View source for Galician language

{{Short description|Western Ibero-Romance language}}
{{About|the Romance language spoken in the region of Galicia, northwestern Spain|the extinct Iberian Celtic language|Gallaecian|the language spoken in the Eastern European region of Galizia|Lesser Polish dialect|and|Ukrainian dialects}}
{{redirect|Galego|the creation myth from Bugis, Indonesia|Sureq Galigo|the type of primate|Galago}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Galician
| nativename       = {{lang|gl|galego}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|gl|ɡaˈleɣʊ|}}
| region           = [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and adjacent areas in [[Asturias]] and [[Castile and León]]
| ethnicity        = [[Galician people|Galician]]
| speakers         = {{significant figures|2.355|2}} million
| date             = 2012
| ref              = e18
| speakers2        = 58% of the population of Galicia ({{circa}} 1.56 million) are [[first language|L1]] speakers (2007)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.observatoriodalinguagalega.org/?q=node/115&ambito=1&subambito=1&bloque=14&apartado=2&miga=Cidadan%EDa%3ACidadan%EDa%3ALingua+habitual+e+inicial%3ALingua+inicial+%3ALingua+inicial+da+cidadan%EDa |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130822080251/http://www.observatoriodalinguagalega.org/?q=node/115&ambito=1&subambito=1&bloque=14&apartado=2&miga=Cidadan%EDa:Cidadan%EDa:Lingua+habitual+e+inicial:Lingua+inicial+:Lingua+inicial+da+cidadan%EDa |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 August 2013 |title=Observatorio da Lingua Galega |publisher=Observatorio da Lingua Galega |access-date=17 October 2015 }}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3             = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4             = [[Latin]]
| fam5             = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6             = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7             = [[Western Romance languages|Western Romance]]
| fam8             = [[Ibero-Romance languages|Ibero-Romance]]
| fam9             = [[West Iberian languages|West Iberian]]
| fam10            = [[Galician-Portuguese]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Italic language|Proto-Italic]]
| ancestor3        = [[Latino-Faliscan languages#Phonology|Proto-Latino-Faliscan]]
| ancestor4        = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor5        = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| ancestor6        = [[Proto-Romance language|Proto-Romance]]
| ancestor7        = [[Galician-Portuguese]]
| ancestor8        = Middle Galician
| script           = [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] ([[Galician alphabet]])<br />[[Galician Braille]]
| nation           = [[Spain]]
*[[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]
| minority         = [[El Bierzo]] ([[Castile and León]], Spain)
| agency           = [[Royal Galician Academy]]
| iso1             = gl
| iso2             = glg
| iso3             = glg
| glotto           = gali1258
| glottorefname    = Galician
| lingua           = 51-AAA-ab
| map              = Idioma gallego bloques y áreas lingüísticas.png
| mapcaption       = Distribution of the various dialects of Galician in Spain and the extreme north of Portugal{{image reference needed|date=November 2022}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
Western Areas
{{legend|#182E61|Bergantiños}}
{{legend|#17328C|Fisterra}}
{{legend|#004080|Pontevedra}}
{{col-2}}
Central Areas
{{legend|#2596F1|Mindoniensis}}
{{legend|#0080FF|Central Transitional}}
{{legend|#0D8BF2|Lucu-Auriensis}}
{{legend|#009CE8|Eastern Transitional}}
{{col-end}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
Eastern Areas
{{legend|#A2CDE8|Asturian}}
{{legend|#84CFDF|Central Western}}
{{legend|#8DF1EC|Zamora}}
{{col-2}}
Other Areas
{{legend|#00FFD9|[[Fala language]]}}
{{col-end}}
| map2             = 
| mapcaption2      = 
| notice           = IPA
}}

'''Galician''' ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|ə|ˈ|l|ɪ|ʃ|ən}} {{respell|gə|LEE|shən}},<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/galician |title=galicia |encyclopedia=Merriam-Webster|date=29 December 2023 }}</ref> {{IPAc-en|ɡ|ə|ˈ|l|ɪ|s|i|ə|n}} {{respell|gə|LISS|ee|ən}};<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/galician |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011052946/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/galician |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2017 |title=Galician |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionaries}}</ref> {{langx|gl|label=[[endonym]]|galego}}), also known as '''Galego''', is a [[Iberian Romance languages|Western Ibero-Romance]] language. Around 2.4&nbsp;million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], an [[Autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous community]] located in northwestern Spain, where it has official status along with [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. The language is also spoken in some border zones of the neighbouring Spanish regions of [[Asturias]] and [[Castile and León]], as well as by Galician migrant communities in the rest of Spain, in Latin America including [[Puerto Rico]], the United States, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe.

Modern Galician is classified as part of the [[West Iberian languages]] group, a family of [[Romance languages]]. Galician evolved locally from [[Vulgar Latin]] and developed from what modern scholars have called [[Galician-Portuguese]]. The earliest document written integrally in the local Galician variety dates back to 1230, although the subjacent Romance permeates most written Latin local charters since the High Middle Ages, being specially noteworthy in personal and place names recorded in those documents, as well as in terms originated in languages other than Latin. The earliest reference to Galician-Portuguese as an international language of culture dates to 1290, in the ''Regles de Trobar'' by Catalan author [[Jofre de Foixà]], where it is simply called Galician (''gallego'').{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|p=142}}

Dialectal divergences are observable between the northern and southern forms of Galician-Portuguese in 13th-century texts but the two [[#Dialects|dialects]] were similar enough to maintain a high level of cultural unity until the middle of the 14th century, producing the medieval [[Galician-Portuguese lyric]]. The divergence has continued to this day, most frequently due to innovations in Portuguese,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Valls Alecha |first1=Esteve |last2=González González |first2=Manuel |date=2016 |title=Variación e distancia lingüística na Romania Antiqua: unha contribución dialectométrica ao debate sobre o grao de individuación da lingua galega |trans-title=Linguistic variation and distance in the Romania Antiqua: A dialectometric contribution to the debate about the degree of individuality of the Galician language |url=http://www.usc.es/revistas/index.php/elg/article/view/3175 |journal=Estudos de Lingüística Galega |language=gl |volume=8 |pages=229–246 |doi=10.15304/elg.8.3175 |doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.12328/1532 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> producing the modern languages of Galician and Portuguese.<ref>{{Cite book |last=de Azevedo Maia |first=Clarinda |title=História do galego-português: estado linguístico da Galiza e do noroeste de Portugal desde o século XIII ao século XVI |publisher=Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian |year=1997 |isbn=9789723107463 |edition=Reprint of the INIC 1986 |location=Lisboa |pages=883–891 |language=pt |trans-title=History of Galician-Portuguese: linguistic state of Galicia and northwestern Portugal from the 13th to the 16th centuries}}</ref>
The [[lexicon]] of Galician is predominantly of [[Latin]] extraction, although it also contains a moderate number of words of [[List of Galician words of Germanic origin|Germanic]] and [[List of Galician words of Celtic origin|Celtic]] origin, among other [[substratum (linguistics)|substrates]] and [[adstrate]]s, having also received, mainly via Spanish, a number of nouns from [[Andalusian Arabic]].

The language is officially regulated in Galicia by the [[Royal Galician Academy]]. Other organizations without institutional support, such as the [[Galician Association of Language]] consider Galician and Portuguese [[Reintegrationism|two forms of the Galician-Portuguese language]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=Reintegracionismo e Reintegracionistas |url=https://a.gal/reintegracionismo-e-reintegracionistas/ |website=Associaçom Galega da Língua |language=gl}}</ref> and other minoritary organizations such as [[Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language]] believe that Galician should be considered part of the Portuguese language for a wider international usage and level of "normalization".

== Classification and relation with Portuguese ==
{{further|Galician-Portuguese#Language}}
[[File:Linguistic map Southwestern Europe-en.gif|thumb|left|Map showing the historical retreat and expansion of Galician (Galician and Portuguese) within the context of its linguistic neighbors between the year 1000 and 2000]]
Modern Galician and Portuguese originated from a common medieval ancestor designated variously by modern linguists as [[Galician-Portuguese]] (or as Medieval Galician, Medieval Portuguese, Old Galician or Old Portuguese). This common ancestral stage developed from [[Vulgar Latin]] in the territories of the old [[Kingdom of Galicia]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and [[Northern Portugal]], as a Western [[Romance language]]. In the {{ordinal|13}} century it became a written and cultivated language with two main varieties,{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|p=17}} but during the {{ordinal|14}} century the standards of these varieties, Galician and Portuguese, began to diverge, as Portuguese became the official language of the independent [[Kingdom of Portugal]] and its chancellery, while Galician was the language of the scriptoria of the lawyers, noblemen and churchmen of the Kingdom of Galicia, then integrated in the [[crown of Castile]] and open to influence from Spanish language, culture, and politics. During the 16th century the Galician language stopped being used in legal documentation, becoming de facto an oral language spoken by the vast majority of the Galicians, but having just some minor written use in lyric, theatre and private letters.

It was not until the {{ordinal|18}} century that linguists elaborated the first Galician dictionaries, and the language did not recover a proper literature until the {{ordinal|19}} century; only since the last quarter of the {{ordinal|20}} century is it taught in schools and used in lawmaking. The first complete translation of the [[Bible]] from the original languages dates from 1989. Currently, at the level of rural dialects, Galician forms a [[dialect continuum]] with Portuguese in the south,<ref name="instituto-camoes1971">{{Citation |last=Lindley |first=Luís F. |title=Nova Proposta de Classificação dos Dialectos Galego-Portugueses |date=1971 |url=http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/biblioteca/novaproposta.pdf |work=Boletim de Filologia, Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Filológicos |language=pt |trans-title=New Proposal for the Classification of Galician-Portuguese Dialects |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102180041/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/biblioteca/novaproposta.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fernández Rei|2003|p=17}}. "Today, from a point of view which is exclusively linguistic, both banks of the Minho river speak the same language, since the Minhoto and Trás-os-Montes dialects are a continuation of the Galician varieties, sharing common traits that differentiate them from the dialect of Central and Southern Portugal; but at the level of the common language, and in a sociolinguistic perspective, in the west of the peninsula there are two modern languages, with differences in pronunciation, morphosyntax and vocabulary", ["Na actualidade, desde o ponto de vista estrictamente lingüístico, ás dúas marxes do Miño fálase o mesmo idioma, pois os dialectos miñotos e trasmontanos son unha continuación dos falares galegos, cos que comparten trazos comúns que os diferencian dos do centro e sur de Portugal; pero no plano da lingua común, e desde unha perspectiva sociolingüística, hai no occidente peninsular dúas línguas modernas, con diferencias fonéticas, morfosintácticas e léxicas"].</ref> and with [[Astur-Leonese]] in the east.{{sfn|Sánchez Rei|2011|pp=314–387}} [[Mutual intelligibility]] (estimated at 85% by [[Robert A. Hall Jr.]], 1989) is very high between Galicians and northern Portuguese.<ref name=e18 />

