It is well known that in Spain, Catalan-Valencian, Basque and Galician are the official languages of their corresponding autonomous communities. However, as we have been able to demonstrate through our series of publications on ‘languages and dialects of Spain’, our country hides true linguistic treasures that often go unnoticed because they have not been adequately promoted. Thus, we have had the opportunity to talk about Aranese, Asturian or ‘a falt of Xálima’, among others. But what many people do not know is that, in Spain, there is another minority language which, unlike those mentioned above, does have official status in the region where it is spoken. Certainly, we are referring to the Aranese language.
Aranese is a great unknown in our national linguistic panorama. In addition to Catalan, in the Pyrenean region of the Aran Valley, in the extreme northwest of Catalonia, and since the diffuse and uncertain times when Vulgar Latin was fragmented into dozens of Romance languages, Aranese has been spoken. This is a type of Gascon, itself a dialect of Occitan, also called Oc or Provençal (although this term tends to be restricted to the dialect of historical Provence). Although some people may be familiar with the fact that Occitan is spoken in the French Midi region, few will know that an Occitan dialect is spoken in Spain, and even fewer will know that it is an official language, not only of the Aran Valley, which has self-government within Catalonia (the Conselh Generau d’Aran), but of the whole of Catalonia, as stated in the latest Statute of Autonomy, dating from 2006.
A brief history of Occitania
The name of the language comes from the word òc, which in Occitan means ‘yes’, in contrast to the Northern French or oïl languages (pronounced oí, ancestor of modern French oui). The word òc comes from the Latin hoc, while oïl is derived from the Latin hoc ille. The word ‘Occitan’ also derives from the name of the historical region of Occitania, which literally means ‘the country where the language of Occitan is spoken’.
The Occitania region, located in the southern half of France, has since ancient times been a strategic crossroads for all kinds of cultures, mainly thanks to its particular microclimate favourable to human settlement. The Greeks founded colonies such as Marseille, Nice or Agda, and then the Romans settled, subjecting the territory to intense Romanisation.
During the Middle Ages, Occitania became one of the most active centres of Romanesque culture from the 9th century onwards. Thus, Occitan was one of the first languages to replace Latin in many acts, documents, literary pieces and scientific works. Three consecutive centuries, from the 11th to the 13th, were the greatest period of splendour of Occitan culture. The written Occitan language, thanks to its refined culture, became a model language, particularly with the birth of troubadour literature and its spread throughout most of Western Europe, and its influence on the Catalan-speaking lands can be cited up to the time of the popular Valencian writer Ausiàs March. It also exercised political influences, such as the drafting of the charters of the territories of the Kingdom of Navarra and the Crown of Aragon.
During the Albigensian Crusade, the French army led by Simon de Montfort attacked and sacked the main cities that cradled the Occitan culture, invading the territory of the Count of Toulouse. The Battle of Muret, which took place in September 1213, marked the end of the Golden Age of Occitan culture with the death of Peter the 2nd of Aragon, an ally of the Occitan, and, above all, the defeat of the Occitan-Aragonese troops. Languedoc, in the south-east of Occitania, thus became a dependency of France, and from then on, almost all the territories of the Occitan lords were gradually incorporated into the kingdom of France.
The particular case of Aranese
The historical reason why the Val d’Aran remained part of the Crown of Aragon instead of passing to France is to be found in the Querimònia, a legal document written in Latin detailing the political and administrative autonomy granted to this region by James II of Aragon in 1313. With this document, the Aragonese monarch undertook to respect the privileges and customary law of the Aranese, whose territory, since the 11th century, had been the subject of continuous disputes and invasions by lordships, counties and kingdoms on both sides of the Pyrenees. In exchange, the Aranese swore allegiance to the kings of the Crown. However, as the territory faced north, unlike the rest of the Pyrenees on the Iberian side, its natural outlet continued to be towards the other lands of Oc, Gascony, with which it continued to share language and culture.
The valley maintained a special status until 1834, when, in the context of the administrative centralisation sponsored by the liberal governments during the regency of María Cristina, the integration of the valley with the province of Lérida was promoted.
However, due to its geographical isolation, the valley maintained its linguistic and cultural particularities until the middle of the 20th century, when, as a result of the arrival of immigrant labour from other parts of Spain, Catalan and, above all, Castilian gradually took over.
Current situation of Aranese
The Valley of Aran is the only territory in the entire linguistic domain of Occitania where Occitan is officially recognised and institutionally protected. The language is a priority in the Aranese administration and tends to be used in public education. Although the vast majority of the valley’s population understands it, and 65% can speak it, its health or vitality has deteriorated since the mid-20th century, as discussed above.
However, despite the progressive reduction of the valley’s original inhabitants, Aranese is increasingly valued and protected as part of its heritage and identity and, above all, as the last bastion where the Occitan language, once the language of troubadours and courtly lyric poetry, survives and perpetuates itself. The Aran Valley is one of the few places where, more than a thousand years after its appearance, children are still growing up, playing and learning in the language of their ancestors. It is therefore a treasure to be preserved and protected.
To conclude this publication, the following is a short extract from the Montanhes araneses, the official anthem of the Valley of Aran. This is the Aranese version of the Occitan folk song It’s sung:
Montanhes araneses
pientades de rius,
de totes grandeses
vos adorne Diu.
Nòsti amors veiguéretz
com rosèr florir,
volem com es pares,
guardant-vos morir.
[English translation]
Aranese mountains
Pientades of rivers,
of all the grandees
you love me Diu.
New loves veiguéretz
as rose blossom,
vote with your peers,
guard your death.
Carlos Sánchez Luis