Catalan Dialects: Regional Variations and Characteristics

Roussillon (Northern Catalonia)

• Absence of words with stress on the antepenultimate syllable (esdrúixols).
• Endings in the first-person present tense, the preterit, the imperfect indicative, and the conditional: canto (I sing), regava (I watered), regava (I watered).
• Use of the verb "to be" as an auxiliary verb for verbs of motion: sempre he anat (I have always gone).
• Use of Occitanisms, Gallicisms, Welsh words, and exclusive words like nugues (new).
• Negation with the particle pas: pas sense (not without).

Alghero (Alghero, Sardinia)

• Confusion of "l" and "d" with "r".
• Lack of desinence in the first-person present indicative: canto (I sing).
• Use of archaisms, Sardisms, and Italianisms.

Central Catalan

• Tonic vowel system consisting of 7 sounds and 3 atonic sounds.
• Iodization or ieisme: palla (straw) pronounced as paia.
• The desinence of the first-person present tense is pronounced as "u": canto (I sing).
• Inchoative verbs have the infix -ix: serveixo (I serve), pateixo (I suffer).
• Definite articles are el, la, els, les, and personal articles are en and na.
• Unique words: escombra (broom), brutícia (dirt), ocell (bird).

Subdialects of Central Catalan

• Salty: Characterized by the use of articles es, sa, ses, as in the Balearic Islands.
• Barcelona: Voicing of palatal sounds and a glossary of words, Castilianisms, and argotic terms.
• Tarragona: Distinct pronunciation of "b" and "v".
• Xipella: Pronunciation of "e" at the end of post-tonic syllables.

Northwestern Catalan

• Distinction of unstressed "ai" and "e".
• Distinction of unstressed "o" and "u".
• Plural endings in -ns.
• Retention of the masculine article lo / los, typical of Old Catalan.
• The desinence of the first-person present indicative is pronounced as "o": canto (I sing).
• Inchoative verbs have the infix -ix: serveixo (I serve), pateixo (I suffer).
• Exclusive words like trebol (ceiling) or words shared with other dialects, such as xai (lamb) and mongeta (bean).

Subdialects of Northwestern Catalan

• Pallarès: Notable for the conservation of imperfect indicative forms in -va: dormiva (I was sleeping).
• Ribagorçan: Characterized by the palatalization of the groups "cl", "pl", "gl", "bl", "fl" (cllau - key).
• Tortosí: Shares words with Valencian, such as voçar (to vomit), and has its own words like baldana (sausage).

Balearic

• Presence of a neutral vowel in tonic position.
• No palatalization of the groups "tl", "sl", "gl" (espatlla - shoulder - is pronounced as if it were l·l).
• The definite article takes the forms es, sa, s', sos, ses.
• The first-person present indicative morpheme is "o": canto (I sing).
• Use of full forms of weak pronouns before the verb: nosaltres ens n'anam (we are leaving).
• Unique words: al·lot (boy) and Arabisms: cadaf (vase).

Subdialects of Balearic

• Majorcan: The most conservative variety, as revealed by the order of weak pronouns (direct object + indirect object): la hi don (I give it to him/her).
• Minorcan: Preserves words adapted to Minorcan phonetics: bully (herring).
• Ibizan: Shows the influence of Valencian regarding phonetics and morphology. It has its own words: major (grandmother).

Valencian (Southern Catalan)

• Loss of the intervocalic "d": cremada (burnt).
• Pronunciation of the final "r" in most words.
• Three degrees of demonstratives: aquest (this), aqueix (that), aquell (that over there).
• Combinations of weak pronouns follow the old language: me la donen (they give it to me).
• The first-person present indicative ends in "e": cante (I sing).
• Arabisms: dacsa (maize), Mozarabisms: brull (curd), exclusive words: eixir (to go out).

Subdialects of Valencian

• Northern: Features show a transition to Northwestern Catalan.
• Apitxat: The most specific trait is the devoicing of alveolar and palatal sounds: viatxe (trip).
• Southern: Preserves Balearic characteristics, such as the "salty" article.