An up-to-date Catalan language resource for students and travelers to
Barcelona and other cities in the Pyrenees region.
Catalan is a romance language named after the autonomous province
Catalonia in Spain and spoken by well over 9 million people worldwide.
It is also the national and only official language of Andorra. Most
Catalan speakers, however, reside in Spain's Catalonia and Valencia
provinces. Catalan is not a dialect of Spanish, but a language that
developed independently from Vulgar Latin during the Middle Ages around
the Pyrenees region. During the 19th century and the rise of a
nationalist cultural movement in Catalonia, the language was revived as
a literary language. Since the 1980s, Catalan has been the language used
in state schools, and thus most residents of Catalonia are bilingual in
Catalan and Spanish.
Ideal for businesspeople, travelers, and students, this dictionary
features over 16,000 word-to-word entries, including common words as
well as technical, legal, business and locally-specific terms (key
cities, foods, and cultural terms). It also includes a comprehensive
pronunciation guide and a concise discussion of the basics of Catalan
grammar.