Accents: When a J can be a Y and when an A can be an E

A few years ago, I read Barry Farber's How to Learn Any Language. Aside from being filled with a lot of helpful tips on how to study languages, it also included this gem on accents:

"Nobody is arrested for indecent exposure just because he dresses poorly. On the other hand, a person unconcerned about dress will never impress us with his appearance. It's the same with a proper accent. As long as you're going to go through the trouble of learning a language, why not try -at the very little extra cost- to mimic the genuine accent." [Barry Farber]

If there's one thing I'm obsessed about, more so than grammar tables (which wallpaper my room), it's nailing an accent down. I suppose it's because of my training in theatre arts that I have this trained ear for accents but the obsession with it is certainly something I was born with. I have always loved mentally filing away phrases, sentences, and monologues in accents that I found interesting. This would explain why I spend so much time repeating troublesome words out loud, over and over, until I can be sure that I have nailed it. I see correct pronunciation not only as a way to make myself understood better by native speakers, but also as an outward sign of respect for the language itself.

When I decided to learn Euskara and Català, I took some time to explore the different accents and dialacts from each language. Here is a very simplified explanation of what I learned: (it's simplified because even I, who sometimes enjoys a lesson in grammar, can find the entire thing quite tedious)

Euskara: Dialects and Accents

Depending on the source, Euskara has about 6-9 distinct dialects which differ from Batua (Unified Basque):

- Bizkaian
- Gipuzkoan
- Upper Navarrese
- Lower Navarrese
- Lapurdian
- Zuberoan

Of all six, perhaps the one I would be most familiar with would be Gipuzkoan as Batua is based heavily in Gipuzkoan vocabulary. I'm not quite at the level wherein I can identify differences between dialacts however I can identify small differences in the way certain letters are pronounced. For example:

- the letter J: according to Gorka Aulestia, the letter J is normally pronounced like a Spanish J, especially in places like Gipuzkoa. However, in Batua, the letter J is pronounced as a Y.

- the letter H: many years ago, particularly in Iparralde, the letter H was actually pronounced like an English H, however this is rarely heard nowadays and in Batua it is silent (as it is in Spanish and French). This would explain why the only time I have ever heard it pronounced was in a program featuring an interview with a very old Basque priest from Lapurdi.

I originally wanted to pronounce the letter J the Gipuzkoan way (I imagine that my ancestors from Hondarribia in Gipuzkoa would have pronounced it that way too... unless Hondarribia had its own now-lost dialect) and for a time I did just that, however, as my main form of studying Basque is taught using Batua, I have slowly ended up pronouncing the J as a Y.

Here are some samples you guys can listen to:

- Andoni Iraola (football player for Athletic Club) in a press conference. He has an interesting accent that I'm assuming is typical of Gipuzkoa (he's from Usurbil). He also seems to favour phrases such as "baina, beno" and "ba, beno".

- Amaren Alabak. One of the first few songs I listened to in Euskara were songs by Amaren Alabak. If you listen closely, you'll be able to detect nasal tones that are reminiscent of French. Also, I have read that the Zuberoan (or Xiberuan) dialact has one extra vowel: ü

- EiTB.com. I'm not really at the point wherein I can watch a series in Euskara and understand it but I still take time to watch some clips or an episode here and there just so I can get a feel for the language, the accents, and the speed in which people speak it. You can check out shows like Goenkale or Wazemank.

Català: Dialects and Accents

In broad terms, Català in terms of dialect can be divided into two:

- Western Catalan (this would include Valencià, Andorrà, Lleidatà, etc)
- Eastern Catalan (this would include Rosellonès, Barceloní, Mallorquí, etc)

I've read quite a bit about the differences between the dialects but what really catches my attention are the accents. The accents that stand out the most for me are those from Valencia, Lleida, and Mallorca.

I don't quite know exactly how to explain the differences between the accents so instead of trying to bungle my way through a half-baked explanation, I might as well just provide some samples for you guys to listen to:

- Canal 9. This is a channel broadcast in the Valencian language. To my ears, Valencià sounds like Català but with a more distinct Spanish pronunciation. Of course, there are also quite a few differences in terms of grammar as well. (I would have also placed a video of Raúl Albiol giving an interview in Valencià as he has a very intesting accent but since his traitorous move to Real Madrid, I haven't been to keen to listen to him speak, so...)