[[File:Estatuto de Galicia de 1936, pdf texto gl.pdf|thumb|upright|left|Statute of Galicia, 1936]]
The current linguistic status of Galician with regard to Portuguese is controversial in Galicia, and the issue sometimes carries political overtones. There are [[linguistics|linguists]] who consider Galician and Portuguese as two [[Standard language|norms]] or varieties of the [[Galician-Portuguese lyric|same language]].{{sfn|Sánchez Rei|2011|p=24}} Some authors, such as [[Luís Lindley Cintra|Lindley Cintra]],<ref name="instituto-camoes1971" /> consider that they are still co-dialects of a [[Galician-Portuguese lyric|common language]] in spite of differences in phonology and vocabulary, while others<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Àlvarez |editor-first=Rosario |display-editors=etal |title=Dialectoloxía e léxico |year=2002 |publisher=Instituto da Lingua Galega [u.a.] |isbn=978-84-95415-66-0 |location=Santiago de Compostela |pages=41–68, 193–222 |url=http://consellodacultura.gal/mediateca/extras/CCG_2002_Dialectoloxia-e-lexico.pdf |language=gl |trans-title=Dialectology and lexicon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Vázquez Cuesta |first=Pilar |title=Non son reintegracionista |url=http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/hemeroteca/2002/02/22/973946.shtml |date=22 February 2002 |website=La Voz de Galicia |language=gl |trans-title=I am not a reintegrationist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208141453/http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/hemeroteca/2002/02/22/973946.shtml |archive-date=8 December 2011}} interview given to ''La Voz de Galicia'' published on 22 February 2002 (in Galician).</ref> argue that they have become separate languages due to differences in phonetics and vocabulary usage, and, to a lesser extent, morphology and syntax. Fernández Rei in 1990 stated that the Galician language is, with respect to Portuguese, an [[Ausbausprache, Abstandsprache and Dachsprache|''ausbau'' language]], a language through elaboration, and not an [[Ausbausprache, Abstandsprache and Dachsprache|''abstand'' language]], a language through detachment.{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|p=18}}

With regard to the external and internal perception of this relation, for instance in past editions of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', Galician was defined as a [[Portuguese dialects|"Portuguese dialect"]] spoken in northwestern Spain. On the other hand, the director of the [[Instituto Camões]] declared in 2019 that Galician and Portuguese were close kin, but different languages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Montero |first=Tamara |date=21 June 2019 |title=Luís Faro: "Son próximas, pero o portugués e o galego non son a mesma lingua" |url=https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/cultura/2019/06/21/luis-faro-proximas-portugues-galego-non-mesma-lingua/0003_201906G21P36991.htm |website=La Voz de Galicia |language=gl |trans-title=Luís Faro: "They are close, but Portuguese and Galician are not the same language" |access-date=21 June 2019}}</ref> According to the Galician government, universities and main cultural institutions, such as the [[Galician Language Institute]] or the [[Royal Galician Academy]], Galician and Portuguese are independent languages that stemmed from medieval Galician-Portuguese,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Patrimonio léxico da Gallaecia |url=http://ilg.usc.es/es/novidades/patrimonio-lexico-da-gallaecia |date=20 July 2018 |website=Instituto da Lingua Galega |language=es |trans-title=Lexical heritage of Gallaecia |access-date=2018-10-03}}</ref> and modern Galician must be considered an independent [[Romance language]] belonging to the group of [[Ibero-Romance]] languages having strong ties with Portuguese and its northern dialects. The standard [[orthography]] has its roots in the writing of relatively modern [[Rexurdimento]] authors, who largely adapted Spanish orthography to the then mostly unwritten language. Most Galician speakers regard Galician as a separate language,<ref>[http://alpi.csic.es/sites/default/files/PhotoSwipe/images/Atlas_Pag18.jpg Answers to the question "Name of the local language?"] in the ''Atlas Lingüístico de la Península Ibérica''.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Recalde |first=Montserrat |title=La vitalidad etnolingüística gallega |publisher=Centro de Estudios sobre Comunicación Interlingüistíca e Intercultural |year=1997 |isbn=9788437028958 |location=València |language=es |trans-title=Galician ethnolinguistic vitality}}</ref> which evolved without interruption and in situ from Latin, with Galician and Portuguese maintaining separate literary traditions since the 14th century.

Portuguese [[Early Modern Era]] grammars and scholars, at least since Duarte Nunes de Leão in 1606, considered Portuguese and Galician two different languages<ref>"Os diphtongos são estes ão ẽe ij õo ũu. que temos comũs cõ os Gallegos, cuja lingoa & a nossa era toda quasi hũa." (the diphthongs are these ... which we have in common with the Galicians, whose language and ours was almost one).</ref> derived from old Galician, understood as the language spoken in the Northwest before the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal in the 12th century. The surge of the two languages would be the result of both the elaboration of Portuguese, through the royal court, its internationalization and its study and culture;<ref>"Da qual lingoa Gallega a Portuguesa se aventajou tanto, quãto & na elegãcia della vemos. O que se causou por em Portugal haver Reis, & corte que he a officina onde os vocabulos se forjaõ, & pulem, & donde manão pera os outros homẽs, o que nunqua honve[sic] em Galliza." (From that Galician language the Portuguese got ahead as far as now we see in its elegance. This was caused because of Portugal having Kings, and a Royal court which is the office where words are forged and polished, and from where they flow to the other people; which Galicia never had.)</ref> and of the stagnation of Galician.<ref>"por todos estes motivos a alterar-se e distinguir-se a nossa Lingua da Galega, que permaneceo, sem alteração nem melhoramento, encantonada em hum Paiz, sem Côrte, e sem Universidade" (because all of these causes our language changed and distinguished from the Galician one, which remained, with no alterarion or improbement, in the country, with no court or study.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Duarte |first=Sónia |date=2015 |title=O galego nos textos metalinguísticos portugueses (séculos XVI-XIX) |trans-title=Galician in Portuguese metalinguistic texts (16th-19th centuries) |journal=Revista Galega de Filoloxía |language=gl |volume=16 |pages=75–105 |url=http://revistas.udc.es/index.php/rgf/article/view/rgf.2015.16.0.1379/624 |access-date=1 July 2019 |doi=10.17979/rgf.2015.16.0.1379 |doi-access=free|hdl=2183/20096 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Martim Codax Cantigas de Amigo.jpg|thumb|right|Vindel's parchment, containing music and lyrics of several 13th-century ''cantigas'' by [[Martin Codax]]]]The earliest internal attestation of the expression ''Galician language'' ("lingoajen galego") dates from the 14th century.{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|p=142}} In Spanish "lenguaje gallego" is already documented in this same century, ''circa'' 1330;{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|p=144}} in [[Occitan language|Occitan]] ''circa'' 1290, in the ''Regles de Trobar'' by Catalan author [[Jofre de Foixà]]: "''si tu vols far un cantar en frances, no·s tayn que·y mescles proençal ne cicilia ne ''gallego'' ne altre lengatge que sia strayn a aquell''" [''If you want to compose a song in French, you should not admix Provençal nor Sicilian nor Galician nor other language which is different from it''].{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|p=142}}

=== Reintegrationism and political implications ===
Private cultural associations, not endorsed by Galician or Portuguese governments, such as the [[Galician Language Association]] (''Associaçom Galega da Língua'') and [[Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language]] (''Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa''), advocates of the minority [[Reintegrationist]] movement, support the idea that differences between Galician and Portuguese speech are not enough to justify considering them as separate languages: Galician would be simply one variety of Galician-Portuguese,<ref>{{Cite news |title=História do Reintegracionismo |trans-title=History of Reintegrationism |url=https://a.gal/historia-do-reintegracionismo/ |access-date=2020-05-14 |website=Associaçom Galega da Língua |language=gl}}</ref> along with [[European Portuguese]]; [[Brazilian Portuguese]]; [[Portuguese in Africa|African Portuguese]]; the [[Fala language|Fala]] language spoken in the northwestern corner of Extremadura (Spain), and other dialects. They have adopted slightly-modified or actual Portuguese orthography, which has its roots in medieval Galician-Portuguese poetry as later adapted by the Portuguese Chancellery.

According to Reintegrationists, considering Galician as an independent language reduces contact with Portuguese culture, leaving Galician as a minor language with less capacity to counterbalance the influence of Spanish, the only official language between the 18th century and 1975. On the other hand, viewing Galician as a part of the Lusosphere, while not denying its own characteristics (cf. [[Swiss German]]), shifts cultural influence from the Spanish domain to the Portuguese. Some scholars{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}} have described the situation as properly a continuum, from the Galician variants of Portuguese in one extreme to the Spanish language in the other (which would represent the complete linguistic shift from Galician to Spanish); reintegrationist points of view are closer to the Portuguese extreme, and so-called isolationist ones would be closer to the Spanish one;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.udc.es/dep/lx/cac/misc/socgal.htm |title=Trabalhos de sociolinguística galega / Some Works on Galizan Sociolinguistics |publisher=Udc.es |date=13 December 2004 |access-date=30 June 2012}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=May 2019|reason=This citation refers to a webpage with a list of scholarly works, which of them is referring to?}} however, the major Galician nationalist parties, [[Anova–Nationalist Brotherhood]] and [[Galician Nationalist Bloc]], do not use reintegrationist orthographical conventions.

