The present, pass and future of the Galizian language depend today on political positions, for what the people of Galiza, has actually not much weight to said. Galiza came from a colonization state of more that four centuries of brutal repression, cultural and politic, only equivalent to that that the Irish people has suffer. Galizian's are hold hostages to a foreign cultural identity.
This was done for over 400 years by the Spaniards and today it is done by the own sons of Galiza who hold vassalage to a foreign and extremely nationalistic-imperialistic culture, the Spanish one. They doesn't allow any concession on its superiority , holding even today to the vision of the conqueror, the real conquerors of Galiza and its people. For centuries have maintained a condition of colony for Galiza. Galizian can't be themselves, they rights are denied in a subtle way. They can be Galizians, but only in the way the Spaniards have defined and decided.
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The evolution of the Galizian language is very interesting from the sociolinguistic point of view, because it is a live example as even today, in democratic Europe, democratic elect people, have the possibility to act as in a dictatorship, and imposed on people its own political interests, based in a fascist doctrine that denied the right to be different. In the name of the most sacra Spanish State , they kill the culture, the language and the identity of a people who has continuos Celtic traditions going back more that 2000 years.
The common past of Galizian and Portuguese languages was very bright, its present is well represented by what is call Portuguese language, it is spoken by 200 millions people ( including Galizians ). The future is sad for the Galizian side, even if the Galizian language will continue to be speak all around the world under the name of Portuguese language, it will disappears in a few years from the place were was born and will be denied to the people who build such beautiful language, the Galizians.
The actual situation of Galiza concerning the Galizian language is not bright. Sadly , the Galizian language will be replaced, in Galiza, by a slow process of assimilation to the Spanish language, with the Spanish language, who is not well adapted to the people,.. less to the Galizian's weather to so speak ..... The Galizian language, its Celtic culture, its traditions and the Galizian identity will simply disappears, leaving a people without past, history and memory.
Galiza the country who invented the Portuguese language
I used the term Galiza instead of the Spanish <Galicia> because the English language lacking a proper English term for the name of this country, other that the forgotten Saxon term in use in the IX century <Brigantia> , use, in general for lack of knowledge of the Galizian culture, the Spanish term. I prefer and as well I ask to use, for respect to the Galizian people, for its Celtic culture and language, to use in English the patronymic name, the name of the country in its own Galizian language, Galiza, and Galizian or Galeg for its language.
The actual government of Galiza is formed by this Spanish political right party called PP, where the old Franco's connection and ideas are still holding. They came to power in the early 80's and hold in with all kind of 'democratic' abuses. Galizians lacking the democratic tradition for the institutions and the education of the people on its own culture, history and language after 400 years of Spanish colonialism, are denied the power of clever decisions and choices. The actual president of the Galizian government, Mr. Manuel Fraga Iribarne, is one of the fiercest former ministers of Franco. Really they hold in hostage the Galizian people, its culture and language.
What the Spaniards couldn't do in 400 years of colonization, to assimilated the Galizians, the PP, called in Galiza -espanholeiros- ( because they put first the interests of Spain before the interests of the Galizian people they were elect to defend ), will do it in a few years. They use words to convince without the less regret and they do otherwise. They are destroying the Galizian culture and language throughout a forced assimilation. They created institutions with they own people: the CIRP ( profaning the name of the illustrious Galizian , Ramon Pinheiro , which name was used for naming this center ); the institute for the Galizian language, the ILG ; the R.A.G. ( who in the past was one of the more clear defenders of the Galizian language) ; the Galizian TV ( which is an instrument of assimilation,) ; ... They put they own people in charge in universities and institutions without the less respect for the democratic process and a pluralistic society.
They have persecute people in universities, with they own laws, those who defend the Galizian and its culture ( for example, in the university of - A Corunha- they have eliminated the department of Galizian just because the people there defend the historical Galizian ). Today, because of the political interference, most of this people who are holding key positions in these institutions and universities are of very poor intellectual level and they are only there to justified the politics of the actual Galizian government, in fact, politics define what is culture, language and history in Galiza.
There are only two papers , one using the Galizian language, called -A NOSA TERRA- and the other artificially created and representing only the interests of this kind of Fascist party, the PP - is write in Castrapo- ( I will explained later ) called - O Correo Galego-. There is a law to support with grants publications in Galizian but they are used only for they own party paper -O Correo Galego- that they support completely. The grants are denied to the first Galizian paper, 'A Nosa Terra', because they do not writ in -Castrapo-, they do in Galizian ( Galeg ), so they said... Grants, ... have as first condition to be writen and use the assimilated form of Galizian, the Castrapo of the actual government.
The Spanish-Galizian and the Portuguese-Galizian
In Galiza the term -Galego- used for the Galizian language, is used in two ways. For the actual government and many of its institutions to means what is known in Galizian to be call -Castrapo- language. As well it is used , properly in this case, for the linguists and intellectuals that are defending the traditional and historic Galizian language.
