v • d • e This article is within the scope of WikiProject Catalan-speaking Countries , a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the history, languages, and cultures of Catalan-speaking Countries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
v • d • e This article is within the scope of WikiProject Spain , a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Spain on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Name of the city
The city of Alacant/Alicante has two official names. Alacant is the original Catalan one. The Spanish name Alicante was given by Franco. During this time Catalan language was interdicted. All villages got Spanish names and even family names were re-named. After death of the dictator the city became Alacant again but the Spanish name stayed official as a second hand name. Habitants of Alacant prefer the Catalan name because their mother tongue is Catalan. Because of this reasons, we re-named the German article in Alacant. You should re-name the English article, too. Best wishes Hanno Meissner
Yes, but in this case Alicante is not the English name for Alacant like Florence for Firence (in German we call it Florenz). Alicante is a name that was given by a dictator to supress Catalan inhabitants. Before the World War 2, only a small number of people went to Spain for their holidays so only a few people knew Alacant. After war more people visited Spain and during this time the official name was Alicante. Because of this, people in England got to know the city as Alicante. In the German Wikipedia we have a REDIRECT-connection from Alicante to Alacant. On this way elder people can find the article as Alicante and young people accustom to the name Alacant and get to know the city as Alacant. I think It's better. We shouldn't use names given by a dictator like Franco any more. We should forget them. Or dou you still know Litzmannstadt (it's the name Hitler gave to the Polish city of Lodz)? We should make the real names more popular. Best regards, Hanno Meissner
Thank you! I think it's an important point. Best wishes, Hanno Meissner
To Hanno Meisner
Habitants of Alacant prefer the Catalan name because their mother tongue is Catalan
Alicante has got 316,178 inhabitants, 10% are from other countries likes Argentina, Ecuador and Chili. Other 90% are from Spain. Spanish alicantinian name "Alicante" his city because they speak spanish in 85%-90%. Only 10% of the spanish population of Alicante speak catalan. You can see the dates in www.gva.es or in other social studes. And the name in spanish isn't from Franco, it exist at 15th century, is so old than the catalan name. From an alicantinian.
It is not the same thing a language is able to speak that to speak it habitually. That great people in Alicante can speak Valencian it does not want to say that it is his language like your and I we can write in English but it is not our language either.
Anyhow the numbers that you give are not correct. According to the study of the Town hall of Alicante that can turn in http://www.alicante-ayto.es/ompv/home.html It is not a 85 % the one that the Catalan understands, It is 81 %. And it is not 70 % those who can speak it, but only 28 %. In the city of Alicante, which is about that one speaks in this article, the majority of the people speaks Spanish, we like it or not, and there is in use more the name "Alicante" than "Alacant". It is not necessary to confuse what we would like with the reality.
It's clear there are an important recovering of catalan-speakers group in Alacant, and the latest data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística of year 2003, gives the percentage of alacantinian catalan-speaker the 33% of alacantinian population.
And about the name, both name are widely known, and both are also official in the law here in Spain. It's meaning that in the maps edited in Spain by the Administation it's obligatory to use both names, in any language used. --Martorell 23:16, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Don't make me lough!!!
VALENCIAN has not been spoken in Alicante for more than 60 years even before Francos times Valencian had disapered as a family language from the homes of Alicante except in some outsirks suburbs. Nowaydays anyone speaks in social life valencian you can only hear it very ocasssionaly when the people from nearby villages go for shopping at the weekends in high street but these people don't life in the city.Family use is only betweeen families coming fron valencian speaking towns but never between true Alicantinosa and it's use can not be more that 5-10%. About the figures that you have just given are not an expresion of the reality. It is true that the people have a general knowledge of valencian but it is because is compulsory to stady it at school or to became a civil servant even though is not spoken in the city more than english. We also watch the valencian chanel canal 9 which is broadcast in valencian and hear the valencian language in nearby towns like MUTXAMEL,CAMPELLO,LA VILA JOIOSA OR CASTALLA thats the reason because 22 speak it and 56 understands it but it doesn't mean that we use it as a every day language we also understand english but it doest't imply that we use it with our family or friends to speak each other.
ABOUT THE NAME ALICANTE "INVENTED" FOR FRANCO WAS THE NAME USE FOR EVERYONE TO CALL THE CITY AROUND 1940 BECAUSE AT THAT TIME ALICANTE WAS ALREADY SPANISH SPEAKING.this name is very old and it come up in Novels like Rob Roy by Walter Scott written at the begining of the XIX century. Just check it before telling lies.
In the web page of Alicante council www.alicante.es you can find objective information about the decline of the valencian language in Alicante. Summing up
1.Around 1880 it had disapered in the center and west of the city and the middle class didn't speak it anymore
2. Around 1940 had already disapered in the whole city
3. 2004 Valencian language is disapering as a living languaguage from san Vicente ,San Joan, Mutxmel y Campello where is still spoken but be sure that not for a long time as a result of his phisical union with Alicante.
Nowdays the valencian dictatorship impose us to stady valencian which used to be spoken here one hundred years ago but we dont't like to look back to the past we just look to the future and the freedom to stady in our mother toungue: SPANISH
I would like to point out to the person above that the data you use cannot be right. I am not the one to refuse a scientific study (to which I havent looked at)but i can tell that until the spanish civil war the common language spoken in Alicante was catalan. My 100 year-old grandmother, who is spanish-speaking as she is from Melilla, do not know anything about stats, languages and all that stuff, however, when she tells stories (in spanish) from the times she was a child, she always turns to catalan when reproducing conversations. Its so significant, but if you wish real data, there is a book called "Alacant:la llengua interrompuda" written by Brauli Montoya, that deals with all that you are concerned. The author states that the real turning point was the civil war, after which catalan language was repressed. Un d'Alacant
I remind you that I am also imposed spanish not only as a simple subject at the school, but also as the only language of study in uni and college. Be a little tolerant towards your neighbours.
Hello Anonymous! Valencian isn't a seperate language but a Catalan dialect. All other statements made by Spanish speaking people are politicals motivated. Centralists (an Spanish nationalists) fear of a too large Catalan population (8 mio). So they divide it in Catalans and Valencians. I think you aren't right that the language of the future will be Spanish in Alacant/Alicante. The Catalan speaking regions get more and more economic power. Today, Spanish speaking regions are dependent of Catalan speaking regions. Because of this economic power the Catalan language will get more and more power in the whole country as well. If the government in Madrid wants to keep Spain united for the future they'll have to grant the Catalan language a more powerful status on the national level than today. Maybe, in about twenty years, Spain will be constituted like Swiss as a country with different equal languages. I cannot look to future but I could imagine such a development. I am from Germany and because of this I am a neutral observer of the political situation in Spain. I'm sure that these points are very emocional an hard to accept for a Spanish speaking person like you. But please realize reality. Spain is a multi-ethnic country and not a homogeneous nation state Franco liked it to be. Every attempt to change these circumstances will lead to the collapse of the Spanish state. You should better be proud of the cultural wealthiness of your country and not deny it. I like Spain with all its languages: Spanish, Catalan, Galician and Basque. Best wishes from
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