- Hat Trick Barça interviews Bojan Krkic. Whenever I would hear Bojan give an interview, I always wondered if his accent sounded so different because he might have grown up speaking Català as second language or something like that but a friend later on told me that his accent is typical in the province of Lleida.

- Carles Puyol interview. Like Bojan, Puyol also has a strong accent. In fact, I think the carefully crafted central Catalan accent I'm working in is now mutating into the sort of accent that Puyol has. I listen to his interviews as well as Xavi Hernández's a lot and at times, I end up mimicking Puyol's accent and at time's Xavi's. Compare the real Puyol's accent with the spoofed version created by Jordi Rios in Crackòvia.

- Crackòvia's Rafa Nadal. I know, I know, it might not be a good idea to use spoofs and sketch comedy to illustrate accents because they are so overdone (for comedic effect) but I must point out that in my program for learning Català (the wonderful Parla.cat), the Mallorquí accent of one of the characters is exactly the same as Xisca's. Now that I think about it, the Lleidatà accent of one of the program's characters is also exactly the same as Bojan Krkic's...
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Why Euskara? Why Català?

Whenever I tell people that I am studying two languages, they usually guess either: Spanish, German, Japanese or Russian and when I tell them it's actually Euskara (Basque) and Català, they usually give me a blank stare (because they have no idea what it is) or a confused look (because they have no idea why I would want to learn it).

There's actually a short and a long answer for each language. So let me start with the short answers first:

Euskara: because I am Basque
Català: because I am Catalan

And here are the long answers:

Euskara: One of the first words I ever learned in Euskara was, euskaldun, which means "Basque" although literally it means "Euskara-speaker". When I thought about it, I realised that the Basques define themselves by the language they speak. The word for the Basque Country (at least the ones including Nafarroa/Navarra and Iparralde/French Basque Country) in Euskara is Euskal Herria which means "land of Euskara" reflects the focus on the language even more. So with that in mind, I came to the conclusion that blood was no longer enough, at least not for me. I had already missed out on a lot of the culture by the fact that I was not born there (nor was my father or my grand-father or my great-grandfather) and, to this date, have not had the opportunity to go there, so I wanted to learn the language to strengthen my ties to my Basque heritage.

I also felt that Euskara was my birthright. I felt quite cheated that I had grown up not even knowing it existed up until I was bored one day and did a Wikipedia search on Hondarribia (Fuenterrabía in Spanish), the town where my Basque ancestors where from, and browsed around up until I found out about this language called Euskara. So that's the main driving force behind my desire to learn Euskara. I feel like my early ancestors who migrated to the country of my birth, in their desire to assimilate into the culture or for one reason or another, did not keep their original language of Euskara alive and I want to bring that back.

Now, as for Català, it started out quite differently.

Català: Although I had always known I was Basque, it took a while longer for me to realise that I was also Catalan. I remember that it was actually my love for FC Barcelona (my second team, behind Athletic Bilbao, of course!) that first placed the idea of learning Català into my head. I wanted to be able to converse in it should I ever be lucky enough to meet the likes of Carles Puyol or Xavi (I did get to see them a few months ago when they played against LA Galaxy but sadly, I don't think Puyol heard me shouting, "Puyi! Em dones el teu braçalet?" -Puyol, can you give me your armband?-). Of course, I knew that if I wanted any chance at successfully learning the language, I would need a better reason than that. It was then that I decided to contact my Abuela (grandmother) and ask her about her side of the family. I had a suspicion that her side might be Catalan although I knew that her father was from Salamanca. After a few months, she finally confirmed that although by birth my great-Grandfather was indeed from Salamanca, by blood he was Catalan.

So once I had confirmed that I do have Catalan blood running through my veins, I decided that it was also my birthright to be able to speak in Català... and frankly, that's reason enough to want to learn it.
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