=== Official relations between Galicia and the Lusophony ===
In 2014, the parliament of Galicia unanimously approved Law 1/2014 regarding the promotion of the Portuguese language and links with the [[Lusophony]].<ref>see [https://www.boe.es/eli/es-ga/l/2014/03/24/1/con full text of the law]</ref> Similarly, on 20 October 2016, the city of [[Santiago de Compostela]], the capital of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], approved by unanimity a proposal to become an observer member of the Union of Portuguese-Speaking Capitals ([[União das Cidades Capitais Luso-Afro-Américo-Asiáticas|UCCLA]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Santiago entra na Unión das Cidades Capitais de Lingua Portuguesa (UCCLA) |url=http://santiagodecompostela.gal/hoxe/nova.php?lg=gal&id_nova=15154 |date=20 October 2016 |website=Concello de Santiago |language=gl |trans-title=Santiago joins the Union of Portuguese-Speaking Capital Cities (UCCLA) |access-date=24 October 2016}}</ref> Also, on 1 November 2016, the Council of Galician Culture (''Consello da Cultura Galega'', an official institution of defence and promotion of the Galician culture and language) was admitted as a consultative observer of the [[Community of Portuguese Language Countries|Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries]] (CPLP).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 November 2016 |title=O CCG ingresa como Observador Consultivo na Comunidade dos Países en Lingua Portuguesa |language=gl |trans-title=The CCG joins the Community of Portuguese Language Countries as a Consultative Observer |work=Consello da Cultura Galega |url=http://consellodacultura.gal/noticia.php?id=4789}}</ref>

A "friendship and cooperation" protocol was signed between the [[Royal Galician Academy]] (RAG) and the [[Academia Brasileira de Letras|Brazilian Academy of Letters]] on 10 January 2019. Víctor F. Freixanes, president of the RAG, stated during the ceremony that "there is a conscience that the Galician language is part of a family which includes our brothers from Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique... a territory full of possibilities also for Galician. We always said that Galician is not a regional language, but is in fact part of that international project".<ref>{{Cite web |title=A RAG e a Academia Brasileira de Letras asinan un acordo de amizade e colaboración |url=https://academia.gal/inicio/-/asset_publisher/m2gF/content/a-rag-e-a-academia-brasileira-de-letras-asinan-un-acordo-de-amizade-e-colaboracion |date=10 January 2019 |website=Real Academia Galega |language=gl |trans-title=The RAG and the Brazilian Academy of Letters sign an agreement of friendship and collaboration |access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref>

== Geographic distribution and legal status ==
Galician is spoken by some three million people,{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} including most of the population of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and the numerous Galician communities established elsewhere, in Spain ([[Madrid]], Barcelona, [[Biscay]]), in other European cities ([[Andorra la Vella]], Geneva, London, Paris), and in the Americas (New York, [[New Jersey]], Buenos Aires, Córdoba/Argentina, [[Montevideo]], [[Mexico City]], [[Havana]], Caracas, [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] in [[Puerto Rico]], São Paulo, [[Managua]], [[Mayagüez]], [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]], Panama City).

Galician is today official, together with the Spanish language, in the [[autonomous community]] of Galicia, where it is recognized as the autochthonous language (''lingua propia''), being by law the first language of the local administrations and governments. It is supposed by law to be taught bilingually, alongside Spanish, in both primary and secondary education, although the accomplishment of this law is allegedly doubted. It is also used at the three universities established in Galicia, having also the consideration of official language of the three institutions. Galician has also legal recognition in the [[Bierzo]] region in [[Province of León|León]], and in four municipalities in [[Province of Zamora|Zamora]]. The other languages with official status elsewhere in Spain are Spanish, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] (or [[Valencian language|Valencian]]), [[Basque language|Basque]] and [[Aranese language|Aranese]]. Galician has also been accepted orally as Portuguese in the [[European Parliament]], being used by some Galician representatives, among others: [[José Posada]], [[Camilo Nogueira]] and [[Xosé Manuel Beiras]].

Controversy exists regarding the inclusion of [[Eonavian]] (spoken in the western end of [[Asturias]], bordering [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]) into the Galician language, as it has some traits in common with [[Asturian language|Western Asturian]] (spoken in the middle west of Asturias). There are those defending these linguistic varieties as [[dialect continuum|dialects of transition]] to the [[Astur-Leonese group]] on the one hand, and those defending it as clearly Galician varieties on the other (actually both views are compatible).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=D’Andrés |first=Ramón |date=2019 |title=Atlas lingüístico ETLEN sobre la frontera entre el gallegoportugués y el asturleonés en Asturias |trans-title=ETLEN, a Linguistic Atlas of the Boundary between Galician-Portuguese and Asturleonese in Asturias (Spain) |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/MADR/article/view/66851 |journal=Madrygal. Revista de Estudios Gallegos |language=es |volume=22 |pages=51–62 |doi=10.5209/madr.66851 |doi-access=free |s2cid=213657213|hdl=10651/55180 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The recent edition of the cartularies of Oscos in [[Old Common Council of Castropol]] and cartularies of [[Obona]], [[Cornellana]], [[Corias]] and [[Belmonte de Miranda|Belmonte]] in middle west of Asturias have shown a huge difference in the medieval speech between both banks of the Navia river.<ref>{{cite book |language=es |author=Damaso Alonso Obras |year=1971 |title=Obras Completas |publisher=Gredos |series=Volume I: Estudios lingüísticos peninsulares |page=391 |quote=Like a rainbow between two close colours, there is a moment, in the way of the West, when we get to feel us into the Galician area, and another side, to the East, in which we get to feel us into Asturian, but there is also a mixed zone, in which, after all, the distinction depends on our way to appreciate and read will depend on a serial linguistics facts. Some another time, I will deal with this question. '''It is enough saying today that the oldest statement about Galician extending into Asturias up to the Navia River, (Menéndez Pidal, 'El dialecto leonés', §&nbsp;1, 2, 1906) cannot be more right''', in spite of typical linguistic Asturian features crossing to the west over that border. These dialects between the rivers Navia and Eo, mainly Galician, but with clear Asturian features, are what we call 'Gallego-Asturiano'.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Laverde y Ruiz |first=Gumersindo |date=1862 |title=O dialecto asturiano |url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0003775992&search=&lang=en |magazine=Revista ibérica de ciencias, política, literatura, artes e instrucción pública |language=es |volume=5 |pages=181–203 |via=Hemeroteca Digital (Biblioteca Nacional de España)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lapesa Melgar |first=Rafael |title=El dialecto asturiano occidental en la Edad Media |publisher=Universidad de Sevilla |year=1998 |language=es |trans-title=The western Asturian dialect in the Middle Ages}}</ref> An examination of the old documents of the Eonavian monastery of Oscos, written from the late 12th to early 14th century to 16th century, shows a clear identification of this language with the Galician-Portuguese linguistic group; while contemporary parchments elsewhere in Asturias are written in Spanish.<ref>Alvárez Castrillón, José A., Los Oscos en los siglos X–XII, prólogo Ignacio de la Peña Solar, Oviedo 2001, p. 144–234.</ref> The two most important traits of those commonly used to tell apart Galician-Portuguese and Asturian-Leonese varieties are the preservation of the mid-open vowels {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, which became diphthongs in Asturian-Leonese, and the loss of intervocalic {{IPA|/n/}}, preserved in the latter language.{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|pp=18–23}}

== History ==
[[File:ForoBoBurgo.jpg|thumb|left|upright|One of the oldest legal charters written in Galician, the constitutional charter of the Bo Burgo (Good Burg) of [[Castro Caldelas]], 1228]]
{{Quote box |width=250px |align=right|title=''Excerpt of medieval Galician poetry (with English translation)''|salign=right
 |quote =<poem>
Porque no mundo mengou a verdade,
punhei um dia de a ir buscar;
e, u por ela fui nom preguntar,
disserom todos: «Alhur la buscade,
ca de tal guisa se foi a perder,
que nom podemos en novas haver
nem já nom anda na irmaindade.»

Because in the world the truth has faded,
I decided to go a-searching for it
and wherever I went asking for it
everybody said: 'Search elsewhere
because truth is lost in such a way
such as we can have no news of it
nor is it around here anymore.'
</poem>
 |source = [[Airas Nunes]] (B 871, V 455. 13th century)}}
{{further|Galician-Portuguese|History of the Galician language}}
[[File:Texto - Noia - Galiza.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Mediaeval Galician inscription in a 14th-century house, in [[Noia]]: "ESTAS CASAS MANDOU FAZER VASCO DA COSTA, ERA DE MCCCLXXVII" ''These houses were ordered by Vasco da Costa, [[Spanish era|era]] 1377 (1339 AD)'']]
Latinate Galician charters from the {{ordinal|8}} century onward show that the local written Latin was heavily influenced by local spoken Romance, yet is not until the {{ordinal|12}} century that there is evidence for the identification of the local language as a language different from Latin itself.<ref>As an example, in a passage of the [[Historia Compostellana]] it is stated, as a notable event, that bishop Diego Gelmirez spoke publicly in Latin.</ref> During this same {{ordinal|12}} century there are full Galician sentences being inadvertently used inside Latin texts, while its first reckoned use as a literary language dates to the last years of this same century.{{sfn|Souto Cabo|2008|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}{{sfn|Queixas Zas|2001|p=14}}

The linguistic stage from the {{ordinal|13}} to the {{ordinal|15}} centuries is usually known as Galician-Portuguese (or ''Old Portuguese'', or ''Old Galician'') as an acknowledgement of the cultural and linguistic unity of Galicia and Portugal during the Middle Ages, as the two linguistic varieties differed only in dialectal minor phenomena.

This language flourished during the {{ordinal|13}} and {{ordinal|14}} centuries as a language of culture, developing [[Galician-Portuguese lyric|a rich lyric tradition]] of which some 2000 compositions (''[[cantigas]]'', meaning 'songs') have been preserved—a few hundred even with their musical score—in a series of collections, and belonging to four main genres: '''cantigas de amor''', love songs, where a man sings for his ladylove; ''[[cantiga de amigo|cantigas de amigo]]'', where a woman sings for her boyfriend; '''cantigas de escarnio''', crude, taunting, and sexual songs of scorn; '''cantigas de maldecir''', where the poet vents his spleen openly; and also the [[Cantigas de Santa Maria|Cantigas de Santa María]], which are religious songs.{{sfn|Queixas Zas|2001|pp=24–61}}

The oldest known document is the poem ''Ora faz ost'o Senhor de Navarra'' by Joam Soares de Paiva, written around 1200. The first non-literary documents in Galician-Portuguese date from the early {{ordinal|13}} century, the Noticia de Torto (1211) and the Testamento of [[Afonso II of Portugal]] (1214), both samples of medieval notarial prose.

Its most notable patrons—themselves reputed authors—were King [[Dom Dinis]] in Portugal, and King [[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X the Learned]] in Galicia, Castile and León, who was a great promoter of both Galician and [[Castilian Spanish]] languages. Not only the kings but also the noble houses of Galicia and Portugal encouraged literary creation in Galician-Portuguese, as being an author or bringing reputed troubadours into one's home became a way of promoting social prestige.  As a result, many noblemen, businessmen and clergymen of the {{ordinal|13}} and {{ordinal|14}} centuries became notable authors, such as Paio Gomes Charinho, lord of [[Rianxo]], and the aforementioned kings.

