"The descendants of Josep Tarradellas today would say: 'I'm here now'"

BarcelonaCatalan tends towards Castilian grammar, especially among young people. A study by Pompeu Fabra University has analysed how bilingual people of different ages speak Catalan and Castilian. Using linguistic structures that are different in the two languages, it has analysed what comes out naturally to speakers. The conclusion is that while adults are unsure of how to use these expressions correctly and alternate between correct and incorrect usage, 75% of young people (7-13 years old) have no doubt that the formula they would use is Castilian, even among those who have Catalan as their mother tongue.

The formulas analysed are, specifically, the use or non-use of the preposition to in the direct object (which is correct in Spanish and incorrect in Catalan in most cases; in Catalan, "Veo la Maria" and not "a Maria") and the use of verbs to be/to be to locate people (in Catalan, "Maria" is at school"). These are two very specific constructions, but they allow us to observe "the cognitive processes on how languages in contact influence each other", according to UPF researcher and language acquisition expert Aurora Bel. The study concludes that Spanish influences Catalan much more than the other way around, but it influences all age groups. input unique in Spanish and inputs Catalan: contradictory in Catalan, when he has to choose, he sticks to the right and opts for a single grammar, which is that of Castilian," says the other principal investigator of the BIBA project, the professor of language acquisition and bilingualism Silvia Perpiñán. "The descendants of Josep Tarradellas today would say: "I'm here now." of dominance towards Castilian will correct it over the years or else "this will be his grammar, which will be different from that of adults" and, therefore, will have an impact on the evolution of Catalan

Catalan will change or die.

The study does not analyse linguistic usage but rather the language itself, but it is evident that Catalan grammar is becoming denatured and is related to the decline in the use of Catalan among young people and the number of new Catalan speakers. The researchers' hypothesis is whether the key is that there is a "input insufficient" (that is, they feel little Catalan in their environment) to learn to use the language correctly or if "theinput "It's different," says Perpignan. "We don't know who is the agent of change, whether it's adults or children," he said.

So how can we understand that Catalan as an initial language is a minority in Catalonia and, therefore, a population group has suddenly become a second language? language, with different levels of competence. If these speakers are the linguistic referents of the new speakers – such as teachers, journalists or parents –, the result will be "a different Catalan, a bilingual Catalan, of speakers of different languages", says Perpignan "This is the Catalan that. learn molts nens avui en dia", he affirms.

The one that the Catalan speaker of initial language lived with a tragic loss of genuïnitat, Perpignan ho sees more pragmatism and menys prejudices: "I believe that it is the only future that the Català has, veient the demographics. If we want new speakers to join Catalan, they will learn it as a second language and will hardly do so as native speakers, which will lead to changes in the language." In fact, the study shows how these changes have already been incorporated by first-language Catalans. "BK_SLT_LNA~ "The future of Catalan is to disappear or change," says Perpi, "they have done for centuries," he adds, while now the confluence is accelerating due to contact with Castilian and the incorporation of new speakers or, in the worst case, non-incorporation into Catalan.