirenaicasʼ (Aragonese Language of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees Areas). These new names do not match with any language and do not answer to any romance languages scientific criteria. Catalanʼs unity in the territories of Andorra, Catalonia, Valencia Community, Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia, Alghero and some areas of Aragon is unquestionable.
— The Institute for Catalan Studies, which is the academic authority in the area of Franja de Ponent, supports this argument. To avoid its recommendations would be like limiting Royal Spanish Academyʼs competences to certain territorial administrative circumscriptions.
— The neologism introduced by the new law poses a worrying question about its future consequences. It constitutes the clearest declaration of a narrow conception of Aragonʼs linguistic and cultural richness.
— According to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, authorities must respect the geographical area of each regional or minority language. Furthermore, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has repeatedly recommended to Spain to adopt a specific legal framework for protecting and promoting Catalan and Aragonese and it uses explicitly these two names.
— In short, language must not be used as a political instrument; on the contrary, it must be protected as it represents the cultural heritage of a society. The Vives Network has more than enough reasons to make a call for common sense to achieve the lawʼs respect to philological convention and the name of Catalan language.
Castelló de la Plana, Barcelona, Palma, Perpignan, Sant Julià de Lòria, Sassari
10th May 2013