Aside from the lyric genres, Galicia developed also a minor tradition on literary prose, most notably in translation of European popular series, as those dealing with [[King Arthur]] written by [[Chrétien de Troyes]], or those based on the [[Roman de Troie|war of Troy]], usually paid and commissioned by noblemen who desired to read those romances in their own language. Other genres include history books (either translation of Spanish ones, or original creations like the ''Chronicle of St. Mary of Iria'', by Rui Vasques), religious books, legal studies, and a treaty on horse breeding.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://consellodacultura.gal/mediateca/extras/CCG_2007_Na-nosa-lyngoage-galega-A-emerxencia-do-galego-como-lingua-escrita-na-Idade-Media.pdf |title=Na nosa lyngoage galega: a emerxencia do galego como lingua escrita na Idade Media |publisher=Consello da Cultura Galega |year=2007 |isbn=978-84-96530-44-7 |editor-last=Boullón Agrelo |editor-first=Ana Isabel |editor-link=Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo |location=Santiago de Compostela |pages=447–473 |language=gl |trans-title=In our Galician lyngoage: the emergence of Galician as a written language in the Middle Ages}}</ref> Most prose literary creation in Galician had stopped by the {{ordinal|16}} century, when [[printing press]] became popular; the first complete translation of the Bible was not printed until the {{ordinal|20}} century.

As for other written uses of Galician, legal charters (last wills, hirings, sales, constitutional charters, city council book of acts, guild constitutions, books of possessions, and any type of public or private contracts and inventories) written in Galicia are to be found from 1230 to 1530—the earliest one probably a document from the monastery of [[Melón]], dated in 1231{{sfn|Souto Cabo|2008|p=51}}—being Galician by far the most used language during the {{ordinal|13}}, {{ordinal|14}} and {{ordinal|15}} centuries, in substitution of Latin.

=== Diglossia and influence of the Spanish language ===
{{Listen|filename=Santa Maria.ogg|title="Santa Maria, strela do dia"|description=A 13th-century Galician-Portuguese ''Cantiga''|format=[[Ogg]]}}
Galician-Portuguese lost its political unity when the [[County of Portugal]] obtained its independence from the [[Kingdom of León]], a transition initiated in 1139 and completed in 1179, establishing the [[Kingdom of Portugal]]. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Galicia was united with the Kingdom of León, and later with the Kingdom of Castile, under kings of the [[House of Burgundy]]. The Galician and Portuguese standards of the language diverged over time, following independent evolutionary paths. Portuguese was the official language of the Portuguese chancellery, while Galician was the usual language not only of troubadours and peasants, but also of local noblemen and clergy, and of their officials, so forging and maintaining two slightly different standards.

[[File:13th-century unknown painters - Cantigas de Alfonso el Sabio - WGA16031.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Cantigas de Santa Maria]], 13th century]]
During the reign of [[Alfonso X]], Spanish became the official language of the chancellery of the Kingdom of Castile. However, in Galicia and neighboring regions of Asturias and León in 1200–1500, the local languages remained the usual written languages in any type of document, either legal or narrative, public or private. Spanish was progressively introduced through Royal decrees and the edicts of foreign churchmen and officials. This led, from the late 15th century on, to the end of legal documents in Galician; the last ones were issued around 1530.{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|pp=188–193}} Also, from 1480 on, notaries of the [[Crown of Castile]] were required to obtain their licenses in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], where they had to prove their mastery of Spanish.{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|pp=188–193}}

[[File:Galician Johan Tuorum.jpg|thumb|right|14th-century inscription, in Galician language: 'ESTA : IMAGEE : HE : AQVI : POSTA : POR: ALMA : D(E) : I(O)HA(N) : TVORUM' 'This image is here in exposition for the soul of Joham Tuorum'.]]
In spite of Galician being the most spoken language, during the 17th century, the elites of the Kingdom began speaking Spanish, most notably in towns and cities. The linguistic situation in Galicia became one of [[diglossia]], with Galician as the low variety and Spanish as the high one.{{refn|Although this trend was initially resisted.{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|p=204}}}} In reaction to the relegation of the autochthonous language, a series of literary and historical works (always written in Spanish) appeared in the 17th century through 19th century, meant to vindicate the history, language, people, and culture of Galicia.{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|pp=235–265}} The period from the 16th century to the early 19th century, when Galician had little literary—and no legal—use, is considered the dark age of Galician language. The Galician spoken and written then is usually referred to as ''Middle Galician''.

=== Middle Galician ===
[[File:Martín Sarmiento.jpeg|left|thumb|upright|Martín Sarmiento]]
Middle Galician is known mostly through popular literature (songs, carols, proverbs, theatrical scripts, personal letters), but also through the frequent apparition of Galician interferences and personal and place names in local works and documents otherwise written in Spanish. Other important sources are a number of [[sonnet]]s and other lyric poetry, as well as other literate productions, including the forgery of allegedly mediaeval scriptures or chronicles under diverse pretensions—usually to show the ancient nobility of the forger's family—being these writings elaborated in an archaic looking Galician which nevertheless could not conceal the state of the language during this period.

Middle Galician is characterized by a series of phonetic processes which led to a further separation from Portuguese, and to the apparition of some of the more noteworthy dialectal features, among other phenomenons: emergence of the ''gheada'' or pronunciation of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} as a pharyngeal fricative; denasalization of nasal vowels in most of Galicia, becoming oral vowels in the east, or a group formed by an oral vowel plus a nasal consonant in the west; reduction of the sibilant system, with the confluence (except in the ''Baixa Limia'' region) of voiced and voiceless fricatives, followed by a process of de-affrication which led to different results in the west and in the east.{{sfn|Mariño Paz|1998|pp=265–288}}

The most important author during this period of the language was the scholar [[Martín Sarmiento]], unconditional defender and the first researcher of Galician language (history, evolution, lexicon, etymology, onomastics). His ''Elementos etimológicos segun el método de Euclides'' (1766), written in Spanish but dealing with Galician, was in fact one of the first comprehensive studies on sound change and evolution of any European language. He also defended that teaching in Galicia should be conducted in Galician, since it was the common language of most people.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.consellodacultura.org/sarmiento/files/2008/04/sobre_a_lingua_galega.pdf |title=Sobre a lingua galega: antoloxía de Martín Sarmiento |publisher=Galaxia |year=2002 |isbn=978-84-8288-528-5 |editor-last=Monteagudo |editor-first=Henrique |location=Vigo |page=35 |trans-title=On the Galician language: anthology of Martín Sarmiento}}</ref>

=== Rexurdimento (Renaissance) ===
[[File:Eduardopondal.jpg|thumb|upright|The 19th-century author [[Eduardo Pondal]]]]
During the 19th century a thriving literature developed, in what was called the ''Rexurdimento'' (Resurgence), of the Galician language.{{sfn|Gómez Sánchez|Queixas Zas|2001|pp=93–166}} It was headed by three main authors: [[Rosalia de Castro]], an intimist poet; [[Eduardo Pondal]], of nationalist ideology, who championed a Celtic revival; and [[Manuel Curros Enríquez]], a liberal and anticlerical author whose ideas and proclamations were scandalous for part of the 19th-century society.

The first political manifest asking for the officialization of Galician date to the late 19th century.

An important landmark was the establishment of the [[Royal Galician Academy]], in 1906, soon followed by that of the [[Seminario de Estudos Galegos]] (1923). The ''Seminario'' was devoted to the research and study of the Galician culture. It was created by a group of students: [[Fermín Bouza Brey]], [[Xosé Filgueira Valverde]], [[Lois Tobío Fernández]], with the collaboration of [[Ricardo Carvalho Calero]], [[Antón Fraguas]] and [[Xaquín Lorenzo Fernández]].

Following the victory of [[Francisco Franco]] in the [[Spanish Civil War]], the written or public use of the Galician language was outlawed.<ref>{{harvnb|Minahan|2000|p=279 }} "Following Franco's 1939 victory, the Galicians suffered severe punishment – their culture was suppressed, and edicts were issued forbidding the speaking, teaching, or publishing of books or newspapers in the Galician language."</ref>

[[File:Percentage of Galician speakers (2001 vs 2011).png|thumb|Speakers of Galician as a first language in 2001 and 2011, according to the Galician Institute of Statistics]]
[[File:Galician linguistic areas.PNG|Galician linguistic areas|thumb|right]]
[[File:Galizaestremeira.png|Galician-speaking areas outside Galicia (yellow)|thumb|right]]

Publishing of Galician-language material revived on a small scale in the 1950s.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=279–281}}

=== The Galician language today ===
With the advent of democracy, Galician has been brought into the country's institutions, and it is now co-official with Spanish in Galicia.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=279–281}} Galician is taught in schools, and there is a public Galician-language television channel, [[Televisión de Galicia]].

Today, the most common language for everyday use in the largest cities of Galicia is Spanish rather than Galician, as a result of this long process of [[language shift]]. However, Galician is still the main language in rural areas.

The [[Royal Galician Academy]] and other Galician institutions celebrate each 17 May as [[Galician Literature Day]] ({{lang|gl|Día das Letras Galegas}}), dedicated each year to a deceased Galician-language writer chosen by the academy.

=== Use of the Galician language ===
Use of Galician splits by age, with over half of those over 45 indicating that Galician is their primary language, with lower numbers for the younger population. Those under 45 were more likely than those over 45 to answer that they never use Galician.

