Attitudes of Speakers of Regional Languages in Spain. Towards Linguistic Standardisation Efforts

This article examines the language attitudes of Galician and Catalan speakers towards their respective standard and dialectal varieties, drawing on data from a study employing the matched-guise technique and a questionnaire. The research compares speaker evaluations across socio-intellectual, aesthetic, and dynamic dimensions and investigates perceptions of language appropriateness in various public and private domains. Key findings reveal a general preference for standard language in sociointellectual contexts among both groups, with dialectal forms rated lower on traits such as intelligence and educational attainment. However, in the aesthetic dimension, both Galician and Catalan speakers attributed more positive qualities like honesty and extroversion to dialectal speech. Notably, the study found that Galician respondents showed a slightly stronger positive rating of their standard language relative to their dialects compared to Catalan speakers. Differences in the variability of ratings, particularly among Catalan speakers, may reflect the more complicated sociolinguistic landscape with multiple ‘para-standards’.

Keywords: speaker attitudes, Galician, Catalan, standard and dialectal varieties, sociolinguistics