Catalan Grammar: Accents, Diphthongs and Word Derivation

Catalan Grammar: Word Formation, Accents, and Diphthongs

Derived Words and Morphemes

Derived words: Words that have been formed from a root (e.g., sad, sadness, sadly).

Morpheme derivatives: Prefixes are classified into 3 groups (which go before the root), suffixes (which go after the root), and infixes (inserted between the root and the suffix).

Synonyms and Antonyms

Synonyms: Two words are synonymous when they have the same or a very similar meaning (e.g., House: home, residence, household). An antonym is a word that has a meaning totally opposed to another (e.g., dead-alive).

Stress and Accentuation Rules

Monosyllabic words: These are generally not accented, though there are exceptions (diacritical accents).

• Acute words (Agudes): The tonic syllable is the last syllable of the word. They are accented when they end in a vowel, a vowel followed by -s, or -en/-in.
  • Examples: català, camí, pastís, cabàs, progrés, Berlín, sorprès.
  • Exceptions (no accent): Ramon, ferum (ending in a consonant other than -s, -en, -in), or peu, festiu (ending in a glide).
• Plain words (Planes): The penultimate syllable is stressed. They are accented when they do not end in any of the 12 endings mentioned above.
  • Examples: exàmens, cànon, tòrcer, córreguessis, portaveu, entristíssiu.
  • Exceptions (no accent): Maria (ends in a vowel), examen, Caucas.
• Proparoxytone words (Esdrúixoles & Sobreesdrúixoles): The stressed syllable is the antepenultimate (or before). All of these words are accented.
  • Examples: història, línies, àrea, Núria, període, químicament.
• Adverbs ending in -ment: These are accented if the original adjective from which they are formed is accented.
  • Examples: ràpid → ràpidament, mecànic → mecànicament, fàcil → fàcilment, feliç → feliçment.

Diphthongs

A diphthong consists of two vowels that sound together in a single syllable.

• Decreasing diphthongs:
  • With -i: ai (mai), ei (remei), oi (boi), ui (cuina).
  • With -u: au (taula), eu (meu), iu (riu), ou (moure).
• Increasing diphthongs:
  1. gua, güe, güi, guo / qua, qüe, qüi, quo (e.g., aigua, següent, quota).
  2. ia (iogurt), ie (hiena), io (iode) at the beginning of a word.
  3. The letter i or u between vowels (e.g., feia).

Structure of a News Article

An informative news article explains a fact or current event objectively. News articles usually feature a headline (title, subtitles), a lead (introductory paragraph), and the body (detailed explanation). The content of a news story must answer 6 key questions: Who, What, When, Where, How, Why.

Summary of Accentuation Rules

• Acute (Agudes): Accented when they end in one of the 12 endings: -a, -as, -e, -es, -i, -is, -o, -os, -u, -us, -en, -in (e.g., català).
• Plain (Planes): Accented when they do not end in any of the 12 endings (e.g., rèptil).
• Proparoxytone (Esdrúixoles): All are accented (e.g., música).