{| style="float: center; border: 1px #AAA solid; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #E4E4E4; text-align: right;" border="1"
|- style="color: #000; background-color: #7CFC00; text-align: center;"
! colspan="9" | Use of Galician and Spanish in Galicia (2003–2018)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Persoas segundo a lingua na que falan habitualmente. Galicia e provincias |url=http://www.ige.eu/igebdt/esqv.jsp?ruta=verTabla.jsp?OP=1&B=1&M=&COD=2951&R=9912%5B12%5D;0%5Ball%5D&C=1%5Ball%5D;2%5Ball%5D&F=&S=&SCF= |date=2019 |website=Instituto Galego de Estatística |language=gl |trans-title=People according to language habitually spoken. Galicia and provinces |access-date=28 September 2019}}</ref>
|- style="background-color: #CCC; text-align: center;"
!
! colspan="2" | 2003
! colspan="2" | 2008
! colspan="2" | 2013
! colspan="2" | 2018
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Always speaks in Galician
| 42.9% || 1,112,670
| 29.9% || 779,297
| 30.8% || 789,157
| 30.3% || 778,670
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Speaks more often in Galician than Spanish
| 18.2% || 471,781
| 26.4% || 687,618
| 20.0% || 513,325
| 21.6% || 553,338 
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Speaks more often in Spanish than Galician
| 18.7% || 484,881
| 22.5% || 583,880
| 22.0% || 563,135
| 23.1% || 593,997
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Always speaks in Spanish
| 19.6% || 506,322
| 20.0% || 521,606
| 25.9% || 664,052
| 24.2% || 621,474
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Other situations
| 0.5% || 13,005	 	
| 1.1% || 28,622
| 1.2% || 29,536
| 0.8% || 19,866
|}

Use of Galician also varies greatly depending on the regions and municipalities of Galicia. While in two areas of the [[Province of A Coruña]] ([[Costa da Morte]] and the Southeast) more than 90% of the population always or mostly speaks in Galician, only the 15,2% of the population does the same in the city of [[Vigo]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Enquisa estrutural a fogares. Coñecemento e uso do galego |url=https://www.ige.eu/estatico/html/gl/OperacionsEstruturais/Resumo_resultados_EEF_Galego.html#uso-habitual-e-inicial-do-galego |date=2019 |website=Instituto Galego de Estatística |language=gl |trans-title=Structural Survey on households. Knowledge and use of Galician}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Region
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Comarcas included
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Galician speakers (percentage){{efn|% of the population who always or mostly speaks in Galician. This percentage excludes those who mainly speak in Spanish but also use Galician.}}
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Spanish speakers (percentage){{efn|% of the population who always or mostly speaks in Spanish. This percentage excludes those who mainly speak in Galician but also use Spanish.}}
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Galician speakers (number){{efn|Number of people who always or mostly speaks in Galician. This percentage excludes those who mainly speak in Spanish but also use Galician.}}
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Spanish speakers (number){{efn|Number of people that always or mostly speaks in Spanish. This percentage excludes those who mainly speak in Galician but also use Spanish.}}
|-
| align="right" | A Barbanza-Noia
| align="right" | [[A Barbanza]] and [[Noia (comarca)|Noia]]
| align="right" | 88.85	 	 	
| align="right" | 11.15
| align="right" | 82,434
| align="right" | 10,344
|-
| align="right" | A Coruña
| align="right" | [[A Coruña (comarca)|A Coruña]] and [[Betanzos (comarca)|Betanzos]]
| align="right" | 33.55 	 			
| align="right" | 66.45
| align="right" | 137,812
| align="right" | 272,922
|-
| align="right" | A Mariña
| align="right" | [[A Mariña Oriental]], [[A Mariña Central]] and [[A Mariña Occidental]]
| align="right" | 75.85 	 	 	
| align="right" | 24.15
| align="right" | 50,420
| align="right" | 16,053
|-
| align="right" | Caldas-O Salnés
| align="right" | [[Caldas (comarca)|Caldas]] and [[O Salnés]]
| align="right" | 63.40 	 	
| align="right" | 36.60
| align="right" | 86,575
| align="right" | 49,980
|-
| align="right" | Central [[Province of Lugo|Lugo]]
| align="right" | [[Terra Chá]], [[Lugo (comarca)|Lugo]], [[A Ulloa]] and [[Meira (comarca)|Meira]]
| align="right" | 65.04	
| align="right" | 34.96
| align="right" | 105,423
| align="right" | 56,676
|-
| align="right" | Central [[Province of Ourense|Ourense]]
| align="right" | [[Valdeorras]], [[Allariz-Maceda]], [[Terra de Caldelas]] and [[Terra de Trives]]
| align="right" | 69.45 	 	 			 	
| align="right" | 30.55
| align="right" | 30,152
| align="right" | 13,265 
|-
| align="right" | [[Costa da Morte]]
| align="right" | [[Bergantiños]], [[Terra de Soneira]], [[Fisterra (comarca)|Fisterra]], [[Muros (comarca)|Muros]] and [[O Xallas]]
| align="right" | 92.43 	 	 	
| align="right" | 7.57
| align="right" | 117,630
| align="right" | 9,627
|-
| align="right" | Eastern [[Province of Lugo|Lugo]]
| align="right" | [[Os Ancares]], [[A Fonsagrada (comarca)|A Fonsagrada]] and [[Sarria (comarca)|Sarria]]
| align="right" | 88.50
| align="right" | 11.50
| align="right" | 32,025
| align="right" | 4,160
|-
| align="right" | Ferrol-Eume-Ortegal
| align="right" | [[Ferrolterra]], [[O Eume]] and [[Ortegal]]
| align="right" | 33.75
| align="right" | 66.25
| align="right" | 60,202
| align="right" | 118,162
|-
| align="right" | Northeast [[Province of Pontevedra|Pontevedra]]
| align="right" | [[O Deza]] and [[Tabeirós-Terra de Montes]]
| align="right" | 81.85
| align="right" | 18.15
| align="right" | 50,720
| align="right" | 11,249
|-
| align="right" | O Carballiño-O Ribeiro
| align="right" | [[O Carballiño (comarca)|Carballiño]] and [[O Ribeiro]]
| align="right" | 76.42 	 	 		 	
| align="right" | 23.58
| align="right" | 30,586
| align="right" | 9,436
|-
| align="right" | O Morrazo
| align="right" | [[O Morrazo]]
| align="right" | 40.56
| align="right" | 59.44
| align="right" | 31,554
| align="right" | 46,233
|-
| align="right" | [[Province of Ourense|Ourense]]
| align="right" | [[Ourense (comarca)|Ourense]]
| align="right" | 39.85 	 			 	
| align="right" | 60.15
| align="right" | 52,632
| align="right" | 79,450
|-
| align="right" | Pontevedra
| align="right" | [[Pontevedra (comarca)|Pontevedra]]
| align="right" | 38.82
| align="right" | 61.18
| align="right" | 45,865
| align="right" | 72,292
|-
| align="right" | Santiago
| align="right" | [[Santiago (comarca)|Santiago de Compostela]], [[A Barcala]] and [[O Sar]]
| align="right" | 55.39 	 			
| align="right" | 44.61
| align="right" | 102,260 
| align="right" | 82,374
|-
| align="right" | Southeast [[Province of A Coruña|A Coruña]]
| align="right" | [[Arzúa (comarca)|Arzúa]], [[Terra de Melide]] and [[Ordes (comarca)|Ordes]]
| align="right" | 93.14 	 	
| align="right" | 6.86
| align="right" | 59,415		 	
| align="right" | 4,375
|-
| align="right" | Southern [[Province of Lugo|Lugo]]
| align="right" | [[Terra de Lemos]], [[Quiroga (comarca)|Quiroga]] and [[Chantada (comarca)|Chantada]]
| align="right" | 67.19 		
| align="right" | 32.81
| align="right" | 31,065
| align="right" | 15,172
|-
| align="right" | Southern [[Province of Ourense|Ourense]]
| align="right" | [[A Baixa Limia]], [[A Limia]], [[Verín (comarca)|Verín]] and [[Viana (comarca)|Viana]]
| align="right" | 88.00 	 	 		 	 			 	
| align="right" | 12.00
| align="right" | 64,878
| align="right" | 8,850
|-
| align="right" | Southern [[Province of Pontevedra|Pontevedra]]
| align="right" | [[O Baixo Miño]], [[O Condado]] and [[A Paradanta]]
| align="right" | 58.56
| align="right" | 41.44
| align="right" | 60,392 	
| align="right" | 42,737
|-
| align="right" | Vigo
| align="right" | [[Vigo (comarca)|Vigo]]
| align="right" | 25.50 	 	 	
| align="right" | 74.50
| align="right" | 99,968
| align="right" | 292,115
|-
|}
{{notelist}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | City
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Always speaks Galician
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | More Galician than Spanish
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | More Spanish than Galician
! bgcolor="#BFCFFF" | Always speaks Spanish
|-
| align="right" | [[A Coruña]]
| align="right" | 5.34 	 	 	
| align="right" | 14.64
| align="right" | 31.40
| align="right" | 48.62
|-
| align="right" | [[Ferrol, Spain|Ferrol]]
| align="right" | 6.71 	 		 	 	
| align="right" | 10.98
| align="right" | 29.59
| align="right" | 52.72
|-
| align="right" | [[Lugo]]
| align="right" | 21.34 		 	 	
| align="right" | 23.36
| align="right" | 28.88
| align="right" | 26.41
|-
| align="right" | [[Ourense]]
| align="right" | 10.71 	 	 		 	 	
| align="right" | 22.80
| align="right" | 38.85
| align="right" | 27.65
|-
| align="right" | [[Pontevedra]]
| align="right" | 8.38 	 	 	 	 		 	 	
| align="right" | 14.62
| align="right" | 35.94
| align="right" | 41.06
|-
| align="right" | [[Santiago de Compostela]]
| align="right" | 20.58 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		 	 	
| align="right" | 23.31
| align="right" | 33.46
| align="right" | 22.65
|-
| align="right" | [[Vigo]]
| align="right" | 3.85 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		 	 	
| align="right" | 11.36
| align="right" | 39,49
| align="right" | 45.31
|-
|}

