The 'Linguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain' (and Joan Veny)

A few days ago, it was presented at the headquarters of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans in Barcelona,Linguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain, A magnum opus of Catalan philology, of transcendental importance in the field of Romance studies. To ring the bells and set off fireworks as befitted such a momentous occasion, the IEC held an academic conference dedicated entirely to the completion of this new reference work. Throughout the presentations and roundtables that followed, the brand-new Linguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain It was deservedly compared to other monumental works dedicated to our language, such as the General dictionary of the Catalan language, by Pompeu Fabra, the Etymological and supplementary dictionary, by Joan Coromines, or –of course– the Catalan-Valencian-Balearic dictionary, by Antoni M. Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, perhaps better known as theAlcover-Moll (whose new digitization we now celebrate, a tool that expands the version we had until now and makes it much more advanced, versatile, and rich in research possibilities). All these works are colossal bricks, enormous pieces of sandstone that have been assembled in the great edifice of Catalan, transforming it into the modern, living, powerful, and diverse language it is today, a fully-fledged European language, even though some may try to deny it recognition. Or, worse still, try to annihilate it.

Linguistic atlases are cartographic works, collections of maps that record and locate language varieties in the populations or places where these varieties are spoken. Thus, theLinguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain It is a dialectological work that compiles and presents the great variety of dialects and speech patterns of the Catalan language, gathered through thousands of surveys conducted by a group of scholars with hundreds of informants from 190 different locations in Catalan-speaking territories. The project was initiated and directed by the philologist Antoni M. Badia i Margarit, and in recent decades, until the completion of all the cartographic work now being celebrated (the indexes are still pending), it has been directed by two other distinguished philologists: Doctors Lídia Pons and Joan Veny, who are carrying out the task. The elaboration of theLinguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain It has been extended; naturally, during all this time geolinguistics has evolved, and the work has incorporated the possibilities and features offered by current technologies, both in terms of preserving oral recordings and building a digitized database. The work is published in two editions of different formats: theLinguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain and the Small Linguistic Atlas of the Catalan Domain, of nine volumes each.

In short, this work is an irreplaceable contribution to the history of the language and Romance studies, as well as a meticulous snapshot of the dialects of Catalan and their richness. Furthermore, in our time, it serves as a superb rebuke to all those who deny the unity of Catalan and to those who still make attacks against the Catalan language a pathetic political banner. And it confirms, if any were needed, the greatness of the philological and cultural work of Joan Veny, a man of letters of whom we Mallorcans would do well to be proud. If there is anyone left in our institutions even remotely aware of the country they govern, let them know that it is self-evident to thank Joan Veny for his admirable work, which enlightens and improves us as a country and as a society.