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Reintegrationism

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Linguistical perspective on the Galician and Portuguese languages

Reintegrationism (reintegracionismo,Galician:[rejnteɣɾaθjoˈnizmʊ,-asjo-],European Portuguese:[ʁɛ.ĩtɨɣɾɐsjuˈniʒmu]), orLusism, is alinguistic movement inGalicia that advocates for the recognition ofGalician and varieties of thePortuguese language as a single language.^{[citation needed]} Reintegrationists argue that the different dialects of Galician and Portuguese should be classified as part of theGalician-Portuguese language, rather than two languages within a common branch. The largest reintegrationist association is theGalician Language Association (AGAL).

Background

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The reintegrationists also believe that the official orthography of theGalician language, regulated by theRoyal Galician Academy, is tooCastilianized and artificially separates it from thenorthern varieties of Portuguese. However, the Spanish influence on Galician dates back to centuries prior to standardization, namely theDark Centuries, when Galician lost its official recognition and stopped being a written language, thus becoming the spoken language of the lower classes in the region.^{[citation needed]} During theRexurdimento, many Galician authors initially found that they didn't know how to write Galician,^{[citation needed]} since it didn't have a standard form yet. The current Galician grammar is thought to have been influenced by theSpanish one since it could've been seen as a crucial step for recognition within the Spanish state.^{[citation needed]}

TheGalician Language Association (Reintegrationist Galician:Associaçom Galega da Língua) was founded in 1981 under the name "Estudo crítica das normativas ortográficos e morfolóxicas do idioma galego" and officially published its own standard grammar in 1983,^{[citation needed]} which closely resembles the grammar of OldGalician-Portuguese and thus the modern varieties ofPortuguese. The main goal of the association is to reinsert Galician, especially in its written form, in a Galician-Portuguese-Brazilian diasystem.^{[citation needed]}

Practicalities

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In writing, the most obvious differences from theofficial norm (NOMIGa) are (according to AGAL):^[1]

Use of⟨nh⟩ instead of the letter⟨ñ⟩ to represent thepalatal nasal sound. For example:caminho instead ofcamiño (way).
Use of⟨mh⟩ instead of⟨nh⟩ to represent thevelar nasal sound. For example:algumha instead ofalgunha.
Use of the digraph⟨lh⟩ instead of⟨ll⟩ to represent thepalatal lateral sound. For example:coelho instead ofcoello (rabbit)
Use of⟨çom⟩/⟨ção⟩ and⟨çons⟩/⟨ções⟩ instead of the suffix⟨ción⟩ and⟨cións⟩. For example:associaçom/associação instead ofasociación andassociaçons/associações instead ofasociacións (association, associations)
Preference for the use of suffixes⟨aria⟩ and⟨vel⟩ over⟨ería⟩ and⟨ble⟩ or even⟨bel⟩. For example:livraria instead oflibrería (bookshop);incrível instead ofincrible orincríbel (incredible)
Use of⟨ss⟩ between vowels, when appropriate, instead of the simplified⟨s⟩ for all cases. For example:associação instead ofasociación
Use of either⟨x⟩,⟨j⟩ or⟨g⟩ preceding⟨e⟩ or⟨i⟩, according to the etymology of the word, instead of⟨x⟩ for all cases. For example:hoje instead ofhoxe (today),geral instead ofxeral (general), butexército as inexército (army)
Use of⟨m⟩ instead of⟨n⟩ at the end of a word. For example:som instead ofson (sound)
Use of a wider range of accentuation signs instead of the simplified single stroke. For example:português instead ofportugués (Portuguese),comentário instead ofcomentario (commentary). Note that the official orthography, being a calque of the Spanish one in that respect, does not cater for any difference between open and closed vowels, since Spanish does not have them.
Avoidance of specific lexical choices introduced bySpanish

Galician members of theEuropean Parliament (such asJosé Posada,Camilo Nogueira andXosé Manuel Beiras) have used spoken Galician when addressing the chamber and have used standard Portuguese orthography to encode their Galician speech. In all cases, these interventions and encodings have been accepted by the Parliament as a valid form of Portuguese, that is, an official language of theEuropean Union.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Furthermore, members of Galician reintegrationist associations have been regularly present at meetings of theCommunity of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. In 2008, Galician delegates were invited as speakers to thePortuguese Parliament when discussing the newspelling norms for the Portuguese language.^[5]

Controversy

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The majority of the Galician population was educated in Spanish only (as official use of Galician was rare or even absent for centuries,^[6]^{[page needed]}^[7]^{[page needed]}especially inFrancoist Spain^[8]).

In this fashion, it is argued that Galician would be faithful to its history andetymology and subsequently its written norm would be more scientific and precise.^{[citation needed]} Thus, it would allow Galician speakers to have direct access to a world culture and it would also clarify some spelling problems of the isolationist norm (for example in terms ofstress).^[9]^[10]

A number of Portuguese linguists and authors such asLuís Lindley Cintra,Manuel Rodrigues Lapa,Fernando Venâncio,Carlos Reis orMalaca Casteleiro have expressed their agreement with the reintegrationist views.^[11]

Genesis of the debate

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Authors such asCastelao, among others, stated that Galician should gradually merge with Portuguese, namely in its written form.^[12]^[13]

The Lusitanian and Galician languages are the same.
— Padre Feijóo,Theatro Critico Universal, 1726

There are two opinions on the orthographic norms of our native language: the phonetic ... influenced by the domination of Spanish, and another one ... where etymology is its main and most logical attribute ... because (Portuguese orthography) is the natural orthography of the Galician language, and I cannot understand how there still are not only doubts about this, but even opinions against it ... with no scientific basis.
— Roberto Blanco Torres,La unificación ortográfica del idioma gallego, 1930

There is a reason why our language is the same as in Portugal ... Our languages must become the same one again.
— Otero Pedrayo,Discursos Parlamentarios, 1933

Galician is a wide-spread and useful language which—with small variations—is spoken in Brazil, Portugal and in the Portuguese colonies.
— Castelao,Sempre en Galiza, 1944

However, political issues forced the resignation of Carvalho Calero and, consequently, the 1979 pro-reintegrationist norms were revoked. The new official norms and reforms passed from 1982 onwards would be strongly pro-isolationist.^[14]