== Dialects ==
Some authors are of the opinion that Galician possesses no real dialects.<ref>{{harvnb|Fernández Rei|2003|p=36}}. "O material recolleito para o citado ALGa (...) faime comparti-la opinion de García de Diego de que non-se pode falar de dialectos propiamente ditos no galego. Nos mapas deste capítulo pode apreciarse a extensión xeográfica desigual dalgúns fenómenos lingüísticos (...) e tamén como as isoglosas (...) poucas veces coinciden"</ref> Despite this, Galician local varieties are collected in three main [[dialect]]al blocks, each block comprising a series of areas, being local linguistic varieties that are all [[mutually intelligible]]. Some of the main features which distinguish the three blocks are:
* The resolution of medieval [[nasalized vowels]] and [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]]: these sometimes turned into [[diphthongs]] in the east, while in the center and west the vowels in the hiatus were sometimes assimilated. Later, in the eastern—except Ancarese Galician—and central blocks, the nasal trait was lost, while in the west the nasal trait usually developed into an implosive nasal consonant {{IPA|/ŋ/}}.{{clarify|reason= implosive usually means a consonant articulated with ingressive airflow, and it is, to my knowledge, always a stop consonant. What is meant by implosive here? |date=December 2019}}{{sfn|Ferreiro|1999|p=132}}{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|p=58}} In general, these led to important dialectal variability in the inflection in genre and number of words ended in a nasal consonant. So, from medieval ''irmão'' 'brother', ''ladrões'' 'robbers', ''irmãas'' 'sisters' developed eastern Galician {{lang|gl|irmao}}, {{lang|gl|ladrois}}, {{lang|gl|irmás}}; central Galician {{lang|gl|irmao}}, {{lang|gl|ladrós}}, {{lang|gl|irmás}}; western Galician {{lang|gl|irmán}}, {{lang|gl|ladróns}}, {{lang|gl|irmáns}}.{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|pp=59–67}}
: An exception to this rule is constituted by the hiatus in which the first vowel was a nasalized i or u. In those cases, a nasal, palatal {{IPA|/ɲ/}} or velar {{IPA|/ŋ/}} was usually inserted: ''ũa'' 'a / one (fem.)' > ''unha'' (Portuguese ''uma''), -''ina'' > -''ĩa'' > -''iña'' (Portuguese -''inha''). Nevertheless, in Ancarese and Asturian Galician, this process did not take place: A-G ''vecía'', Ancarese ''vecĩa'' vs. standard ''veciña'' '(female) neighbor' (Port. ''vizinha''), A-G ''úa'', Ancarese ''ũa'' vs. standard ''unha'' (Port. uma).
* The resolution of hiatus formed by oral vowels had similar developments, most notably those derived from the loss of {{IPA|/l/}}, which again had important consequences for the declension of words ending in {{IPA|/l/}}. So, Medieval Galician {{lang|gl|animaes}} 'animals' (sing. ''animal''); central and western Galician ''animás''; eastern Galician ''animais''; Asturian Galician ''animales'' ({{IPA|/l/}} is preserved).{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|pp=64–65}}
* In the west, {{IPA|/ɡ/}} is rendered as a fricative {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|x}} ~ {{IPAplink|ħ}} ~ {{IPAplink|h}}]}} (''[[gheada]]''), except after a nasal, where it can become a stop {{IPAblink|k}}.{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|pp=163–189}}
* Stressed vowel [[metaphony (Romance languages)|metaphony]] is most notable in the west and center, while in the east it is unknown. It is triggered by a final {{IPA|/o/}}, which tends to close [[open-mid vowel]]s, or by a final {{IPA|/a/}} which tends to open [[close-mid vowel|close-mid]] ones.
* There are three main [[sibilant]] systems, all derived from the medieval Galician one, which was richer and more complex:{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|p=213}}
** The common one, extended in the eastern and center regions, presents an opposition {{IPA|/ʃ/ – /s/ – /θ/}}. In the westernmost parts of this area the opposition of {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/θ/}} is lost in postnuclear position, in the coda, both being produced {{IPA|/s/}}.
** In the coastal western areas the opposition is {{IPA|/ʃ/ – /s/}}, {{IPA|/s/}} being produced in some regions as a laminal or in some others as an apical. Sometimes this system is even further reduced to just a single {{IPA|/s/}}. On the other hand, in some areas final {{IPA|/s/}} is produced as {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, as in plenty of [[Portuguese dialects]].
** In the Limia Baixa region an old six sibilant system is still preserved, with voiced/voiceless opposition: {{IPA|/ʃ/ – /ʒ/}}; {{IPA|/s̺/ – /z̺/}} (apical) and {{IPA|/s̻/ – /z̻/}} (laminal).{{sfn|Fernández Rei|2003|p=57}}

Each dialectal area is then further defined by these and other more restricted traits or isoglosses:
*'''Eastern Galician''': Asturian area ([[Eonavian]]), Ancares area, Zamora area and Central-Eastern area.
*'''Central Galician''': Mindoniense area, Lucu-auriense area, Central Transitional area, and Eastern Transitional area.
*'''Western Galician''': Bergantiños area, Fisterra area, Pontevedra area and Lower Limia area.
Standard Galician is usually based on Central Galician characteristics, but it also incorporates western and eastern traits and features.

=== Examples ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! colspan=3 scope="col" | Galician{{ref|id0|a}} !! rowspan=2 scope=col | Medieval Galician (13th–15th c.) !! rowspan=2 scope=col | Portuguese !! rowspan=2 scope=col | Spanish !! rowspan=2 scope=col | Latin !! rowspan=2 scope=col | English
|-
! scope="col" | Western !! scope="col" | Central !! scope="col" | Eastern
|-
| '''{{lang|gl|cans}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈkaŋs|}} || {{lang|gl|cas}} {{IPA|gl|ˈkas|}} || {{lang|gl|cais}} {{IPA|gl|ˈkajs|}} || {{lang|pt|cães}}/{{lang|pt|cããs}} || {{wikt-lang|pt|cães}} || {{wikt-lang|es|perros}}/{{wikt-lang|es|canes}} || {{wikt-lang|la|canes}} || dogs
|-
| '''{{lang|gl|ladróns}}''' {{nobr|{{IPA|gl|laˈðɾoŋs|}}}} || {{lang|gl|ladrós}} {{nobr|{{IPA|gl|laˈðɾɔs|}}}} || {{lang|gl|ladrois}} {{nobr|{{IPA|gl|laˈðɾojs|}}}} || {{lang|pt|[[wikt:ladrões#Old Portuguese|ladrões]]}} || {{wikt-lang|pt|ladrões}} || {{wikt-lang|es|ladrones}} || {{wikt-lang|la|latrones}} || thieves
|-
| '''{{wikt-lang|gl|irmán}}''' {{nobr|{{IPA|gl|iɾˈmaŋ|}}}} || colspan=2 | {{lang|gl|irmao}} {{nobr|{{IPA|gl|iɾˈmaʊ|}}}} || {{lang|pt|[[wikt:irmão#Old Portuguese|irmão]]}} || {{lang|pt|irmão}} || {{wikt-lang|es|hermano}} || {{wikt-lang|la|germanus}} || brother
|-
| colspan=2 | '''{{wikt-lang|gl|luz}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈlus|}} || '''{{wikt-lang|gl|luz}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈluθ|}} || {{lang|pt|[[wikt:luz#Old Portuguese|luz]]}} || {{lang|gl|luz}} || {{wikt-lang|es|luz}} || {{wikt-lang|la|lux}}, ''[[genitive case|gen]].'' {{lang|la|lūcis}} || light
|-
| '''{{wikt-lang|gl|cinco}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈsiŋkʊ|}} || colspan=2 | '''{{lang|gl|cinco}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈθiŋkʊ|}} || {{lang|pt|cinco}} || {{wikt-lang|pt|cinco}} || {{wikt-lang|es|cinco}} || {{wikt-lang|la|quinque}} || five
|-
| colspan=3 | '''{{wikt-lang|gl|ollo}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈoɟʊ|}} || {{lang|pt|[[wikt:ollo#Old Portuguese|ollo]]}} || {{wikt-lang|pt|olho}} || {{wikt-lang|es|ojo}} || {{wikt-lang|la|oculus}} || eye
|-
| '''{{wikt-lang|gl|hora}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈɔɾɐ|}}{{ref|id1|b}} || '''{{lang|gl|hora}}''' {{nobr|{{IPA|gl|ˈɔɾa|}}/{{IPA|gl|ˈoɾɐ|}}}} || '''{{lang|gl|hora}}''' {{IPA|gl|ˈoɾɐ|}}|| {{lang|pt|hora}} || {{wikt-lang|gl|hora}} || {{wikt-lang|es|hora}} || {{wikt-lang|la|hora}} || hour
|-
| {{wikt-lang|gl|cantastes|cantaste(s)}}{{ref|id2|c}} || '''{{wikt-lang|gl|cantaches}}''' || {{lang|gl|cantaste}}/{{lang|gl|cantache}} || {{lang|pt|cantaste}} || {{wikt-lang|pt|cantaste}} || {{wikt-lang|es|cantaste}} || {{wikt-lang|la|cantavisti}} || you sang
|-
| colspan=2 | {{lang|gl|animás}} || '''{{lang|gl|animais}}''' || {{lang|gl|animaes}} || {{wikt-lang|pt|animais}} || {{wikt-lang|es|animales}} || {{wikt-lang|la|animalia}} || animals
|}

: {{note|id0}}'''Bold type''' indicate official standard spelling. On the phonemic representation.{{sfn|Freixeiro Mato|2006|pp={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}
: {{note|id1}} [[metaphony (Romance languages)|Metaphony]] produced by final {{IPA|/a/}} and by final {{IPA|/o/}} (usually produced {{IPA|[ʊ]}}). All the diverse productions are considered admissible. In the east there's little to no metaphony.
: {{note|id2}} Different evolution of the group {{IPA|/ste/}} led to different [[desinence]]s for the past tense formation along Galician geography.

== Phonology ==
{{main|Galician phonology}}

== Grammar ==
Galician allows pronominal [[clitic]]s to be attached to indicative and subjunctive forms, as does Portuguese, unlike modern Spanish. After many centuries of close contact between the two languages, Galician has also adopted many loan words from Spanish, and some [[calques]] of Spanish syntax.

Galician usually makes the difference according to gender and categorizes words as masculine "o rapaz" (the young man) or feminine "a rapaza" (the young woman). This difference is present in the articles "o / a / os / as" (the), nouns "o can / a cadela" (the dog / the (female) dog), pronouns "el / ela", (he / she) and adjectives "bonitiño / bonitiña" (pretty, beautiful). There is also a neuter set of demonstrative pronouns "isto, iso, aquilo" (this / that). The most typical ending for masculine words is -o, whereas the most typical ending for feminine is -a "o prato / a tixola" (the plate / the frying pan). The difference in the grammatical gender of a word may correspond to a real gender difference in the physical world "xuicioso / xuiciosa" (sensible); the former adjective will qualify a male, and the latter, a female. However, there is no particular reason for objects to be ascribed to a particular grammatical gender or another, it has to do with the gender having been ascribed by tradition and the use of speakers as in the following examples: "o xis / o samba / a mesa / a caricatura" (chalk / the samba / the table / the caricature).

Galician expresses the difference in number with a form for the singular and another for the plural. The most typical suffix to express a plural number is "s", "cantiga / cantigas".

There are two different ways of addressing people: one is the most usual informal pronoun "ti" for the second person singular and "vos" for the second person plural. There are formal ways of addressing directly people "vostede" for the singular and "vostedes" for the plural.

The last review of the official grammar has established that, if there is no risk of confusion, the exclamation and question marks will appear only at the end of the sentence, thus deprecating the general use of Spanish-like [[inverted question and exclamation marks]].

The verb is inflected. There are regular and irregular verbs in the language. All verbs will appear listed by means of their infinitive form in dictionaries, and there are three typical endings for verbs "-ar / -er / -ir".

