TheNorms of El Puig (Valencian:Normes d'El Puig), also known asNorms of the RACV (Valencian:Normes de la RACV), are the linguistic rules developed by theRoyal Academy of Valencian Culture (RACV) (Valencian:Real Acadèmia de Cultura Valenciana) proposed forValencian treated as an independent language, as opposed to a variety ofCatalan. The Norms were presented in 1981 at theMonastery of Santa Maria inEl Puig and were drafted with the intention of regulating the Valencian language in accordance with and encompassing both the linguistic reality of present-day Valencian as well as longstanding Valencian literary and orthographic tradition.^[1] The Norms of El Puig were the official Valencian standard in the early 80s, and have been promoted by theValencian Governments at various times.^[2][3][4] Nowadays, they are used by some publishers, associations and taught by the cultural societyLo Rat Penat that issues its own qualifications in Valencian.^[2]

The Norms of El Puig were developed by the Section of Language and Literature of the RACV in 1979 and presented in a formal act inEl Puig in 1982. The Norms were made the official standard of Valencian in 1980 by the Valencian PresidentEnrique Monsonís (UCD), and they were particularly promoted by the Councilor of Education of the Valencian CommunityAmparo Cabanes.^[5][6] That was the time when the Valencian Statue of Autonomy of 1982 was published using these norms for its version in Valencian.^[7] The Valencian government enacted that language teachers of Valencian in the educational system had to had a linguistic qualification in these Norms, issued mainly by Lo Rat Penat.^[8][9] Nevertheless, just with the arrival of theSocialist Party in December 1982, theNorms of Castelló, that use the Catalan unitarian linguistic forms, were reintroduced, the Valencian teachers with the qualifications in the normative of the RACV were fired, and its qualifications invalidated.^[10][9]

In 2015, the Valencian government of thePPCV passed a law to protect Valencian identity features that protected and promoted the Valencian traditions and language. In this law the Norms of El Puig and the RACV were given public protection, promotion and teaching recognition.^[11][3] The opposition accused the Valencian government of being biased and electioneering, and a new Valencian coalition government abrogated the law in 2016.^[12][4]

The Norms of El Puig have been less used than the official normative.^[13] Some cultural organisations have used the Norms, like theJunta Central Fallera from 1992 to 1998, although its use has declined since its substitution by theNormes de Castelló, and the subsequent creation of theAcadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL) in 1998 which follows them.^[14] In 2004, the production in the Norms of El Puig was two times the production of other minority languages likeAranese andAragonese, although it was doubled by the production inAsturian.^[14]

The Norms of El Puig are still used in different publications related to the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture, association with the patronage of several cultural and political personalities.^[15][16] The cultural association Lo Rat Penat, and some publishing houses use these norms in its publications.^[17][14] Besides, the rules are defended by theValencian regionalism in favour oflanguage secessionism. TheInternet has also given new opportunities of diffusion to the Norms of El Puig. There is also an encyclopedia on the Internet created by volunteers using theMediaWiki software, called L'Enciclopèdia in Valencian, which was created in December 2007 and is written using these Norms.

In 2020,Walter de Gruyter published theManual of Standardization in the Romance Languages, in which devoted a subsection inside the Valencian normative grammars calledOther attempts at standardization, where they analysed these rules as "an independent standard based on the secessionist orthography ofNormes d'El Puig (1981)".^[18] In their conclusion they showed the different codification attempts ofCatalan and Valencian linguistics including the New Valencian Grammar (NGLV) (2015) of the RACV.^[18][19]

There is significant overlap between theNormes d'El Puig and the AVL's orthographic standards. This section calls out various key differences.

In respect to the alphabet and units of writing (such as digraphs), the main differences come about in terms of:

• the names of the letters
• how the consonants/tʃ,dʒ/ and the glide/j/ are written
• representation of word-final/p,t,k/ originating from voiced consonants
• treatment of various older digraphs and consonant groups

The table below summarizes the main differences between the two norms as far as the letter names go. Where multiple forms are given in a single cell, the value listed first is the form deemed most preferable in the pertinent standard. The forms given in the "Non-preferred" column are deemed by the RACV as "admissible" but also Castilianisms.