So is not advised to use the same name for two different things. I will use only Galizian language for the proper -Galeg- the historical and traditional Galizian, not different for what is called today Portuguese, and to whom the Galizian people to recognized its origins in it lands, used the term : Galego-Portuguese.
I will reserve the term -Castrapo- ( as it is know in Galiza ) for the kind of Creole language, invented today by the -espanholeiros-, incorporating words, phonetic, expressions, ... coming from the Spanish language, to satisfy political interests. It is politically imposed on the people of Galiza. It is well defined by the term : Galego-Spanish, or said with the name of this 'piggy language', in this confluence of two languages in the border zone between Brazil and Uruguay, Portunhol .
They even have convinced most of the Galizians, throughout desinformation, that the name of its country it is not the Galizian name of -Galiza- but instead the Spanish name of -Galicia-. So the Spanish name is, for the moment the official one, but not the real one.
Future of the Galeg, the Galizian language
Because all this is question of politics, in time, Galizians will know better, and at that moment all abuses will corrected, however the damage they are doing to the language and culture is real.
I would like you to know and be aware of the following fact: today there are in Galiza two different schools for the Galizian language. If you are willing to learn about Galizian's language it will be advisable that you will know something about this before choosing a Galizian grammar. So, allow me to give to you some indications .
The two schools of Galizian language are what are usually know as the school of the "historical Galizian" (known from the middle ages time and before as 'Galego' ) and the school of the "political Galizian" ( know today in Galiza as 'Castrapo').
Each one has a different aim and also teach a different orthography and phonetics. However both are perfectly understandably by any Galizian, and only the historical Galizian language (Galego) belong to the linguistic group of the "Galego-Luso-Brasilian", the Portuguese language, and can be perfectly understand, writing and speaking, by the rest of the galizian-portuguese speaking people.( Galizian , Portuguese, Brazilian,...). Castrapo on the other way is not well understood by the Portuguese but could be by the Spaniards with which share many things, orthography, phonetics, and a lot of newly introduced Spanish words.
The Political Galizian Language ( Castrapo )
The POLITICAL GALICIAN school is the result of a political decision by the Spanish political right party actually in power in Galiza. In a democratic Spain were most of the political parties have as leaders people of the old regime, such as the one that is actually ruling Galiza, it is not secret to know that nothing has changed, only names, the interest of the people are not accountable in the moment of taking decisions, only the interest, the doctrine of the party is important ( people, Galizians, do not count, 'Spain is the only one important' , as the actual head of the " Governo da Galiza" , know by the 'Castrapo' name of "Xunta de Galicia", use to said).
Galizians are coming for over 400 years of colonization and are, I mean most of them and in general, ignorant of their own culture, history, language and origins. This situation is perpetuated by the extraordinary continued desinformation in all media, that the party in power control, and with the prompt elimination, the rapid destruction of any kind of opposition.
Behind all this is the idea of transforming the Galizian's language in such way that will become very similar to the Spanish's language, by adopting a lot of the Spanish language for its orthography, grammar and phonetics, building a new kind of 'Creole' language, the 'Castrapo', similar to the piggy language for the English or the 'joual' or 'acadian chiac' for the French people of Canada.
The Galizian is, for the Galizian's people, an orally transmitted language because it was not used , practically, in Galiza, for over 400 years as a writing language. The imposition of the Spanish language on the Galizian's throats and the interdiction of writing it, is today continued in other way, telling people you can use now your own language but only in this way, using a lot of Spanish orthography, grammar and phonetics, using the Castrapo dialect of the Spanish's language.
The most important consequence of the institutionalization of the Castrapo will be the complete and rapid assimilation of the Galizian's people to the Spanish's language. The first stage they will be talking a Spanish dialect, the Castrapo, who in a few years will be completely and easy , be assimilated,( because of its artificial construction, the diglosy it produce and the lacking of prestige and tradition) to the Spanish language, reducing the Galizian people, its culture and tradition, to only folklore.
The political Galizian ( kwon as well as Castrapo, galizian-spanish) is know by its isolationist and separatist stand against the tradition and historical Galizian language. By its isolationist stand it is putting Galiza out of the galizian-portuguese speaking group of countries all around the world, to who naturally belongs. By it separatist approach it is taken the Galizian language out of it natural linguistic group, cutting his own roots.
Whoever, more and more Galizians people are aware and think today that this tendency can be overcome and it is possible to come back in history , to modify the future of the history, by saving its own language and culture and to build a society that will be happy of its own origins , his future, and second to none. Things that were not truth for the last 400 years.
The HISTORICAL GALICIAN school also know as the re-integrationistic school because propose the use of the Galizian language in all its forms in accord with the tradition and history, leaving aside the adulterated forms dues to the Spanish influence, the result of the 400 years of colonization and assimilation.
They proposed the use of the galego-portuguese orthography that it is well know suit best the language, taking out the actual diglosy that the Castrapo imposed to the children. And making the Portuguese and Galizian two co-languages, the same language with its peculiar differences, but also with all the vantages this represent, the same language with its minor cultural differences , such as the Portuguese and the Brazilian.