== Orthography == <!-- Courtesy note per [{WP:RSECT]]: [[Galician alphabet]] redirects here -->
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2010}}
{{see also|Galician alphabet}}
The current official Galician orthography is guided by the "Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do Idioma Galego" (NOMIGa),<ref>{{Cite book|title=Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do idioma galego|date=March 2012 |url=https://academia.gal/documents/10157/704901/Normas+ortogr%C3%A1ficas+e+morfol%C3%B3xicas+do+idioma+galego.pdf |publisher=Real Academia Galega |isbn=978-84-87987-78-6 |edition=23rd |language=gl |trans-title=Orthographic and Morphological Norms of the Galician Language |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426035027/https://academia.gal/documents/10157/704901/Normas+ortogr%C3%A1ficas+e+morfol%C3%B3xicas+do+idioma+galego.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-26}}</ref> first introduced in 1982, by the Royal Galician Academy (RAG), based on a report by the Instituto da Lingua Galega (ILG). These norms were not accepted by some sectors desiring a norm closer to modern Portuguese (see [[reintegrationism]]). In July 2003, the Royal Galician Academy modified the language normative to admit and promote some archaic Galician-Portuguese forms conserved in modern Portuguese, merging the NOMIG and the main proposals of the moderate sectors of reintegrationism; the resulting orthography is used by the vast majority of media, cultural production and virtually all official matters including education.

The reintegrationist movement opts for the use of writing systems that range from adapted to whole [[Portuguese orthography]].

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Phoneme-to-grapheme correspondence
|-
! [[Phoneme]] ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
! Main [[allophone]]s{{sfn|Freixeiro Mato|2006|pp=136–188}}
! [[Grapheme]]s
! Example
|-
| {{IPA|/b/}} || {{IPA|[b]}}, {{IPA|[β̞]}} || {{lang|gl|b, v}} || {{lang|gl|bebo}} {{IPA|[ˈbeβ̞ʊ]}} '(I) drink', {{lang|gl|alva or alba}} {{IPA|[ˈalβ̞ɐ]}} 'sunrise', {{lang|gl|vaca}} {{IPA|[ˈbakɐ]}} 'cow', {{lang|gl|cova}} {{IPA|[ˈkɔβ̞ɐ]}} 'cave'
|-
| {{IPA|/θ/}} || {{IPA|[θ]}} (dialectal {{IPA|[s]}}) || {{lang|gl|c, ç, z or c, z}} || {{lang|gl|macio}} {{IPA|[ˈmaθjʊ]}} 'soft', {{lang|gl|caçar or cazar}} {{IPA|[kɑˈθaɾ]}} 'to hunt', {{lang|gl|cruz}} {{IPA|[ˈkɾuθ]}} 'cross'
|-
| {{IPA|/tʃ/}} || {{IPA|[tʃ]}} || {{lang|gl|ch}} || {{lang|gl|chamar}} {{IPA|[tʃaˈmaɾ]}} 'to call', {{lang|gl|achar}} {{IPA|[aˈtʃaɾ]}} 'to find'
|-
| {{IPA|/d/}} || {{IPA|[d]}}, {{IPA|[ð̞]}} || {{lang|gl|d}} || {{lang|gl|vida}} {{IPA|[ˈbið̞ɐ]}} 'life', {{lang|gl|quadro or cadro}} {{IPA|[ˈkað̞ɾʊ]}} 'frame'
|-
| {{IPA|/f/}} || {{IPA|[f]}} || {{lang|gl|f}} || {{lang|gl|feltro}} {{IPA|[ˈfɛltɾʊ]}} 'felt', {{lang|gl|freixo}} {{IPA|[ˈfɾejʃʊ]}} 'ash-tree'
|-
| {{IPA|/ɡ/}} || {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, {{IPA|[ɣ]}} (dialectal {{IPA|[ħ]}}) || {{lang|gl|g, gu}} || {{lang|gl|fungo}} {{IPA|[ˈfuŋɡʊ]}} 'fungus', {{lang|gl|guerra}} {{IPA|[ˈɡɛrɐ]}} 'war', {{lang|gl|o gato}} {{IPA|[ʊ ˈɣatʊ]}} 'the cat'
|-
| {{IPA|/ɟ/}} || {{IPA|[ɟ]}} || {{lang|gl|lh or ll}} || {{lang|gl|molhado or mollado}} {{IPA|[moˈɟað̞ʊ]}} 'wet'
|-
| {{IPA|/k/}} || {{IPA|[k]}} || {{lang|gl|c, qu}} || {{lang|gl|casa}} {{IPA|[ˈkasɐ]}} 'house', {{lang|gl|querer}} {{IPA|[keˈɾeɾ]}} 'to want'
|-
| {{IPA|/l/}} || {{IPA|[l]}} || {{lang|gl|l}} || {{lang|gl|lua or lúa}} {{IPA|[ˈluɐ]}} 'moon', {{lang|gl|algo}} {{IPA|[ˈalɣʊ]}} 'something', {{lang|gl|mel}} {{IPA|[ˈmɛl]}} 'honey'
|-
| {{IPA|/m/}} || {{IPA|[m], [ŋ]}}{{refn|name='/N/'|The phonemes {{IPA|/m/}}, {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/ɲ/}} and {{IPA|/ŋ/}} coalesce in implosive position as the archiphoneme {{IPA|/N/}}, which, phonetically, is usually {{IPAblink|ŋ}}.{{sfn|Freixeiro Mato|2006|pp=175–176}}}} || {{lang|gl|m}} || {{lang|gl|memória or memoria}} {{IPA|[meˈmɔɾjɐ]}} 'memory', {{lang|gl|campo}} {{IPA|[ˈkampʊ]}} 'field', {{lang|gl|álbum}} {{IPA|[ˈalβuŋ]}}
|-
| {{IPA|/n/}} || {{IPA|[n], [m], [ŋ]}}{{refn|name='/N/'}} || {{lang|gl|n}} || {{lang|gl|ninho or niño}} {{IPA|[ˈniɲʊ]}} 'nest', {{lang|gl|onte}} {{IPA|[ˈɔntɪ]}} 'yesterday', {{lang|gl|conversar}} {{IPA|[kombeɾˈsaɾ]}} 'to talk', {{lang|gl|irmão or irmán}} {{IPA|[iɾˈmaŋ]}} 'brother'
|-
| {{IPA|/ɲ/}} || {{IPA|[ɲ]}}{{refn|name='/N/'}} || {{lang|gl|nh or ñ}} || {{lang|gl|manhã or mañá}} {{IPA|[maˈɲa]}} 'morning'
|-
| {{IPA|/ŋ/}} || {{IPA|[ŋ]}}{{refn|name='/N/'}} || {{lang|gl|mh or nh}} || {{lang|gl|algumha or algunha}} {{IPA|[alˈɣuŋɐ]}} 'some'
|-
| {{IPA|/p/}} || {{IPA|[p]}} || {{lang|gl|p}} || {{lang|gl|carpa}} {{IPA|[ˈkaɾpɐ]}} 'carp'
|-
| {{IPA|/ɾ/}} || {{IPA|[ɾ]}} || {{lang|gl|r}} || {{lang|gl|hora}} {{IPA|[ˈɔɾɐ]}} 'hour', {{lang|gl|colher or coller}} {{IPA|[koˈɟeɾ]}} 'to grab'
|-
| {{IPA|/r/}} || {{IPA|[r]}} || {{lang|gl|r, rr}} || {{lang|gl|rato}} {{IPA|[ˈratʊ]}} 'mouse', {{lang|gl|carro}} {{IPA|[ˈkarʊ]}} 'cart'
|-
| {{IPA|/s/}} || {{IPA|[s̺]}} (dialectal {{IPA|[s̻]}}),{{sfn|Regueira|1996|p=82|ps=.{{verify source|date=July 2021|reason=Page 82 is not in the page range for the article, 119–122}}}} {{IPA|[z̺]}} || {{lang|gl|s, ss or s }} || {{lang|gl|selo}} {{IPA|[ˈs̺elʊ]}} 'seal, stamp', {{lang|gl|cousa}} {{IPA|[ˈkows̺ɐ]}} 'thing', {{lang|gl|mesmo}} {{IPA|[ˈmɛz̺mʊ]}} 'same', {{lang|gl|isso or iso}} {{IPA|[ˈisʊ]}} "that"
|-
| {{IPA|/t/}} || {{IPA|[t]}} || {{lang|gl|t}} || {{lang|gl|trato}} {{IPA|[ˈtɾatʊ]}} 'deal'
|-
| {{IPA|/ʃ/}} || {{IPA|[ʃ]}} || {{lang|gl|g, j or x}}<ref>{{lang|gl|x}} can stand also for {{IPA|[ks]}}</ref> || {{lang|gl|gente or xente}} {{IPA|[ˈʃentɪ]}} 'people', {{lang|gal|janela or xanela}} {{IPA|[ʃa.ˈnɛ.la]}} 'window', {{lang|gl|muxica}} {{IPA|[muˈʃikɐ]}} 'ash-fly'
|-
| {{IPA|/i/}} || {{IPA|[i]}} || {{lang|gl|i}} ||
|-
| {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/ɛ/}} || {{IPA|[e]}}, {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, {{IPA|[i]}} || {{lang|gl|e}} ||
|-
| {{IPA|/a/}} || {{IPA|[a]}}, {{IPA|[ɐ]}} || {{lang|gl|a}} ||
|-
| {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/ɔ/}} || {{IPA|[o]}}, {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, {{IPA|[u]}} || {{lang|gl|o}} ||
|-
| {{IPA|/u/}} || {{IPA|[u]}} || {{lang|gl|u}} ||
|}

=== Acute accent ===
[[Syllabic stress]] is significant in Galician. One syllable in each word receives primary stress. The syllable receiving the primary stress can generally be identified by the spelling of the word according to the language's rules of orthography. In cases where the stress is not at the default location indicated by the spelling, an [[acute accent]] (´) is placed over the main vowel of the stressed syllable, as in ''paspalhás'' or ''paspallás'' ('quail'), ''móbil'' ('mobile'), and ''cárcere'' ('jail', 'gaol').

The acute accent has some other functions. Sometimes it shows that adjacent vowels represent separate syllables rather than a diphthong. Acute accents are written on top of upper- as well as lower-case letters: ''Óscar''. An acute accent may also be used to distinguish between two words that are otherwise [[homonym]]s.