In respect to the letters F, L, M, N, R and S: The formsef,el,em,en,er,es are preferred by the RACV, as they are deemed the traditional Valencian forms in addition to being the Classical Latin names for the letters. The formsefe,ele,eme,ene,erre,esse, being present in the spoken language, are also admissible in the RACV's standard but are deemed Castilianisms, originating fromCastilian as adaptations of the Latin names to Castilian phonology. The formsefa,ela,ema,ena,essa,erra,essa are inadmissible in the RACV's standard, being deemed influence from Catalan and themselves deemed Eastern Catalan adaptations of the Castilian forms.^[20]

One prominent aspect of theNormes d'El Puig as compared to theNormes de Castelló is the differences in writing the glide[j] and thepalato-alveolar consonants/dʒ/ and/tʃ/.

The glide[j] is generally written in the Norms of El Puig with the letterY, as opposed toI. Word-final instances of[j] are generally written withI in both theNormes d'El Puig and theNormes de Castelló, except in certain toponyms and surnames to keep tradition.

TheNormes d'El Puig also usey to write the[j] of those certain words that instead start with/dʒ/ or/ʒ/ in Catalan (such asyo 'I' andya 'yet, already'), rather than withj as in theNormes de Castelló. In a similar vein, the initial consonant in-jecc- and-ject- appearing in intervocalic contexts (such as intrayecte 'trajection' andproyecte 'project', but notobjecte 'object' orabjecció 'abjection') is written withy rather thanj, reflecting the RACV's norm of this being pronounced with[j] rather than with/dʒ/ as in the AVL's norm.

The table below compares the two norms in this regard.

The Norms of El Puig write at the end of the words simplyt, c, p. They do not make the written distinction at the end of the word betweent-d, c-g, p-b of the Norms of Castelló, which is not kept in the oral language (pronounced as /t/, /k/, /p/ respectively in all Valencian phonetics standards).

• Norms of El Puig: pot, fret (both /t/); llop, aljup (both /p/); amic, fanc (both /k/).

• Norms of Castellon: pot, fred (both /t/); llop, aljub (both /p/); amic, fang (both /k/).

• Most notably, the digraphch is regularly employed in the RACV's norm to represent/tʃ/ (in addition to its occasional use to represent/k/ in fossilizations, such as in the traditional spellings of certain last names):pancha ('belly'),chocolate ('chocolate'),chiquet ('child'). Unlike in the AVL's standard where/tʃ/ is normally represented byx andtx.

• Simplification of the digraphsŀl, tl, tll, tm,tn,tg,tj,tz, and the group-mpt- using only the simple letter that already represents its sound, likemetge, platja, compte beingmege, plaja, conte.

• Keeping the use ofs in the suffix-isar like:organisar, normalisat; instead of the digraphtz.

In general (within both the AVL's standard as well as the RACV's), the singulardefinite articlesel,lo andla, the personal articlesen andna, and the prepositionde ('of') elide tol' andd' respectively when used beforenominals that begin with a vowel sound or a silenth preceding a vowel sound. This elision does not occur before instances of vowels pronounced as aglide, such as in the phrasela Huitava del Corpus ('theHuitava del Corpus', a certain Valencian religious celebration) orel dia de hui ('today, the day of today').

Unlike in the AVL's standard, however, the feminine definite articlela exhibits the aforementioned elision before nominals that begin with unstressedi oru.

In the function of using accent marks to distinguish homophones or senses, the Norms of El Puig can differ from the AVL's standard in terms of which words are to be accentuated or what senses call for accentuation. Consider the following examples:

Examples of other differences are as follows:

• Words ending in stressed-in bear no accent mark, unlike in the AVL's standard.

• The wordqué ('what') is spelled with an acute accent instead of a grave accent mark, reflecting the Valencian pronunciation with/e/ instead of/ɛ/

• The interrogativesa ón,quàn, andcóm are accentuated when used to form questions or exclamations (whether direct or indirect)^[21] whereas the AVL's standard leaves them unaccented.

