Iberian Romance 'languages'.
Here is an interesting news segment about the Galician language on portuguese TV, that included different viewpoints on its linguistic classification relative to portuguese:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJMrULZb850
This was my first time hearing Galician (which was 100% intelligible), and it just sounds like Portuguese pronounced like Spanish(Castilian), with no significant differences other than pronunciation.
Additionally since it doesn't have all those harsh consonant sounds and exagerated nasal vowels that peninsular portuguese has, at times I found it hard to distinguish from spanish. The segment includes interviews with people in Portuguese, Galician, and one person in Spanish (at 3:40), and they all seem to run together, and its not easy to tell whos speaking what.
It just seems funny to me, that these minute differences in their respective 'languages' are subject of such controversy and nationalist pride. Outside of politics, I would consider all three to be part of a dialectical continuum.
Okay, I bit. I'm listening to it and I understand it, so I'll check back.
Galego-Portuguese macro language should split in 3 languages:
1. Galician (Portuguese) language
2. (Continental) Portuguese language
3. Brazilian (Portuguese) language
Brazilians find Galician easier to understand, compared to Continental Portuguese.
The video kept stopping, but wherever it stopped I could understand it. I didn't have to translate in my mind.
European Portuguese speaker: Remind me of the sounds of certain percussion instruments. European Portuguese always sounds medium to dark brown. I know that's weird, but even though I heard it, it sounds like a colour to me.
Gallego: That must have been the person who did NOT sound like a colour to me. It sounded like Portuguese words with a Spanish accent.
Castillian: Sounded Spanish.
I didn't really have any trouble with any of them, but European Portuguese always startles me because I'm used to Brazilian Portuguese.
LOL, I know Castillian is Spanish. I know people get really excited about these differences.
"European Portuguese always sounds medium to dark brown."
Haha, not very P.C. of you, K. T.
I'm not talking about skin colour if that's what you are implying. I'm talking about the timbre.
They sound very similar to me, but if someone wants to define themselves by these differences, it's up to them. I wonder if the EU can hold up under all these differences.
These are the colours I associate to the different languages:
English: white
French: blue
Spanish: red
Italian: green
German: black
<<They sound very similar to me, but if someone wants to define themselves by these differences, it's up to them>>
But whats the point of that? They're quibbling over superficial details; theres no language barrier between them at all (notice how they didnt bother putting subtitles throughout the whole video - not even for that one person who spoke spanish).
I agree with the people in the video that support linguistic integration. Its ridiculous that it was ever considered a different 'language' in the first place.
I don't have a stake in what happens politically. People who speak Galician use Portuguese words like "falar", but I'm not a blank slate. I've studied and understand both Portuguese and Spanish, so Galician isn't hard to understand. Does having that "Spanish" sound in Galician make it comprehensible to Spaniards who don't know Portuguese?
Does having that "Spanish" sound in Galician make it comprehensible to Spaniards who don't know Portuguese?
Yes, Galician is not more diffcult to understand for a Spanish speaker than an bscure Andalussian dialect or Cuban. In fact, Galician proves that once you make Portuguese sound like Spanish, you get nearly the same language, as mutual intelligibility is 97% or so, more than enough to carry a conversation.
Other than accent, how does Galician vary from Continental Portuguese?
For example Galician has the LL and Y confussion, just like in many Spanish dialects , and also betacism is qute common. These features are not present in Portuguese. To me Galician is Portuguese spoken with Spanish pronunciation, what makes it extremely understandable by an Spanish speaker.
It all sounds very close to me, but my opinion doesn't count. What is the most profitable opinion for the speakers? Will they get an economic benefit if they are recognized for their differences or will they benefit if they emphasize their similarities? Or is this just a linguistic question?
I enjoyed the video.