=== Examples ===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"
|-
!English
!Galician ([[Royal Galician Academy|Official]])
!Galician ([[Reintegrationism|Reintegrationist]])
!Portuguese
!Spanish
|-
|good morning
|''bo día / bos días''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" |''bom dia''
|''buenos días''
|-
|What is your name?
|colspan=3 style="text-align: center;" |''Como te chamas?''
|''¿Cómo te llamas?''
|-
|I love you
|''quérote / ámote''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" |''amo-te''
|''te quiero / te amo''
|-
|excuse me
|colspan=3 style="text-align: center;" |''desculpe''
|''perdón / disculpe''
|-
|thanks / thank you
|''grazas''
|''graças / obrigado''
|''obrigado''
|''gracias''
|-
|welcome
|''benvido''
|''bem-vido''
|''bem-vindo''
|''bienvenido''
|-
|goodbye
|colspan=3 style="text-align: center;"|''adeus''
|''adiós''
|-
|yes
|''si''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|''sim''
|''sí''
|-
|no
|''non''
|''nom''
|''não''
|''no''
|-
|dog
|''can''
|''cam''
|''cão''
|''perro'' (rarely, ''can'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://buscon.rae.es/draei/srvltobtenerhtml?lema=can&supind=1&carext=10000&nedic=no |title=real academia española |publisher=buscon.rae.es |access-date=30 June 2012}}</ref>
|-
|grandfather
|''avó''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|''avô''
|''abuelo''
|-
|newspaper
|''periódico'' / ''xornal''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|''jornal''
|''periódico''
|-
|mirror
|''espello''
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|''espelho''
|''espejo''
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Galician ([[Royal Galician Academy|Official]])
!Galician ([[Reintegrationism|Reintegrationist]])
!Portuguese
!Spanish
!Latin
|-
|Our Father who art in heaven,
|Noso Pai que estás no ceo:
|Nosso Pai que estás no Céu:
|Pai Nosso que estais no Céu:
|Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos:
|Pater noster qui es in caelis:
|-
|hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
|santificado sexa o teu nome, veña a nós o teu reino e fágase a túa vontade aquí na terra coma no ceo.
|santificado seja o Teu nome, venha a nós o Teu reino e seja feita a Tua vontade aqui na terra como nos Céus.
|santificado seja o Vosso nome, venha a nós o Vosso reino, seja feita a Vossa vontade assim na Terra como no Céu.
|santificado sea tu Nombre, venga a nosotros tu reino y hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.
|sanctificetur nomen tuum, adveniat regnum tuum, fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra.
|-
|Give us this day our daily bread,
|O noso pan de cada día dánolo hoxe;
|O nosso pam de cada dia dá-no-lo hoje;
|O pão nosso de cada dia nos dai hoje;
|Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día;
|panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie;
|-
|and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,
|e perdóanos as nosas ofensas como tamén perdoamos nós a quen nos ten ofendido;
|e perdoa-nos as nossas ofensas como também perdoamos nós a quem nos tem ofendido;
|Perdoai-nos as nossas ofensas assim como nós perdoamos a quem nos tem ofendido;
|y perdónanos nuestras ofensas como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden;
|et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
|-
|and let us not fall into temptation, but liberate us from evil.
|e non nos deixes caer na tentación, mais líbranos do mal.
|e nom nos deixes cair na tentaçom, mas livra-nos do mal.
|e não nos deixeis cair em tentação, mas livrai-nos do mal.
|y no nos dejes caer en tentación, sino líbranos del mal.
|et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo.
|-
|Amen.
|Amén.
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|Amém.
|Amén.
|Amen.
|}

== See also ==
* [[Barallete]]
* [[Castrapo]]
* ''[[Fala dos arxiñas (argot)|Fala dos arxiñas]]'', a jargon of Galician masons
* [[Galician-language literature]]
* ''[[Galicia irredenta]]''
* [[Languages of Spain]]
* [[Leonese language]]
* [[List of Galician words of Celtic origin]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=N}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation|last=Fernández Rei|first=Francisco|title=Dialectoloxía da lingua galega|year=2003|publisher=Edicións Xerais de Galicia|location=Vigo|isbn=978-84-7507-472-6|edition=3rd|language=gl}}
*{{Citation|last=Ferreiro|first=Manuel|year=1999|title=Gramática histórica galega. I. Fonética e Morfosintaxe|place=Santiago de Compostela|publisher=Edicións Laiovento|isbn=978-84-89896-43-7|language=gl}}
*{{Citation|last=Freixeiro Mato|first=Xosé Ramón|year=2006|title=Gramática da lingua galega (I). Fonética e fonoloxía|place=Vigo|publisher=A Nosa Terra|isbn=978-84-8341-060-8|language=gl}}
*{{Citation|last1=Gómez Sánchez|first1=Anxo|last2=Queixas Zas|first2=Mercedes|year=2001|title=Historia xeral da literatura galega|place=Vigo|publisher=Edicións A Nosa Terra|isbn=978-84-95350-79-4|language=gl}}
*{{Citation|last=Mariño Paz|first=Ramón|year=1998|title=Historia da lingua galega|edition=2nd|place=Santiago de Compostela|publisher=Sotelo Blanco|isbn=978-84-7824-333-4|language=gl}}
*{{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |year=2000 |title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-04866-1 |location=Westport, Conn.}}
*{{Cite book |last=Queixas Zas |first=Mercedes |title=Historia xeral da literatura galega |publisher=A nosa terra |year=2001 |isbn=978-84-95350-79-4 |location=Vigo |language=gl |trans-title=General history of Galician literature}}
*{{Citation|last=Regueira|first=Xose|year=1996|title=Galician|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|volume=26|issue=2|pages=119–122|doi=10.1017/s0025100300006162|s2cid=241094214 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Sánchez Rei |first=Xosé Manuel |year=2011 |title=Lingua galega e variación dialectal |publisher=Edicións Laiovento |isbn=978-84-8487-208-5 |location=Noia, Galiza |language=gl |trans-title=Galician language and dialectal variation}}
*{{Cite book |editor-last=Souto Cabo |editor-first=José Antonio |title=Documentos galego-portugueses dos séculos XII e XIII |publisher=Universidade da Coruña |year=2008 |isbn=978-84-9749-314-7 |location=A Coruña |language=gl |trans-title=Galician-Portuguese documents from the 12th and 13th centuries}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal | last = Castro | first = Olga | title = Talking at cross-purposes? The missing link between feminist linguistics and translation studies | journal = [[Gender and Language]] | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 35–58 | doi = 10.1558/genl.v7i1.35 | date = February 2013 }} Examines the arguments for and against the use of inclusive language in (literary) translation through an analysis of the "ideological struggle" that emerged from two ideologically disparate rewritings of gender markers into Galician of ''[[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]'', by [[Mark Haddon]] (2003), focusing on the ideological, poetic and economic pressures that (still) define the professional practice of translation.

==External links==
{{external links|date=July 2015}}
{{InterWiki|code=gl}}
{{Wikivoyage|Galician phrasebook|Galician|a phrasebook}}
{{Commons category}}

Galician guides:
* [http://www.lingua.gal lingua.gal] – Galician government's portal on the Galician language
* [http://www.consellodacultura.org/arquivos/cdsg/loia/index.php?idioma=2 LOIA: Open guide to Galician Language]
* [http://www.galego.org/english/index.html Basic information on Galician language] {{in lang|gl|es|en}}

Records, phonetic and dialectology:
* [http://ilg.usc.es/ago/ Arquivo do Galego Oral] – An archive of records of Galician speakers.
* [http://consellodacultura.org/arquivos/asg/anosafala.php A Nosa Fala] – Sound recordings of the different dialects of the Galician language.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080930002413/http://www.agal-gz.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=15 Amostra comparativa] – Comparison between Galician, Portuguese and Brazilian-Portuguese pronunciation (with sound files) (reintegrationist Galician)

Corpora:
* [https://ilg.usc.es/tmilg/index.php Tesouro medieval informatizado da lingua galega]. {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/xelmirez/ Corpus Xelmirez] – A corpus on medieval Galician documentation, in Galician, Latin, and Spanish.
* [http://ilg.usc.es/TILG/?lng=en Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega]. {{in lang|en|gl}}

Dictionaries:
* [http://www.realacademiagalega.org/dicionario Royal Galician Academy Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722230111/http://www.realacademiagalega.org/dicionario |date=22 July 2013 }} {{in lang|gl}}
* [[wikt:Appendix:Galician pronouns|Appendix:Galician pronouns]] – on Wiktionary
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/CLIG/index_en.html English–Galician CLUVI Online Dictionary] (official Galician)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040410195531/http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Galician-english/ Galician – English Dictionary]: from [https://web.archive.org/web/20120223164907/http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/ Webster's Online Dictionary] – [[The Rosetta Edition]]. (Official Galician), 
* [http://valesne.homestead.com/untitled11.html A short English-Galician-Japanese Phraselist (Renewal)] incl. sound soft (Official Galician), {{in lang|en|ja}}
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/DDGM/ Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval] – A dictionary of Old Galician dictionaries. {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://sli.uvigo.es/ddd/index.html Dicionario de dicionarios] – A dictionary of Galician dictionaries. {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://www.estraviz.org/ e-Estraviz] – Isaac Alonso Estraviz's dictionary (on-line). (reintegrationist norm and official norm)

Texts:
* [http://gmh.consellodacultura.org/ Gallaeciae Monumenta Historica] – An on-line repository of medieval texts {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/index.asp Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas] – A complete DB, containing the totality of the medieval profane lyric. {{in lang|pt}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190127220621/http://bvg.udc.es/ Biblioteca Virtual Galega] {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/ Cantigas de Santa Maria]

Newspapers in Galician:
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080102053522/http://www.l-v.es/ Luns a Venres] – free daily newspaper {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://www.sermosgaliza.com/ Sermos Galiza] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625055500/http://www.sermosgaliza.com/ |date=25 June 2014 }} – weekly newspaper and online news portal {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://www.galiciae.com/ Galiciaé.es] – online news portal {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://www.praza.com/ Praza Pública] – online news portal {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://www.diarioliberdade.org/ Diário Liberdade] – online news portal (in reintegrationist Galician)
* [http://www.novasgz.com/ Novas da Galiza] – monthly newspaper (in reintegrationist Galician)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120620173030/http://www.galizalivre.org/ Galiza Livre] – pro-independence online news portal (in reintegrationist Galician)

Other links related to Galician:
* [http://www.realacademiagalega.org/ Royal Galician Academy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915181500/https://realacademiagalega.org/ |date=15 September 2020 }} {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://ilg.usc.es/ Instituto da Lingua Galega] {{in lang|gl}}
* [http://www.academiagalega.org/ Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa] (reintegrationist Galician)
* [http://www.agal-gz.org/ Associaçom Galega da Língua – Portal Galego da Língua] (reintegrationist Galician)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080818232609/http://www.mdl-galiza.org/ Movimento Defesa da Lingua] (reintegrationist Galician)

{{Languages of Spain}}
{{Romance languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Galician language| ]]