Some key differences present in the RACV's norms compared to the AVL's norms around thearticles are as follows:

• Acceptance of the masculine articlelo, a classic form that is widely used only the northernmost parts of theValencian Community. In general, the Valencian articlelo is recommended occasionally after the prepositionsen,per and some adverbs:en lo coche,tot lo món ('in the car', 'everybody').

• Acceptance of the neuter articlelo in all registers of the language and as systematically distinct from the masculine article. This form which was already used in the classical language is considered as necessary to avoid confusion:lo bo (meaning something good),el bo (meaning someone good).^[22]

Some differences present in the RACV's norms compared to the AVL's norms around thedemonstratives are:

• Rejection of the reinforced demonstrativesaquest 'this' andaqueix 'that' from the modern language, deeming them archaic and permitting only their simple counterpartsest(e) andeix(e).^[23]

• Permitting that the simple demonstrativeseste 'this' andeixe 'that' be written without the final-e (est andeix) before a vowel sound, reflecting the tendency to pronounce them without the final vowel in this context:est estiu ('this summer'),eix home ('that man').^[23]

The main divergence between the norms regarding thepossessives is that:^[23]

• The RACV standard only accepts the feminine form withu likeseua and does not admit any possessive formed withv.

• The RACV emphasises much more the use and conservation of the atonic possessives used before kinship, the words casa ('house'), vida ('life'), idioms, and tittles:ma mare ('my mother'),mon yayo ('my grandfather'),ta vida ('your life'),Sa Magestat ('His Majesty'). Besides, the RACV recognises the atonic possessives in the plural persons:sos tios ('their aunt and uncle'),nostra casa ('our house').

• The possessive for the third personllur(s) is an archaic form which is no part of its standard.

Some key differences present in the RACV's norms compared to the AVL's norms around thenumerals are as follows:^[24]

• Writing the cardinal numeral for '1' only asu rather than asun/u.

• Deeming of the feminine cardinal formdues 'two' as obsolete, thereby treating the masculine formdos as wholly invariant.

• Only acceptinghuit anddíhuit and rejecting the formsvuit anddívuit never used in Valencian.

• Writing the cardinal numeral for '19' asdèneu rather than asdènou, reflecting the modern Valencian pronunciation thereof.

• Writing the cardinal '60' asxixanta and the cardinal one million asmilló instead ofseixanta andmilió.

• Rejection of the ordinals formed with-é orè deeming them obsolete and alien and preferring the Latinate ordinals in their stead:

Some key differences present in the RACV's norms compared to the AVL's norms are as follows:

• Acceptance of additional forms of the first-person and second-person plural pronouns overnosaltres andvosaltres, the latter two of which are deemed archaic:

• Regular use of thepronoun formsnos ('us') andvos ('you, plural') in contexts where the AVL's norm permitsens/'ns andvos/us. In particular, the RACV deemsens/'ns andus archaic and "foreign" to present-day Valencian. However, with the motivation of keeping tradition, the RACV permitsens and'ns in poetry to facilitate metrical composition.

• General use ofvosté ('you, formal sg.') andvostés ('you, formal pl.') in place ofvós, which the RACV deems to be archaic and only to be used in religious contexts, in reference to persons of very high standing and dignity, and for archaic effect or to otherwise reproduce formalities of the archaic language.

• Use of an invariantmateixa ('self, same'), which is otherwise feminine singular, as the sole form for reinforcing reflexive object complements, even when the object is masculine or plural.^[25]
  • S'ho comprà per ad ell mateixa. ('He bought it for himself')
  • Elles pensaven en elles mateixa. ('They thought about themselves.')

• The RACV only admitstot lo món / tot el món ('everyone'), and does not includetothom and the impersonalhom like the AVL.

• Likewise, the RACV only acceptscada u ('each one'), while the AVL preferscadascú.

• The weak personal pronouns have the main form beginning by consonant asme,te,se orne before the verb, also possible to invert them and start them by the vocal:me llave les mans / em llave les mans ('I wash my hands'). The AVL only recognises the invers form.

• The adverbial pronounhi is an obsolete form which is not included in the RACV's standard. It can only be an impersonal pronoun with the verbhaver.

• Use of the pronoun and adjectiveatre ('other') which is a classical and present Valencian form, and exclusion ofaltre considered a parallel archaic form, which is the one preferred by the AVL's standard.