They said , it is possible yet to come back in time to rewrite at least the history of the future by using the orthography, the grammar and the phonetics the traditional Galizian language has and always used, today conserved in the Portuguese, Brazilian,..., and that are still so alive in the actual speaking language of the Galizian people, ( not in general in the society higher classes, but in its people, countrymen, fishermen,...) so, bringing back the Galizian language to its natural linguistic system orthography, grammar and phonetics.
Because the Portuguese people have forgotten that its language use to be called " Galego' and the Galizian people seems to not know that its own language it is called today, all over the world, Portuguese, the term Galego-Portuguese is used today, meaning that the Galizian and the Portuguese are really two modern co-languages.
The differences between them are minor and only cultural, they are really two modern co-languages. The differences between the Galego-Portuguese and the Portuguese are minor. The more important to said, in the phonetics for example, many of the words that finish in Portuguese by -ao are pronounced, in a very similar way, but as -om ( as in the actual North of Portugal, which has a small phonetic difference with the Lisbon's Portuguese).
In the Castrapo language of the Galizian political school on the contrary they proposed the corresponding Spanish orthography and pronunciation -ion. ( educasao (Portuguese.) , educacom(Galego, where c heres is used for c cedilla ), educacion ( Castrapo), educacion ( Spanish) ).
Otherwise, and in general, the orthography of the Galiza language is the same as the Portuguese language . The Portuguese have conserved the traditional way of the writing Galizian over 400 years , the time the Galizians were forbidden of writing its own language. You can efface the history of the people minds ( the actual brainwash ) but not the whole history of a country.
If you compare today, the phonetics of the American English and the UK English, or the Canadian French and the French or even inside the own Spain the Spanish language in the north of the country and on the south, you will find a lot more of differences that between the 'Galego' and the Portuguese language. Notice that I do not talk of the 'Castrapo'. This last one, for a Spanish speaking people, look more like a "poor" Spanish that a different language, in particular in the writing , perpetuating the idea, between the Spanish people, that always had, that the Galizian language and the Galizian people are, even in the modern democratic state that Spain want to be, second class and will remain so. Culture, language, economics and identity can be easily separated.
To come back to its roots, to come back to its origins, to conserve its peculiar Celtic culture, the only thing that Galizian people need to do is to conserve its own language the 'Galego' as it its, without any alteration, in its in-adulterated form, independent and anterior to the actual Spanish language.
Before 1500 AD the Galizian language have contributed much to the building of the Spanish language, as for example all the few words that in Spanish have a Celtic root came all, without exception, for the Galizian language who has conserved, no only la peculiarity of its phonetic, but also theses words and many others, in particular in the names of the back country.
The historical Galizian ( Galeg ) as language has automatically an international character as co-language of the Portuguese, both holding its own characteristics. But having a common writing that make the Galizian a modern language with all the same privileges as the Portuguese, meaning recognized in the international area, ONU, EU, .. in the scientific level ,in the economic and others fields . And in the same time resolve for the people of Galiza the need to created a lot of new words for the modern world, need result of the many years without contact with the Portuguese.
Only two languages of the peninsula , the Galizian-Portuguese and the Spanish are internationally recognized . The others languages, the Catalan and the Bask, are only regional languages, with any chance to contribute on the plan scientific, economic, or politic , remaining only useful on the plan cultural local. Due to its restrictive use, could be called to disappears with time, because they are not equal to the Spanish language, they need the Spanish language on the international area, scientific and economical, they are not menace for the Spanish language who would continue to be used in these areas.
On the contrary the Galego-Portuguese do not need of the Spanish language, it is his equal on all levels. This can't be allow by the Spanish Government , so the order to be carry out for the Galizians -espanholeiros- to wimp out the reintegration of Galizian and Portuguese. The <espanholeiros> solution was to build a new language, the Castrapo, close to the Spanish language and different from the Galego-Portuguese.
The Spanish people are born with the idea of empire, that they have lost centuries ago, and they are no equal to none. Today Spain could be on paper a democratic modern state but they haven't yet changed its more deep thinking. They can allow this happens. So they are using a kind of Galizian people, know in Galiza as "espanholeiros' who put first the interest of Madrid and second they own, the interest of the people to who they belong. The result is the Castrapo. If the political situation change , good bye Castrapo.
And the situation will change because it is only question of education of the Galizian people, and this is only question of time. The economical interest of Galiza can be sacrificed. The only thing it is needed is that they learn they own history, not the official history write by the Spaniards and the 'espanholeiros' or that the economic abuses of the Spanish government put on Galiza ( loses of industry, fisheries, agriculture, ... ) through the actual political party in power in Galiza continue. There will be not the first time in history that the Galizian people send out to Spain the espanholeiros. ( the irmandinhas revolts in Galiza were the first in Europe against a feudal state)
The official Castrapo has not chances to stay, it will destroy itself. Only the Galizian, the 'Galeg' , the Galego-Portuguese has chances to survive, because this is the product of its people and history.
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