Valencian Language Tag registration request

[Phillips, Addison]

Hello Victor,

I think this issue is already addressed. Although the subtag 'ca' has a 'Description' (name) of "Catalan", it also has one of "Valencian". Yes, the subtag itself is suggestive of Catalan, but this cannot be helped, as the various names the Valencian language goes by are dissimilar. 

The issue of national or regional identity is a complex one. Since language is often closely associated with such identity, it is no surprise that any given group would like to establish some ownership over its own language and/or its variation from a neighboring group's language. In this case, Valencian and Catalan are considered to be the same language. Both names are recognized as appropriate. 

Another way to put this would be: the Valencian language ('ca') has a variant subtag ('valencian') registered for distinguishing content specific to the regional dialect of Valencia from the broader collection of content that comes under the subtag 'ca'---which, as you point out, might include content from the Balearic Islands or Cataluña.

Regards,

Addison

Addison Phillips
Globalization Architect -- Lab126

Internationalization is not a feature.
It is an architecture.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ietf-languages-bounces at alvestrand.no [mailto:ietf-languages-
> bounces at alvestrand.no] On Behalf Of Victor
> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 12:07 AM
> To: John Cowan
> Cc: ietf-languages at iana.org; CE Whitehead; doug at ewellic.org
> Subject: Re: Valencian Language Tag registration request
> 
> The main reason to request the language tag is the identity the
> user's
> have about the language.
> 
> While the differences between the varieties spoken in Catalonia and
> Valencia are several, such us verb ending in past forms,
> pronunciation
> of 'u', 'x' 'tg' tj' and several others as well as differences in
> vocabulary, but the main argument could be that the name "Catalan"
> in
> the Valencian region may cause rejection to some users and big
> conflicts between regions and users.
> 
> Some other languages, like those varieties of Catalan spoken on the
> Balearic Islands are having now this identity conflict of rejecting
> the name "Catalan". I should add that the differences between the
> varieties spoken in the Balearic Islands are deeper compared to
> those
> spoken in Cataluña and Valencia.
> 
> Another main reason to request the tag is law. Valencian is
> recogniced
> as the language spoken in the Valencian region at its own law, at
> the
> Spanish national law and of course, at the European law which all
> consider it to be a language by itself.
> 
> Victor Benet.
> 
> PS. Thanks for all the feedback is being very possitive.
> 
> 2009/6/17 John Cowan <cowan at ccil.org>:
> > CE Whitehead scripsit:
> >
> >> Hi!  My main question at this point is whether or not we need a
> matching
> >> variant subtag for the variety of this language spoken in
> Catalona (so
> >> as not to have it appear that Valencian is a sub-dialect of
> Catalan,
> >> but instead to treat these as two equal dialects/variants, with
> none
> >> being the default dialect/variant).
> >
> > If you think such a thing is necessary, propose it so we can
> discuss
> > it properly.
> >
> >> To me these are both dialects related to Occitan but these have
> picked
> >> up some Spanish vocabulary, which distinguishes them from
> Occitan
> >> (which has in its turned picked up some French vocabulary).
> >
> > Occitan and Catalan are to be sure closely related, but they are
> not
> > mutually intelligible, except perhaps in border
> dialects.  Furthermore,
> > Catalonia recognizes the languages as distinct and official.
> > Occitan, however, lacks a standard form.
> >
> > --
> > You are a child of the universe no less         John Cowan
> > than the trees and all other
> acyclic            http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
> > graphs; you have a right to be here.            cowan at ccil.org
> >  --DeXiderata by Sean McGrath
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Ietf-languages mailing list
> Ietf-languages at alvestrand.no
> http://www.alvestrand.no/mailman/listinfo/ietf-languages