The AVL has included many Valencian verbal particularities in its standard. However, the RACV's standard goes beyond and aroundverbs include (but are not limited to):^[26]

• The forms of the subjunctive and the imperative for the first person-plural and second-person plural in the second conjugation are frequently formed witha asvingau, instead ofe:vingueu. In the third conjugation it is also usual as(que vosatros) digau (dir).

• Use of thex (/ʃ/) followed by consonant instead ofs in the verbal tenses like the infinitive, past participle, present, past, subjunctive, and imperative:peixcar,creixcut,consumixc,naixquí,(que tu) ixques,vixca. The AVL’s rules use thes instead ofx likepescar,consumisc orvisca, although the AVL recognises the tradition of thatx and admits the pronunciation of thes as /ʃ/.

• Some verbs keep their root invariable while they are conjugated asnàixer ('to be born') orcréixer ('to grow') conjugated likenaixcut or(que ell) creixca. The AVL eliminates thei (plus the change of thex bys):nascut,(que ell) cresca.

• The RACV only accepts the morphemes-ix-, -ix for the conjugation of the inchoative verbs:produïxen ('they produce'),(que ells) construïxquen ('that they build') or(ell) consumix ('he consumes'). The normative of the AVL forms them using-eix-, -eix, -is- like:produeixen,consumeix,construisquen. However, the AVL also accepts-ix-, -ix like the RACV if they are not followed by a consonant as(ell) consumix.

• The Valencian verbs do not aggregate an additionala before their root like inconseguir, lliberar, baixar ('get, reach', 'release', 'lower'). Unlike the preferred forms of the AVL likeaconseguir, alliberar, abaixar.

• Recommendation of the past forms withouty (nori) asfea (fer) ('I did').

• Preference of the formsvares,vàrem,vàreu,varen in forming the periphrastic past tenses over their simpler counterpartsvas,vam,vau,van, which are deemed as "having less tradition".

Among characteristics of the RACV's standards aroundadverbs include (but are not limited to):^[27]

• Use ofaixina ('so, thus, like this/that') as the standard form overaixí, the latter of which is considered archaic, literary and poetic.

• There is divergence in adverbs that indicate temporary nature:ans / adés ('before'),en acabant / despuix ('after'),pronte ('soon'),tart ('late'),mentres ('while'),en això / llavors ('then') etc. Its AVL counterpartsabans ('before'),després ('after'),prompte ('soon'),tard ('late'),mentre ('while'),aleshores ('then') are not admitted or not recommended.

• Other adverbs like:avant ('forwards'),arrere ('backwards'),llunt ('far') orprou ('enough'),casi ('almost'),massa ('too much') are the standard forms of the RACV. On the contrary, la AVL admits or prefers:endavant ('forwards'),enrere ('backwards'),lluny ('far'),bastant ('enough'),quasi ('almost'),gaire ('too much').

Among characteristics of the RACV's standards aroundprepositions andconjunctions include (but are not limited to):^[28]

• Acceptance ofad as a standard variation ofa ('to') before pronouns and adverbs starting by a vowel, as well as beforealgú ('someone') or forms ofalgun ('some'):ad ell, ad això.

• Full acceptance of the merger ofen ('in, on') andab ('with'; along with its variantsap andam) asen, better conforming to the normal Valencian pronunciation of this preposition as well as to Valencian literary tradition. The spelling of the preposition meaning 'with' asamb, withb, is deemed as having no classical tradition within Valencian and being alien to the present-day language.

• The prepositiona is used to mark human and determined direct objects (like Spanish and Occitan):ajudea ma mare; m'he trobatal teu amic ('I help my mother; I have found your friend'). By contrast, the AVL standard tends to eliminate it:ajude ma mare; he trobat el teu amic.

• Use ofper a ('for, to') also followed by a verb, expressing purpose:Per a guanyar has d'arribar a la meta ('To win you have to reach the finish line'). In the AVL standard it is preferred onlyper.

• Some conjunctions are written only in its Valencian form likepero ('but'),puix ('well'),encara que ('although'). The AVL formsperò,dons,malgrat are deemed as alien in Valencian.

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